My husband was a Christian Science lecturer for ten years. Each lecture tour involved several months of steady travel and the giving of five or six lectures a week.
I left behind a busy life of homemaking, office employment, and church work to travel with him. I loved the lecture activity and was giving it much prayerful support, but I soon became restless with the long hours spent driving or in hotel rooms. I felt most productive when I could be doing something, such as typing, bookkeeping, telephoning, and other work that the tours entailed. I hadn't fully grasped my partnership role in nurturing the clear thought and spiritual-mindedness we both needed to maintain for the lectures to accomplish their healing purpose.
As we began our second year of travel, I developed pain and stiffness in my joints. Eventually my whole body was affected and all movement caused discomfort. Sitting became so uncomfortable that we stopped the car frequently so that I could get out and walk around. Nights were wakeful, and I was losing weight. Afraid of becoming more of a burden than a help to my husband, I contemplated flying home or going to a nursing facility for Christian Scientists.
