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Shortly after I graduated from college, I met a longtime Christian Scientist. She was a wonderful woman, and since I liked and respected her, I listened to what she had to say even though her beliefs were quite different from what I had learned as a child.

The most productive approach to solving any problem is to make God the starting point. While it’s tempting to focus on the dark things that distress us, thoughtfully considering the nature of God shines a healing light on a situation that could otherwise seem difficult, maybe even hopeless.

In her poem “Mother’s Evening Prayer” Mary Baker Eddy reassures us of God’s omniscience, omnipresence, and omnipotence when she writes, “His arm encircles me, and mine, and all” ( Poems, p. 4 ).

“You call this healing?!” I cried out as I threw my Bible and Christian Science textbook across my college dorm room. I had been reading selections from these two books in the current week’s Bible Lesson from the Christian Science Quarterly.

It’s those little shifts in thought that blow a concept wide open. One changed word can move you out of a familiar rut, and suddenly you see you’ve been holding to a somewhat limited concept.

Freshman writing class 101. Ten-page paper due every week for one solid quarter.

The present record of holding one’s breath underwater is 24 minutes and 3 seconds, set by Aleix Segura of Spain in 2016. In spite of today’s circumstances, athletes are continuing to train and set new records running, jumping, swimming, climbing, and more.

I woke up happy, and we had plans to do something fun amidst the shelter-in-place. We were going to venture out to a nearby farm stand to make an “essential” purchase of fresh-picked strawberries so we could make some yummy jam.

It was the second day of a required quarantine due to a health crisis from the spread of a virus. The fear and concern in so many hearts had been foremost in my prayers for weeks.

Editor’s note: The following is a historical look, provided by The Mary Baker Eddy Library and based on questions received, at how the Church of Christ, Scientist, has responded to racial issues in the 1960s and beyond. This was originally published online and can still be found at mbelibrary.