Do you find it daunting to share Christian Science with others? On a recent Sentinel Watch podcast, the hosts who welcome visitors to the Christian Science Plaza in Boston discuss talking about Christian Science with newcomers, and how it’s really just about sharing what they love. The following is an edited and abbreviated transcript of their conversation. To listen to the full podcast, go to cssentinel.com/sharing-cs-sharing-love.
Tony Lobl: I have four people here from the Church’s Plaza Activities team who look after and welcome visitors to the How Do You See the World? experience and those taking tours at The Mother Church. I understand that the Christian Science Plaza is now one of the top destinations in Boston. So, Erika Parrish-Wilcox, Bill Carawan, Schuyler Sackett, and Masiah Wess, in your role as hosts you are meeting many members of the public to whom Christian Science may be a totally new concept.
Schuyler Sackett: Absolutely. Each day we’re encountering people who are unfamiliar with Christian Science and having wonderful interactions with them.
Bill Carawan: We find that when they take the tours, they can’t get enough. They just want to know everything, particularly about the healings. They love the healings.
Masiah Wess: One day a woman who had just visited the Mapparium asked me, “Can you explain what Christian Science is?” So I told her about Mrs. Eddy and her discovery of Christian Science in 1866 after prayer healed her of a life-threatening injury. I also spoke a bit about the importance of understanding what God is and the relationship we each have to God as His spiritual expression.
Erika Parish Wilcox: I love having the opportunity to be with these people. They are so genuinely interested in finding out what Christian Science is. I had a couple from Spain the other day, and the woman said to me, “Mary Baker Eddy really could heal? I want to know more about that!” And after they watched the video about Mrs. Eddy, she wanted to know about her book Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures. They even took the time to go upstairs to The Mary Baker Eddy Library.
I try to relate to visitors in such a way that they will understand what I’m talking about. Working as a host is a great opportunity to share what I love and what has blessed me.
Have you ever heard back from any of the people you’ve interacted with and learned that they’ve pursued the study of Christian Science? I’ve often shared Christian Science with people I’ve met on my travels, and every once in a while someone gets back in touch and it’s clear their life has gone in a different direction because they’ve learned about the Science of Christ.
Bill: All of us have that experience every now and then.
Erika: We get a lot of students from the colleges in this area, and they often come back and bring their friends or their parents. We tell people about the Christian Science Reading Room. There’s a Reading Room around the corner from the exhibits, and the staff there shares fruitage with us, telling us that people came over and bought Science and Health or asked questions.
We also make a point of sharing the Journal with visitors and showing them the Directory in the back where the Christian Science branch churches and Reading Rooms are listed, so they can find one in their area.
I had an experience once where I had been working with someone for a couple of years, and eventually we had a conversation about Christian Science. And the next day they came back and said, “I walk past a Christian Science church every day on my way to work, and I’d never seen it before.” I think the work you’re doing is going to open people’s eyes to see that they actually do have a local Reading Room or branch church around the corner from them that they might not have noticed.
Schuyler: Something I always keep in thought is that every encounter with a visitor is a divine appointment. You’re speaking with this person for a reason, though you may not know at the time how things are going to connect.
Recently I audited a Church tour, following along to be an extra set of hands to help out because it was a large group that included a number of families with children. I was sitting toward the back of the group, and one young girl seemed very restless and was making loud, disruptive noise. I realized I needed to do something. So I prayed, and it came to me that there was nobody on the tour but God’s children, and nothing was happening but the activity of Love. That was all it took, because the girl settled down and was totally quiet, and the tour proceeded.
Later on, some of the hosts who’d been conducting the tour mentioned that a woman had approached them afterward and explained that her daughter was autistic. The mother was very interested in the Sunday School. She took a copy of Science and Health, and wanted all the information she could get about the Reading Room and the periodicals. That family had just come by happenstance. They’d been looking for something else in the area and saw that the Church was offering a tour, so that’s why they were there.
