As a teenage Catholic girl, I read Doris Day’s autobiography. Though her life and celebrity was very exciting and inspiring, it was actually her faith in Christian Science that left the most memorable impression on me. Turning to God, rather than material means, when facing a health challenge seemed a courageous and almost radical path, yet one that I would eventually follow myself some 37 years later.

Two years ago doctors informed me that my mammogram had come back with a “suspicious” reading, and a biopsy was being recommended. I chose instead to work with a doctor who offered me an alternative of Chinese herbs, immune building remedies, and other natural anti-cancer supplements, all of which totaled 45 pills a day. I became acutely aware of just how arduous this regime was, and I knew that it was ultimately unsustainable.

Several months later, I stepped off the airplane after a five-hour flight from Honolulu to San Francisco, and within minutes, I found myself standing in a Christian Science Reading Room. It just happened to be located next to where I had been instructed to wait for the shuttle to my hotel. I had never been to a Reading Room before, and I like to say that God delivered me there on a plane. As I wheeled my heavy suitcase inside at 9 p.m. on a Saturday night, it was as if God’s own hands held open the door for me. 

“I know you folks have something very important to tell me about healing,” I managed to muster to the friendly woman who sat behind the reception desk. “And that’s why I’m here.” She proceeded to say in the kindest voice, and with the brightest smile, “My dear, don’t you know that you are spirit and not matter?” 

I left with a copy of Science and Health. I began reading it immediately, but found that it was a bit old-fashioned and hard to understand. Yet I was compelled to move forward and did not give up. I later visited the Reading Room in Santa Barbara where I was directed to copies of The Christian Science Journal, the Sentinel, and other pamphlets.

Divine Mind was transforming and renewing my consciousness, rewiring me on a very fundamental level.

Soon I found I could not put these reading materials down and craved more. They filled my heart with nourishment and my soul with courage. Within two weeks I mustered the faith and wisdom to give up the many supplements I had been taking.  

When I returned to Honolulu, I immediately participated in Christian Science services there and sought out a Christian Science practitioner to have more of my questions answered. Now, one and a half years later, I have had a follow-up exam that confirmed that there was no longer any evidence of this condition. Praise God!

Science and Health was becoming ever more revelatory and easier to understand as I continued to read it. Within its pages I found a spirit of calm understanding and deep wisdom. I would weep generously as layers and layers of what seemed like a lifelong hypnotic dream of material life were being peeled away and replaced by a lightness of being and a joyful spirit. Divine Mind was transforming and renewing my consciousness, rewiring me on a very fundamental level. 

I was progressing rapidly and I was encouraged to carry on with my Christian Science “experiment,” applying it to other areas in my life. Through God’s divine love, I was cured of an inability to be near paint fumes and other strong chemicals. I’ve also experienced the healing of a very difficult personal relationship in which conflict had been an almost daily occurrence.

As one who is new to Christian Science, I am pleased to admit that I am a bit of an evangelist, being so inspired by this evidence-based system of divine knowledge that I cannot help but share it with others. Although I am still a member of my Unity church, I am ever grateful for this healing pathway and truly appreciative of a worldwide network of churches, Reading Rooms, and periodicals, which have been serving humanity since the late 1800s.