MEMBERS OF MY FAMILY have lived on a homestead settled over 250 years ago when America was still a British colony. Evidence of their pioneering efforts is all around—massive stone walls, cleared fields, and granite steps and posts cut from the hill above. Their letters and journals hint at the determination and love that it took to remain despite challenges. They've given me a new appreciation of what it means, as a Christian Scientist, to be a pioneer in Christian healing.
With over a billion people calling themselves Christian, the pioneering days of Christianity may appear to be over. Although Jesus' teachings may be well known, following his example in practicing spiritual healing is still new territory. This possibility may strike some as just as mysterious and unapproachable as the dark forest initially appeared to early settlers here in New Hampshire. But one pioneer's efforts to clear a field give all those who pass by a broader view.
Through her discovery of the Principle and rules underlying Christ Jesus' healing ministry, Mary Baker Eddy cleared the way for all to experience the health and freedom Jesus proved to be every individual's birthright. She gave the world a full explanation of these spiritual laws in the textbook of Christian Science, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures. Describing her pioneer efforts, Mrs. Eddy wrote: "The lame, the deaf, the dumb, the blind, the sick, the sensual, the sinner, I wished to save from the slavery of their own beliefs and from the educational systems of the Pharaohs, who to-day, as of yore, hold the children of Israel in bondage. I saw before me the awful conflict, the Red Sea and the wilderness; but I pressed on through faith in God, trusting Truth, the strong deliverer, to guide me into the land of Christian Science, where fetters fall and the rights of man are fully known and acknowledged" (Science and Health, pp. 226–227).
