Church Alive

Many people support their churches through volunteer work. This can be rewarding for the volunteer, and it can help a church reach out to its local community to provide succor and aid.

Mary Baker Eddy wrote, “In the words of St. John: ‘He shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you forever.

The Internet has revolutionized the way we communicate and connect. Recently, I have received tangible proofs of how good news travels fast and misses no seeker for Truth.

I want to share a short lesson I learned the other day. I think it’s one that can give us some insight into how we approach the changes that might result from wanting to make church more “alive.

Sunday School at our church is a happy place, where students and teachers often arrive early to chat and visit together before it’s time to start. Sometimes the students help prepare past copies of the Christian Science Sentinel , The Christian Science Journal , and The Christian Science Monitor to place in literature distribution boxes our church maintains around town.

I love teaching in Christian Science Sunday Schools. I’ve had the opportunity of membership in several Christian Science branch churches over the years and have taught Sunday School in all of them.

I had this once-beautiful fern  hung in a dark corner  by a dark window.  Now years old—long and thin  it was neglected.

After a very disagreeable relationship with a member of another Christian Science church, for years I avoided attending any joint church events such as lectures or meetings where I could possibly see this individual. I knew this was wrong, but didn’t make the effort to pray about it.

I’ve enjoyed thinking about a familiar allegory recently, and how it relates to Church. It concerns a man who was caught in a flood.

For the past eleven years I have attended to the homeless in Balboa Park and the city center in San Diego, each week giving out food and other essentials. I also share spiritual nourishment as a Christian Science practitioner, by talking with the homeless about their innate spiritual identity, and also by sharing issues of The Christian Science Journal and the Christian Science Sentinel , as well as occasional copies of Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy.