As a young man I questioned...

As a young man I questioned some of the doctrines of the orthodox Protestant faith in which I had been educated, and found that the answers given were quite unsatisfactory. I became one of those of whom the Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science, Mary Baker Eddy, speaks (Science and Health, p. 570), "Millions of unprejudiced minds—simple seekers for Truth, weary wanderers, athirst in the desert—are waiting and watching for rest and drink."

For some years, while traveling over much of the world, I investigated many religious movements. In all of them I found good, but in none did I find the completely satisfactory answers to my questions. My fundamental faith that there was a Supreme Being, and also a great Teacher, Jesus of Nazareth, remained unshaken. The pyramiding of ritual and dogma on that simple truth bewildered me.

Most puzzling was the profusion of "Thou shalt not's" in all orthodox teaching. It seemed that I was quite incapable of holding even a simple conversation with my creator unless I had the services of an intermediary, or at least a mentor to write down what I was to say and when to say it. The more I studied the teachings of Jesus, the more mystified I became as to where all this came from. I found no justification for it in his teachings.

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"I shall not want"
October 5, 1946
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