I am unspeakably grateful to my dear mother who was the first of our family to become a student of Christian Science. At the time, I was in my teens and an active member of a church of my own choice, although I had begun to wonder if this was all that was required to "enter into the kingdom of heaven." I had no interest in Christian Science, although I readily acknowledged the improvement in my mother's health after she began its study. I mistakenly believed that Christian Science was mainly for physical healing.
During the first year of my marriage a physical difficulty of my own did not yield to medical treatment, and in my discouragement I was ready to turn to Christian Science. I telephoned my mother and asked her to repeat "the scientific statement of being" slowly so that I could write it down for study. I had heard my younger brother and sister, who were students in the Christian Science Sunday School, repeat it, and I knew it was an important statement in their application of Christian Science. It is from Science and Health by Mrs. Eddy and begins (p. 468): "There is no life, truth, intelligence, nor substance in matter. All is infinite Mind and its infinite manifestation, for God is All-in-all."
From that day I wholeheartedly accepted the teachings of this wonderful way of life and received many healing benefits from them. I found it to be a religion that glorifies God to the highest degree, and one that requires proofs of the student's understanding. Mrs. Eddy states (ibid., p. 28), "While respecting all that is good in the Church or out of it, one's consecration to Christ is more on the ground of demonstration than of profession." I joined the branch Church of Christ, Scientist, in that town and later The Mother Church. I have been blessed by class instruction from a devoted teacher and have received inspiration from the weekly Bible Lesson in the Christian Science Quarterly. They like the Lord's "compassions fail not. They are new every morning" (Lam. 3:22, 23), revealing fresh aspects of inexhaustible Truth. During many years of work in special events and publicity, The Christian Science Monitor has been a constant source of timely information on a wide variety of pertinent subjects. Its educational value is also appreciated.
