Testimony of Healing March 3, 1973 Issue

Two years ago I began an earnest study of Christian Science

Philip M. Zrike with contributions from Mary Louise Zrike

Two years ago I began an earnest study of Christian Science. Prior to that time I was deeply troubled by what I felt to be a deteriorating world situation. I was constantly searching for truth and a purpose for my existence. All my efforts seemed to be thwarted, and I was beginning to believe that truth was nonexistent and life nothing more than absurd. I had always been taught that man is both material and spiritual. This I could not accept, and my conclusion was that man could only be material, since my physical senses testified to this. Besides, would a merciful God allow suffering? No! Man could not be a combination of spiritual and material substance.

Under the presumption that man is solely material, I dropped out of college, finding it merely a waste of time and totally irrelevant. I decided the only way to escape the corruption of the world was to become a nonparticipant as far as possible. However, my ignorant material beliefs, instead, led me to contribute to this corruption.

My girl friend and I moved to California, where I worked intermittently. I heavily increased my use of drugs and began to shoplift when I felt it necessary to procure the food I could not otherwise afford. I had idealistically started out with the idea that man was at his best expressing the quality of love, but to the contrary, my materialistic beliefs debased my thought. Finally, deciding to give up this futile life for a while, I returned to my family. My girl friend also went back to her home in New Jersey.

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