Christian Science practitioner and teacher J. Thomas Black lives in Birmingham, Michigan, 15 miles northwest of downtown Detroit. "We live on a little lake. We've got a couple of kayaks and a little rowboat, and on a hot day we run out there and jump in and paddle around," says Tom. His office is ten minutes away and overlooks a branch of the famous River Rouge, several miles upstream from the first Ford Motor Company foundry plant. But he's surrounded by nature: "I've got wonderful trees outside, and it's very quiet." A contributing editor to the Christian Science periodicals, Tom spoke with the Journal about spiritual healing.
What's on your mind these days? What do you find yourself thinking about in regard to spiritual healing?
I've been thinking a lot about the story of Jesus in a boat with his disciples during a tremendous storm. See Mark 4:35–41 . There is something about that experience that really is, to me, monumental. Evening comes, and he says, "Let's go over to the other side of the lake." They say, "Yeah, sure, OK, let's go." So they take off in this boat, and they're sailing along. He's tired, so he stretches out in back and goes to sleep. And, the Bible says, "There arose a great storm ...." It also says, "And he arose ...." You get the sense of conflicting forces rising up in opposition here.
