Of Good Report

Breaking up with someone who has been important to you can bring a sense of loss, grief, hurt, and sometimes anger. But these feelings are not inevitable.

American humorist Garrison Keillor quipped, “Anyone who thinks sitting in church can make you a Christian must also think that sitting in a garage can make you a car. ”  True, yet attending church is so much more than being a “pew potato” instead of a “couch potato.

“Some trust in chariots, and some in horses: but we will remember the name of the Lord our God” ( Psalms 20:7 ). I love this passage from the Bible.

In 1995, my husband and I went on holiday to England with our two small daughters. On our last day there, my handbag went missing from the restaurant where we were having lunch.

It was supposed to be one of those simple drives into town—to drop off a package for mailing, pick up a loaf of bread, leave a bag of gently used clothes in a donation box.   I’ve learned, however, as a student of Christian Science, that even these so-called mundane tasks are often opportunities to learn more about one’s relationship to God—more about the healing nature of divine Love.

I grew up in the Deep South of the United States, during a time when segregation made it nearly impossible to know anyone outside of their own race. I was also aware of the prevailing belief that not everyone was loved by God.

As a small child , loving Christian Science, I thought of myself as a Christian Scientist. Both of my parents had grown up going to Christian Science Sunday School and relied on Christian Science for all our needs.

When I was in graduate school, I used to go to the Reading Room in a nearby town to read the weekly Bible Lesson from the Christian Science Quarterly.   One day, I noticed a woman there in the study room with the Quarterly open and the marked Lesson books in front of her (the Bible and the Christian Science textbook, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy).

Some years ago, a church position was vacant that needed to be filled. I was only partially qualified for it, but as I prayed about it, I was led to volunteer until a fully qualified person was found.

There’s a lot going on in the world right now, and sometimes it can feel daunting to know where to even begin my prayers. How can I pray for my family, my community, and the world when I feel like the challenges I need to deal with in my own life are enough? Yet, I’ve realized that the ideas I pray with concerning a personal situation can be just as applicable to community or world issues.