Of Good Report

Do you sometimes feel as if you just can’t take any more bad news? One day I realized I could see each challenge as a prayer assignment—a call for prayer—and that I should be not only willing, but happy, to answer each call. It occurred to me that when Jesus was about to ascend, he did not say to the disciples, “Well, I’m leaving.

Have you ever glanced in the mirror and seen a blemish, only to find it was just a smudge on the mirror?   My mother, a student of Christian Science, once found a coworker looking in a bathroom mirror, distressed at the state of her complexion. Filled with compassion, my mom told her that she was the image of God.

As a young bride from the Midwestern United States, I never imagined that one day I’d find myself living overseas in a military compound, but that’s what happened. My new husband, a US naval officer, was stationed in the Philippines soon after we were married, and I joined him months later on the naval base.

In the remote area where I live, two days of rain were forecasted, a welcome soak for my newly planted trees. But the forecast was later updated to a nor’easter, a strong storm with high winds.

As a child , I struggled with homesickness at various times. This went on for years.

I rolled the last ball of snow to finish a snowman for our three-year-old son in the front yard of our home. This was a new experience for us, since we’d moved across the country to New England for my husband’s job.

We learn in Christian Science that each one of us is complete, made in the image and likeness of God, as the first chapter of Genesis in the Bible describes; and so we each fully include the male and female qualities of God. When my husband of fifty years passed on, I realized this understanding was going to have to be more than words.

Is there anyone who doesn’t want to experience freedom and love? The Bible assures us that we are “heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ,” and, as such, we may experience “the glorious liberty of the children of God” ( Romans 8:17, 21 ). Christ Jesus’ life exemplified the Love that is God, as well as the freedom found in knowing the truth.

When our Christian Science society decided to renovate our church building in 2021, we titled the central theme for the project “This Old Church,” a fond reference to a show in which old homes are restored and renovated. To us, this title described our labor of love and our church’s potential for renewal and revitalization.

I would like to express my gratitude for the immediate availability of divine help. Over and over I’ve been impressed by how quickly and powerfully prayer can bring healing.