The words “deep melancholia” persistently knocked at the door of my thought after my wife at the time left me a farewell note and fled across the United States, taking our two children. She opened divorce proceedings and for many months wouldn’t allow me to talk to my sons on the phone. I felt helpless. The thousands of dollars in legal bills plunged me deeply into debt. Later, I felt I was not treated fairly in court.

It was not long before I realized that God was my only hope for breaking out of what seemed a hopeless situation, and I asked a Christian Science practitioner to give me treatment through prayer during this time. 

I recall that our first meeting began with him asking how familiar I was with the Bible. I told him I had studied the Christian Science Quarterly Bible Lessons most of my adult life but hadn’t read the Bible from cover to cover. He said he would take my case if I agreed to do this, starting with Job through Revelation and then from Genesis to Job.