I attended a Christian Science Sunday School as a child, but dropped out when a teenager, rebelling against what I felt were the restrictions it imposed on me. I wanted to have the “freedom” to live however I pleased, not realizing how destructive and unsatisfactory this sort of living would become.
After leaving Christian Science, I went off the deep end, using tobacco and alcohol, and adopting other bad habits, much like the prodigal son in the Bible (see Luke 15:11–32). Living this way for several years, I developed many health issues. One day, I bent over to pick up an empty paper bag, then couldn’t straighten up. The pain became excruciating. It restricted my movement severely. Medical remedies for these issues brought no permanent relief. The doctors called the back problem “spasms,” and said there was no cure. I would have to live with it the rest of my life.
When I came to my senses, I thought, “Where do I go from here?” I suddenly realized I had been fighting against a return to Christian Science all these years. I needed to become better acquainted with God. I found a Christian Science Reading Room in the Yellow Pages of the phone book, and it was like the prodigal coming home! The Reading Room librarian kindly received me and gave me the citations for the Bible Lessons from the Christian Science Quarterly. I still had my King James Version of the Bible and Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, by Mary Baker Eddy, from my Sunday School days.
