A few years ago our daughter was brought home from college suffering from a mental and physical breakdown. She was having Christian Science treatment, but did not improve. My husband, who is not a Christian Scientist, desired that she be taken to a physician. We did as he wished, and the physician advised us to put her in a psychopathic hospital at once or she would grow steadily worse. I called my sister, who was a Christian Scientist, to come and stay with me, as I was afraid the girl would be taken away from me and placed in an institution. Our daughter realized what the physician had advised us to do, and her fear manifested itself in threats to commit suicide. She became very ill, and several bodily functions stopped.
Even though she appeared to be mentally blank, we read to her almost constantly from the Bible and Christian Science literature. One day she lost consciousness, and we tried in vain to rouse her. The practitioner was called and was asked to pray for her life. While my sister and I were with the patient, her little sister and two younger brothers came into her room. We all felt that we should turn to God and pray, and we repeated together a number of times the Lord's Prayer with its spiritual interpretation, given by Mary Baker Eddy in the Christian Science textbook, "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" (pp. 16, 17). Her aunt and I called her by name to rouse her, declaring that God is Life and that Love heals. After what seemed an interminable time she began to cry, and the fear of her passing on was relieved.
After about two months I could not see any improvement, and I became desperate. In addition to her other difficulties, the girl had now become blind. At this time two other relatives wrote me that they felt I had tried Christian Science long enough, and they urged me to put her under medical treatment. That night I turned to God and prayed with my whole heart. This strengthened me, and I returned to our daughter, knelt down by her bed, put my arms around her and said: "Please come back to me; I need you. Turn to God, and He will heal you. You learned in the Christian Science Sunday School that it is God that heals." I tried to read in the Bible and Science and Health, but the words were blurred and I could not read. I went to bed and kept repeating, "God is Love, all power, all presence, all Science." As I prayed in that way this angel message came to me as clearly as though spoken: "You can never be separated from God." With this I went peacefully to sleep.
