DECEMBER 1982. A telephone call from my 22-year-old daughter awakened me in the middle of the night. Our family was residing in New York City at the time, and my daughter had called to say that she had been arrested for illegal drug possession and put in jail some miles away in a different county. I comforted her as best I could and assured her I would be attending her arraignment the following morning.
At the arraignment, it was a wrenching experience to be unable to do anything about seeing my child brought into the courtroom in handcuffs, a prisoner chained to other prisoners. An atmosphere of harshness pervaded the courtroom. Officers of the court strode up and down the aisles reprimanding anyone not sitting stiffly at attention with eyes riveted on the judge. It appeared that in this court you were guilty until proven innocent. The arraignment procedure took almost the entire day, after which my daughter was released into my custody.
I needed to quickly find an attorney in the community where my daughter had been arrested and would be tried. It has always been natural for me to pray, especially in times of crisis. This time, in addition to my own prayers, I felt that our family needed the help of a Christian Science practitioner, whom I called for spiritual support throughout the ensuing course of events.
