Articles

Last year a friend asked how I would feel about sitting with fellow Christian Scientists in a casual setting—as you would around your own kitchen table—just talking about healing. The first thought that came to me was one of doubt—how could something like that be achieved, with people’s busy schedules and other time commitments? But on the heels of that limited thought came the realization that healing is the foundation on which our church is built.

About two years ago , the first Christian Science practitioner roundtable was held at First Church of Christ, Scientist, Greater Lansing, Michigan. It came about because several members of the church were interested in becoming full-time practitioners, listed in The Christian Science Journal, yet they had some questions they wanted to talk through and thought that other church members might also like to explore some of the practical issues of full-time healing work.

Recently I overheard a child, apparently referring to a prior conversation, insist to his mother that he’d told her the truth; it “just wasn’t quite true. ” The mother gently corrected him, explaining that if something isn’t true, it’s not truth.

When Christ Jesus commended Peter for the recognition that he, Jesus, was the Christ, the Son of God, the Master proclaimed that his church would be built on that foundational understanding. He further characterized its divine protection with these words: “And the gates of hell shall not prevail against it” (see Matthew 16:13–20 ).

Many readers will recognize this title as a portion of Mary Baker Eddy’s spiritual interpretation of the line in the Lord’s Prayer given by Christ Jesus to his followers: “Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven” ( Matthew 6:10 ). Her interpretation reads in full: “Enable us to know,—as in heaven, so on earth,—God is omnipotent, supreme” ( Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, p.

It can be tempting , when we come across a Bible story we are familiar with, to gloss over it rather quickly, thinking we have already learned all it has to teach us. For me, one such story was that of Christ Jesus’ healing of the impotent man who was waiting for the “troubling of the water” at the pool of Bethesda (see John 5 ).

“What our churches need is that devout, unselfed quality of thought which spiritualizes the congregation” ( The First Church of Christ, Scientist, and Miscellany, p. 249 ).

Is it time to remodel your thinking? To exchange a material sense of self for your true spiritual nature?

There is something so freeing about the image of a bird. I used to look up at birds in the sky and wish I could fly.

Reflection: what a powerful thing it is! A reflection in a lake of a beautiful scene in a serene setting can have a stirring effect on the human heart. It can rouse within us an indescribable sense of peace, even holiness, and make us want to linger in that setting forever.