Testimony of Healing May 31, 1900 Issue

Many Bad Habits Overcome

G. W. Watson

Some thirteen years ago I felt impelled to lead a better life. My occupation having been that of a cowboy, I was deprived of all moral society for the space of thirteen years or more. I contracted the habits of strong drink, gambling, the use of bad language, and every other error that goes along with these habits. Finally I tried to overcome these errors, but found to my disgust that with my understanding I was bound with a chain that seemed as if it could not be broken. I began to give way to despair, and many times wept because I indulged habits that I had resolved to stop. Finally my associates began to shun me, and this drove me to seek other fields. Afoot and alone I traveled through deserts amidst Indian troubles, under a scorching sun, on the borders of Arizona and Old Mexico. With my blankets and gun I walked for ten days, seeking employment. Every day I prayed to God, the best I knew how to pray, to show me a better way. I believed there was a God, but did not know of any but a personal God. Within one month from the time I had made a new start I had steady employment; at the same time there were many men and work was very scarce in that section.

While I was at this place in Chloride, New Mexico, my mother wrote me from Denver, Col., that there were people there who claimed to heal the sick and do the works that Jesus did. This impressed me very much, although I doubted it. About six months from the time I began to lead a new life, I went to Denver, Col., and on the second day after my arrival in that beautiful city I unexpectedly went to the house of a lady Scientist. Soon after I entered the house she began to tell me of Christian Science, and how she had been healed by three treatments after being a cripple for fifteen years.

I rather doubted, but began to investigate. It soon dawned upon me that all this time I was being led by Truth out of darkness into light; that my resolve to do better and my almost continuous prayer to lead a better life had brought me to a place where I could see light. Since then my bosom companion has been "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures," a book I would not be without. Through this "little book" I was shown the way, and my sense of God has changed from the thought of a mysterious God to a God of Love, a God of Truth. I have found that many sacrifices must be made, but with the understanding which Christian Science gave me I was able in a short time to overcome the errors that had bound me.

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