For many college students, the month of August is all about rest and relaxation, the last hurrah before returning to school and the vicious cycle of sleep deprivation, exams, and microwave pizza. But for students who attended the 2004 CSO Leadership Invitational at The Mother Church, August was a month of focus, divine inspiration, and spirited discussion.
From far and wide, collegeaged Christian Scientists traveled to Boston. Forty-four students, representing 39 colleges and universities, gathered with one purpose in mind: to learn how to address spiritual needs on campus and to discover how to share spirituality with fellow classmates who may be searching.
2004 marks the centennial anniversary of Mary Baker Eddy's provision in the Church Manual for the formation of Christian Science organizations (CSOs) at universities and colleges. CSOs provide a community for young Christian Scientists and other spiritual seekers to share a growing understanding of practical spirituality with one another. By establishing CSOs, Mrs. Eddy presented an opportunity for students and faculty members to dialogue, and to challenge the "inevitables" of the college experience. Sharing ideas from the Bible and Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, CSO members not only develop a forum for spiritual discussion, but they also find practical answers for the problems in their lives—practical answers that take the form of reduced stress, greater self-confidence, and healing.
