About ten years ago when our family was living in an Asian city, I was serving as First Reader for the group of Christian Scientist there. I had recently presented copies of Science and Health by Mrs. Eddy to my two dearest friends. They belonged to the staff of the international school where I was teaching, and I had invited them to attend a Sunday service with me.
In the early morning hours of the day that I had arranged to bring my friends to our service, I became Ill. There were repeated bouts of vomiting, and it appeared that I would not be able to read at the service.
The Bible Lesson for that week (outlined in the Christian Science Quarterly), which I had been prayerfully studying each day, included in the passages from Science and Health excerpts from a "trial," an allegory that is employed to illustrate two contrasting ways to confronting disease.
