A visit I made to a Christian Science Reading Room during the mid-1970s changed my life. My daughter was young, and I had wanted to purchase a gift for her. I bought a set of recordings by children who sang and read passages from Mary Baker Eddy's writings. The children's voices so inspired me that I set out on a journey to discover my own childlikeness and spirituality. Even though I had attended a Christian Science Sunday School while growing up, I had never really yearned to claim for myself my own spirituality until that time.
During the years since that experience, I have had many opportunities to work in Reading Rooms. I have met people from all walks of life in this work, and almost everyone has been on a search for spiritual answers.
There is a testimony in the Christian Science textbook, Science and Health by Mary Baker Eddy, in which the testifier tells of visiting a Reading Room for the first time, and says, ... the first book I picked up was Science and Health which opened a new world to me." As a result of reading Science and Health, the testifier reports being healed of a stomach disorder and a smoking habit. The account continues, "After coming back East, I bought a copy of Science and Health, which I have read daily, and find it a continual help in all the affairs of life." Science and Health, pp. 679-681
