For many years, I anticipated receiving and enjoyed reading the weekly and monthly Christian Science periodicals. These magazines always brought me inspiration, spiritual growth, and healing. And because of this, I developed a desire to contribute to this collection of literary and spiritual richness by sharing my healing inspiration and proofs with others. Yet, no matter the amount of effort I allocated to the writing process, I continued to stare at the proverbial blank paper.
Undeterred by my lack of progress, I was encouraged by and prayed with this statement from the Christian Science textbook, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy: “Working and praying with true motives, your Father will open the way” (p. 326). I was also inspired by a statement Mrs. Eddy once wrote to her students: “If my own students cannot spare time to write to God,—when they address me I shall be apt to forward their letters to Him as our common Parent, and by way of The Christian Science Journal; thus fulfilling their moral obligation to furnish some reading-matter for our denominational organ” (Miscellaneous Writings 1883–1896, p. 155).
I now realized that my motivation to write for the periodicals had to be more than just a personal desire; it required unselfish obedience to what Mrs. Eddy points out as a “moral obligation.” And what greater joy can we have than to “write to God”? Many students of Christian Science have risen to fulfill this expectation and most noble duty to express their gratitude for healing by submitting manuscripts for publication.
