For several years I had difficulty falling asleep, sometimes spending two to four nights a week tossing and turning, battling troubling thoughts. I prayed a great deal, but without much success—there would be improvement for a week or two, but then I would be back where I started.
Finally I decided to take my small tape recorder to bed and listen to recordings of hymns, articles from our periodicals, and Mrs. Eddy's writings. This became the only way in which I could fall asleep.
After doing this for quite some time, I began to feel that it was not right; while I enjoyed listening to the tapes, which brought me peace, I felt I was using them as a crutch—almost like taking a pill. So one night I decided not to take the tape recorder to bed. I thought of a verse from the Bible: "I will both lay me down in peace, and sleep: for thou, Lord, only makest me dwell in safety" (Ps. 4:8). I still had a struggle to feel peaceful. Further prayer for this promised peace brought the word atmosphere to my thought, followed by the first two lines from Hymn 144: "In atmosphere of Love divine, /We live, and move, and breathe"(Christian Science Hymnal).
