"A CHILD OF THE CHURCH." Now, there's a phrase many on the Journal staff hadn't heard used in everyday conversation. And we're a thoroughly churched bunch, raised either in the Christian Science church or in a church of a different denomination.
At first the phrase sounded—well, so 19th century. That is, until we considered the words that Mary Baker Eddy added, further describing herself as "an eager lover and student of vital Christianity" (Message to The Mother Church for 1901, p. 32). Actually, isn't that how many 21st-century Christians yearn to define themselves? Wherever we may be on the life-road that follows Christ Jesus' singular example, hearts that love him naturally want to find and practice a genuine, vital Christianity.
In her article "Mary Baker Eddy: 'My Christianity,'" (p. 14) Judy Huenneke offers helpful historical context for reading this month's lead article by Nathan Talbot (p. 29). Nate looks at how church, in its human-institution forms and its divine structure, has "the potential of fashioning our experience" even beyond those basic influences of family, friends, education, and the media. Read about how a remarkable healing made him a changed person—and "more a child of the Church."
