I first knew of Christian Science many years ago when my mother was seriously ill with cancer. She had already had one operation, and was terrified when she was told that unless she had another one she would die. I remember that she telephoned her brother, who had been a Christian Scientist for many years, and asked him if his religion could help her. He replied that it surely could and that he was glad she had asked. He had her get in touch with a Christian Science practitioner. She also bought Science and Health, began to read it along with the Bible, and started going to church. With help from the practitioner, she was completely healed in about three months; she said she never remembered feeling so well. And she lived for another twenty years after this.
I went to a Christian Science church for the first time simply because my mother didn't want to go on her own. It was a Wednesday evening testimony meeting, and I thought it was marvellous. I felt as though I had come home; the thought that God is Love, and that He didn't create evil of any kind, impressed me tremendously. I do remember, however, asking at one time, "How do I know this is true—why should I believe something written by an American woman whom I have never heard of?" Then I thought of my mother's healing and of testimonies of healing I had heard. I decided that if I could prove it, my answer would be self-evident.
The first healing brought about by my own prayers was of a very severe cold and sore throat—I had been told I ought to go to bed because of it. Instead I picked up a Christian Science Sentinel and read it from cover to cover, trying to understand and practice what I was reading. I put it down in disgust, for I felt no better at all. Then I thought of the healings I had heard and read about. And I just turned away mentally from the evidence of the illness and tried to see that God was filling all space. Suddenly I saw it, and it was like a light. I realised nothing unlike good could exist if God was All. And every symptom just vanished immediately. I kept sniffing the air and saying to myself, "It's gone, it's gone!" I was perfectly healed and felt marvellous.
