After I graduated college, I decided to move across the country to pursue music. As I prepared to leave my childhood home, I went to the attic for a suitcase and stumbled upon my grandmother’s copy of Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy. This was the first time I’d seen the book or encountered Christian Science, and I was intrigued by the seal on the front cover showing a cross with a crown. I stowed it in my car for the move to Los Angeles.

After establishing myself as a musician, I rented an apartment in a beach town. While living there, I injured my hand in a fall, and playing the piano became almost impossible.

I felt led to open Science and Health and read a paragraph. I did so and then left the book on the piano. The next day, as I was sitting at the piano yearning to play, I reached for the book. I realized right then that my hand was completely healed. I knew nothing about healing in Christian Science, so what had happened? How did this occur? Although confused, I was overjoyed. I have since felt that reaching for the book symbolized reaching out to God. 

Soon after this, another event happened that brought me even closer to beginning a dedicated study of this Science. I had taken a job driving a taxi. Late one night, a call came in to pick up a fare. After the passengers were in the cab, one of the men jumped me from the back seat. I was terribly frightened. They all forced me to the ground outside the taxi, and I was stabbed. My first instinct was to recite the Lord’s Prayer, which I’d learned growing up. This was my way of reaching out to God for help. The assailants ran away, and I returned to my taxi and drove to a police station. They took me to a hospital, where a nurse tended to my wound and I slept through the night.

The next morning, a surgeon met with me. I told him I was a Christian Scientist and declined any painkillers or other medication. I had experienced spiritual healing with the injury to my hand, and I knew I could be healed again the same way. I was allowed to leave the hospital. I had publicly stated my commitment to Christian Science and my desire to be healed through its study and practice. This was a big step for me.

After leaving the hospital, I returned to the East Coast and stayed with my mom. I was stunned when she took me aside and said, regarding the injury, “Richard, use your Christian Science.” I had not told anyone in my family about my studying Christian Science, and my mom had never mentioned Christian Science to me while I was growing up. Remarkable! The injury healed, I returned to California, and today I am free of any physical or mental aftereffects from the experience.

My new life path continued when I realized that there was a branch Church of Christ, Scientist, right around the corner from my apartment. When I attended my first service, it was mentioned that the pastor of Christian Science consists of the Bible and Science and Health. This resonated with me. I had grown tired of the preaching I’d heard at the church I was brought up in. I liked that this pastor is impersonal—without human opinions—and I felt uplifted and happy when I left the church after each service. 

After starting a new job, I was a short walk from another branch church and a Christian Science Reading Room. Studying in the Reading Room became a regular activity, and I made friends with an attendant there. We frequently discussed a statement from Science and Health that I felt described my new journey. It says, “God expresses in man the infinite idea forever developing itself, broadening and rising higher and higher from a boundless basis” (p. 258). 

I loved my new church community, and becoming a member of both a branch church and The Mother Church (The First Church of Christ, Scientist, in Boston) was inevitable with all that I’d been learning and experiencing. I also took the two-week course called Primary class instruction, where I learned how to heal consistently through prayer in Christian Science. This enabled me to eventually become a chaplain in the Los Angeles County jail system, a post I held for years. I met my wife in this class, and we raised two boys in Christian Science.

I am grateful that I found Christian Science. Better yet, I am even more grateful that it found me!