My parents are earnest students of Christian Science, and when I was still a baby, I was healed of crossed eyes. For a year my parents tried to work out the problem through their own study and prayer. Finally they asked for the help of a practitioner. She kept them busy studying passages in the Bible and in Science and Health by Mrs. Eddy and often they read aloud to me. The practitioner was insistent that they stick with the truth of man's spiritual being and stop looking at the problem. Within six months my eyes were completely straight.
At an early age I began attending a Christian Science Sunday School. The truths that I learned there gave me a firm foundation upon which to build. During my high school years I was able to successfully apply these truths to problems relating to athletics, relationships with others, and schoolwork, and to physical difficulties.
I then enrolled in a mechanical engineering course at a large university. I did this contrary to the advice of counselors who said that I was unprepared for such a rigorous course of study. Those years, during which I continued to study and apply Christian Science, showed me more than ever that man is not limited, since he is the spiritual idea of the one Mind, God.
A challenging experience climaxed my college career. I was taking a math course by correspondence to complete the requirements for my degree. At the same time I was working on a research project for the engineering department. The correspondence course was extremely difficult for me. Also a secretarial error in some of the problems made them unsolvable. This was uncovered and corrected. But the final examination, upon which so many things hinged—my degree and graduation, an Army commission—was to me quite an obstacle. However, I felt confident of success.
Just before the test I had an interview with an official who expressed doubt about my being commissioned an Army officer should I fail this one examination, although I had passed all my other courses. I allowed this discordant thought to enter my thinking, and I took the test, fearing the outcome. I failed. I then sought the help of a Christian Science practitioner, who emphatically declared that excellence, intelligence, accurate knowledge, and expression are man's by divine right.
Because of his prayerful help an opportunity immediately appeared for me to take another test. This time there was complete dominion over fear and lack of perception, and even though the examination was more difficult, I passed it. This experience was another clear proof of the power of Science to reverse error completely.
Once while I was working under my car at home, a support gave way allowing the full weight of the front half of the car to fall on my chest. (I had removed the front wheels.) I experienced intense pain and was unable to breathe. Hearing the noise, my mother and her maid ran to my aid. They were able, with my help, to lift the car enough for me to slide out from under it.
My mother and I applied the truths of Christian Science relative to the situation. She audibly declared that man is the perfect reflection of God and cannot be hurt. Within five minutes I was able to breathe deeply with no soreness or constriction, and I drove downtown to get another jack. X rays taken by the military authorities a few weeks later showed no trace of injury.
While undergoing officer training, I injured my knee the evening before I was to take a rigorous physical training test, which included running a mile, jumping six-foot-wide trenches, and dodging around barricades. For help I turned to Science and Health. On page 160 I read, "Can muscles, bones, blood, and nerves rebel against mind in one instance and not in another, and become cramped despite the mental protest?" And later on Mrs. Eddy asks (pp. 160, 161): "Is man a material fungus without Mind to help him? Is a stiff joint or a contracted muscle as much a result of law as the supple and elastic condition of the healthy limb, and is God the lawgiver?"
With my consideration of these questions and the prayerful help of my mother, I was able to solve the problem. The next day I came in at sixth place among eighty-six officers in the mile run. The healing has been permanent.
While I have been on duty in Germany, I have clung to the fact that God is Mind, and accidents have been avoided on narrow curving roads by my obedience to sudden mental commands to stop. On one occasion two large military vehicles came around a curve side by side, filling both lanes. I was able to pull safely off the road. I am very grateful for these evidences of God's protection.
Christian Science has done so much for my family and me that space forbids my telling of all the blessings we have had. I am deeply grateful for this demonstrable Science and for our dear Leader, who has so unselfishly shown us the Way.— Stillwater, Oklahoma.
