I was brought up in a religious home and sequestered environment in which we all had a staunch faith in traditional Christian doctrines of our church. I liked this quality of staunchness and looked upon it as a kind of anchor, though it never satisfied me. Beyond the moral teaching it had little relevance to my daily life. In my early teens I began to feel a want for a religion that could give me this relevance.
From infancy I had a condition of inactive bowels. My mother consulted with different physicians but treatments brought only relief, not a cure. With the passing years the condition often worsened. It was the opinion of the last physician who attended me that one of the organs involved was not in the correct position. Soon after this, in my early twenties, a dear cousin gave me a beautiful book. It was Science and Health by Mrs. Eddy. My cousin made no comment other than that she had been reading it, so I had no idea what to expect. From the first pages I knew it was what I longed for, and I read avidly. In view of what followed, it is interesting that I had no expectation, not even a hope, that the book could heal my physical condition.
One day after five or six weeks I was suddenly conscious of a marked change in my body and my whole being. It was a sacred moment that is as vivid to me now as when it happened. The joy I felt was not only for the physical healing but also for the realization that I had found a religion to live by. In all these years there has never been a return of the bowel trouble.
