Four years ago my husband, who is not a Christian Scientist...

Four years ago my husband, who is not a Christian Scientist, retired, and we set off on a four-month tour of New Zealand. The day after our return to England, I collapsed. My husband called a doctor, who had me admitted to the local mental hospital, where I stayed for two months on shock treatment and drugs.

I had been raised in Science and had attended a Christian Science Sunday School throughout my childhood. Still, despite all the advantages that could have helped me become a practicing Scientist, I allowed myself to drift from this teaching. Immersed in a very materialistic way of life, I finally concluded that church attendance was unnecessary, that it was enough to be helpful and kindly disposed toward others.

During the hospital stay, my sister, who has remained a faithful student of Science, sent me postcards on which she had written quotations from the Bible or Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy. I promptly threw these away, until one came that said (II Tim. 1:7), "For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind." This message seemed to penetrate somewhat the veil of error within which I had cocooned myself. I slipped the card into my pocket, carried it with me everywhere, and read it many times.

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May 12, 1980
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