As a young man, I was introduced to Christian Science shortly after enlisting in the United States Coast Guard. I was raised in a religion that required an intermediary or “middle man” for prayer. But Christian Science taught me a new way to pray—that I had a direct relationship with God, who is divine Love or Mind. I could listen to my heavenly Father at any time. No one could come in between me and Him. I learned that my pastor, the Bible and Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy, was always available to me.
A few years later, I was accepted to the Officers’ Candidate School. I was excited, honored, and, perhaps a bit self-important. During my physical exam before reporting for training, the doctors found an irregularity in one of my ears. I not only was removed from the advancement roll, but was also discharged from the service I loved.
I began to prayerfully work with a Christian Science practitioner with the passage “The ‘divine ear’ is not an auditory nerve. It is the all-hearing and all-knowing Mind, to whom each need of man is always known and by whom it will be supplied” (Science and Health, p. 7). This was a comforting message and I expected good, healing results.
