Several years ago I found myself with a physical condition that seemed quite serious, though the trouble was never diagnosed. The symptoms included fatigue, loss of appetite, and difficulty in breathing. When my own prayer did not heal the case, I sought the help of a Christian Science practitioner.
My first plea to the practitioner, as I now see it, was one of self-pity. I told him that I was sick and too tired for the study of Christian Science. Furthermore, my husband was no longer living, so why did it matter whether I stayed around? The practitioner was most adamant in trying to show me how wrong such thinking was. He stressed, among other things, that since God makes all that really is, and all that He creates is good, illness has no foundation in reality. Therefore I could not possibly suffer from something that did not actually exist! From time to time he recommended that I read certain excerpts from the Bible and Mrs. Eddy's writings.
As I began to apply the truths gleaned from my study and from the practitioner's helpful remarks, I found that inspiration and joy were replacing depression. I could understand, too, as had earlier been pointed out, that death represented no release; I would still have to face the same problems and work them out. Mrs. Eddy tells us (Science and Health, p. 291), "Mortals need not fancy that belief in the experience of death will awaken them to glorified being." And she continues on the same page: "As man falleth asleep, so shall he awake. As death findeth mortal man, so shall he be after death, until probation and growth shall effect the needed change."
