Articles

These were tough times. The Bible relates the story of a widow whose late husband left her with a debt she could not pay (see II Kings 4:1–7 ).

Years ago, a friend shared with me a healing she experienced through prayer, which included a powerful sense that God was present and all was well. At the time, she remarked that the thing that stood out to her was the feeling she had.

Do you find that things which once were simple, like regularly attending church services, now seem complicated or difficult? Do you now have to face pressure from family members to sleep in on Sundays, or go away for the weekend? For a midweek testimony meeting, there might be concerns about traffic or public transit congestion, security issues, fatigue, an employer’s expectations that you work into the evening, or trouble driving at night. All this may make going to church feel like going to the moon.

Sometimes it may feel like a problem we’re facing is incurable—like it’s just not possible to be healed. Yet Christian Science teaches that there is no incurable disease or situation, because “all reality is in God and His creation, harmonious and eternal.

The  Journal  is pleased to offer readers the first in an occasional column from the office of Christian Science Practitioner Activities at The Mother Church in Boston. “Pathways to the practice” is autobiographical.

The  Journal  is pleased to offer readers the first in an occasional column from the office of Christian Science Practitioner Activities at The Mother Church in Boston. “Pathways to the practice” is autobiographical.

At my church, a branch of The First Church of Christ, Scientist, the First Reader frequently opens the service with the greeting “Welcome to this healing service. ” Recently, I had an experience with my mom that proved that we do have healing services.

Human sympathy for those who are suffering has impelled some medical, charitable, and religious organizations to find ways to comfort people as they are dying—or even to help hasten death. Some have attempted to comfort people by explaining why they feel God would allow or even cause death.

I am currently a business manager, and during my career, I am grateful to say I have hired many more people than I have dismissed. The process of dismissing an employee is not very pleasant for anyone.

I was raised as a student of Christian Science, and I had certainly accepted and even found healing in the understanding that man is the image and likeness of God, as we learn from the first chapter of Genesis, and is therefore spiritual. But I can remember a time when I was overly focused on life as a spiritual journey that required me to dutifully make progress.