As the mother of one child, expecting our second, I came across copies of the Journal and the Christian Science Sentinel in our local laundromat. I was working in an intensive care unit as a medical nurse at the time. I was drawn to these periodicals instantly, knowing that my mother had attended a Christian Science Sunday School for a short period when she was around ten years old. She had told me how grateful she was to learn that God was not just a loving entity, but was, in fact, Love itself. Growing up, I would listen to my mother describe what she had learned in Christian Science and what our own Christian church taught that was aligned with its teachings.
Though I loved the pastor and appreciated the genuine fellowship in our rural church community, I had long cherished a desire to know God better through studying the Scriptures. When I was expecting our second child and searching for a firm spiritual foundation upon which to raise a family, I felt my prayers had been answered when I came across those copies of the Christian Science periodicals. I didn’t fully understand everything I read, but the idea of God as a present help in any set of circumstances was so natural and wonderful to me.
Also, the manner in which the ideas were presented was so logical and their meaning so in sync with my upbringing as a Christian that I instantly felt I had found a system explaining how Christianity, understood as a science, could be applied to my daily life. Indeed, I saw that it provided humanity with practical tools that could solve the world’s problems.
