Thirty-eight years ago I was healed of a nervous breakdown. The illness had seemed to be a culmination of fear, self-will, self-condemnation, and despair. It lasted two years. During this time my friends and family were strange to me; I had no desire except to be left alone. I was like the man in the Bible who lived in the tombs (see Luke 8:27-35). Nothing anyone did could pierce the gloom, apathy, and mental darkness. I couldn't even write a complete sentence.
Some members of the family became frightened at what seemed a very serious situation, for sometimes I showed a tendency to be destructive. They urged that I be sent away. But my mother, a devoted Christian Scientist, said, "Never. You can all leave, if you want to, but this is her home, and this is where she's going to stay!"
This helpful statement was given to us by a Christian Science practitioner (Science and Health by Mrs. Eddy, p. 71): "Nothing is real and eternal,—nothing is Spirit,—but God and His idea. Evil has no reality. It is neither person, place, nor thing, but is simply a belief, an illusion of material sense."
