Some time ago, I lived with a family in a country far from my own during a cholera outbreak. The illness was a big topic in the news, and as contaminated water supplies were thought to spread the disease, my host family followed recommended hygiene precautions. However, I became very ill with the symptoms described in the media and was confined to my bed.

The mother of the family came to my bedside, extremely concerned. She stated that she had never seen a friend or guest this sick and felt I should go to the hospital. I thanked her for her loving care and asked if she would place a telephone call for me to a local Christian Science practitioner and ask her to pray for me. I did not know the practitioner personally but found her telephone number in the Directory at the back of a copy of The Christian Science Journal I had with me. I did not speak the local language well at that time and was too ill to make the call myself. The mother lovingly agreed to do so. Not long after, she reported back to me that she had reached the practitioner.

I also had with me small travel editions of the two books that constitute the Christian Science pastor—the Bible, and Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy—and I lay in bed pondering short passages from these books. I began to feel deeply loved by God and profoundly free. Soon I was out of bed, freely eating and retaining food. I felt joyful, totally well, and radiantly content. There were no symptoms of illness.