It was a Sunday morning. I arrived at church early to take my post as usher, ready to greet newcomers as well as our regular attendees. I had chosen to join this particular Church of Christ, Scientist, not for its large membership or close proximity to my home, but for the genuine love I felt from the members, and for their sincerity and spiritual commitment to the Cause of Christian Science.
My spiritual preparation that morning was to recognize that no one could be outside of “the structure of Truth and Love,” as Church is spiritually defined in Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy, the Discoverer of Christian Science (see p. 583). I prayed to see that no one, whether a longtime church member or a community newcomer, could be separated from understanding their true being as God’s loved and cherished child. Church was more than a building with a certain number of individuals participating in various activities; it is an emanation of God, divine Love, tangibly expressed and palpably felt by those in attendance.
I also affirmed that the innate spiritual sense of everyone can never be dulled or deadened by the materialism of the world; and that all are awake to God’s goodness, and receptive to Christ—God’s healing message. It is as natural for every individual to be responsive to Christ as it is for a flower to turn toward the light.
