I found Christian Science during a very difficult period in my life. According to the doctors, I'd been suffering from a disturbance in the thyroid gland for many years. As a result, I started to suffer from depression, and my appearance began to change. I have very large eyes, which began to bulge out because of this problem. I lost a lot of hair and a considerable amount of weight because I couldn't retain any food.

The doctors examined me several times, arriving at the conclusion that my eyes would never be normal again. They removed the damaged thyroid gland and prescribed a hormone that I would have to take for the rest of my life, in addition to other medication. They told me that if I stopped taking the medication, I would have very serious problems. I was alarmed.

For a long time I felt as if I'd been backed into a corner. My fear and depression were so great that I lost the desire to live and tried to commit suicide three times. Later, through Christian Science, I learned that all these things that were tormenting me were an illusory mental state. Now I understand that the spiritual light of God has always been with me, although fear had prevented me from seeing it.

I first learned of Christian Science from a friend of my daughter's, who lives in Mexico. This girl called me and spoke to me about this Science and offered to give me a treatment through prayer. At the time I did not yet understand how I could be healed from praying and from reading the book Science and Health. She explained to me that this book was based on the Holy Scriptures and that it spoke about my real being, which was spiritual and perfect. I allowed her to pray for me, and she gave me the address of the website of El Heraldo on the Internet so that I could read the testimonies of healing that were posted there. I did so, and I was very impressed.

I began to find out what Science and Health was all about. In this book I found the answers to all my questions that nobody up to then had known how to answer for me. The Heralds helped me wonderfully. I spent hours reading the testimonies, and this increased my confidence that I could be healed.

I'd been looking for God for a long time, and when I found Him, I held on to Him with a lot of faith, knowing that He was the only one who could save me and lift me out of the darkness. I'd always felt guilty about many situations in my life, and negative thoughts were holding me captive. But as I began to know more about Christian Science, I understood that I wasn't guilty, and I began to change my attitude and my way of thinking.

At first I still took the medication, but more and more I was putting my trust in the sole Creator of the whole universe. I understood that Jesus never used medication, and never asked what the symptoms were. Instead, he healed by acknowledging the omnipresence of God, which led to a change in a person's thought.

At a certain point I felt it would be all right to stop taking the medication. I found that as my thought changed and became more spiritual, the physical symptoms started to improve, and I felt well.

Since then, I have regained my normal weight. My hair is as thick as it was before, and my eyes have returned to normal. I'm no longer afraid. The healing took place three years ago and has remained complete.

Now I'm absolutely sure that God, Truth, is omnipresent and that His Word has become more alive to me. Truly, it's more effective and more powerful "than any two-edged sword," and it penetrates the soul, as the Bible says (see Heb. 4:12).

What joy it is to see the wonders that God is performing in my life, in my children, and in all the people around me!

MARICARMEN STRATTON
SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS, US