I am grateful that my mother found Christian Science. It was at the height of the great Depression, and life was very difficult for her at that time. Dad could find no architectural work for which he had been trained, and other jobs were practically nonexistent. Mom was a free-lance journalist, but she brought in little income. They had two young children and a baby and were living with parents. Existence seemed bleak.
Mom was planning to write an article for The Christian Science Monitor, and she decided to attend a service in a branch Church of Christ, Scientist. At the church she met a woman who expressed all the qualities that Mom so desperately desired: poise, stability, and joy. The woman lovingly assured Mom that because these qualities are derived from God, they are readily available to all. She showed her how to study the Bible Lesson (outlined in the Christian Science Quarterly) for daily inspiration.
Mother felt that Christian Science was what she had been searching for. She scraped together enough money to purchase her own set of books—the Bible and Science and Health by Mrs. Eddy, as well as a Quarterly—and began daily study. She would sit down after breakfast with her books, her cup of coffee, and a cigarette and read. Things began to happen. First, she gained freedom from the smoking. Next, the coffee lost its appeal, and she quit drinking it. What was left was her devotion to a study of the Bible Lesson each morning. Later she found the words were blurring as she read, so she laid aside the reading glasses she had worn for years because she could now read without them.
