When I was in my early twenties, a young wife and mother, I became ill and was under the care of medical specialists all one summer. After many examinations and tests I was told I had three incurable diseases—enteritis, a heart condition, and a nervous condition. The first ailment necessitated a very rigid diet, the slightest deviation from which caused great suffering. I was given three kinds of medication to take daily, and I was told I could not care for my two small children as a normal mother would. This was especially difficult because my husband was in the Navy and away from home a great deal.
I knew nothing of the theology of Christian Science, but I did know that it healed. A college student who was a Christian Scientist was living in my home at that time. I had witnessed an overnight healing she had had of a terrible cold. Some time later I was ill myself and asked this girl to run an errand for me as I was too ill to go out. Within five minutes all symptoms of the illness vanished, and I felt the greatest peace I'd ever known. I knew this girl's spiritual understanding had brought my healing, and I was sure I'd be a Christian Scientist someday.
Now, in my desperation, I visited the office of a Christian Science practitioner and poured out my tale of woe. She prayed for me and explained something of the spiritual significance of some passages in the book of Genesis. She pointed out that in the allegory of Adam, he never woke from his deep sleep, a point that she said hints at the dreamlike nature of mortal existence. This was a tremendously profound point, and I left her office healed. I began to see the significance of awaking spiritually to man's true selfhood as God's child, instead of accepting the Adam-dream of God supposedly creating a fallible, mortal creation. I also began to live and eat normally, taking no medication, and this has continued for fifty years.
