My father and mother were members of an orthodox Christian church in a small town. They were very strong in their faith. Then one Sunday afternoon they went to visit a relative whom they had not seen for several years. She told them of a wonderful book called Science and Health by Mrs. Eddy. She asked them to take the book home with them and read it, saying, "If you find in it anything that is not true, burn it." They read the book and then returned it. Soon they purchased a copy of their own and took up the study of Christian Science; but I myself did not become an earnest student of it until later.
Soon after my marriage I suffered severe pain. In this time of need I read the Bible and Science and Health faithfully, but the pain continued. Then I invited a friend to dinner. Late in the evening I told her about my ailment, and she replied that it sounded like a certain kidney trouble. My husband then asked me to see a doctor. I replied, "I am going to write to a Christian Science practitioner for help, and if I am healed, I am willing to become a Christian Scientist."
I had heard of a practitioner in a nearby town; so I wrote asking her for treatment through prayer. When I thought it was time to receive an answer, I walked down to the post office to collect it. It was there but I did not open it right away. As I walked along, a great unfoldment of truth came to me, and my thought was illumined. After reading the letter, I turned to "the scientific statement of being," given on page 468 of Science and Health, and every line revealed a wonderful truth. One of these facts is that "there is no life, truth, intelligence, nor substance in matter." Through the work of this practitioner not only was I healed, but the door of my thought was opened to a clearer understanding of Truth and Love.
During the period of menopause I had a difficulty which did not at first yield to Christian Science treatment. My husband eventually insisted on my having medical treatment; but since this was not successful, it was recommended that I have an operation. This I refused to do. I called a practitioner in another state, and he uplifted my thought right away. He worked faithfully for several days, and my complete healing resulted. There was no return of the trouble.
I should like to tell also of a healing experienced by my daughter. She had suffered for some time with asthma and hay fever. When the suffering was extreme, her husband would bring her to be with me. One day when she came, the symptoms were severe. I talked with her of spiritual truths for a while; then I told her to go home, and I would continue to pray for her. An hour later I called her, and she said she was well.
A few days later her husband brought her to me again, and the condition was as bad as ever. It may have been that her faith was more in me than in the truths she had declared. On page 420 of the textbook we read, "If it becomes necessary to startle mortal mind to break its dream of suffering, vehemently tell your patient he must awake." On the next page Mrs. Eddy writes: "Insist vehemently on the great fact which covers the whole ground, that God, Spirit, is all, and that there is none beside Him. There is no disease." I audibly did my best to obey these two injunctions, and the result was a healing which has remained permanent.
It has been my privilege and joy to feel the nearness of the love of The Mother Church for its members and to serve in a branch church.— Oskaloosa, Iowa.
