Around six years ago, Christian Science came back into my life through a healing that transformed me. Shortly after my divorce I was struggling to make ends meet while living in the back of my cramped art studio, sleeping on the floor. The room had no air conditioning, and when the temperature hit 105 degrees one summer day, my friends invited me to escape to a nearby mountain stream to cool off. Since business was slow because of the heat, I closed up shop and joined them.
While I was running through the woods near the brook, a tree branch lashed my face and scratched the lens of my eye. Back at my studio later, I was unable to see, unable to work—and in extreme pain. My whole face was swollen and discolored. My neighbor across the street told me that she’d had a similar injury the year before and that her vision had never come back properly.
I was downhearted at hearing this, but a day or so later my mother called. On hearing of my difficulty, she surprised me by jumping into her car and driving 350 miles to visit. That night she put me up in an air-conditioned motel and asked if I would accept Christian Science treatment. It had been over ten years since I’d asked a practitioner for help—that’s when I had stopped practicing Christian Science in college. Now—in pain, angry, and desperate for relief—I answered, “OK, OK! Whatever! Call her!” That’s the polite summary of my reply.
