Several years ago while I was a member of a large, active branch Church of Christ, Scientist, our family moved to a community where there was a very small branch church. Leaving close friends and a church we loved very much wasn't easy. But looking back, I can see that time as the beginning of a deepening understanding of what Church truly is.
I studied what Mary Baker Eddy says about Church in Science and Health. I had done this many times before, but it seemed that now I was really beginning to understand what she meant when she described Church as "the structure of Truth and Love; whatever rests upon and proceeds from divine Principle." Science and Health, p. 583. This study crystallized for me the concept that in Truth there are not many churches or many denominations. There is one Church—not a building, but a spiritual idea.
So, the truth of the matter was that I wasn't leaving one wonderful church and going to another not-so-great one. I would always be at home, so to speak, in "the structure of Truth and Love." Through my unity with God I already included the idea, Church. From this standpoint I could see that I would never be separated from the good I loved. Understanding that fact lifted the heavy burden of responsibility of membership in a small church. The obvious was finally dawning on me: Church, being a spiritual structure, doesn't rest on human support. But that spiritual structure, resting on divine Principle, supports us.
