I have been a Christian Scientist all my life and have loved it every step of the way. During my childhood and teens I had many convincing healings—some with the prayerful help of a Christian Science practitioner and several through my own spiritual treatment alone. One of the early healings that came as a result of my own prayer was the complete healing of my hand in a few hours with no scar after it split between my thumb and forefinger when I caught a baseball. A previous similar injury had taken eight weeks to heal and had left a scar.
When I was nineteen I had Christian Science class instruction and thereafter entered the Navy (this was during World War II). About a year later I found myself with a painful back difficulty and an unexplainable swelling on my thigh. The Navy medical personnel showed great concern, and I was sent to a naval hospital in Corona, California. The medical diagnosis was that I had tuberculosis of the spine. X-rays showed decomposition of certain vertebrae. The resulting suppuration had accumulated in my thigh. The physicians told me that the condition was fatal and that even if I should survive, I would never be able to walk.
I was given a medical discharge and was taken in a body cast to my parents' second home in Santa Barbara to "live out my remaining days." There, although under nursing care, I was free from medical treatment. (Although I had been medically confined by the Navy before this, I had taken no medication.)
