Articles

The alarm rang in the wee hours of the morning, well before many people would consider rising. I got up, dressed, and trudged downstairs to go outside to witness a lunar eclipse.

We know that when human laws are good and right—such as traffic laws, for example—they are designed to keep us safe when obeyed. But what about obedience to God’s law, particularly the first of the Ten Commandments? Many have proved that such obedience brings not only safety, but a sense of spiritual power and dominion.

Science often explains things that would otherwise seem inexplicable to the onlooker. For example, it may look as if there is nothing to support the weight of a plane as it lifts off.

In the silence just before a concert begins, listeners witness a moment of total focus onstage. A single note sounds.

In the church of Christ, Scientist, I attend, and in these churches around the world, a particular Bible passage is read to the congregation each week, just before the benediction that closes the Sunday service. It’s from the book of First John: “Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not.

As a staff editor for The Christian Science Journal, Sentinel, and Herald, I’ve had the pleasure of reading hundreds of inspiring articles and testimonies of healing, by people who answer this very question in each piece they write. For instance, there’s the article that just came across my desk by a Brazilian woman who relates how Christian Science was introduced to her at a very troubling time of her life—and how it restored her peace and sense of home.

What follows is an edited summary of the panel discussion “Practice that truly heals,” held on Saturday, June 3, 2017, in the Extension of The Mother Church and broadcast live online. The panel was one of the events held during the weekend prior to Annual Meeting.

Imagine going through your mail and finding a letter that begins with this greeting: “To all that be in [your town], beloved of God, called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ. First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all, that your faith is spoken of throughout the whole world” ( Romans 1:7, 8 ).

When I was attending college, a dear Christian Science practitioner offered to take me to Sunday School. He was teaching the college-age class.

A small group of believers is called to rise up, renew their faith, and devote themselves unreservedly to rebuilding the wall surrounding their sacred city. This story—of Nehemiah and his people (see Nehemiah, chapters 1—6 )—had my full attention one Monday morning as I began reading it in the Christian Science Bible Lesson for that week.