Christian Science came into my life in 1932, when I was a very young girl. My father had attended a Christian Science Sunday School for a few years as a boy and during that time had memorized "the scientific statement of being" (Science and Health by Mrs. Eddy, p. 468). He did not pursue the study of Science, although during World War I, on the battlefield, when fear tried to grip him, he did find peace and protection in repeating the statement, which concludes: "Spirit is God, and man is His image and likeness. Therefore man is not material; he is spiritual." Still he did not resume the study of Christian Science until 1932, when its truths saved his life.
My parents and I were on vacation in Florida. My father, who was not a good swimmer, had swum into the rough Atlantic Ocean near the end of a groin. He immediately found himself in a whirlpool in a seemingly bottomless sea. He told us later that his life had begun to pass before him in memory while he struggled in the water. As his childhood came back to him, he remembered the words of "the scientific statement of being" learned in Sunday School and held to it while he struggled in the ocean. Quite suddenly the undertow that had been dragging him out to sea turned and carried him in to shore.
When we arrived home, my father obtained a copy of Science and Health. Both my parents began to study Christian Science, I was soon enrolled in a Christian Science Sunday School, and one of the first things I learned was "the scientific statement of being." Healings came to us in abundance during the years following. One stands out in my memory, and I should like to relate it.
