During my final year of university, a boil developed at the top of my leg. At first I didn't know what it was, and my prodding increased the swelling and inflammation. The condition was very uncomfortable. Over several weeks I prayed about the situation, but the boil seemed unchanged.
Although I loved Christian Science, I had begun to distrust my ability to use prayer in order to heal myself of sickness and physical problems like the boil. I was a long way from home, and my friends were not very supportive of my religion. I had joined the branch Church of Christ, Scientist, in my university town, and I volunteered in the local Christian Science Reading Room. But as time passed, I began to feel that I wouldn't be able to heal the condition on my own. I was too embarrassed to phone a Christian Science practitioner to pray with me, and started feeling lost.
One week, during my two-hour shift in the Reading Room, I curled up in a chair with an issue of the Journal. One of the articles was about practitioners and healing. The article pointed out that healing was not just for practitioners or people "advanced" in their study of Christian Science. This point was articulated by Mary Baker Eddy in Miscellaneous Writings when she wrote, "The teachings and demonstration of Jesus were for all peoples and for all time; not for a privileged class or a restricted period, but for as many as should believe in him" (p. 244).
