The shock of the crop loss eventually quit gripping our minds and Doug and I catapulted into a new zone of mental courage. The decision was made to stick it out and come up with a realistic long term farm plan. We borrowed money to plant 6 acres of new apple trees. Then we lived frugally for the next 20 years because the plan included removing the old deep rooted, rotting cherry trees, 6 acres at a time, and planting new trees in the earth. Our 40 acre apple and cherry orchard was in the city of Kennewick, Washington, not too far from Pasco. We eventually called it OkeeDoeKee Orchard. The children thrived outside in the dirt and trees with their chickens, horses, cat, and dog.

During this time, I helped start First Church of Christ, Scientist, in Kennewick. This church was fertile ground for new ideas. We acted to remove deep-rooted beliefs such as the habit of succumbing to hierarchical church leader mandates. The young church was filled with spirituality, good-will, humor, and unity. Naturally, the first thing we did

was write up simple By-laws with a focus on God, which meant no ridiculous stipulations about how to care for the body or what kind of lifestyle one should be living.

People in church were my family. We were a lively bunch and the liveliness naturally attracted other people who studied Christian Science, but they were more concerned with church rituals than with spirituality. The religious addiction to repeating old behavior and disallowing change for the better seemed to be winning out, but they were rotting roots.

So, I focused on divine Science, the law of God, interpreting the divine Principle, Love, and it occurred to me to revise and update Eddy’s Science and Health. People new to Christian Science encouraged me. The revision project involved immense mental and physical turmoil until entrenched beliefs were removed and replaced with new healthy ideas. Soon those healthy ideas began bearing fruit.

I’m now working on the 4^th edition of 21^st Century Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures.