After rereading the chapter entitled "Fruitage" in Science and Health by Mrs. Eddy, I decided it was time I added my own words of gratitude to more than a century of accounts of the healing power of Christian Science.

My mother gave me copies of the Bible and of Science and Health when I went away to college, but I didn't open the books at that time. They sat on my shelf until I entered the teaching profession five years later. Then I found I needed much more than a college degree to cope with the problems I was encountering, living alone in a large city and teaching in a job that seemed over my head.

As I look back, the thing that stands out to me the most is how the whole character of my life altered when I commenced studying these two books and attending services at a branch church. There was a complete change in the focus of my life. Money, career, recognition—the things one is tempted to hold dear—just didn't matter that much any more. What did matter was understanding God and my relation to Him, and practicing what I understood of Christian Science in my daily life.

Since that time my family has experienced so many healings in this Science that it is difficult to convey the gratitude and love I feel for this wonderful teaching and Mrs. Eddy, who founded it.

At one time I started having pains in my back, and then one day something snapped and I found myself completely immobilized. I had to lie flat on my back night and day. My husband and children attended to my every need. With the loving prayers of a Christian Science practitioner I was able to read during the day and pray at night, for I was able to sleep very little because of the pain. This went on for five days.

A paragraph on page 216 of Science and Health by Mrs. Eddy stood out to me, and I studied it a great deal. It begins: "The understanding that the Ego is Mind, and that there is but one Mind or intelligence, begins at once to destroy the errors of mortal sense and to supply the truth of immortal sense. This understanding makes the body harmonious; it makes the nerves, bones, brain, etc., servants, instead of masters."

On the fifth day the absolute truth of the spirituality of being began to dawn in my thought, and that afternoon I sat up. What rejoicing! Although it was several months before I was able to stand or walk normally and there was a persistent argument that I would never walk properly again, full recovery did come. This healing has remained permanent.

About three months after the birth of our third child, all my teeth became loose and were hurting. A dentist told me I would have to have an operation on my gums or I would lose all my teeth. I asked a practitioner to support me prayerfully, which she did for a couple of weeks. After that I prayed on my own. Using the Concordances to the Bible and to Mrs. Eddy's writings, I spent much of the summer studying the references on substance. Improvement was steady until there was no longer a difficulty. My teeth have remained solid and intact for the last eighteen years.

This testimony would not be complete without mention of the wonderful help Science has given my husband and me in raising our three children. In these times that seem so stressful for children and parents, I have been able to turn constantly to God in prayer and find peace and comfort in the realization that He is our Father-Mother, caring for us and guiding us through every trying situation. I feel that because of this prayer, our children have grown to be loving, hardworking, and responsible citizens. Christian Science has also helped all of us to grow closer in friendship for and support of one another.

Mere words can never express the unbounded gratitude I feel for Mary Baker Eddy. She stood alone and persevered until she established the Science of Christ, which has stood the test of time and is healing today in the manner of Christ Jesus' teachings.

MARY LOU DANIEL
Tallahassee, Florida

The Mother Church is The First Church of Christ, Scientist, in Boston, Massachusetts. Its branches are called Churches of Christ, Scientist, and Christian Science Societies.