Christian Science was first presented to me when I was a senior in college. A friend who saw my need asked me to read the textbook by Mrs. Eddy. My initial skepticism melted away as the scientific logic of Christian Science unfolded to my thought. I began to apply it immediately and was soon healed of mental depression and recurrent sick headaches from which I had been suffering.
About a year and a half later I had an experience which gave me conclusive proof of the allness of God, Spirit, and the nothingness of matter. I was working as a chemist in an oil refinery laboratory. On this occasion, I had just distilled some phenol into a large glass cylinder. When I picked up the cylinder, the bottom dropped out, and hot phenol poured onto my leg. I was required to go to the infirmary, where a nurse applied some ointment to relieve the pain and bandaged the burn. She told me that blisters would form and that I could expect to stay in bed for at least ten days under the care of a physician.
All this time I had been silently declaring "the scientific statement of being" given on page 468 of Science and Health In the statement is this sentence: "All is infinite Mind and its infinite manifestation, for God is All-in-all." A few weeks before, I had applied for membership in The Mother Church, and I wanted to rely entirely on God, who is All-in-all, in this emergency. At my request I was taken home, and it was assumed that I was going to call a doctor.
My first thought when I arrived home "was to call a Christian Science practitioner for help. On the way to the telephone, I paused to look at my mail. Among the letters was one from The Mother Church announcing that I had been accepted into membership. The letter included these words: "Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints, and of the household of God" (Eph. 2:19) I was so filled with the joy of this fellowship that I became sure that my need could be met through my own spiritual understanding.
I shut myself in my room and removed the bandages and ointment. The pain then became very severe. I began to read from Science and Health. After about two hours the pain seemed just as intense, but it had become clear to me that pain was no part of man, who is actually the expression of God. I saw that as the spiritual idea of God, man cannot suffer from the belief of life in matter. When I came to the sentence in the textbook which reads (p. 454), "Wait patiently for divine Love to move upon the waters of mortal mind, and form the perfect concept," I lost all sense of urgency for the healing to take place and felt only a desire to praise God. I opened the Bible, read several psalms of praise, and soon afterward fell asleep.
The next morning I was completely healed. Not only were there no blisters, but the skin was entirely normal without any redness or discoloration. I went to work and reported to the nurse that the burn was healed. She was incredulous and asked me to wait for the doctor. But before the doctor arrived she examined me carefully and dismissed me, because my skin was obviously in normal condition.
In the years that have followed, I have had many further proofs of the healing power of Truth, as well as instances of God's loving protection and guidance. When my son was about nine years old, he was bitten on one leg by a dog. The leg became swollen and numb. By filling my thought with the fact of God's ever-presence, I overcame fear, and he was completely healed in a couple of hours.
Whenever I have faithfully applied the rules of Christian Science, harmony has resulted in my life. Also, the understanding of God as omniscience, or the source of all true knowledge, has enabled me to make steady progress in my career as a research chemist.
I am grateful for the spiritual progress which has come to me since I became a member of a branch church and for the privilege of serving as First Reader.
Christian Science is indeed the Comforter promised by Christ Jesus. I am deeply grateful for him and for Mrs. Eddy, who has given to the world the scientific method of following in his footsteps. — Clayton, New Jersey.
