Open letter to a new church member

My dear friend,

You mentioned in your letter that you are discouraged with the progress you are making in your branch Church of Christ, Scientist. You say the members don't seem to value your opinion.

Do you remember our discussion before you joined the church when you asked what was the best way to gain a more practical grasp of Christian Science? Do you remember the answer? It was on-the-job training. What better place to gain a practical understanding of what it is to be Christlike than in a branch church!

You are finding that some lessons are not being learned as easily as you would like. Wasn't this the way it was when you were in school? Some courses were easy, and others required hours of study before you could comprehend a single chapter in the text. Don't be discouraged. The reward is often greater when you have to struggle a bit. Rest assured, dear friend, you are not the only person who has felt impatient with his progress.

My experience as a young church member was based on the "me and they" of the generation gap rather than on an understanding of the unity of spiritual purpose that characterizes the true Church. At one of my first meetings I stated what I thought was wrong with Sunday School teaching. Afterward a rather irate Sunday School teacher challenged me. Was I questioning the dedication of teachers in their preparation for Sunday School each week? Another member stepped up and in a very loving manner said, "You didn't mean it that way, did you?"

This little incident illustrated to me the blessing of church activity. The first member was questioning my facts and pointing to the danger of abstraction. The second tempered the situation with love and made it an opportunity for learning. Between them they gave me my first glimpse of how the human institution of "church" represents the divine idea "Church," which Mrs. Eddy defines thus in the textbook, Science and Health: "The structure of Truth and Love; whatever rests upon and proceeds from divine Principle." ^{Science and Health, p. 583.} The next time I spoke at a church meeting I was able to let my comments be imbued with a fuller measure of divine Truth and Love. Later the opportunity to teach in a Christian Science Sunday School taught me how little room there is for theory. Children want the practical truth, and they revel in God's all-embracing love.

Fortunately the membership did not give up on me. I was appointed to a committee that was investigating the matter of replacing the church roof. I had some experience with roofing, since my work had involved me in the construction of several buildings. But it was a case of a little knowledge being a dangerous thing!

The plan was to obtain bids and present them to the membership, together with all relevant information. In the end we had quotations from two firms, each with a decidedly different approach to replacing the roof. Now, somehow I had gotten the notion that I was responsible for this thing and that I should support one bid or the other. I chose the less expensive alternative. Well, you know what happened. The membership thought differently. They took the more expensive route.

For a long time I wondered about this. (Lessons came slower in those days!) Finally it dawned on me: My approach had been impelled by self-love, conceit, arrogance. I had not had enough love for the membership to trust their inspiration.

As I soon learned, the membership had made exactly the right decision. In preparing for the installation the contractor discovered a number of rotting boards and replaced them. The other contractor would not have made this discovery because his plan did not include stripping the roof down to the bare wood. For me this was a practical demonstration of how a branch church membership can turn to divine Principle and be guided rightly.

Since that time many experiences have proved to me that, when based on prayer, a loving and honest approach to a task never fails to get it done. Whether the need is a new organ, an updated heating system, some decorating, or a fresh approach to the method of holding church meetings, whatever is necessary will be accomplished as long as the members realize whose will really governs—God's will.

My friend, these lessons have done much to help me be a better church member and a better person. I am sure you too will find that approaching church work as on-the-job training in demonstrating Christian Science will bring spiritual enrichment.

Humility is the cornerstone of all true learning both in and out of a branch church. How many times have you supported a position running counter to the majority view? You felt a certain change in the bylaws would be a progressive step and take oh so much burden off your shoulders? Ruffled feelings are a sure sign that self-will is still at work. Recognize this in yourself, and you have already taken the first step in overcoming will. Then get closer to God. I have found myself closest to God when I have put all personal feelings and pride aside and said, "OK, God, what is to be learned from this?" Thus we come to obey God alone. There is no upset when there is no sense of conflict—when we accept the one divine Mind as our Mind and reject mortal mind as unreal; when we realize our true identity as the spiritual idea of Mind, reflecting the one will. What an impetus to learn humility does Christ Jesus' prayer at Gethsemane give us: "Not my will, but thine, be done." ^{Luke 22:42.} In view of the Master's supreme sacrifice, surely the least we can do is say to ourselves as branch church members, If that is what the membership desires, I will love to lend my support.

This magnificent hymn of joy expresses the fullness of satisfaction you can feel in serving God through church. And you can know that as joy builds on joy and lesson upon lesson, your search for your true self in Christ will certainly succeed. Remember that every step forward, every false trait and material belief overcome, is a proof of the power, the pure aliveness, of that institution called branch church.