"O give thanks unto the Lord; call upon his name: make known his deeds among the people" (Ps. 105:1). It is my blessed privilege to bear witness to the truth and to express through the periodicals established by our beloved Leader, Mary Baker Eddy, my deep and heartfelt gratitude for the many blessings I have experienced through the study and practice of Christian Science during the past twenty-eight years.
Christian Science came to me at a time when the need was greatest. The experience of losing a much-wanted child at the time of its birth left me in a state of bewilderment and bitterness toward everything, even toward life itself. Grief, self-pity, discouragement, and loneliness took possession of my thinking to the extent that I felt life was not worth living. At this time I was also suffering from a painful condition of abscessed ears.
In the textbook, Science and Health, Mrs. Eddy defines "wilderness" in part as follows (p. 597): "Loneliness; doubt; darkness." It was in this state of consciousness that I remained for several months. One day a ray of light shone into my darkened thought, and an earnest desire to know God aright came over me. This desire led me to ask a friend for a copy of Science and Health, which was lovingly given. I began reading and was receptive to the truth I found therein. After reading this book for only two weeks, I was completely healed of abscessed ears, and grief was replaced by a deep spiritual joy that I had found God to be the healing Principle, on which I could depend. With this healing came a great spiritual awakening, and I learned that as Mrs. Eddy says ( ibid ., p. 390), "It is our ignorance of God, the divine Principle, which produces apparent discord, and the right understanding of Him restores harmony."
