It is a special joy to me to be able to express my thanks...

Helene-Lotti Kenzler

It is a special joy to me to be able to express my thanks for all the blessings which I have been privileged to experience through Christian Science.

When my dear mother passed on in the summer of 1934, I was physically and mentally so low that I no longer felt like living. I soon proved that "man's extremity is God's opportunity." A kind friend sent me to a Christian Science practitioner. I had been familiar with this glorious teaching for some time, but I had never had the right understanding of it because I had held only to the letter. Mental distress, as well as neuralgia, at first seemed to make it impossible for me to take up the study of the Christian Science textbook. Then, after a while, a great calm suddenly came over me. Indeed, I was surprised at myself, and began to study seriously. During this time a healthy little boy was born.

Previously, I had attended the Wednesday evening meetings and Sunday services regularly, and I thought that I could never do without them But the little boy needed care, as did the rest of my family, and I had to fulfill my duties. In addition to the fact that I could not attend church any more, for we live outside of Hannover, there came more mental suffering and the neuralgia became noticeable again. Then out of all my false beliefs and out of the darkness grew slowly the understanding that churchgoing alone is not all, for we hold services in our hearts, and we must first fill to the best of our ability that place in which we find ourselves. Filled with joy, I was able to see anew each day what divine Love has in store for us of health, joyousness, and harmony. My duties became sacred and holy to me and my mental suffering turned into joy. I became calmer and the neuralgia disappeared. I knew then that God is truly my Life. The words from a letter to Mary Baker Eddy and included by her in "The First Church of Christ, Scientist, and Miscellany" (p. 352), which I had often read in the show window in front of the church, now became a reality to me: "Real gratitude is what is proved in better lives."

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