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The following is an edited excerpt of the Christian Science Associations Workshop held June 4, 2017, the day before Annual Meeting, in the Extension of The Mother Church.   To open the workshop, Allison (Skip) Phinney, a member of the Christian Science Board of Directors, introduced himself and Robin Hoagland, also a member of the Board of Directors.

Many years ago, my husband and I were visiting his family in California. I went into the garage to bring in another gallon container of water to finish filling the dinner glasses.

Christ Jesus referred to himself as “the way, the truth, and the life” (John 14:6), and Christians all over the world devote time and energy to learning how to follow his example. In addition, learning about Jesus’ immediate disciples can be especially helpful in the quest to be better students of Christ.

“Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free,” said Christ Jesus ( John 8:32 ). Later, when Pilate was questioning Jesus to find out why the Jewish leaders wanted to crucify him, Jesus said: “Thou sayest that I am a king.

You know how , when someone feels especially sad, those internal thoughts and feelings can quickly translate into an obvious external, physical effect. You see it when the person’s eyes overflow with water.

Every day, people are confronted with statements about identity, health, purpose, and success, and the simple fact that we are being told these things often seems to give those statements the force of truth. It can be tempting to move forward based on whatever premise is presented to us, and try to figure out how to deal with the cards we’ve been given, instead of considering whether what’s written on those cards is accurate in the first place.

Pontius Pilate must have glimpsed something of the spiritual consciousness exhibited by Christ Jesus when he said to those who had accused Jesus, “I find no fault in him” ( John 19:6 ). How could there be any fault in Jesus, whose whole life was a constant “yea, yea” to Truth—to integrity, wisdom, unselfishness, to the purity of God’s creation—and a “nay, nay” to error—to confusion, hatred, selfishness, to all that would contradict God’s perfect work? Pilate found only truth in Jesus, even as Jesus had told him (see John 18:37 ).

While visiting with friends in their home, I fell ill with a severe headache. Earlier they had asked me to stay for dinner.

What happens when doubt begins to creep in when we’re praying? We can feel confidence that our prayers are effective because God, Love, is governing every situation.

Back in our early twenties, my wife and I moved from Boston back to our native Albany, New York, area. We brought with us our young dog, Cannon—how we loved that dog!  I hadn’t found employment yet, but a branch Church of Christ, Scientist, nearby had set aside funds to paint the exterior of their building.