My life was very turbulent at one time. I married a man who I believed was thoughtful, loving, and kind and then discovered he had a violent temper and easily became jealous. A Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, it seemed. And he was physically abusive.

The third time he struck me was the worst. I lay on the floor with a swollen lip. In the morning I asked a friend to take me to the home of another friend. And I enrolled my little daughter in a nearby school.

Eventually the sheriff took me to talk with my husband, at his request, since it was considered unsafe for me to return to the house alone. My husband was very distraught and sorry. He promised it would never happen again, and we decided to try to work things out.

During this period of separation I was taken to a Christian Science lecture by a friend. There the lecturer said that God, divine Mind, is All, and there is no other Mind; God, Spirit, is All, and therefore all reality is spiritual. I clung to these ideas. And I began to study Christian Science very diligently.

Three things helped me especially at this time. One was the words, "Give us grace for to-day; feed the famished affections"— part of Mary Baker Eddy's spiritual interpretation of the Lord's Prayer in Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures—which said to me: "Comfort the man. Show that you care." Also, a Christian Science practitioner helped me realize that when we are seeing anyone as less than the image of God, we are breaking the First Commandment. A lump of resentment that had built up in me just let go when she told me this, and that night a goiter I had had for some time began to dissolve. In a couple of days, it was completely gone. I realized that, in truth, man can reflect only divine Love.

The third thing that helped me was when a practitioner told me: "Be undisturbed. Like water that runs off a duck's back, don't let disturbances in."

The healing with my husband took patience. I learned to leave the room if there was an outburst—and to read a Sentinel or a copy of The Christian Science Journal until things calmed down. Eventually, as I held to the true idea of man, the good —which had always been there as my husband's real nature— became more obvious.

One day my husband said to me, "You didn't even notice that I quit smoking." I had stopped being annoyed or conscious of it, and so wasn't aware when he had stopped. But he had. And it marked a permanent change.

One Wednesday night when I came home from our branch church's testimony meeting, I noticed that my husband's eyes were glassy-looking. He had been drinking. But, unlike the past, I felt undisturbed. I just knew neither he nor I could be touched by sin in any way as God's image. I felt so free. The next day my husband said to me, "Honey, you don't have to worry about me drinking any more." And I didn't. He never drank to excess again.

My husband began attending church with me, and reading Science and Health as well as the Bible.

In Miscellaneous Writings Mrs. Eddy states, "Holding the right idea of man in my mind, I can improve my own, and other people's individuality, health, and morals; whereas, the opposite image of man, a sinner, kept constantly in mind, can no more improve health or morals, than holding in thought the form of a boa-constrictor can aid an artist in painting a landscape." This is true. And it certainly worked in my marriage.

One morning I found my husband (who was my senior), with his Bible in his hands, his glasses still on. He had fallen asleep while reading the Sermon on the Mount, and just didn't wake up again.

I am deeply grateful for the transformation in my life and in my husband's, and for the neighbor who introduced me to Christian Science when she saw I needed help. Thank you, Father-Mother God.

Name withheld