Of Good Report

It was a beautiful spring day in April of 2010. When I woke up that morning, I couldn’t imagine wanting to reconnect with the Church of Christ, Scientist, the Church I had willingly left as a young mother and housewife some fifty years before.

Following Annual Meeting 2017, with its upwelling spirit of love and unity, the Christian Science Board of Directors felt the immense value of Christian Scientists continuing to bear witness to the power of Spirit itself in bringing new energies and fresh devotion to our Cause. As of this date, the Board has journeyed to 16 regional meetings for church members, attendees at church services, and others seriously studying Christian Science.

The Psalms are so full of insights into the spiritual nature of home. Throughout the Psalms, words such as abide, dwelling place, refuge, secret place, green pastures, and house of the Lord have helped me to gain a sense of home as where my thought rests on and in God’s presence and power.

Many years ago , I was asked to take on the duties of a substitute Reader at a Christian Science informal group I attended, which meant that some weeks I would need to read the weekly Bible Lesson-Sermon to the congregation. But for about as long as I can remember, any activity that required speaking in public, even talking to a clerk at a store, was fraught with anxiety for me.

I was relatively new in my study of Christian Science when I went back to university to see if I wanted to pursue getting an MFA. Almost immediately, I was faced with some challenges.

As a young sailor away from home for the first time in my life, I was excited and enthusiastic about my new career. I had just finished my first training school after boot camp, and I was eager to attend my next school, which was to be the basis for my Navy vocation.

A church congregation presents a Christian Science lecture, not for itself, but to bless its neighbor. In this way, lectures are gifts of unconditional love.

Me, a Reading Room Librarian? I didn’t think I was the one for the job.   When my local Church of Christ, Scientist, moved our Reading Room downtown, we had a librarian who just loved the Reading Room and often spoke of her conversations with visitors.

One day I bumped into a friend who is also a Christian Scientist. When she asked what I had been up to recently, I told her that I was the First Reader of my local branch Church of Christ, Scientist.

When I think about the fundamental lessons taught in Christian Science Sunday Schools, particularly the Ten Commandments, Christ Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, and the Lord’s Prayer with its spiritual interpretation as given in Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy, I realize that the Christian Science Sunday School is one of the dearest spots on earth. This Sunday School is for pupils up to the age of twenty, and I attended until I was twenty years old.