It has been a century since Mary Baker Eddy ordained the Bible and her book Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures as pastor over the Church of Christ, Scientist; and a half century since the pastor first began healing me.
In World War II, these two books accompanied me overseas on a crowded troopship through submarine-infested waters. They freed me from the fear of being torpedoed, trapped, sunk. To be sure, with each submarine alert, the pastor went topside with me. And Sunday morning at sunup the pastor preached to five of us on the bow of the ship—the only quiet time and place available.
One day I read in Science and Health, "The Christian Scientist has enlisted to lessen evil, disease, and death; and he will overcome them by understanding their nothingness and the allness of God, or good." Science and Health, p. 450 So I decided to enlist in the healing service of God. But what is the basic training of such a soldier? I wondered. Science and Health states, "The Bible contains the recipe for all healing." Ibid., p. 406 So I searched the Scriptures. I underlined what I understood. Soon the Old Testament took on more meaning and the New Testament became alive with inspiration. Now I had the recipe. But what to do with it? This is where Science and Health came in. It spiritually interprets the Bible, and it guided me in following the recipe for healing.
