Skip to main content Skip to search Skip to header Skip to footer

Of Good Report

‘I am not impressed’

From the August 2019 issue of The Christian Science Journal


Many years ago, when I got my first teaching job, I joined the nearest Christian Science church. Immediately, I was assigned to the nursery, where babies and children too young for Sunday School are cared for. I had only been there a little while when a mom and dad brought in a yelling boy of about two. He clearly didn’t want to be there, and his parents were embarrassed. I took the little boy aside, knelt down, and looked him in the eye. I calmly and tenderly said, “I am not impressed. You can yell all you like, but I am not impressed. That’s because I see you as God’s beautiful, joyful child. That’s what impresses me.” 

I kept talking to him like this, and after a while he calmed down. His mom and dad left to go to church. The little boy and I had a wonderful hour together, and when his parents came to pick him up, they were very happy. From that time on, he came to the nursery joyfully and willingly.

Recently, I had some chores to do, and I overdid it. When I finally stopped to rest, I was aching all over. The encounter I just related occurred to me, and I said out loud, “I am not impressed. What I just did was helpful and useful. What does impress me is the idea that spiritually, I am God’s beloved child.” In a few minutes, the muscles stopped aching.

Sign up for unlimited access

You've accessed 1 piece of free Journal content

Subscribe

Subscription aid available

 Try free

No card required

More In This Issue / August 2019

concord-web-promo-graphic

Explore Concord—see where it takes you.

Search the Bible and Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures