Decades ago in college I became addicted to smoking cigarettes. I thought the habit would fall away after graduation when it no longer seemed trendy, but I found I was hooked. 

After graduation, I was newly married, teaching school, and attending a large, active branch Church of Christ, Scientist, in Texas. I loved that church, attended regularly, and occasionally stood up and shared my gratitude for the healings I’d had in Christian Science. 

I had witnessed many healings over the years, one of which was especially significant. When I was seven years old, my mother was healed of multiple sclerosis after reading Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy. She was bedridden at the time, and a friend had given her this copy of the Christian Science textbook after Mom had returned from the hospital. One day, I remember, she just got out of bed and started walking. We left the church we had been attending and started going to a Christian Science church. I loved the Sunday School.