In childhood we are often given things outright, but, as a rule, the further we advance in life, the more we have to earn rewards of good. The writer best remembers those rewards in his early youth earned through direct efforts rather than those things given him outright, even though they were given with love.
The rewards of healing resulting from the application of Christian Science come in much the same way. First healings often come quickly through little actual knowledge, on the part of the individual healed, of what Christian Science is or does. Perhaps he has called a Christian Science practitioner or has attended a Christian Science lecture or church service and has experienced for the first time the wonderful glow of physical healing through spiritual means. What brought it about? How can he duplicate it in the future? Can he learn to heal himself through spiritual means?
How reassuring it is through the study of Christian Science to find that the majority of healings experienced by an adherent of it come about through his own individual efforts, through complete and wholehearted dependence on God instead of on men! Sometimes these healing rewards are instantaneous, but at other times deep and persistent thought searching is required before the student gains freedom from a particular difficulty. Frequently the latter experiences are the ones through which the most marked changes for the better occur in his life, benefits far beyond the mere release from physical discomfort.
