I am very grateful for Christian Science. About three years ago I was a heavy smoker of cigarettes and marijuana, and I used alcohol to try to escape from problems. Around then my two boys were very ill with ear infections, and so I often took them to the doctor. The infections kept recurring, so the doctor told me that I must give them the medicine all the time, whether the pain was there or not. Soon the boys were so ill that the doctor wanted to operate. One boy was just six months old, and I became very fearful that the operation might damage his hearing permanently. Then one day the older boy woke from his nap crying because of the pain and fever. When aspirin did not do any good, I thought: "I just can't go through this anymore. Help me, God." Then I remembered a book called Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy that my violin teacher had given me a few years before. I remembered that Christian Science heals without medicine and that Christian Scientists believe God always helps.

I called this friend and asked her if she thought Christian Science could help my child. She told me of the many healings she had had and assured me that God does heal. She also gave me the telephone number of a Christian Science practitioner. Full of hope, I called the practitioner and told her the problem. She said that God loved my boys and that they did not have to suffer. She also agreed to pray for them if I would trust them to God. There was such conviction of God's love in her voice that I gladly agreed and did not use the medicine any longer. Soon the fever left the one boy and he slept peacefully. The next day he was out of the house, playing happy and free. The other boy was healed through prayer also. And they never again had this problem with their ears.

I was so grateful that I started reading Science and Health to find out how God had healed my sons. The goodness I read about in that book seemed much more important than getting drunk, or taking drugs for pleasure and amusement. Soon the desire to be good replaced all desire for alcohol and marijuana. I was healed. Afterward I began to visit services in a branch Church of Christ, Scientist, on Wednesdays and Sundays. I felt such comfort, such complete peace and harmony during them, that I kept attending, and reading Science and Health. Also I loved what was written on the wall of the church (Science and Health, p. 494): "Divine Love always has met and always will meet every human need."

The twenty-third Psalm has brought me much comfort in times of fear. One night I woke with such severe pain in my throat that I didn't think I could make it to the phone to call a practitioner for help. I prayed to God, and immediately the first line of the twenty-third Psalm came to me: "The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want." I kept pondering this over and over. Mrs. Eddy says (The First Church of Christ, Scientist, and Miscellany, p. 210): "Beloved Christian Scientists, keep your minds so filled with Truth and Love, that sin, disease, and death cannot enter them. It is plain that nothing can be added to the mind already full." Soon I fell asleep. And the next morning I woke completely free of any discomfort.

In trying to start our rotary lawn mower one day, I pulled and then released the cord. When I did, the metal guard flew off the motor and into my face and head. The force was so great that it felt as if a truck had hit me. There was much bleeding, and I was very fearful, for the pain was mixed with numbness. I tried to remain calm, but when my children saw me they began screaming. So I turned off the lawn mower and carefully walked to the house. Just then the girl who was living in our guesthouse saw me. She too became excited. But I assured her that I would be all right and asked if she would go and calm the children. She agreed to do this and left me alone.

Without looking in the mirror, I called a Christian Science practitioner and told him what had happened, adding that I was very fearful. He assured me that God was in complete control. When I told him that I thought my nose was out of place, he said that everything in God's universe was in its rightful place, right now. He instructed me to read the twenty-third Psalm. I quickly washed my face without looking at the physical picture and then started reading the psalm. When I got to verse two, "He leadeth me beside the still waters," I felt a sudden release of all fear. In fact, I felt totally peaceful, and secure in God's care. I then remembered this passage that had been read in church during the testimony meeting the night before (Science and Health, p. 261): "Look away from the body into Truth and Love, the Principle of all happiness, harmony, and immortality." I stopped shaking, and all bleeding ceased. I felt as if I were being lifted into God's loving arms; I had such an overwhelming sense of gratitude and love. Very soon all swelling left. I looked and felt perfectly normal. There was never any scar.

After this experience I wished to serve God and express my gratitude by joining a branch church. I couldn't, however, because I still smoked cigarettes. Knowing this, I became depressed, since I believed that there was no hope of being healed of this addiction. Still, I continued studying Science and Health and reading in the Christian Science periodicals about other people who had been healed of smoking. Then one day it came to me that addiction to these smelly cigarettes was keeping me depressed and guilt-ridden, interfering with my growth in Christian Science. I was giving the cigarettes more power than God! I realized that in truth they had no power whatsoever. I greatly desired to join a branch church. Now this desire to serve replaced the seeming desire for cigarettes. Soon I was healed, and afterward I became a branch church member.

There have been many more healings in our family—of dogbites, bee stings, measles, colds, flu, sprains, and childbirth difficulties. For these I am truly grateful. Most of all I am grateful to God for Mrs. Eddy's honest devotion to a Cause that is relieving the suffering of mankind. Recent Christian Science class instruction has brought an even clearer understanding of the power of the one Mind, God.

JUDY DE MARTINIS
Sunland, California