WHEN MEMBERS of the Christian Science Society in Pune, India decided to hold a public talk on spirituality and health, they felt sure that people in their community would be interested. "In my interactions, I've been seeing a growing desire for spirituality," says Jeanette Lopes, clerk of the Pune society. "Sometimes without even knowing it, people are searching for answers. They're asking: How can I lead a healthier, more spiritual life?" This was just one of a number of questions the Pune society hoped to address. And by hosting a lecture introducing Mary Baker Eddy's revolutionary work on spirituality. Science and Health, they were poised to do just that. The main issue? How to get the word out about the lecture.
"We did do some advertiseing," explains Usha Akatrai, chairwoman of the lecture committee. "We contacted a few local newspapers, one of which ran a write-up about the lecture in their health column a couple days beforehand. We also had an ad that ran in a local paper and a banner in the hotel lobby where the lecture was held." But, as members of the Pune society discovered, the most effective "advertising" was their own dedication to healing—and its impact on other people's lives.
A few weeks before the lecture, for example, a man had collapsed outside the office where the Society holds their meetings and has their Reading Room. "I was in the office at the time, saw what had happened, and walked out. I began talking to him,"
