I am very grateful for the freedom which...

I am very grateful for the freedom which the study and application of Christian Science have brought into my life. About a month after I began reading the textbook, Science and Health by Mrs. Eddy, I visited a friend who was a sincere student of Christian Science. While at her home I broke my glasses, which I had worn for over fifteen years. Through her help I glimpsed something of the truth and was healed instantaneously of the need for wearing glasses.

During my school years I was very timid and almost afraid to speak before a group of people. The same year in which I had class instruction in Christian Science I was asked to give an after-dinner talk at an office party. This was almost the last thing I thought I could do, and I was about to refuse when suddenly I found myself saying that I would be happy to do it. I went to the Reading Room that noon, and on opening the Bible, I read these three words (Job 33:24): "He is gracious." I realized that God is indeed gracious, and so is His child. Then I knew that I could be gracious in what I said and how I said it, and the talk took form in my thought.

The banquet was a happy experience, and I was able to converse with my dinner partner, enjoy my dinner, and give my talk calmly and with great joy. I was so grateful for the freedom I felt. Freedom was gained in another way that night. I did not drink, but heretofore I had been disturbed because others suggested that I do so to be sociable. That night and thereafter no one ever suggested that I take intoxicating liquor.

Mrs. Eddy states in Science and Health (p. 225), "Love is the liberator," and this has been proved true in my experience on innumerable occasions. Some years ago the other members of my family and I were grief-stricken when my sister suddenly passed on. The first night I was unable to sleep. I arose and began turning the pages of the Christian Science Hymnal. My eyes fell on Hymn No. 179, the first verse of which reads:

After reading this hymn I humbly said, "Yes, Father, I will love." Then I worked, as taught in Christian Science, until I could see each member of the family, including myself, as an idea of Love—loving, lovable, and beloved. The work was not complete, however, until I saw that all of God's ideas are included in His love. When I was able to see that God, Love, made all, that there is no one outside of Love's embrace, and that nothing but good had in reality taken place, I fell asleep.

In the morning I awakened refreshed and healed; and in the days which followed, when others came to comfort me, I was able to comfort them instead through the steadfast realization that God, Love, is Life. I shall always be very grateful for the loving help of the faithful practitioner who stood by me in this experience and in others.

Through Christian Science I have been freed from many physical difficulties. A sprained ankle was healed in less than two days when I took my stand to be in my place in a branch church. A dislocated vertebra at the base of my spine slipped back into place while I was talking on the telephone to a practitioner who was helping me, and I was immediately free from intense pain. Chronic headaches, indigestion, and skin sensitiveness have been healed; business problems have been solved, and many other difficulties have dropped away.

I am grateful for membership in The Mother Church and a branch church, for class instruction, and for our practitioners. I thank God, who is All-in-all, for Christ Jesus, our Way-shower, and for Mrs. Eddy, the revered Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science.—(Mrs.) Emma F. Gilbert, Chicago, Illinois.