Erika: Some visitors tell us about challenges in their lives, or maybe a loved one is in the hospital and they want to know how to pray. One woman had been in a hurricane that was very destructive, and she just felt drawn to our church. When she came in, she said she felt so embraced by love and so comforted. She sat quietly for a while and then started talking with us about how much it meant to her to find a sense of peace after what she had been through. She also wanted to know about Christian Science and took a lot of literature at the end of the tour.
This kind of thing happens over and over. There are many people searching and hungering to feel God’s love for them and to get a spiritual perspective—to see what God sees and find comfort and peace.
Sometimes people love Christian Science but don’t feel comfortable talking about it with others. What tips would you give them? A man named Alfred Farlow represented the Church in the time when Mary Baker Eddy was here. Mrs. Eddy loved his approach because he didn’t throw a lot of Christian Science jargon at people. He was always trying to speak in a way that made sense to them, not in a way that said, “You’ve got to listen to what I want to tell you in the way I want to tell it.” What have you learned through your interactions about ways to engage with people that help them see the beauty of what you have to share?
Bill: I get so full of love for these people that I feel ready to burst! When you love people, you’re genuinely interested in everything to do with them—where they’re from, what they do for a living. And you’re going to listen for divine Love’s guidance so you can tell them what they need to hear. We all experience this.
Erika: We’re not trying to convert anybody. We’re just sharing what we love, the truth that blesses and heals, and they can feel that. They’ll say, “I understand why, if you experienced a healing like that, you would want to be a Christian Scientist.”
Masiah: What’s really precious, too, is understanding that the person approaching you is the right person for you to have a conversation with. They’re being led to you, and they’ll be receptive to what you have to share. If you can share one of your own healings or someone else’s—something that has impacted you and that you appreciate—it goes a long way toward finding something this person can relate to.
That’s lovely. I always go back to a statement Mary Baker Eddy makes in Miscellaneous Writings 1883–1896: “When the heart speaks, however simple the words, its language is always acceptable to those who have hearts” (p. 262).
Masiah: That reminds me that in our work it feels as if there’s no language barrier. Someone who comes up to me might know Mandarin and a little bit of English, yet we’re able to have a conversation and they walk away inspired.
Erika: I love using the translations of Science and Health in those situations, because on one side is English and on the other side is the other language. The couple from Madrid that I mentioned earlier didn’t speak English very well, but I took a Spanish Science and Health and showed them the chapter “Christian Science Practice” in their language. And they couldn’t wait to get the book and read it so they could find out about the practice of Christian Science.
There are 17 translations of Science and Health now, plus Braille and a couple of non-finalized translations.
Bill: Something else that means a lot to every one of us is this statement in Science and Health: “Millions of unprejudiced minds—simple seekers for Truth, weary wanderers, athirst in the desert—are waiting and watching for rest and drink. Give them a cup of cold water in Christ’s name, and never fear the consequences” (p. 570).
Erika: Absolutely. It may seem difficult at times. Maybe you’re feeling that someone isn’t quite receptive. But when they feel the genuine love you’re expressing, it often just melts that resistance away. And then they have a wonderful sharing with you.
So, Schuyler, of the tens of thousands of visitors every year, many of them come in not understanding or knowing about Christian Science. Is that the vast majority?
Schuyler: Yes.
But mostly it sounds like you have very constructive and positive interactions.
Schuyler: Oh, yes. Each interaction is twice blessed—it blesses the giver and the receiver. And that “cup of cold water” is something we think about every day. What is there to stop you from sharing a cup of cold water? Go ahead and do it!
Christian Science is a very different approach to health than medical practice, but you often have people from the medical professions, nurses and doctors, coming in. Are there any interactions with them?
Bill: Yes, all the time. To me, that’s a special opportunity to let them know how much we appreciate their love for their fellow beings and desire to help them, even though we go in a different direction through spiritual healing.
Schuyler: Recently, there were two medical nurses visiting Boston. They were fascinated by everything they heard on the Church tour, which includes a description of how Mary Baker Eddy discovered Christian Science and founded the Church. They said that through their experience as nurses, they had already realized that the patient’s state of mind is an important factor in healing. These nurses were both Christians, though from a different denomination, and they were very open to everything they were learning here.
