"I was in Prison, and ye Came unto Me"

Robert Bishop

The following letter has been sent in by Herbert W. Beck of Paducah, Ky. It will explain itself, and encourage the many who may have opportunity to carry the light to those who are now subject to bonds. It is published with Mr. Bishop's expressed approval.
San Quentin, Cal., May 31, 1902.

Dear Mr. Beck:—I have received your kind letter of May 12 and was very glad to hear from you. Let me thank you and the ladies who came to the Oakland jail and brought to me the message of Love. I shall never forget them, for I was in a sad condition. I could not sleep day or night with rheumatism, which was all over me and of thirty years' standing. I was sick both in body and mind, full of malice and hate toward those whom I thought to be my enemies. I had been in that condition a great many years and could not see how blind I was.

One day it was said in conversation that in Christian Science we love all men, and if I wanted to be a well man I must forgive all whom I had hated. I had never heard of Christian Science before. There was a copy of Science and Health in the jail and, as advised, I began to read it, but it was so hard to understand that I threw it down. I took it up again, however, and became so interested in it that I read it through.

Then I could see what a mistake I had all my life. I began to have a liking for the Bible, a book that I had discarded many years ago, because I could not believe in a god of revenge and hate. Through Christian Science I saw God to be Life, Truth, and Love, and found a peace of mind that the world could not give. All the old things have passed away. There is no more pain or sorrow, and I am as happy as the day is long, for God is all-in-all to me. "The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want." Though inside these walls I am not hindered from being near my God, who imparts a peace of mind that no one can take from me. Even in my lonely cell I am joyful and pass my time in reading the Bible, Science and Health, and also the Sentinel.

I am not the only one from Oakland who believes in Christian Science. There are some five or six here, and as many more are reading Science and Health.

Please give my best regards to all the ladies who came to the jail and did so much in their labor of love for their fellow-man. I hope it may bring forth much fruit. I must conclude with best love to all from all.

Yours very gratefully,
Robert Bishop.

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