Although my parents were Christian Scientists, I had not realized the peace and illumination available through the study of Science, until long after I had married. At the time of our marriage, my wife had only recently become interested in this Science, but she perceived a sweetness and light in it that were and are a revelation to me. I am grateful to her for her patience and understanding in helping me out of many difficulties, one of which I relate here.
I had dark periods of depression, in which I preserved an unfriendly silence or made cutting remarks. I accepted this as part of my makeup. Although I was not violent, I was often tempted to be, but something always held me back. When one does not know the truth about one's true spiritual nature, lies seem true. I had to learn that moroseness was not my true nature and disposition.
I now frequently enjoy—and in a measure, I believe, understand—what Mrs. Eddy has to say in an article entitled "Ways that are Vain" (The First Church of Christ, Scientist, and Miscellany, p. 213): "Unless one's eyes are opened to the modes of mental malpractice, working so subtly that we mistake its suggestions for the impulses of our own thought, the victim will allow himself to drift in the wrong direction without knowing it." In another passage of the same article she points out that our health can be undermined, and disposition spoiled, unless we recognize the error and destroy it.
