Several of us used to come together each week to hold a Christian Science service in a mental institution. The first week I joined the group I wasn't sure what to expect. As the organ began to play, around thirty men and women were escorted in. So obvious was their need, so pitiable their condition, that my heart went out to them, and I forgot my fear. As we started the hymn that begins with the words "O gentle presence" Christian Science Hymnal, No. 207 from a poem of Mrs. Eddy's, a peace descended on that small chapel, and we truly felt the presence of the Christ.
During the three years I served there, filling every position from Reader to escort, a Christian Science service took on a special meaning. As one of our group remarked, "We really learned the meaning of love." We learned not just how to conduct a service but how to care for all who came, to encourage them, to help them back to their quarters through lonely dark underground passages, to reach out and touch their needs with healing words of love. During that time we saw several of our new friends restored to fuller activity, leaving the institution and resuming a normal life.
Helping at these institutional services taught us all how better to support services in a Church of Christ, Scientist. Church services are not merely functional activities but wonderful occasions for healing, for spiritual growth, for exercising the spiritual vision that enables us to love visitor and fellow member alike. Although we may not qualify for the position of soloist or organist or may not have been chosen to read, each has a God-appointed job at every service. Even those not able to be present can make a vital contribution through their prayers.
