During my early years I was much troubled by the suffering I saw, particularly by innocent and helpless animals. I had a great desire to know God, but it seemed that either God did not care about these things, and so was not all-loving, or that He could not do anything to help, which meant that He was not omnipotent. The only concept of God which had any meaning for me was that of an all-knowing, all-inclusive, all-loving creator.
When I was working in my first post, Christian Science was lovingly presented to me by a colleague, who had just taken up its study because repeated absence from her work on account of illness threatened her with the need to resign. The change in the health and activity of this friend, to whom I shall always be grateful, was speedy and remarkable.
Early in my study of the Christian Science textbook, Science and Health by Mrs. Eddy, I found these words (p. 70): "The divine Mind maintains all identities, from a blade of grass to a star, as distinct and eternal." This short sentence gave me the all-knowing, all-inclusive, all-loving creator I had been seeking, and was correlated with the teaching of Christ Jesus: "Are not five sparrows sold for two farthings, and not one of them is forgotten before God?" (Luke 12:6.) Soon I was able to prove the truth of these statements by helping birds and other creatures in need, and great was my joy that I had found a demonstrable understanding of God.
