I first began studying Christian Science as a teenager. When I learned that one can take a course of instruction in this Science, I assumed it was only for older people who had already reached an advanced level of understanding, and that following the class, they would pretty much know everything there is to know about Christian Science.
I wanted that for myself, too, but thought I would probably have to wait a long time until I had reached a suitable pinnacle of spiritual growth to be ready to take the class.
As the years passed, this youthful misperception gave way to a more balanced view. I came to understand there’s no need to be “older” to take Christian Science Primary class instruction—and even those who have taken it are still learning. It is simply an aid to students, but an important one that deepens one’s understanding of this Science.
The course was designed by Mary Baker Eddy, the Discoverer of Christian Science, and it focuses on the chapter “Recapitulation” in her textbook, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures. It is taught by a highly experienced, accredited teacher of Christian Science and generally lasts two weeks. However, the instruction doesn’t end there.
The classroom teaching is followed by a yearly one-day association meeting of all the students taught by the same teacher. The teacher delivers an address on a selected topic during the meeting and may give assignments in advance to prepare students for the day. Students can participate by submitting to the association accounts of healing and what they have learned during the year.
As my study and practice of Christian Science progressed, the day came when I felt ready and eager for class instruction. I was then faced with the question of how to choose a teacher. Since it was reasonable to assume that different teachers would be appropriate for different individuals, how would I find the right one for me? I wanted my choice to be guided by God.
At that time I lived in a large city that had several teachers of Christian Science. I decided to schedule an interview with each. As I visited with them, they all seemed fine, but none stood out as being “the one.” I did, however, gain a conviction that one thing I was not looking for in a teacher was a relationship based on human personality. Class instruction is about building on our relation to God, and our relationship with a teacher derives from that. We look for the expression of God in each other as we proceed with the holy task before us; a focus on mere personal considerations would be a distraction.
I always looked for the divine message in the teaching, and I always found what I was looking for.
During my interview with the last teacher on my list, I asked him a question, and in response he suggested I read an article he had written in the Christian Science Sentinel. Although I had already read the article, that evening at home I obediently sat down to read it again. I felt as much at sea as ever—not only about whom to choose, but even what to look for in a teacher. I decided to listen humbly for whatever inspiration God might give me.
Partway through the article, I saw something that is hard to put into words. I saw Christian Science as a path of light—the light of Truth, absolute and unequivocal. This light came from above and outside of my human circumstances, and its message was “This is the way, walk ye in it” (Isaiah 30:21).
Although the glimpse was brief, a lion might as well have roared. That was what I was looking for! That was my answer from God. Science itself would be my teacher. Since this perception came to me while reading the article, I decided to choose the teacher who wrote it. Happily, I was accepted into his next class, which was only a few days away.
During class, and over the following years of our association, I always looked for the divine message in the teaching, and I always found what I was looking for.
Our heavenly Father has promised us: “I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts;… And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the Lord” (Jeremiah 31:33, 34).
We are all really taught of God—and like the kingdom of God, this teaching is found within.
