I first became interested in the teachings of Christian Science in 1910. At this time I was an earnest member of a Protestant church and a worker in several of its activities. I was comparatively happy myself, but felt very worried and anxious over the trials and seeming injustices in the lives of other people.
When I began to read the Christian Science textbook, "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" by Mary Baker Eddy, and to attend the Sunday morning church services and Wednesday evening testimony meetings, I was awakened to the fact that Christ Jesus had intended spiritual healing to be an integral part of the Christian church.
I was suffering from gastric catarrh and was on a very limited diet, augmented by a nerve food taken under a doctor's orders. In a few weeks' time the desire to prove that God gave man dominion led me to overcome the belief that material food can be harmful. I claimed my birthright as the image and likeness of God, and through this enlightened thought I received an instantaneous healing and became "a new creature." When ulcerated throat was seen to be a lie of mortal sense in the light of "the scientific statement of being" (Science and Health, p. 468), it completely vanished, although it had been a frequent unwelcome visitor from childhood. The joy and ability to serve which flooded my life with this freedom were truly uplifting and inspiring.
