In Science and Health Mrs. Eddy has written (p. 249), "Let us feel the divine energy of Spirit, bringing us into newness of life and recognizing no mortal nor material power as able to destroy." For this "divine energy of Spirit" coming through the study and application of Christian Science, I am sincerely grateful. It has brought healings into my experience both through help received from practitioners and my own application. Some of these healings were those of headaches, nervous conditions, influenza, and abscessed ears. I have had many instances of divine protection, when driving, while keeping my thoughts filled with statements from the Christian Science Quarterly Lesson-Sermon for that week.
The following experience shows the particular help I received through the current Christian Science literature. My father passed on, and I was healed of grief through the understanding of eternal Life. However, immediately afterward I was troubled by the memory of his physical presence in his favorite chair. On reaching home one day I picked up the current Christian Science Sentinel and opened it at random to a testimony referring to a similar instance in which the individual came to realize that her dear one had always been a spiritual idea reflecting qualities of God and could only be remembered in that way. I was immediately freed from missing him and remembering physical appearances.
I am grateful for the privilege of attending a Christian Science Sunday School all my early years and joining both The Mother Church and a branch church at that time. When I married later on, my progress in Science seemed slow and my problems many. During these years my greatest desire was to have class instruction. I began to pray and study more consistently. I read Joseph Armstrong's book, The Mother Church. This proved most helpful as I read of all the problems that faced those early builders and how these difficulties were worked out in Christian Science. Noteworthy to me was the fact that when the builders accepted the thought that the church could be finished by a certain date, renewed efforts brought about the accomplishment of this goal. This, together with the following verse from the Bible, strengthened my courage to have class: "For if there be first a willing mind, it is accepted according to that a man hath, and not according to that he hath not" (II Cor. 8:12). I realized that my sincere desire was only the beginning and that I must openly strive for its accomplishment.
