This month's conversation about God's power to heal is with Christian Science practitioner and teacher David Degler. Mr. Degler, who first advertised his professional healing practice in the Journal in 1970, lives in Franklin, Tennessee. But his work grooves to the spiritual heartbeat of the nearby metropolis known worldwide as "Music City." "My office is in Nashville, near the Cumberland riverfront and the District, which is where everyone hangs out to hear country, bluegrass, pop, blues, and jazz music," Degler explained to senior writer . "I'm in the Washington Square Building, a remodeled 19th-century brick manufacturing plant. Ryman Auditorium, home of the Grand Ole Opry, is only a few blocks away. The courthouse is across the street, and the State Capitol is nearby. Many times I've been tempted to move to the suburbs, but I say, 'No,' I belong downtown. That's where the people are. That's where I'm most needed. I feel like I'm part of this community. "
Degler served as a Christian Science Minister for Armed Services Personnel at Fort Campbell, an Army base north of Nashville, during the Vietnam War. In 1974, while continuing to maintain his full-time healing practice, he began 13 years of service as the Tennessee representative for the Committee on Publication, the public information and media relations office of The Mother Church. In 1987, he was appointed to The Christian Science Board of Lectureship, a post that he held at three different times through 2002. For three years, June 1995 to June 1998, he led Sunday church services and Wednesday evening testimony meetings as First Reader of The Mother Church in Boston. Degler became an authorized teacher of Christian Science in 1976, and every year, like all Christian Science teachers, he conducts a class for people who want to learn how to heal spiritually. He teaches his class in Nashville.
Well, one thing is how true it is that God is Love. I recently spent a week at The Mary Baker Eddy Library for The Betterment of Humanity, reading reminiscences and doing research. One of the reminiscences said that Mrs. Eddy spoke of God as Love very consistently in her normal conversation. She spoke of God in very intimate and endearing terms, such as, "precious Mother Love" and "darling Mother."
From the reminiscences of Clara Shannon, The Mary Baker Eddy Collection, The Mary Baker Eddy Library for the Betterment of Humanity. That really struck me. It made me realize more than ever that everyone can experience this very real closeness with God. We can all begin to feel more of God's nearness, more of God's love—the love of Love—in our lives.
