THE SUMMER EVENING LAZILY WOUND DOWN and drifted toward dark. It had been a good day. I looked forward to a good night as I readied myself for a midweek testimony meeting at a church across town—a place where I'd gotten an inspirational lift so often that I'd come to count on one at every meeting. My wife was away at the time, and while our three then college-age kids were home for the summer, the house was quiet. I was ready to go. I stepped out the front door, looked at the driveway, and to my surprise—nothing. Not a car in sight. One family member or another had obviously appropriated my car. I did some quick calculations. Not enough time to walk to church. Too late to call another attendee and get a lift. I didn't see a way forward. I returned to the house and slumped into a chair.
Then a vague recollection surfaced. I'd heard there were Christian Science services and testimony meetings, held somewhere in California, that you could listen to by phone. I checked my copy of the Journal for listings of meetings in my home state, and after a false start or two, tracked down the meeting in time to join in as the opening hymn drew to a close. Readings from the Bible and from Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy followed, delivered in a warm and friendly voice. Then a time for silent prayer and the Lord's Prayer. After another hymn and an announcement or two, members of the congregation spoke. They shared spiritual insights they'd gleaned, gave accounts of how life's rough patches had smoothed out, told of physical healings they'd experience through prayer.
I quickly realized that while there was a physical gathering of people holding this meeting, the "congregation" extended much further. The testifiers calling in announced their locales. In several cases, they were out of state. One testifier had even called in from Peru. Peru! Best of all, you could hear in each voice not only the spiritual conviction so indispensable to prayer-based healing, but also how appreciated and embraced each speaker felt. How included they were.
