I am long overdue in expressing my gratitude for Christian Science and the health and happiness it has brought into my life. My parents were not Christian Scientists, and I first heard of this teaching through my older brother’s girlfriend. She informed him that she would not consider being “serious” about him unless he read Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy. She gave him a copy, and he read it. 

He was so heartily convinced of the truth it revealed that he gave it to my mother, who had suffered from a chronic respiratory ailment for years. He said to her, “This is what you need!” She was healed by the time she finished the book. From that time on, our family became students of Christian Science.

In my adult years I was blessed with a marriage to a wonderful man. When our children were young, we had horses they enjoyed riding. One day my son’s horse bolted while he was standing on the ground and holding him by the reins. As the horse bolted, he kicked up his hind legs, striking my son in the head. 

I started to pray, affirming that man is actually spiritual, safe in God’s care, because he is the reflection of God, Spirit. I realized that God’s love for man was all-powerful and unlimited, an unchanging spiritual fact, and that He never allows any harm to come to His child; therefore, my son could not be hurt. My son had been crying, but he suddenly stopped. It was clear that he was free from discomfort, and he never showed any signs of concussion or side effects from the blow.

My husband was in the foreign service for our government, so we were stationed in many other countries, most often in South America. Usually in the areas where he worked there were no other Christian Scientists and no Christian Science practitioners who could be reached by car or phone. Also, the local population held many superstitious beliefs about random evil and demons. 

Consequently we learned to be very diligent in our study of the weekly Bible Lesson from the Christian Science Quarterly and in praying daily for the health and safety of our family. Our prayers included affirming the truth of God’s love for man and that His children were always embraced and protected in His care. 

My husband and I held firmly to this sentence from Science and Health: “Divine Love always has met and always will meet every human need” (p. 494). This included not only our family’s needs but the needs of those around us. Science and Health also states, “The prophylactic and therapeutic (that is, the preventive and curative) arts belong emphatically to Christian Science, as would be readily seen, if psychology, or the Science of Spirit, God, was understood” (p. 369). 

In Nicaragua, we had an experience that clearly showed God’s preventive, protecting power. I had taken our children to the beach. It was a beautiful, untouched area, and no one else was around. I parked my car on the beach as I usually did, but it was later in the day than on our previous visits. As I was enjoying swimming in the ocean with the children, I looked back at the beach and realized that the tide had come in and our car was about to be whisked away by the sea. I quickly swam back. With my two children following me, I held to the truth that “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble” (Psalms 46:1) and that He was able to adjust any situation as a result of His allness and omnipotence. 

When I reached the car, I jumped into it, and it started on the first try. I was able to drive to a safe parking location away from the incoming tide and was so grateful! But the proof of God’s care really struck home when I took the car to the auto mechanic the next day to check it for damage from the salt water. 

The mechanic looked over the engine and said: “This car shouldn’t have started at all! The engine has been completely submerged in sea water [which was evident from the residual salt in the engine]. Are you sure you got this to start yesterday?” When I said I had—and even drove it to the garage—he told me it was a miracle!

Words are inadequate to express my gratitude for a life of joy and happiness, which is the result of studying Christian Science. I’m thankful to God, to Christ Jesus our Way-shower, and to Mrs. Eddy for sharing the revelation that came to her of the healing Christ, Truth.

Mary Ann Melvin
Princeton, New Jersey, US