Christian Science has been my "refuge and fortress" for more than seventy years. My mother was healed of a debilitating illness when I was four years old. I remember vividly that she was confined to a hammock, unable to carry out her household duties, until a kind neighbor brought her a copy of the Christian Science textbook, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy. Mother read that book and was quickly able to resume her normal activity in our home as a farm wife and mother.
When I was six years old, an epidemic of scarlet fever plagued our community, and I came home from school with a raging fever. Mother put me to bed and read to me from Science and Health until I went to sleep. I woke completely free from any symptoms of the disease.
Our family began attending Sunday services at a local Christian Science Society, despite my father's objection, after Mother experienced another healing—this time of a heart ailment. I entered the house one day to find her in great distress. She asked me to read to her from the textbook, which I did with complete faith and assurance, and the difficulty vanished instantly. The healing was complete and she lived on into her nineties in good health.