What Christian Science offers is not just an understanding of how to keep a positive outlook. It’s actually a spiritual perception, which is such a different way of looking at life.
Bill: A lot of times I tell people that Christian Science doesn’t just cure problems, it prevents them. And then I always get a big laugh when I say, “I’ve been disgustingly healthy all my life, and I give Christian Science full credit for that.”
I used to do media work for the Church, and I was working with an independent consultant who is not a Christian Scientist. I invited him to a meeting with a bunch of Christian Scientists who were doing local media work. There were about thirty of us in the room, and some of these people were pretty senior. We were trying to convince him that the fact we’d had all these healings was impressive. And he was saying, “Yeah, yeah, yeah.” And then halfway through the meeting, he realized that no one in that room had taken drugs or had surgery for decades, and yet they were healthy, they were vibrant, they were engaged. And that absolutely blew his mind. And he said, “That’s what you should be sharing!” I think his point was that Christian Science is working. Christian Science is not a health-care product; it’s a way of understanding ourselves in relation to God that keeps us healthy and promotes our spiritual growth, and it’s within the reach of anyone.
Erika: A doctor from Russia wanted to find out about healing through prayer, and I shared a Russian Science and Health with him. He was especially interested in the chapter “Science, Theology, Medicine.” At the end of the tour he opened the book and started reading. He was with a group of other Russians and was reading it as he was walking out the door. It was like he had found the most precious thing he could ever find. You could tell that.
I love that chapter, “Science, Theology, Medicine.” We get people asking, “Why is it a science?” They really want to know. We also get theologians who are interested in hearing about healing and about how Jesus healed. So it’s a good chapter to share.
So, Masiah, you’re a lot younger than most of us here around the table. How long did it take you to feel comfortable sharing in the way you are now?
Masiah: Well, at first I wasn’t comfortable. But my coworkers were extremely supportive and inspiring. Learning from them is what helped me gain the confidence to have more conversations about Christian Science with our visitors. Reading articles in the Christian Science Sentinel helped too. Anything that builds upon your knowledge and experience of Christian Science is beneficial. After I had Christian Science class instruction, I felt more comfortable talking to other people about Christian Science. Sometimes I hear people on the street say, “Oh, this is the Scientology Plaza.” And I say, “Actually, this is the Christian Science Plaza, and there are some really neat exhibits that you can see.” Before, I was hesitant to speak up about Christian Science to strangers, but now it feels natural talking about it.
That’s beautiful. Any last experiences anyone would like to share?
Erika: One young woman wanted to know how to heal so she could do something good in the world. Not only was she interested in finding out about the textbook, but she also wanted to know what Christian Science class instruction is. She had learned that you can take a class from a Christian Science teacher and learn how to heal, and that we have Christian Science practitioners available to anyone who wants prayerful treatment. I showed her where the teachers and practitioners are listed in the Journal. The world is hungering to know about this Science. We can see that when they come in the door.
Schuyler: Yes, exactly. I’m thinking of another tour that I was auditing a while ago. I was sitting at the back, and an Indian man, I believe a Hindu, quietly came up to me and asked me in a whisper, “What does that mean?” He nodded toward Jesus’ statement on the wall of The Mother Church, “Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free” (John 8:32). I thought, “That’s a big question.” But I took a gulp and started talking about how Christian Scientists understand the concept of truth, and what freedom could mean.
The man’s daughter was on the tour, which was finishing, and we ended up going outside. It was a beautiful evening, and we were standing beside the reflecting pool on the Plaza and must have talked for half an hour about the synonyms for God and about how the truth of understanding our nature as reflecting divine Spirit can change our lives and make us free. He wanted to go to the Reading Room, get Science and Health, and explore everything that was available there. And it all just came from him looking at that statement and wanting to know what it meant.
Beautiful, thank you. And thank you all for sharing.
