I CAME INTO Christian Science due to a crisis brought on by a serious bout of depression. Starting my testimony requires that I begin by giving you a little background information. Growing up in Switzerland, I had to attend Sunday school and church services prior to adulthood. There, I got to know a God both good and bad. Once the mandatory attendance requirements were over, most everybody I knew no longer attended any services, which is what happened to me as well. Actually, where I grew up, church had a stigma attached to it. It was only for people who needed some sort of a crutch—in other words it was only for people who could not function properly otherwise.
I thought I was doing just fine without a church for many years and, while I believed in God, there was no need for me to change anything until very suddenly the world seemed to be crashing down on top of me.
While I had a decent job and was happily married to my wonderful wife, these terrible depressive feelings seemed to overwhelm me. The desperation I felt made me think of the classic Christmas movie called It's a Wonderful Life, where actor Jimmy Stewart played George Bailey. Reaching a moment of crisis, George makes a sincere appeal to God by saying: "Dear Father, I'm not a praying man, but if you're up there and you can hear me, show me the way. I'm at the end of my rope. Show me the way, oh God." While not at the point of being suicidal, I needed just that kind of help.
