"The scientific statement of being" on page 468 of Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mrs. Eddy has helped me on many occasions. It reads: "There is no life, truth, intelligence, nor substance in matter. All is infinite Mind and its infinite manifestation, for God is All-in-all. Spirit is immortal Truth; matter is mortal error. Spirit is the real and eternal; matter is the unreal and temporal. Spirit is God, and man is His image and likeness. Therefore man is not material; he is spiritual." This statement was particularly helpful in the two experiences related below.
The first occurred when I was a schoolboy of fifteen and after I had attended a Christian Science Sunday School for several years. During a school vacation my father, with several friends, took me for a day's shooting at a relative's farm while we were holidaying elsewhere in the vicinity. On our arrival we found only the owner and a cousin of mine at home. Being of the same age, my cousin and I were permitted to set off alone. When rain seemed imminent, we decided to return to the farm, and as the others had not returned, my cousin suggested I play the piano while we waited for them. He went ahead into the sitting room. Seeing a revolver his uncle had carelessly left on the piano, and without checking whether it was unloaded, he pointed it at me. Because I was putting my hat on the table, the first I knew of what was happening was when he called out, "Look out! I'll shoot you," and heard a loud report and felt a terrific blow on the chest and a sharp pain.
My cousin, thinking that I might be fatally wounded, wanted to rush out to find the others. Fortunately, instead of collapsing to the floor, I instinctively supported myself against the table and told him I did not want to be left alone in the house. With his support I was able to walk slowly, and by the time we had gone only a very short distance I had recovered from the initial shock. I began mentally to recite over and over again "the scientific statement of being," which I had learned in the Sunday School.
