Over the last year, The First Church of Christ, Scientist, in Boston
(The Mother Church) has been facilitating meetings in support of the public practice of Christian Science healing. These meetings are sponsored by branch churches for those nurturing a budding practice, for those already in the public practice, and for those supporting the healing practice with their love and prayers.
AS ONE OF THE FACILITATORS OF THESE PRACTITIONER meetings, I hear one concern voiced over and over: "I feel the need of a mentor." So many questions come up as one moves forward in building and conducting a public healing practice—questions about charges, professional ethics, relations with patients, the balancing of the practice with one's personal and family life—as well as the ever-present question about how to be a genuine transparency for the healing power of divine Truth and Love. Many have said, "I need a mentor who can provide guidance when these questions come up!"
Fortunately, Mary Baker Eddy, the Founder of Christian Science, foresaw this need. She established class instruction in Christian Science, and she designated Christian Science teachers as ongoing mentors for their pupils (see Manual of The Mother Church, Article XXVI, Section 2, and Science and Health, p. 454).
And from my own point of view, as a pupil, practitioner, and teacher of Christian Science, I know how valuable spiritual counsel and encouragement can be from an experienced Christian Science healer. I am so grateful for the alacrity and graciousness with which my own teacher mentored me.
Care of Pupils. SECT. 2. Christian Scientists who are teachers shall carefully select for pupils such only as have good past records and promising proclivities toward Christian Science. A teacher shall not assume personal control of, or attempt to dominate his pupils, but he shall hold himself morally obligated to promote their progress in the understanding of divine Principle, not only during the class term but after it, and to watch well that they prove sound in sentiment and practical in Christian Science.... — Manual of the Mother Church, Article XXVI
One thing that has surprised us as we've conducted these practitioner meetings, however, is that we've found many pupils who feel reluctant to call their teacher, or another teacher if their own teacher is not available—or even another more seasoned practitioner. These pupils think that perhaps these teachers and practitioners are too busy. On the other hand, we've found teachers and other practitioners who are ready and willing to nurture and guide others as they go forward in their public practice of Christian Science healing. Consequently, I've been giving a lot of thought lately to just what constitutes mentoring in Christian Science.
What better place to turn for clarity on this topic than to Jesus, the master Christian healer? Jesus gave his disciples the purest form of mentoring. His example provides the perfect guide for anyone who is either seeking spiritual mentoring or is in a position to provide it. Three cardinal points stand out to me in Jesus' method. His counsel did the following:
Do not dismiss students at the close of a class term, feeling that you have no more to do for them. Let your loving care and counsel support all their feeble footsteps, until your students tread firmly in the straight and narrow way. —Science and Health, p. 454
1. Led an individual's thought to God, not to human personality.
2. Encouraged individuals to discover and nurture within themselves their own God-given spiritual strengths and abilities.
3. Set individuals on the road to working out their own salvation, and at the same time equipped and inspired them to be effective Christian healers.
What made Jesus' mentoring so successful was that he constantly turned to God as the source and sustainer of his and everyone's real being. He let the Christ, his spiritual identity as God's Son, shape his own character. And he drew on this spiritualized view to see the true identity of every person as the perfect, spiritual reflection of God. As Mary Baker Eddy wrote in Science and Health, "The divinity of the Christ was made manifest in the humanity of Jesus" (p. 25). Consequently, the sick and the sinning tangibly felt the tender love of God through Jesus, and they were thereby healed and reformed.
To be sure that the Christ, the spiritual reflection of God, is leading my thought, I've found it helpful to consider what mentoring is, as well as what it is not. First, let's look at what faithful mentoring in Christian Science is not:
• A mediation between God and man
• Charismatic personal influence
• Human advice-giving, control, or domination
• A breach of confidentiality
• A platform for human opinion and self-righteousness
And, now, let's look at what faithful mentoring in Christian Science is:
• The Christ leading thought through its manifestation in the humanity of the mentor (tenderness, purity, compassion, and all the qualities of God)
• A listening ear, loving support, tender nurture, comfort, and encouragement
• Standard bearing/upholding of the ethics of Christian Science practice
• Picking up the fallen and putting them on their feet again
• Strengthening the spirit of Christliness in the practitioner
When the Christ is leading the thought of the mentor, the same Christ-nature that Jesus recognized as his and everyone's true identity reaches into the human heart and works wondrous transformation. In this regard, we can draw inspiration from the story of Saul of Tarsus, a violent persecutor of Jesus' followers. Saul had witnessed the godliness of Stephen, who, even as he was being stoned, cried out to God to forgive his murderers (see Acts 7:54-60). This expression of pure love may have begun to open Saul's heart to the Christ. Later, the Christ became so vividly apparent to Saul's thought that it literally blinded him and stunned him into recognizing his own spiritual blindness. Then, when Saul was healed of his physical and spiritual blindness through the Christ's forgiving love (expressed by Ananias), Saul took the new name of Paul (see Acts 9:1-22 and 13:9). He became a witness for the Christ, a Christian healer, and a mentor to others.
Timothy, for example, was a grateful recipient of Paul's tender ongoing mentoring. He felt the divine influence of the Christ that was manifested in Paul's humanity, which led Timothy to follow Jesus' example of worshipping one God. He let the Christ, Truth, manifest itself in his own life and character. As the letter from Paul to Timothy affirms, "There is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus" (I Tim. 2:5). That is, there is one God, one harmonizing and healing divine Principle, as manifest in the life of Christ Jesus.
Mary Baker Eddy tirelessly mentored her own pupils, leading them to Christ every step of the way. It was clear to her that a student's progress in Christian Science could come only through following the Christ. She knew for sure that through self-instruction aided by the Bible and Science and Health, communion with God in prayer, and obedience to the laws of God in daily life, one would be led by the Christ, not by a person. And that's where she expected all mentoring by Christian Scientists to lead.
Through the Bible and Science and Health, Christ leads you and me to understand the true nature of God and the true, godly nature of man (of ourselves and everyone) as God's spiritual idea. In this way, Christ, Truth, brings healing to us and to others as it spiritualizes and Christianizes our own thought and character.
Mrs. Eddy was insistent that no one put anyone on a pedestal or cling to her personally or to anyone else's personality. Rather, each of us should discover our own God-given strengths and abilities and put them into practice. She said, ". . . follow your Leader only so far as she follows Christ. Godliness or Christianity is a human necessity: man cannot live without it; he has no intelligence, health, hope, nor happiness without godliness" (Message to The Mother Church for 1901, p. 34).
I have found that only in proportion as the Christ acquaints me with my own innate godliness, and I cultivate this godliness within myself, is the healing and saving power of the Christ expressed through me. This is the mentoring model for Christian Scientists. It applies specifically to teachers of Christian Science, but it also serves as a guide for all practitioners, as well as for parents, Sunday School teachers, and all other Christian Scientists.
May you enjoy the blessings of seeking, finding, and practicing the faithful mentoring that leads thought to the healing Christ, Truth.
