From the time I was a little child I went to a Christian Science...

Prudence K. Howard

From the time I was a little child I went to a Christian Science Sunday School, but not until I was older did I really begin to know what Christian Science is.

I was at the crossroads, and this material life no longer seemed worth living. I turned to Christian Science for comfort. That was the beginning. Love led me to a Christian Scientist whose friendship helped me to keep on and to take a few faltering steps in the right direction. Day by day I learned that God is our Father-Mother, and that there is no problem which cannot be worked out by applying the law of God.

With the help of a practitioner a problem was solved which seemed to me nothing short of a miracle. The healing seemed slow at the time, but when discouragement would try to creep in I would turn to page 22 of "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures," where Mrs. Eddy writes: " 'Work out your own salvation,' is the demand of Life and Love, for to this end God worketh with you. 'Occupy till I come!' Wait for your reward, and 'be not weary in well doing.' If your endeavors are beset by fearful odds, and you receive no present reward, go not back to error, nor become a sluggard in the race. When the smoke of battle clears away, you will discern the good you have done, and receive according to your deserving."

The problem was met in three weeks after I had taken a firm stand to let God work it out in His own way. I then decided to keep on with Christian Science. When everything seems to be coming our way, it is so easy to let things slide and not study as faithfully as we should. But then is the time when the problems start pouring in, and now I am glad they do, for they keep me from becoming "a sluggard in the race."

I am grateful that I have learned to take a stand with Principle, and not drink intoxicating liquors, smoke cigarettes, or drink tea and coffee. Love has guided me through many problems, some very small and some seemingly impossible of solution. But "divine Love always has met and always will meet every human need" (ibid., p. 494).

One healing which stands out in particular I should like to relate. One summer my little girl, who was two and a half years old, and I were calling on some friends at a near-by lake. The child fell and hurt her arm. She had been born and brought up in the teachings of Christian Science, and always a loving word would take care of the hurt, no matter how bad it might appear; but this time the condition seemed more serious. I took her aside and declared the truth, and we were able to go in and eat with the others, although she held the arm by her side. Finally I asked to be driven home, and we went at once to a practitioner and asked for help. The practitioner said that it appeared to be a fracture, but that God was our only Physician. I then took the child home, but so much fear was expressed by a member of the family that, after I had read pages 401 and 402 in Science and Health, a doctor was called. I held the child in my arms, constantly declaring that in reality it had never happened, that she was God's child and perfect, that what God made could not be touched by error. Love was with us constantly, and when the doctor finally came the arm was in normal condition.

I am very grateful for the Christian Science Sunday School, where my little girl has learned that God is Love and how to apply this understanding. One spring she had pneumonia. There was no telephone where we were at the time, so I carried her in the automobile to a practitioner. She audibly declared the truth to both of us and I drove home and put the child to bed. My little girl spoke of it as just "old error," and in a few hours she was up, completely healed.

Words can never express my gratitude to Christian Science, and for Mary Baker Eddy, the Discoverer and Founder of this great truth. I am grateful for the practitioners, who so kindly take us by the hand and lead us to God; and for membership in The Mother Church and in a branch church.

(Mrs.) Prudence K. Howard, Bangor, Maine.

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