At the age of four, as I repeated the Lord's Prayer aloud to a Christian Science practitioner whom my parents had met, I was healed instantaneously of a severe case of scarlet fever. My parents were not Christian Scientists, but the seed of Truth sown in my consciousness at that time sprang up in an earnest desire to attend a Christian Science Sunday School when I was thirteen. Although it meant carfare for me, an earlier rising and a later dinner, my parents willingly consented to my enrollment there, insisting on my steady attendance even when they were unable to accompany me. For this I shall be forever grateful, because from the very first I accepted wholeheartedly the fact that God can heal any discordant condition.
In my early twenties I was in a taxi that was struck forcibly by a streetcar, and I was taken to a hospital unconscious. I recall awakening en route and declaring that God is man's Life. I lost consciousness again and regained it in the emergency room. Immediately I asked that no medication be given me and requested that a Christian Science practitioner be called. My requests were complied with in a friendly manner.
Because two public vehicles had been involved in the accident, it was necessary for me to be X-rayed in order to comply with the regulations of their companies. I was suffering from concussion, and the pictures showed that I had some broken ribs and an injury to some of my vertebrae. The Bible, together with Science and Health by Mrs. Eddy, was brought to me, and I studied daily the healing truths in each. Within a week after a practitioner began prayerful work for me, I was released from the hospital, having signed a paper accepting responsibility for my action in leaving. I was able to return to work as usual right away.
