Reading Science and Health by Mrs. Eddy from cover to cover in ten days was my introduction to Christian Science literature. Three months later during an ice storm I fell, injuring my mouth on the sidewalk. After reaching the house I started to take care of my injuries, wondering if my mouth needed stitches. I said aloud, "If what I've been reading in Science and Health is true, I'm all right!"
Putting away the first-aid remedies, I sat down to think about this startling statement I had uttered. The first line from Psalm 23 came into my thought: "The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want." It came to me very simply with more meaning than ever before, "I know I don't have to want for perfection. I already am God's idea." Within an hour this first simple joy of realizing man's permanent perfection healed me. By morning every trace of injury was gone.
Rapidly reading all of Mrs. Eddy's books from the public library, I grasped some spiritual insight of Christian Science teachings. The Bible stories I had grown up with came alive. The three men in the fiery furnace, Daniel in the lions' den, and Paul, who had the poisonous snakebite, were seen to have been healed and preserved as the natural result of God's law of perfection recognized and applied—not as miraculous happenings.
