Although as a young child I attended a Christian Science Sunday School, I left it altogether at the age of ten and never gave Christian Science another thought until I was married and had three young children of my own. Then one day I happened to take a mental inventory of myself and was quite dismayed to discover how little there was to admire in myself. Through the years I had become more and more materially-minded and had therefore developed many false traits of character with the result that most of the time I felt irritable and unhappy.
It was then I started wondering about Christian Science, and I recalled having seen among my books one about Mrs. Eddy, which had been in the home for years and never opened. Now I searched for it, found it, and read it right through. It was Julia Michael Johnston's "Mary Baker Eddy: Her Mission and Triumph," and it awoke in me enough admiration for Mrs. Eddy to want to read her book Science and Health. So I immediately went out to borrow this book from a friend whom I knew to be a Christian Scientist. It took me about three days to read the textbook from cover to cover. Each word in it seemed to be divinely inspired, and I could hardly bear to put the book down for an instant. It was an experience I shall always remember.
At that time I was a fairly heavy smoker, but as soon as I finished the book the desire for cigarettes left me completely and has never returned. Simultaneously I was healed of frequent cramps, sinus trouble, and chronic bronchitis, although I only became aware of this some months later when I realized these complaints had not returned.
