My introduction to Christian Science was through a high school friend. I soon became acquainted with other Christian Scientists, and we made up a rather tightknit little group with one particular individual whom we all looked up to and considered quite wonderful.
This went on for a number of years, and since I had been with these people from the beginning, I didn't question what I now regard as a personality cult or dissident group. While these individuals were active in and supportive of the Church, there was much criticism of members who were not considered up to par and much circulation of incorrect literature on Christian Science, which was written by the person in the group we admired so highly.
One day, several years after this individual passed on, I suffered a complete mental collapse, resulting in deep depression and a feeling much of the time that all was lost—even my belief in God. I now consider that this breakdown happened largely because I had not made the understanding of God practical in my own life, and had leaned unwisely on the person of others.
