I should like to express my deep gratitude for Christian Science and to acknowledge all the good that has been mine through it. I was brought up in Science as a young girl, but it was not until after I married that I began the study of it for myself.
A short time after the birth of our first son, I fell into such a state of mental depression and fear that at times I thought of taking my life. A practitioner gave me treatment. It was a prolonged case, and I was afraid that my limited understanding of Science was not enough to enable me to be healed in spite of the good work being done by the practitioner. One day, in reading an article in the Journal, I came across a sentence explaining that we need not try to take in more than our daily bread because we cannot digest more. I continued my study, but without the desperate struggle to literally cram myself; and my release came.
During this time I found it difficult to ask my husband for the necessary money to pay for my treatment, because he was not a student of Science; but I was grateful that he did not insist that I have medical treatment. I mentioned to the practitioner that I wished there was some way I could earn money that I could use as my own, and at the same time pay household bills with, for at that time we were dependent on our crop for our living. She told me to make it a subject of prayer, that God supplies all our needs, and that what was right for me would be manifested.
I did as she recommended, and within a year's time the opportunity for me to go into the poultry business in a small way arose, and my husband agreed to erect the building necessary to start. In the fourteen years since I have been led to change and enlarge the flock until it is now the largest in our immediate area and a major contributor to our farm income.
When our second child was expected, it appeared to human sense that the baby was overdue. A throat infection appeared, and I could neither eat nor drink. Since we had no telephone at the time, I drove into town to telephone to the practitioner who had been working for me at times during my pregnancy, as there was the complication of incompatible blood types. There was no answer at her residence, so I returned home. I had just arrived when the practitioner drove in, coming fifty miles from the city; she said she had felt I needed her. She stayed with me that afternoon, talking and reading to me, and before she left I was able to drink and eat a little. Shortly after, the swellings in my throat broke and drained, and that night I was able to eat normally for the first time in several days. Two days later our second son was born with no blood complications whatever.
When our evergreen trees were infested by a type of caterpillar which was said to kill the trees, my husband wanted to spray them, but was told by the local agriculturist that it was not advisable, since the trees bordered the poultry range and the birds would be killed if they ate the poisoned caterpillars. A practitioner did prayerful work, and in a few days the infestation had disappeared and not a tree died.
Our boys have had healings through Christian Science, and I am grateful that my husband supports my stand in not having inoculations; also that the boys are not required to take the health course in school.
One boy, our oldest, had a healing of boils, one of which appeared on his arm. During physical training in school he was hit where the boil was located. The instructor wanted to take him to the doctor, but the boy took his stand and refused to go. The arm was bandaged at the school, and when he came home, I put on a fresh bandage. I telephoned a practitioner and told her that the boy was going through a difficult stage in his experience. She assured me that actually there is no such thing as adolescence, that God's child does not go through certain states or stages but is always at the state of perfection. I pointed out to the lad that disparaging remarks about certain of his classmates and impatience and sulkiness at home were errors which must be eradicated from his experience. As God's child, he could only express love.
The quotation from Science and Health by Mrs. Eddy (p. 463), "A spiritual idea has not a single element of error, and this truth removes properly whatever is offensive," was held to at this time, and the following morning, two large cores came away from the area, and within a few days the discharge had ceased. At no time did the boy miss any activities in or out of school, taking his regular position on his hockey team, and so on.
Burns, colds, and a tendency to bilious attacks have all been healed through Science. I am deeply grateful for Christ Jesus, for Mrs. Eddy, who established the Christian Science movement, for our practitioners, and for our periodicals, from which we derive so much good. My prayer is that I may live my life as a testimony to this wonderful religion.
Didsbury, Alberta, Canada
