Through the years I've had few physical difficulties, and I attribute this to my study of Christian Science. Last year I was involved in a car accident, taken to a hospital, and detained there. There were a few broken bones. My great desire was to return home and rely only on Christian Science for healing. With the help of a Christian Science practitioner, I was discharged. She prayed for me, and the broken bones healed quickly. I was able to walk normally, care for my home and garden, and get in and out of the bath easily.

I often remember with gratitude the young girl who said to me one day: "I believe in Christian Science. Would you like to read Science and Health?" Hardly knowing anything of Christian Science, I answered eagerly, "Oh, I would please." What a difference that book has made in my life!

This happened in the Depression years between the wars, and the misery and unemployment of those days seemed more than I could bear. In addition, my father had died; we were a large family and living in a time when social services did not exist.

I remember praying to God, and into my thought came the promise from Revelation "God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes" (21:4). And very soon, changing from an unhappy adolescent who did not care whether she lived or died, I began to enjoy life. My mental depression vanished. And as always happens when Truth is accepted, harmony and income flowed into my life as well as into the lives of those in my family.

Although I did not come to Christian Science for physical healing, I did very quickly experience a healing. Since the nearest Christian Science church was fourteen miles away, and since there were no Sunday trains or buses, I used to cycle to church in all kinds of wind and weather, often arriving home wet through and cold. But my joy in the services made it all worthwhile.

One Sunday, still many miles from home, I jumped down a steep bank to pick some pussy willow. But hidden in the long grass was a concrete footing, on which I landed and sprained my ankle. The pain was intense and I was scared stiff, wondering how I could possibly get home. I had begun to learn "the scientific statement of being," however, and also the spiritual interpretation of the Lord's Prayer from Science and Health. So I crawled to the top of the bank and sat down. Mentally I went over what I could remember of those statements, trying to realise their spiritual meaning. And before long, to my great joy and rather surprise, the pain ceased. I got on my bike and cycled home with no difficulty.

What I am most grateful for, though, is the active and interesting life Christian Science has brought to me. At one time I felt I was rather in a rut. But I held to this statement: "God expresses in man the infinite idea forever developing itself, broadening and rising higher and higher from a boundless basis" (Science and Health, p. 258). This gave me encouragement to go forward and do things, to apply for jobs and hold them down successfully. I have had the joy of travelling widely, visiting many countries around the world.

Lily Alexander
Bournemouth, Hampshire, England