Articles

A divine message from God to humanity requires a messenger to make it appreciable to human consciousness. For example, the demands of Truth, God, were always present, but Moses, God’s chosen messenger, was needed to reveal those demands in the form of the Ten Commandments.

Mary Baker Eddy predicted that the leaven of the Science of Christ would be continuously raising consciousness in three measures of meal: the sciences, medicine, and theology. That was over a century ago! So, when I began lecturing on Christian Science 12 years ago, I started looking for evidence of this leavening and discovered it everywhere—medical schools, hospitals, university classrooms, interfaith and scientific panels on the topic of spiritual healing.

Throughout the polarizing debates in the United States over health-care reform, the arguments have generally focused on how to provide medical treatment to everyone. Little attention has been given to the very nature of contemporary biomedicine—its assumptions, methods, and goals—as being included in what needs to change.

I wonder what Jesus’ disciples would have said if asked why they followed him?

Though more than a decade has passed since the hit movie The Matrix was released, its bold exploration of timeless, spiritual themes keeps it alive with fresh relevance—and still a topic of conversation.   In the film the lead character, Neo, visits a prophet in a futuristic world.

The pervasiveness of violence, the ongoing disputes in many parts of the world, widespread poverty, and poor health all scream that evil is present and that it’s here to stay. Good can seem to be powerless and, at best, ephemeral.

For several years after I joined The Mother Church (at age 12), I kept the Clerk’s acceptance letter under the glass top on my dresser, where I’d see it every day. I did this partly because I really did feel happy about becoming a member while I was still in Sunday School, but also because my parents and Sunday School teacher had encouraged me to take this step, and I knew they were proud of me.

Why am I a member? In one word, gratitude. In three, Mary Baker Eddy.

Last year I took a history tour of the Boston area with a friend of mine, a Presbyterian minister and scholar of American history. He gives these tours every other year.

At first, when I was asked, it seemed it would be easy to define what membership in The Mother Church means to me. But it took a couple of weeks to put words to it.