One cannot inherit the spiritual understanding of Christian Science from human parents, for it comes through individual growth. My mother was a Christian Scientist before I was born, but at the age of twenty I came under the influence of one whose religious views confused me and turned me away from Science. Frightened, I clung to matter for support. During more than twenty years I learned through the dark experiences of mortal life the futility of seeking to rely on material sense.
Finally I learned that "breaking away from the mutations of time and sense, you will neither lose the solid objects and ends of life nor your own identity. Fixing your gaze on the realities supernal, you will rise to the spiritual consciousness of being, even as the bird which has burst from the egg and preens its wings for a skyward flight" (Science and Health by Mrs. Eddy, p. 261).
I returned to claim my true heritage and experienced the new birth of spiritual understanding. I at once became an active member of a branch church and a member of The Mother Church. These progressive steps led to class instruction.
