Editor’s note: Heloísa, the author of this article, has been asked by the Christian Science Board of Lectureship to be available this lecture year (July 1, 2018, to June 30, 2019) specifically to give lectures in Spanish and Portuguese, sponsored in the United States and abroad.
Picture yourself in a small village in Brazil sometime in the 1600s or 1700s. Portions of a book that was virtually unknown—the Bible—have been working their way into the hands of villagers in the interior of the country. Throughout the region, the frequent response of people who read the story of Jesus for the first time is that it is such a beautiful story. During colonial times the Bible was a forbidden book, but those who found it were being transformed, regenerated, and becoming better people, just because they were, for the first time, reading the story of Jesus and finding it to be so beautiful.
We’ve come a long way. Today, the book that was forbidden in Brazil during colonial times has become one of the most-read works not only in Brazil, but throughout the world and throughout the centuries.
The story of Jesus, with its edifying and healing effect, has prepared the thought of all peoples, cultures, languages, and regions, introducing a higher and more spiritualized way of thinking and praying.
Mary Baker Eddy, the Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science, was a faithful student and follower of the Bible. Over the last 150 years, the voice of Christian Science has brought us greater possibilities for everyone to learn even more of the practical Science found in the Bible’s pages, the Science Jesus knew—and of how he healed.
The benefit of knowing Christian Science must become available to all mankind. It is not reserved for any particular language or segment of human society, nor any particular part of the globe. The Apostle Paul’s words appeal to our era: “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus” (Galatians 3:28).
A Christian Science lecture is the ideal occasion for the facts about Mary Baker Eddy to be presented. A lecture brings healing to individuals and to society, and comforts the broken-hearted. It presents ideas that help a world riddled by the fear of disease, poverty, and humanitarian crises on every continent. It leads people to engage more closely with the Bible and the textbook of Christian Science, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, written by Mrs. Eddy. These books explain the divine Principle, the divine Love, the law of God, which is always impartial, guides to fair solutions, and brings healing. Christian Science enables students of its teachings to take a step beyond merely believing in God, and to begin to really understand what God is. That is when healing, restoration, and solutions appear. In Science and Health we read, “If God were understood instead of being merely believed, this understanding would establish health” (p. 203).
Among the worldwide work being done by the Board of Lectureship this year, some special prayer and focus will be given to lectures for the Spanish- and Portuguese-speaking communities in the United States and abroad.
A Christian Science lecture leads people to engage more closely with the Bible and the textbook of Christian Science.
This focus is particularly timely. Since the early 16th century, the land that would become the United States has been home to Spanish descendants. The US is now the second largest Spanish-speaking population in the world, Mexico being the first. The present moment is rich with opportunities for God’s healing power to be voiced. The need of our era is to look at all humanity as one undivided whole.
A primarily English-speaking church that sponsors a lecture in English and Spanish takes doubly the position of hosting those who come to hear again the beautiful, simple story. A story that brings the healing power of Jesus’ teachings to the people of the 21st century.
The role of a host is to serve. The blessing of the feast offered by the host, the result of a lecture offered to the community, is for everyone. For the entire city, not divided by language, culture, or background, but united as one voice, with one purpose, one common goal: to bring harmony to the world, to bring an end to human strife. Mary Baker Eddy wrote a poem entitled “Love” (Poems, p. 6), where we read,
Thou to whose power our hope we give,
Free us from human strife.
Fed by Thy love divine we live,
For Love alone is Life.
Jesus once said, “Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom” (Luke 12:32). That is happening right now. God is giving us the inspiring ideas that reveal His kingdom, where there is harmony, health, peace, and stability.
