It is a great privilege to express my gratitude for Christian Science. I was not always aware that the expressions of gratitude are steppingstones to a larger understanding of God. I learned this, however, as I progressed in the study of Christian Science and found that gratitude stems from a humble, contrite heart. I also know that, as our Leader, Mary Baker Eddy, says on page 232 of the Christian Science textbook, "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures": "In the sacred sanctuary of Truth are voices of solemn import, but we heed them not. It is only when the so-called pleasures and pains of sense pass away in our lives, that we find unquestionable signs of the burial of error and the resurrection to spiritual life."
I was healed of a painful shrapnel wound received in the First World War. The attending doctors and nerve specialists pronounced the wound a permanent disability. When I was finally discharged from the Canadian Army, the verdict was that I would never have the full use of my arm and that the wound would continue to give me pain for many years. A year later, when these predictions appeared to be all too true, I found myself praying humbly, fervently, for help. Through these prayers I was led to the office of a Christian Science practitioner, and I was completely and permanently healed.
Because of this healing, I took up the study of Christian Science, and it has been my guide and support through the years, as well as the healer and protector of my family. We have had many beautiful demonstrations of God's power and presence. Many so-called children's diseases have been overcome; also fear and an exaggerated and erroneous concern about human opinions and self-conscious behavior have been largely overcome.
