Twenty-eight years ago through Christian Science I was instantaneously healed of what appeared to be a fatal case of arsenic poisoning. That healing was followed soon afterward by the instantaneous release from the need to wear glasses and by a quick healing of a fractured ankle. I shall always be deeply grateful to the devoted Christian Science practitioners whose prayers brought about these and numerous other proofs of God's omnipresence and omnipotence. For years the consecrated work of practitioners sustained and uplifted me through all manner of trials. I have never failed to receive healing when I have obediently followed their instructions.
Some years ago I was in a state of complete desolation and hopelessness. One day, when I felt that I could go no farther, I was led to pick up the textbook, "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" by our Leader, Mary Baker Eddy, and read the chapter on Prayer. Near the bottom of page 15 my attention was arrested by one sentence that stood out as though in letters of light. It reads, "Practice not profession, understanding not belief, gain the ear and right hand of omnipotence and they assuredly call down infinite blessings." I suddenly realized that, while for years I had professed to be a student of Christian Science, I had not really been practicing it as I should have, and that I had long believed in its teachings without fully understanding what I believed.
Right there and then was born in me an urgent desire and determination both to understand and to practice the truth. From that time on the Bible and our textbook were illumined. The study of the Lesson-Sermon in the Christian Science Quarterly became a joyous privilege instead of just something that I should do every day from a sense of duty. I was able to devote most of my time to the study of Christian Science, and this period of intensive study continued for over three years. I am unspeakably grateful for the unfoldment that has come to me as a result.
