YOU'D THINK AFTER BEING HEALED OF A LIFE-THREATENING DISEASE, my great-grandmother on my father's side, Mimi, would have become a devoted student of Christian Science. But the way she told it, she was "ungrateful." She related to my mother that she traveled to Portland, Oregon, to visit a Christian Science practitioner who'd been a student of Mary Baker Eddy's, where Mimi announced she wasn't going to pay her for "just talking." The woman kindly agreed to take no money, but after leaving the office, my great-grandmother realized she'd been completely healed of tuberculosis. Years later, after a second healing, of liver disease, she took Christian Science completely to heart, healing extensively within her own family, and living a full life until her mid-90s.
Storytelling has always been a powerful connector in our family, and to me the most valuable stories are the never-ending chapters of lives transformed by Christian Science. The characters are vastly different, but what weaves through every plot is steadfastness and a strength of conviction. An unwavering loyalty to this radically rational Science of Jesus' promises to us.
My grandmother Veta, the original Christian Scientist in my mother's family, is someone I remember who lived "church." There was no task too big or small for her gratitude—she was always cleaning the church hallways, coming off the platform after performing her duties as First Reader at the Sunday service, stepping into the Sunday School like sunshine to hug her three grandchildren.
