My initial encounter with Christian Science was in prison, where I went to a Christian Science church service just to get out of my cell. At the time I was serving a life sentence for a crime I had not committed, although I had engaged in other criminal activity from an early age.
After attending a few more Christian Science services, I stopped going to them. I scoffed at Mary Baker Eddy’s explanation of spiritual healing in Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, associating it with the claims by televangelists of instantaneous healings of physical ailments, which I viewed as quackery.
However, what I had heard at those initial services stayed with me, and in retrospect, I see that the events in my life were preparing me to eventually embrace the teachings of Christian Science. As a young man I had been greatly influenced by my grandmother, who was frequently called on to treat the afflicted in the Black community in the South where I grew up. At that time, where we were, Black people were not allowed in the white hospitals and often found themselves with no medical help. Many relied on herbs and natural remedies for healing, and the aid of neighbors and friends.
