Thanks to the dedicated efforts of my teacher and my classmates, my Christian Science Sunday School class was a wonderfully challenging experience. One Sunday, after a particularly thought-provoking session, I commented, "Going to Sunday School is like parachuting into a big swamp." To console my teacher, I added hastily: "Most of the time we get out!"
I went on to explain that, like parachutists, our class never knew precisely where it would land. Most important, no topic was declared off-limits by our teacher, and some most unusual ones certainly arose! Once we had landed on a topic, we struggled through the swamp of human opinions —which varied enormously within our group— toward the security of the shore, the truth that transcends all human beliefs. It was seldom easy, but, helped by those sturdy rafts, the Bible and Science and Health, we usually waded out of the swamp by the end of the class with bigger spiritual muscles to show for our efforts.
Mary Baker Eddy says in her Preface to Science and Health: "The time for thinkers has come." Science and Health, p. vii. In our class we liked to think of ourselves as thinkers, and our questions were sometimes very probing. Our questioning certainly strengthened our understanding of God and of our relation to Him.
