Article December 8, 1980 Issue

One of a series of articles by young people who have in recent years become Christian Scientists. They explain how they became interested in Christian Science, what convinced them of its utility and truth, and how its teachings have changed their lives.

The adventure of trusting God

CAM L. WHITMAN

Although my grandmother was a Christian Scientist, I didn't really have any formal understanding of Science. When I was a little girl, I had to go to church with her once every two months. I chose to go on Wednesday nights, because people stood up and told interesting stories. I always felt that if something really serious happened to me, I would turn to Christian Science. But I decided I wouldn't when I was young, because I was sure I would have to stop having fun to be a Christian Scientist. How far off that assumption was!

It wasn't a dire physical condition, however, that turned me to Science. What did bring this about was a slow eroding of my personal life. I had watched my parents go through a divorce—a long-drawn-out thing. My growing up was very torn apart because of this. As I left home, I found that a close personal relationship of my own was beginning to show symptoms of my parents' difficulties. I felt I was standing on the beach and the sand was going out beneath me. The situation got worse and worse. Finally I started sneaking into my mother's room and reading her Sentinels—she had recently become interested in Science herself. Then I started going back to Wednesday testimony meetings. I just went and listened, unbeknownst to my mother. It was done entirely on my own. I didn't want anyone to push. I wanted it to be my own decision. And I didn't even see it as a decision at the time. I simply felt that reading the articles and hearing the testimonies gave me hope. I was also impressed by a change in my mother's attitude—her growing self-assurance—since coming back into Science.

Then I moved to France. While there my own personal life completely fell apart. I had grown up with the habit of always depending on someone else for happiness and stability and had spent the last ten years of my life, from the time I was sixteen, trying to replace with another person's affection the insecurity I felt because of the family situation. All of a sudden I found myself with no one to depend on—at all, for anything. I knew that if something could help me, it was Christian Science, so I called a practitioner. It was the most wonderful thing.

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The football game I didn't hear—and the truth I did hear
December 8, 1980
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