The thought of death often seems very frightening. That's how it was for me when, at the age of about twenty-one, I went to fetch a book from a top shelf and suddenly passed out. The experience of losing consciousness left me feeling terribly afraid and vulnerable. From then on I would start up out of sleep time and again, filled with fear that death would take me away.
Then I became acquainted with Christian Science, which affirms that God redeems us from sin, sickness, and death. After experiencing very impressive instantaneous healings of physical problems soon after taking up the earnest study of this teaching, I did not doubt that the proposition concerning the overcoming of death had to be just as true.
At one point, after waking up in a panic because of this fear of death, I firmly resolved not to give in to it anymore. The thought came to me, "God is my Life." I clung to this idea with all my strength so that no other considerations could arise in me. Gradually I relaxed and grew calm, fell asleep, and spent the rest of the night at rest. I found that this nighttime battle of refusing to submit to fear was repeated over a period of months. Then, one day as I was praying, I became filled with the conviction that my fears were unfounded and that my growing faith had helped me perceive this. From that moment on, the thought of dying lost its terror, and the fits disappeared.
