A number of years ago after doing some house painting, I began to have difficulty breathing. The problem persisted for a number of days despite my prayers. It became clear to me that I needed a deeper and richer understanding of God. I knew from my study of Christian Science and all the testimonies I had read in the Christian Science periodicals that healings follow a clearer perception of God’s nature and ultimately our nature as His offspring.
I knew there was a definition of God in the Glossary of the Christian Science textbook, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy. I decided I would study each word or term in that definition and glean all I could from it before moving on to the next. But when I found the definition on page 587, I was surprised to see the first words: “The great I am.” I thought, “Oh no. That’s too hard for me.” Since I had made the commitment to study each word, though, I persisted.
I knew the term “I am” came from God’s answer to Moses when Moses asked God for His name—His nature: “And Moses said unto God, Behold, when I come unto the children of Israel, and shall say unto them, The God of your fathers hath sent me unto you; and they shall say to me, What is his name? what shall I say unto them? And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you” (Exodus 3:13, 14).
