Many years ago after first learning about Christian Science, I attended (on and off) one of the branch churches in Denmark. From time to time I also read the weekly Bible Lesson from the Christian Science Quarterly and had help through prayer from a Christian Science practitioner. Everything seemed so easy then. Later I did not concern myself at all with Christian Science for a number of years. Then because of personal problems, I ended up with a serious prescription drug abuse problem.

I took strong nerve medicine for several years. At the same time, I took painkillers and also sleeping pills. That was hard fare every day. I still managed to go to work and to care for my child, but did not feel that I was myself. My mental state was very much affected by the medication.

One day when I faced a very important decision, I called a practitioner. The practitioner encouraged me to pray for myself and to work to understand clearly the truths of Christian Science. The word clearly stood out when she said it, and seemed to me of great importance. I realized I could not think clearly when I was dulled by the medicine. So first thing I began to scale back use of the nerve medicine until I no longer took it. Then came the sleeping pills. But the first week without them, I literally did not sleep.

The practitioner with whom I spoke was very patient. She answered my questions willingly and sent me Christian Science literature, which led me to begin again the study of the Bible Lesson.

I had stopped taking the sleeping pills, but I was still taking painkillers. Then something happened that contributed significantly to healing this addiction. The company where I worked sent me to a very concentrated class for three days. I was afraid I would not be able to think clearly enough to manage the assignments. Then the last day I woke with a bang at five o'clock in the morning with an attack of migraine.

I became very much afraid. I hurried to take a painkiller, but became ill when I did. With great effort I read these words in some Christian Science literature: "Vibrating like a pendulum between sin and the hope of forgiveness,—selfishness and sensuality causing constant retrogression,—our moral progress will be slow." I looked up this sentence in Science and Health and read the whole passage. It was then obvious to me that my first decision was to choose between the medicine and Christian Science. I chose Christian Science. I no longer took any medication.

In a short time I was able to take a bath. At eight o'clock I was having breakfast in the dining hall with the other students. The class finished that same day, and what I had seen so vividly that morning became the start of a more serious study of Christian Science. Also an answer to the decision that had seemed so difficult to make became apparent, so that on my return home I made the necessary arrangements.

Together with the practitioner I then began really praying and working, and the result was very gratifying. All addiction to drugs ended permanently. The honest work we did resulted in a moral change, too. This brought a cultivation of thought, which in turn brought an exclusive reliance on God through Science for all healing from then on.

Some time after this I was healed of a recurring illness—inflammation of the bladder—which earlier had always involved the use of medicine, including painkillers. I asked a practitioner for help. The healing took some time; there was great fear of pain and of a return of the illness. But I read in Science and Health, "When here or hereafter the belief of life in matter is extinct, the error which has held the belief dissolves with the belief, and never returns to the old condition." This and other inspiring statements from the Christian Science textbook helped me understand that I could not harbor this belief of inflammation—either now or later. And so I turned from it entirely. Not long after this, the healing was complete and has been permanent. This happened over five years ago. I am very grateful for my spiritual growth and for this understanding of true being.

Eva Hansen
Lystrup, Denmark