When my husband and I first met, he was stricken with osteomyelitis and for three years endured numerous operations on shoulder and knee. I recommended that he try Christian Science, but it was not until the doctors offered no positive hope and he had become discouraged in the effort to finish his engineering course that he went to a Christian Science practitioner. In a few weeks the stubborn wounds which had plagued him stopped draining, and the condition was healed permanently.
I had always felt in my heart that I could never marry anyone not in sympathy with Christian Science. This healing completely cleared the way for a congenial and happy marriage. Our first son was born harmoniously at home, with the faithful, prayerful support of the practitioner who had treated my husband.
Shortly before the birth of our daughter some time later, I was filled with consternation when the doctor who had come to the home at the time of our son's birth told me that this time I would have to go to the hospital to save him time and inconvenience. Considering the problem honestly, I saw that this was striking a blow at my false pride as a Christian Scientist, and this was good.
I agreed to go into the hospital, and the doctor kindly promised I could go home the day after the baby's delivery. With the practitioner's prayerful support, the birth was prompt and easy, and I encountered great kindness toward Christian Science. Two years later I had a similar happy experience when another son was born.
As in every Christian Science family, the years of growth have brought many opportunities to demonstrate Christ, Truth, in solving every problem. Except for so-called childhood diseases, which have been overcome quickly, our children have enjoyed good health.
Two years ago I was afflicted with a severe malady. I wrote to a practitioner in a distant city, and during the months we worked on this problem the only contact was by letter. The disorder pertained to the nervous system. It affected muscular control, making all movement most difficult and painful, and seemed to be progressive in development.
The months that followed were fraught with vital lessons. I needed to express more alertness and humility and to overcome fear, self-righteousness, ancestral pride, a false sense of responsibility, and inhibitions. The healing thoughts related in the Christian Science periodicals had brought victory to others and spurred me on. Reading Science and Health in its entirety renewed my gratitude for Mrs. Eddy's work. The weekly Lesson-Sermon, outlined in the Quarterly, always had a message especially helpful to me, and for the first time I was compelled by eagerness to read it daily. Previously I studied because I knew I should, but now I was hungering and thirsting for the truth.
We had no outside help in the home, but the loving and faithful help of the family contributed greatly to my recovery. I found the key to the solution of my problem expressed in this statement from Science and Health (p. 187): "The divine Mind includes all action and volition, and man in Science is governed by this Mind."
As I recognized that God governs the universe, physical release and healing came, and right activities unfolded. Since this healing I have gone swimming, horseback riding, and square dancing—all with a heart filled with gratitude; but the spiritual enrichment which has come to me is the great gift of God for which I am more grateful than for the physical healing.— Portland, Oregon.
