I was in my thirties when I found Christian Science, and at that time had been smoking for twenty-six years. As my love and appreciation for Christian Science grew, I wanted very much to become a church member. To unite with the church, I knew I needed to be free of the use of tobacco, and although I was very addicted, I also very much wanted a healing. So I asked a Christian Science practitioner to help in praying for my freedom.
I remember thinking this wasn't something I was doing for God; it was something God was doing for me. And although I struggled off and on for several months, I was finally able to stop smoking. Among other things, my prayer involved the realization that true and dependable substance, which I could always lean on for comfort and satisfaction, was spiritual and came from God. Also that addiction was an illusion of physical sense, counteracted by spiritual sense, which frees from unhealthy reliances.
About two months later I was having a postnatal examination. By that time I was relying on prayer alone, and no longer using medication. But the birth of my baby had been by Caesarean section, and I felt it was wise to have the surgeon check the incision. During the examination he listened to my heart and lungs, and then said to me that it was easy to see I'd never smoked—that there was "nothing in my lungs but air." I nearly fell off the table with surprise and joy. As a newcomer to Christian Science, I was especially impressed by the depth and thoroughness of that healing. It has now been fourteen years, and the desire to smoke has never returned.
