Of Good Report

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

One of the things I love most about Christian Science is the freedom it gives us to express joy.   Last Christmas, I learned to think about joy and freedom from a new perspective.

My hybrid vehicle stopped running, and the mechanics couldn’t find the problem. The next day, my smartphone failed to reboot, and I was without needed data and connection.

“Will you teach the youngest Sunday School class of three-year-olds?” asked the Sunday School superintendent over the phone. I’d had minimal contact with children and no idea how to teach that age group.

I was enjoying the company of a woman seated next to me on a long flight. She was going to visit her mother and sisters in Germany, where she had grown up.

The flight attendant ran down the aisle while the pilot sternly advised all passengers to return to our seats and buckle our seatbelts. As I sat there on this flight, seatbelt buckled, with the plane jerking back and forth, up and down, I turned my thought to God.

Raising a family of three active boys brought many opportunities to turn to divine Love in prayer. What I was learning of God and man through the study of Christian Science was both preventative and curative in maintaining the boys’ well-being.

On a recent college study abroad trip, we visited Israel, Jordan, and the Palestinian territories. As part of our study, we were asked to consider the question: What makes the land holy? One of the destinations we visited was Mount Nebo, where Moses had gone after spending forty years leading the Israelites through the desert.

“We are undisturbed. ” These were the words of assurance I spoke to my neighbors.

“Mrs. Dunton is prejudiced” was written on the tiny scrap of paper scrunched in the bottom of the mailbox I kept on my desk as a third-grade teacher.