Both of my parents took up the study of Christian Science when I was still an infant. Eventually they became class-taught students and as a result I enjoyed a childhood which was very happy. Family problems were solved through scientific prayer. I attended a Christian Science Sunday School from the time I was three years of age and accepted my parents' way of life without question.
In the Bible it states (Gal. 6:4, 5): “But let every man prove his own work, and then shall he have rejoicing in himself alone, and not in another. For every man shall bear his own burden.” So it was, in time, that I found the importance of learning how to make my own demonstration in Christian Science and to prove my understanding of God and man, no matter how little that understanding seemed to be. In Science and Health Mrs. Eddy has written (p. 323): "In order to apprehend more, we must put into practice what we already know. We must recollect that Truth is demonstrable when understood, and that good is not understood until demonstrated."
The first test of my faith came when I was a senior in high school and only a few months away from graduation. My family and I were in an automobile accident and I was injured. Several cars were involved and ambulances were called to the scene. Someone insisted I should be taken to the hospital, since my injuries appeared to be serious. I was not completely conscious or coherent right then, but I remember that my mother, who accompanied me in the ambulance, kept declaring aloud many truths from Science and Health and insisted that I repeat aloud with her the Lord's Prayer.
