When I Went away to college, I joined a fraternity that had frequent beer-drinking parties. I started drinking because it seemed to be a part of college fraternity life, even though I'd learned in Christian Science Sunday School that I could be happy without drinking.
During my freshman year of college, I suffered a sports-related injury to my knee. Although no break was detected on the X-ray, the doctor said that I'd have to have surgery if I ever expected to play sports again. I had learned in Sunday School that I could trust my health to God, but my leg wasn't healing properly. About two and a half years later, I went home to work in my father's business. At home I went out occasionally with my friends on the weekends and had a few beers.
By this time, it was the early 1950s and the war with North Korea had started. Before too long I received orders to report to a United States Army induction center. I hadn't been able to run normally because of my injury, so I wondered if I was going to pass the physical examination. I really wanted to go into the service, so I asked my mother, who was a Christian Science practitioner, to pray for me.
