I’ve loved serving as a Reading Room librarian and attendant over the years, and so appreciate this important work.
While I was serving in a Reading Room one day, a young visitor came in and introduced herself as a graduate school student. She said she knew nothing about Christian Science and had just decided to walk in. Then she suddenly told me, before bursting into tears, that her friend had committed suicide. She was sobbing and trying to understand “why,” so we sat down with a box of tissues. As I prayed about how to respond, spouting citations to her didn’t feel like it would be a helpful step to take. In Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, Mary Baker Eddy says, “The tender word and Christian encouragement of an invalid, pitiful patience with his fears and the removal of them, are better than hecatombs of gushing theories, stereotyped borrowed speeches, and the doling of arguments, which are but so many parodies on legitimate Christian Science, aflame with divine Love” (p. 367).
The “tender word” that came to me to say at that moment was that I was so sorry to hear about her friend. And to her question of “why?” I shared what I had learned from Christian Science. I was inspired to tell her that there’s no point in trying to understand the darkness. There’s no logic there. If we look for light (ideas, insights, or inspiration) within the darkness, we find none. Instead, if we turn on what I told her was the Christ light, then we start with what we know is true.
Each of us who supports a Reading Room gets to participate in a divine healing ministry.
In this case, the Christ light illumined the fact that her friend was loved, as evidenced by the very conversation we were having; it was obvious this woman felt love for her friend. We acknowledged that she wished her friend knew that life is good, that we each have something precious to share with others, and that someone who isn’t seeing this simply isn’t seeing the full picture. I knew that God’s love and care for His creation, which included this woman and her friend, was eternal and unchangeable. I’m grateful to report that this young woman heard these messages. Her tears dried, and she thanked me and went on her way.
The Reading Room is a special place. It’s a vital resource for the community, a beacon of hope and spiritual understanding, making products available to the public that can deeply impact those who read or listen to them. The presence of these resources is an expression of God’s love. And healing comes from our individual interactions with those people who come in to explore.
I like to think about how a Reading Room’s public outreach isn’t a kind of human marketing endeavor for our church. Yes, it is public, and yes, our prayers for our community reach outward and people may seek out our church as a result, but the Reading Room is not primarily a place to encourage people to attend church. Each of us who supports a Reading Room gets to participate in a divine healing ministry through introducing people to the Science that can change their lives and loving them in a way that helps them to experience healing.
I just remember being so warmly welcomed in by that Reading Room attendant.
One of the things that’s helped me most, specifically in serving in a Reading Room, is to look beyond religious denomination when I think about this Science. Christian Science is universal. How many people wandering down the street do you know that are shopping for a new religious denomination? Not as many as are openly hungering to know who they are spiritually. If we see Christian Science as nothing more than another denomination, then we’re limiting its import and impact.
When we put healing at the forefront of our conversations (because nearly everyone has some issue they’d like resolved), we can be a better support to our neighbors, bring about more healing, and inspire others to find that their lives are happier as they learn more about Christian Science.
Over 25 years ago, I was given a copy of Science and Health and read the whole thing from cover to cover in about 36 hours. This led me to attending branch church services, and I was just so eager to learn more that I visited a Reading Room. I just remember being so warmly welcomed in by that Reading Room attendant. The smile she gave me as I walked in the door was unforgettable. It felt as if there was no one else in the world she could be happier to see! And I can tell you, that’s a feeling and a memory that doesn’t go away.
I’ve often thought about that first visit to a Reading Room. The attendant’s thought must’ve been so wonderfully receptive to God’s goodness, for her to greet me with such a smile.
The Bible assures us that “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble” (Psalms 46:1). Science and Health expands on this by stating: “In divine Science, where prayers are mental, all may avail themselves of God as ‘a very present help in trouble.’ Love is impartial and universal in its adaptation and bestowals” (pp. 12–13). I’ve found it so important to remember that this impartial, universal Love is not just for those who visit the Reading Room, but for the attendant as well. After all, “Love is reflected in love” (Science and Health, p. 17). We feel divine Love when we express divine Love.
Shedding light on another Bible passage, Science and Health speaks of divine Love as “the open fount which cries, ‘Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters’ ” (p. 13).
I like to think of the Reading Room as inviting the spiritually thirsty in to taste these living waters and understand the Science behind God’s law of goodness for all of us. And, with a heart intent on caring for others, we can give “a cup of cold water in Christ’s name, and never fear the consequences” (Science and Health, p. 570). In this way, we will help our neighbors, towns, and cities thrive.
