Testimony of Healing September 14, 1957 Issue

At the age of about sixteen or...

Charles Willis Pottol

At the age of about sixteen or seventeen I ran away from home twice within a short period of time. It was Christian Science, conscientiously applied by my parents and a loving practitioner, which effected my immediate and voluntary return home each time.

The circumstances surrounding my second venture have been to me a graphic illustration of the way in which false suggestion would enlarge its claims. When I yielded to the suggestion of a schoolmate that we run away together, I also yielded to the suggestion that I would have to separate myself from Christian Science to prevent its effecting another return home. Furthermore, I allowed myself to be tempted into smoking and then into an instance of minor lawbreaking, thinking that the punishment which would come if I were caught would provide the final excuse in rationalizing my running away.

When I arrived at the city which was to be my first stopping point, my stomach was in great distress as a result of several hours of uninterrupted pipe smoking. Determined still to avoid Christian Science, I went to a soda fountain and had a glass of an alkalizer, trying to settle my stomach. This was my first and only resort to medication, since I had been raised in Christian Science, and it brought no benefit. I returned to my hotel room to seek relief in sleep.

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