“There is no WAY I can stay in this place.” That was all I could think as I stared at the pile of boxes waiting to be unpacked. I had been in this new home for all of two hours, and it already seemed totally wrong.
I had recently experienced some changes in my life and had been living with my parents for a year when I started looking for an affordable living situation in a highly desirable neighborhood. Desperate to be on my own again, and without much of a budget to work with, I had been elated when I found a room to rent in a house with four other people. So elated that I somehow overlooked my initial misgivings.
Around this time I had started to devote serious attention to the work of establishing a public practice of Christian Science healing. I had talked with a Christian Science practitioner about this potential idea, and our conversations caused me to consider whether this room was the best place to shelter “the babe” of Christian healing (see Mary Baker Eddy, Miscellaneous Writings 1883–1896, p. 370). Would it provide the atmosphere in which I could best nurture this metaphorical baby, and represent my growing commitment to being available for consecrated prayer for anyone who might call on me for healing? Clearly, I needed to find a suitable place that would provide the quiet and order necessary for this work.
