Christian Science was first brought to my attention a...

Bessie Mincer Bates

Christian Science was first brought to my attention a number of years ago by a friend whom I greatly admired. I was interested, but had just enrolled in a college of pharmacy, and my determination to go my intended way was greater than my desire to find out the truth. I had been baptized in an orthodox church when I was seven years old, and was active in the church and Sunday school until I left my home to attend college. But I had lost my childhood faith, and in the succeeding ten years I attended church very irregularly at first and later not at all. Finally I asked myself, "Is there really a God?" Instantly I had a mental picture of something I had seen years before: a Michigan hillside covered with blue wild flowers. I felt that only God could have created such beauty, but when I prayed that He would let me feel His nearness I received no comfort.

Months after this I went to Florida, and there I met a lady who talked to me of Christian Science. My first thought was of surprise that such an intelligent person could be so taken in by that queer religion, but later I became very humble and asked her what I should do. At her suggestion I went to the Reading Room and borrowed a copy of Science and Health, which I read for hours at a time. I also went to the Christian Science church, and there met a practitioner who helped me, and later healed other members of my family.

Since then my life has been changed; a different outlook, associations, and occupations have filled my time. Soon after that I was offered a new position, paying double the salary I had been getting, and with much more congenial work. Through associations formed in this store I met a Christian Scientist who has been and still is a constant help to me, and whose life is a beautiful example of what may be attained when we give up all for Christian Science. Not long after this I was able to leave the drug-store work. Now I have forgotten practically all I ever knew about drugs. Belief in "the mental virtues of the material methods of medicine" (Retrospection and Introspection, p. 33) has been replaced by some slight knowledge of "the law of God, the law of good, interpreting and demonstrating the divine Principle and rule of universal harmony," as Mrs. Eddy defines Christian Science in "Rudimental Divine Science" (p. 1).

I cannot begin to tell of all the healings I have had in Christian Science. I was instantaneously healed of tonsillitis, an infected arm, constipation, and headache. In two days I was freed of all discomfort from bleeding hemorrhoids, and fifteen minutes after calling a practitioner I obtained relief from a toothache which had kept me awake until five o'clock in the morning. In Christian Science I have found the experience of childbirth to be undelayed and harmonious. This Science has met our every need. Business problems have been solved and supply has been demonstrated. I am very grateful for the constant protection we have had; for the help of faithful practitioners; for membership in The Mother Church with its loyal, steadfast Board of Directors; for the privilege of working in a branch church; for the literature, the Sunday school, for class instruction, and to Mrs. Eddy, who has brought to our understanding the Christ-healing.—(Mrs.) Bessie Mincer Bates, Ridgetown, Ontario, Canada.

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