Q: What truths can you share to help us not feel so saddened and disappointed when our adult children don’t feel the need or take the time for church? They were in the Sunday School, but in their 30s and 40s they don’t think about church, God, or Christian Science.
A: I remember the first time I had to face the possibility that my daughters, who were beginning to leave the nest, might not all practice Christian Science. The most cherished goal in my life had been to share the precious heritage of Christian Science with my children, the way my folks had shared it with my three brothers and me. And now, I felt like a failure. I was frankly sad that what I considered my “pearl of great price” (Matthew 13:46) did not seem to be of great value to all of them.
As my heart ached, I reached out to God in prayer just to feel comfort myself. And quietly but firmly I heard several questions: “What is it that you want so much for your children? Isn’t it the fact that God is All? And if God is All, and you really know that, what are you sad about?” It hit me like a ton of bricks—stop just talking, teaching, and wanting others to know about the allness of God, and know it! I felt immediate comfort, and my thoughts went back to an article I had read in The Christian Science Journal from years ago titled “Will They Become Christian Scientists?” (Barbara Jean Stinson, March 1977, p. 144). The article in essence said that the “Will they become” question is the wrong one to ask. The right question to ask is “What is man in Science?”
