Article July 15, 1972 Issue

When I was ten, my parents moved to a mountain ranch...

Jane I. Carlson

When I was ten, my parents moved to a mountain ranch where the kitchen and living room were papered with the cardboard mats from The Christian Science Monitor, and one room had a corner piled high with back issues of The Christian Science Journal, the Christian Science Sentinel, and the Monitor. I remember going to sleep repeating Christ Jesus' words "First the blade, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear" (Mark 4:28, Amer. Stand. Ver.), my mother having explained to me what it meant.

My mother made good use of the periodicals. Within a year a neighbor gave us a copy of Science and Health by Mrs. Eddy. Mother studied this book constantly and accepted its teachings to the extent that when my youngest brother was born, she relied entirely on Christian Science. My mother was up and caring for the baby the same day he was born, and was doing chores within three days. She was delighted with this wonderful concept of God and His care for mankind and applied it for all of us, the hired men, the animals, and the crops.

This ranch home was quite isolated from cities large enough to provide a high school, so I was forced to leave home at thirteen to attend high school, and my mother prayed for my protection and all the care I needed away from home. The first year I was exposed to a contagious disease, and I wrote Mother at once for help. It took three days for a letter to reach her, and I remember that at the end of the three days I suddenly felt completely free from fear and promptly forgot about the disease.

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