A couple of years ago I wanted very much to quit smoking

PATTI M. CANGIANO

A couple of years ago I wanted very much to quit smoking. But I had given up any further attempts to stop, because each time I tried, it turned into a battle of willpower that I inevitably lost.

Quite miserable, I would resign myself once again to the cigarettes. It seemed as if my prayers for help were unanswered, but that was not true. God was about to fulfill this promise in my life (Mal. 3: 10): "Prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it."

This blessing was Christian Science. I was given a copy of Mrs. Eddy's book Science and Health. I studied this book for several months and began to understand something of the great truths it presents. One statement was quite encouraging to me (p. 407): "Let the slave of wrong desire learn the lessons of Christian Science, and he will get the better of that desire, and ascend a degree in the scale of health, happiness, and existence."

The more I studied, the more disturbed I felt about continuing to smoke. I asked the Christian Science practitioner who had first recognized my need and introduced me to this healing method with a copy of Science and Health to help me free myself from the desire for cigarettes. The practitioner aided me through prayerful treatment, and he pointed out the valuable lesson to be learned in the first commandment (Ex. 20:3), "Thou shalt have no other gods before me." I found that this means gaining a deeper understanding of God as the only Mind, and learning to honor and cherish only what He has made—spiritual being, not matter.

I have been totally free of the smoking habit ever since. The desire for cigarettes dropped away. Now my only craving is for spiritual lessons of Christian Science that are teaching me where true happiness and satisfaction are found and are showing me that life is embraced in purpose and joy.

PATTI M. CANGIANO
Lansdale, Pennsylvania

Send a comment to the editors

We'd love to hear from you!

Easily submit your testimonies, articles, and poems online.

Submit