Articles

Willingness to claim a colleague’s spiritual identity brings harmony on the job.

My first copy of Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures was a small pocket edition, bought with money I earned on my first job. The job and that small volume are linked in my memory because it was my study of Christian Science that led to my finding the job.

To be refused a student visa once can be disappointing, twice can be alarming, but the third time can definitely be heartbreaking. That was how I felt when I went in for my visa interviews to travel from Nigeria to the United States to attend college.

One Wednesday evening while sitting in church, I was drawn to notice a small lily plant on the table beside the First Reader. “It is so quiet,” I thought.

Many people struggle with finding purpose at some time in their lives. I found this question prodding at me throughout my high school and college years.

Our family loves soccer. While I was watching a game on television the other day, the linesman held up a sign indicating how much stoppage time would be added to the game.

For several years the drain in my shower couldn’t keep up with the inflow, and a deep pool of water would form on the shower floor. Again and again, I tried to use de-clogging agents.

In the Bible story of the great prophet Elijah and his disciple Elisha (see II Kings, chapter two ), we’re told that after a long association with each other as teacher and student, it became apparent that the time would soon come for the elder Elijah to make the transition out of earthly experience. At this juncture, Elisha refused to leave Elijah’s side despite the prophet’s admonitions to do so.

Poet Jane Kenyon once wrote, “Suddenly, I understand that I am happy” (“The Suitor,” from Otherwise: New and Selected Poems , Graywolf Press, 1997). Recently I, too, learned something deeply spiritual about understanding happiness.

As a Christian Scientist, more than once I’ve asked myself the question, What do I have in common with my neighbors who are not Christian Scientists? Surprisingly, the answer that comes to me is—Everything! Doesn’t he or she desire to love, to be loved, to find happiness, to feel safe, to have an active, purposeful life? Another question: Do our friends, acquaintances, and neighbors identify one another as non-Lutheran, non-Catholic, non-Presbyterian, or perhaps, as non-believers? Maybe. Do we ourselves ever identify others as non-Christian Scientists? A question of more significance is: Does God define any of us by our religion? Mary Baker Eddy, who discovered Christian Science, wrote: “God is universal; confined to no spot, defined by no dogma, appropriated by no sect.