This past year, in the warmer months, I had the joy of waking to the cooing of mourning doves and the mating call of cardinals outside my windows. Every one of their sounds was lovely to my ear but became richer when given meaning and understood. Throughout my day there were also periods of silence, during which I had the opportunity to listen to my thoughts, to review daily duties, and to enjoy quiet moments of self-reflection. But more important were moments of listening to God and praying, both for myself and others.
Christian Science teaches that prayer affirms our trust in God, which comes from a spiritual understanding of Deity as divine Truth and Love, as well as Mind and Spirit. Prayer is an exercise in grace, the practice of patiently waiting on God. It means listening, not with the human ear, or the corporeal senses, but with the senses of divine Spirit. Only through the spiritual senses can we commune with the divine Mind and hear its “tender sweet persuasions” (Maria Louise Baum, Christian Science Hymnal, No. 109) or comforting, intelligent guidance. This often requires silencing, among other thoughts, the cacophony of fears and worries emanating from the human or mortal mind, which suggest to us there is a power opposed to God which can make us sick or sinful, or cause misery.
The Discoverer of Christian Science, Mary Baker Eddy, writes in Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures: “To enter into the heart of prayer, the door of the erring senses must be closed. Lips must be mute and materialism silent, that man may have audience with Spirit, the divine Principle, Love, which destroys all error” (p. 15). In Christian Science error is defined as the belief that there is life, substance, and intelligence in matter; the belief in that which seems to be true but, in reality, is not. We are awakened from this erroneous belief and dream of material existence as we turn to God in the quiet of prayer and listen to what Spirit, God, is communicating. This enables us to hear Spirit’s holy purpose for us and to see who we truly are: the spiritual, indestructible reflection or idea of God, the understanding of which destroys the errors of the mortal senses and heals mind and body.
