Articles

A FEW YEARS AGO , my family and I experienced many changes in our lives. We sold our home to enable us to purchase a larger residence and become three generations under one roof.

I WISH I COULD SAY my first response to Mary Baker Eddy's textbook, Science and Health, was something like, "Oh wow, this is exactly what I've been searching for all my life!" Well, that was how I felt by the time I'd finished reading the first chapter. But my very first reaction — after an initial casual flick through the book— was more like, "What does it mean, matter's not real?" I was twenty years old at the time, living away from home for the first time, and struggling, as I had for some years, with increasingly frequent bouts of depression and anxiety.

In these pages we've gathered several shorter items— articles of less than a page in length and excerpts from longer manuscripts that offer useful, inspiring insights. We hope you enjoy this kind of short-form nourishment in each issue.

WHEN MY CHILDREN WERE YOUNG, I worked in business, was a full-time student, volunteered in a parent-teacher association, and served in church. I managed my days in tiny increments of time, and I used time that other people didn't.

THINGS AREN'T ALWAYS AS THEY APPEAR TO THE EYE . We often have to go deeper to get the real story.

ON MY DESK I have a rather harrowing sticky note that I authored myself. It says, "Will the decisions I make today and the actions I take: (1) Make my life more comfortable and entertaining or (2) Forward universal humanity's salvation?" It's a harrowing note because of how easy it is to find myself leaning a little far, and a little too frequently, toward the (1) side of the equation rather than toward (2).

OF ALL THE PARABLES JESUS TOLD, this short one has meant more to me than any other: "The kingdom of heaven is like unto a merchant man, seeking goodly pearls: who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had, and bought it" ( Matt. 13:45, 46 ).

"WHAT THE WORLD NEEDS NOW IS LOVE, SWEET LOVE .

At Annual Meeting 2010, The Mother Church was reported to have funds on hand of around $450 million, that last year's expenditures were $102 million, and that the Church has no indebtedness. In a recent conversation with Church Treasurer Ned Odegaard, the Journal's Warren Bolon noted that while members saw a financial picture that's consistent with recent previous years, some might be thinking that the Church is wealthy and does not need ongoing contributions.

APOCALYPTIC EXPECTATIONS In the Glossary of Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, Mary Baker Eddy defines Christ as "the divine manifestation of God, which comes to the flesh to destroy incarnate error. "   Science and Health, p.