Articles

WHEN DID CHRISTIAN SCIENCE become a "Cause" for Mary Baker Eddy? As I considered this question, I quickly assumed that she began to label her discovery as a cause when her church was well established, when she had a substantial group of loyal students supporting her and assisting her. I decided to start my research on this by taking a chronological look through her correspondence—quite simply, I would see when the term was first used.

IT WAS the wildflowers that were so unexpected as I slugged down a can of soda and ate trail mix for breakfast .

IT WAS A SIMPLE THING: A man pulling a little red wagon past my window, with his young son riding along contentedly. The father had carefully bundled his boy in a jacket for the cooler weather, but the sun beamed as brightly as their smiles.

Last year, I was walking in the Boston Common with my friend Kim. We were talking about our college classes, and out of the blue, she asked: "How do Christian Scientists pray about swine flu? Do you have a special prayer for it?" I replied that we didn't have prayers for specific illnesses but that you could pray about anything from the basis that God is in control, and that everyone expresses His completeness.

The Journal receives a number of contributions that, because of space constraints, we can't publish in full. In these pages, however, we can offer excerpts that we found inspiring and insightful—some spiritual "nuggets" worth tucking into thought.

" GOD REQUIRES WISDOM, economy, and brotherly love to characterize all the proceedings of the members of The Mother Church, The First Church of Christ, Scientist" ( Church Manual, p. 77 ).

BUFFETED BY EVERYTHING from random suicide bombings to carefully coordinated attacks, nations around the world are struggling to find answers to the threat of terrorism. Protected by murky return addresses and having little stake in the status quo, terrorist groups all too easily circumvent traditional methods of containment.

EVERY CHRISTIAN SCIENCE church service includes the singing of hymns. The primary goal of hymn singing is spiritual, not musical.

WITH CONFIDENCE? OR WITH FEAR? Two very different ways to step into the next moment. When I am faced with issues in my life—from the most dramatic to the most mundane—I like to think I can go forward with confidence rather than fear.

WHEN I FIRST LEARNED in Christian Science that God's creation is entirely spiritual, I suspected it would take discipline—consistent study, prayer, and practice—to prove step-by-step that I wasn't walking around on matter, or didn't exist in matter. I was right.