Christian Science is the greatest blessing that has come into my life. Although I was a doubting Thomas when I first heard of this religion, it healed me in one treatment of prolapse of an internal organ after I had used material means for two years. A nervous condition and the need of wearing glasses were also healed, although these healings took longer. For a while there was a mental conflict in my thought as to whether or not Christian Science was of God, and at the same time there was much discord in our home. One afternoon I decided to accept the good I understood of Science and stop arguing with myself about the statements I did not yet comprehend. After I made this decision, a great sense of illumination came to me, as though a powerful searchlight had been focused where I was. Thereafter I was no longer troubled by discord in the home.
At the conclusion of five years of successful teaching in Western Canada, I had the following experience. After a visit in April by the school inspector, who referred to the low standing of some of my pupils, word went around the vicinity that my work in the school was not up to the standard. At once I wrote to a practitioner in a nearby city and asked for help. The day after the practitioner received my letter, I received the inspector's written report. While there was some criticism, the general tone of the report was good. I thanked God for this.
But there was still work for me to do. During the following five or six weeks almost everyone I met informed me that they heard I was not coming back the next year. Even my brother, with whom I lived, told me that I was definitely going to be dismissed. To each one my answer was the same, "I don't know whether I am coming back or not." But silently, humbly, and emphatically I declared that God maintains man in his right place and that if I was in my right place, no suggestion of error could put me out of it.
On the first day of June the letter from the trustees of the school arrived. I knew that in that letter would be a notice of dismissal or an invitation to continue in the school for another year. I did not open the letter during the day, but continued to declare the truth regarding God and man.
When the children were dismissed in the afternoon, one little boy asked to remain and do some work. As he worked he said, "I will be very sorry to see you go, because I have always liked you." I answered that I did not know whether I was going or not. His reply was most forceful.
He said: "Oh, yes, you are going. I know you are going, because my mother says you are."
How strong mortal mind claims to be, I thought. Then I denied that mortal mind has any power or existence, because God is the only power. That evening I opened the letter and found an invitation to return to the school the next year at a substantial increase in salary. I did return and remained another three years. When the inspector came the next term, he gave a report with the grade: Very good. The following year the report on me was: Excellent.
I am very grateful for this experience. It showed me very clearly the deception of the material senses. Even now, after many years, when a difficult problem presents itself, I know that it has no more reality and no more power than the difficulty in the school. I learned from that experience the importance of holding to the good, the real, and the true.
Sometimes I ask myself, "What does Christian Science give us more than other religions?" And the answer is always the same, "Christian Science gives a clearer understanding of God, a keener sense of His nearness." Mrs. Eddy writes in Science and Health (p. 471), "God is infinite, therefore ever present, and there is no other power nor presence." This realization of God's infinitude shows us the nothingness of error. Christian Science teaches that because man is created in God's image and likeness he must be spiritual and perfect now. Thus, it gives us a workable understanding of the Bible.
After reading Mrs. Eddy's biographies, one can see why she was chosen to bring this truth to a spiritually hungry world. I am grateful to her for her courage and steadfastness in the midst of so many difficulties. I am also grateful for The Mother Church and for its many activities, which reach around the world. Membership in this Church, class instruction, and our yearly association meetings are wonderful blessings.— Los Angeles, California.
