My grandfather was a preacher, and he had a wonderful sense of humor. I'll always remember a story he repeated to me long ago. He said that God's good, churchgoing people couldn't be fooled by the devil—except when it comes to choosing the carpet and the drapes! I feel he meant that Christians who follow faithfully the teachings of Christ Jesus—loving God and their neighbor as themselves—aren't easily fooled into committing the obvious sins in society. But, lulled by busywork in the church, they can become petty and narrow-minded over taste and expenditures.
When I became a student of Christian Science, thrilled with the clarity this study brought regarding Jesus' teachings and the marvelous possibilities for healing, I charged ahead ready to join a local branch church just as soon as I met the qualifications. But I'll never forget my first business meeting. There rose up around me a bitter conflict between members with opposing points of view. I left the meeting in tears, disillusioned. I couldn't understand how church members could act so petty. Weren't they supposed to be involved with healing?
The practitioner I called to explain this mystery to me chuckled a bit at my dismay, as my grandfather would have done. He patiently explained that we can be about the joyful business of healing, even in the midst of church activities, just as we can be healing out in the community. The suggestions of resistance to progress and of personal sense are the same errors wherever they arise. What better opportunity to heal these aggressive lies ... than in church meetings, he said.
