When Christian Science was presented to me forty years ago, it opened up a whole new way of life for me—a life of dedication to the Science of Christ, which our Master taught and practiced. It has brought many blessings, healings, and spiritual growth, not only to me, but to my family.

I had been reading Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy only a few months when I had an opportunity to see for myself how Christian Science heals. I noticed that one of my fingers was becoming progressively inflamed and painful. One day I was in our yard, and our next-door neighbor, a medical doctor, came over to chat. He noticed my hand, took hold of it to look more closely, and said: "This looks very bad. You should have something done about this. You will probably lose the nail, and it will not grow back again."

I called a Christian Science practitioner for treatment through prayer. Several weeks went by, and it seemed as though there was no improvement. Hungering for the truths that Christian Science teaches, however, I used every spare moment to read Mrs. Eddy's writings. One day I took a copy of her Prose Works with me to read during my lunch hour at work. As I read from Unity of Good, I came across a paragraph that stood out to me as if it were in bold relief: "To deny the existence or reality of matter, and yet admit the reality of moral evil, sin, or to say that the divine Mind is conscious of evil, yet is not conscious of matter, is erroneous. This error stultifies the logic of divine Science, and must interfere with its practical demonstration" (p. 36).

Immediately I knew what I needed to do. All this time I had been asserting that matter was not real, but I was seeing moral evil as a reality. Someone had done a great injustice to me and my family, and I had continued to resent this person. You could say I was still "sore"! I called the practitioner to tell her of this insight, and what she said helped me to see that I had been mentally "pointing my finger" at this person.

A wonderful feeling of compassion for the one who had done the wrong rushed over me. The resentment vanished, and in its place were forgiveness and love—not only for her, but for all who had been involved in the deception.

Within a few days the finger returned to normal. The nail did drop off, but a new one grew back right away, even stronger than the former one.

Ever since then, I have been careful not to be resentful. I have learned that I am not responsible for what other people do or say, but I am responsible for the way I respond to it. Mrs. Eddy says in Science and Health: "Human hate has no legitimate mandate and no kingdom. Love is enthroned" (p. 454).

Christian Science has also been a tremendous help to me in raising three children. We had healings of colds, influenza, earaches, low blood pressure, so-called childhood diseases, and a serious eye condition.

When my son was a baby, we noticed that his eyes were crossed, but were told by a medical doctor that this condition often appeared in young children and it would right itself. When he was two, he was seen by an eye specialist, who told us that it was a muscle condition and only surgery could correct it. Even after surgery, however, the surgeon said that his eyes were weak and he would have to wear very strong glasses the rest of his life.

It was at this time that Christian Science was presented to me, and I began attending Wednesday evening testimony meetings. Convinced that what I was hearing there about healings brought about through prayer alone, as Christ Jesus demonstrated and taught, was the truth, I sought the help of a Christian Science practitioner. She lovingly consented to treat the child.

The next morning my son jumped into bed with me before I was up and said, "Mommy, I can see good this morning without my glasses." The healing was that quick. The glasses were discarded, and there was no return of the condition. Words could never adequately express my gratitude for this Science.

Margaret C. Poyser
Arlington, Texas