About two years ago I became ill, suffering from a serious condition affecting my back, and I was unable to get out of bed or to move without severe pain. My husband called a Christian Science practitioner for help for me, which was promptly and lovingly given through prayer. However, because of the nature of the symptoms, we thought that perhaps the trouble might prove to be contagious, in which case it would be necessary to have it reported to the proper authorities. For this reason, a physician was called. When he had made an examination, he said that I was suffering from poliomyelitis and must be taken at once to a hospital. My husband explained that I wanted to depend upon Christian Science for my healing; so the physician kindly retired from the case, though he obviously had no faith that I would recover. He said, however, that it would be all right for me to be at home, since the neighborhood in which we live is rather secluded.
Work in Science was continued, and the practitioner came to me each day, sitting beside my bed and pouring into my consciousness truths of God and man and of my indestructible relationship to God as in reality one of His ideas. At first I was unable to retain any of them. As soon as they were spoken, they would leave me. After a day or two, the practitioner began to bring statements of truth written on very small pieces of paper, which I could hold, to study and try to memorize. This was not an easy task, as I could not think clearly or retain anything for more than a few minutes. After a few days, however, I did manage to memorize a few passages from Science and Health by Mrs. Eddy.
A passage which stands out as one of the beacons on my way out of the darkness is found on pages 470 and 471, and reads, "The relations of God and man, divine Principle and idea, are indestructible in Science; and Science knows no lapse from nor return to harmony, but holds the divine order or spiritual law, in which God and all that He creates are perfect and eternal, to have remained unchanged in its eternal history." This shows clearly that the real man can never for an instant be touched by any inharmony.
