My dad was a good man and a good country doctor who would make house calls well into the night. One day, when I was about ten years old, a new family moved into our neighborhood. They were Christian Scientists. My parents, knowing no more of Christian Science than the general medical literature provided, cast subtle aspersions on them.
Ten years later, my dad told me that the various maladies of an overwhelming percentage of the patients who came to his office with medical problems were entirely mental in nature. His words stuck with me and were foundational in preparing me to later embrace Christian Science. It helped me realize that being aware of my thinking was crucial. I could either accept a particular physical complaint as my reality or I could say, in the words of Jesus, “Get thee behind me, Satan” (Luke 4:8). Many thoughts that come to us are suggestions rather than facts or truth, and I could choose where to put my faith and trust. This was a major awakening for me.

My growth in Christian Science was gradual, the result of an accumulation of insights. At first, I saw others healed. My wife was healed of infectious hepatitis (see Caroline Cox-Simon, “When I read a testimony in an issue of the . . . ,” TheChristian Science Journal, April 1990), and our six-year-old son was healed of hearing problems. I began to turn my thoughts away from the belief that we are helpless in the face of disease to the knowledge that God is our omnipresent healer. 
The first personal evidence I had of Christian Science’s efficacy was one year when, like all of us each year, I was subjected to the barrage of media warnings about flu season. But this time, armed with what I now knew to be true, I realized that the flu had no power, and I was quickly healed of its symptoms. Now, when I feel the incipient signs of a “flu bug,” I take a stand and deny that it has any power at all to affect my well-being because God, good, is the only power. 
Since then, I have had many healings—of fevers, poison ivy, stomach pain, arthritis, Lyme disease, “the blues,” etc. As kind and skilled as my father was, he misunderstood the power of Christian Science. Like many who have made medicine their profession, he was unaware of Christian Science as an effective healing practice. But Mary Baker Eddy writes in Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, “Millions of unprejudiced minds—simple seekers for Truth, weary wanderers, athirst in the desert—are waiting and watching for rest and drink” (p. 570).
It’s my hope that seekers everywhere, whether in the medical profession or not, can discover Christian Science and grow in the understanding of God’s healing power as I did and bring the benefits of Christian Science into their lives.

Early in my college years, I gave music lessons to a little boy, and as I got to know his family, I learned that they were Christian Scientists.
Since my mid-teens, I had been dissatisfied and uncomfortable with the faith I had grown up in. I was deeply afraid of God and felt unworthy to be in His presence, and those feelings just didn’t seem right to me. However, because these and other mistaken beliefs about God were so ingrained in me, when I heard that my new friends were Christian Scientists, I felt I needed to save their souls from what I then believed would surely be eternal damnation.

The little boy’s mother and I met many times. During each of our get-togethers, she would patiently and lovingly respond to the viewpoints put forth by my “soul-saving” pamphlets and explain Christian Science insights into such concepts as sin and salvation. During our talks, I had numerous “aha” moments. In short, I was learning of God’s incredible love and amazing grace. And I really wanted to learn more. 

I began to study Christian Science, and I never looked back. I recall that as I read the Christian Science textbook, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy, I seemed to be stopping to look up the meaning of every other word. It was challenging, but I persisted because I knew from my friend’s explanations that the truth I was looking for was in that book.
Within a year or so, I joined The Mother Church—The First Church of Christ, Scientist, in Boston—and my friend and I went to Boston for the church’s Annual Meeting. Wow, was that exciting! 
With college and work schedules, I was not able to attend my local branch Church of Christ, Scientist, regularly, but I wanted to be an active member. A few years later things changed, and I joined that branch church. 
At about the same time, I took Christian Science Primary class instruction, and it became clear to me that at some point I would begin accepting requests from others for prayer. I loved Christian Science and what I was learning. I felt like a sponge just soaking up as much as possible, and I wanted to share that with others and help them to have healing and permanent good in their lives. I served for a while as an institutional chaplain, and a few years later went into the public healing practice of Christian Science.
In recent years, thinking back, I can see that God always loved me and was always taking care of me and directing my life. For example, years before this, as a young child I had sat on many parade routes waiting for a particular band to pass by. That kindled my desire to play music, and later I was able to play in that same band and teach others. 
Also, as a member of the band, I felt valued, appreciated, respected, nurtured, and loved. This was an important step in recognizing that I am good and worthy. My new view of myself prepared me for the reception of Christian Science, which gave me an even clearer understanding of myself as our divine Father’s loved child. Praise God!