Television programs, newspapers, advertisements, and even friendly conversations bombard us with the message that our strength is dependent upon the condition of the human body and that our bodies are sustained by food, vitamins, and exercise.

There is nothing wrong with eating sensibly and participating in physical activities. One is a human necessity, and the other can be a source of enjoyment, providing opportunities to demonstrate intelligence, freedom of movement, a sense of well-being, agelessness, and so forth. Nonetheless, the materialistic view of what and where strength and sustenance come from can result in unsatisfactory and, sometimes, tragic consequences.

Even when people obey all the so-called health rules—eat the right foods, take vitamin pills, exercise—they still seem to be vulnerable to weakness or disease or to something that claims power to destroy one's well-being. Surely there must be a better way to realize health and maintain it?

Christ Jesus said: "Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment?" What is this life is more than meat and this body that is more than something to hang clothes on?

Through the study of Christian Science I discovered life, man's real Life, to be God. And I found "body" to be conscious spiritual identity. And I found real "meat" to be the truth of being, showing man to be an individual consciousness reflecting the intelligence and love that we call our Father-Mother God.

God, then, not matter, is the true source of all that we are, and He satisfies our every need. He is our strength and sustenance. I experienced the truth of this statement at a time when a serious physical condition threatened my life.

Because of a nervous disorder I was reduced to semi-invalidism. I could eat little or nothing, and I looked like a walking skeleton. I went to several kindly, compassionate physicians and a few psychiatrists, but all that came of these encounters was a little advice and plenty of pills.

When Christian Science found me, I was taking pills to help me eat, but still I could not eat. I took pills to give me peace and rest, and still there was no peace or rest. Through all of this I seemed to be getting worse.

Then a friend brought me a copy of Science and Health by Mrs. Eddy and made me promise to read it from cover to cover. At this time I knew nothing about Christian Science, its church, or what a Christian Science practitioner was or did. All I had was the "little book," and so I began to read.

In the book of Revelation the apostle writes, "I took the little book out of the angel's hand, and ate it up." I, too, devoured the messages within this remarkable book, and as I read about the Life that sustains man, the divine Love that supports and provides him with the necessities of life, my concept of God began changing. I stopped thinking of God as a kind of glorified Santa Claus and began to understand Him as an immediate, eternal presence that was the source of all that I really am. Slowly, as I read Science and Health, my faith in matter, whether in the form of food or pills, became severely shaken. Eventually I threw all my drugs in the garbage can, and the vitamin pills and iron tablets shortly followed, because it was obvious they were worse than useless.

As I continued reading I became less concerned with my physical condition. I wrestled daily with the ideas presented to my understanding. This struggle continued for many months. My thought was being lifted to a new view of God, man, and the universe. My body began to respond to my spiritually enlightened consciousness. The explanation of Truth expressed in the "little book" had destroyed the foundation upon which rested my sense of reality. In the light of God's allness, I saw that matter was an illusion; it did not really exist at all.

I returned one evening from a checkup at the hospital, which my family insisted upon. The physicians had told me my blood count and blood pressure were now normal. I was grateful for this change to normalcy but I still felt weak and ill. Discouragement and despair seemed to overwhelm me, and I fell on my bed and cried out to God for help. Suddenly, something uplifting and strong broke into my thinking, an angel presence that answered my questions. I saw how I anticipated in my thought the idea of weakness before it occurred and how a false sense of pressure, tension, and loss of peace had been brought on by sinful beliefs. When this mental communication ended, I felt my strength coming back, a sense of pressure lifted, and a better sense of well-being came over me.

Shortly after this experience I was sitting at the table with my family for a big holiday dinner, my plate filled with food. I saw the plate of food and didn't even think about it. Previous to this, if I ate a small amount of oatmeal all day, I was doing well. Now I was able to eat a full meal without giving it any undue thought. I returned to a more normal weight within days.

How grateful we can be to know that God, Spirit, is our true strength and sustenance! He creates, sustains, moves, and empowers our being. Being has nothing to do with a skeletal structure with muscles and tissues wrapped around it. No material substance or condition can gives us life or take it away. As Mrs. Eddy says in Science and Health: "The fact is, food does not affect the absolute Life of man, and this becomes self-evident, when we learn that God is our Life."

I am so grateful for the "little book," Science and Health, which was the key that unlocked the door to a better understanding of how to utilize the power of the Word of God, as expressed in the Scriptures. Christ Jesus said, "Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." And so it was, and so it shall be.