I am grateful to have had early instruction in a Christian Science Sunday School. This has meant a great deal to me in establishing freedom from fear of disease, and it has protected me from many common material beliefs that are generally accepted.
During my high school years, however, I was plagued with a feeling of timidity and inferiority; and since others were smoking, I decided to follow the crowd. Several years later, I also thought that drinking socially might help solve my problem. These practices, of course, did not help me but actually clouded my apprehension of the truth as taught in Christian Science. I awakened to this when I read and pondered these few words, found in the Gospel of Luke in the parable of the prodigal son, "and when he came to himself" (15:17). At last I came to myself and could see that I had been under a delusion in reasoning falsely and distorting values, for I felt the need of church membership and very much desired it. This I knew I could not seek until freedom from these habits had been demonstrated. The smoking habit did not yield as easily as I had expected, and so I sought the help of a practitioner.
He assured me that I could be free. The statement of Mrs. Eddy on page 1 of Science and Health, "Desire is prayer; and no loss can occur from trusting God with our desires, that they may be moulded and exalted before they take form in words and in deeds," was a source of inspiration to me. This healing was accomplished soon after the practitioner began to give me treatment, and the social drinking habit disappeared also. I was thus able to seek membership in a branch church and, to my joy, I was accepted.
