Articles

Finding the true meaning of Christmas through the childlike heart that is receptive to the Christ message that comes through the story of the virgin birth

The blessings, healing, and light that comes from coming together in person as a church family and congregation

Prayer supports a deer's escape from a frozen lake

I had been wondering why churches were closing their doors. Then I realized a more productive question to ask is: What attracted people to Christianity and Christian Science in the first place? Specifically, how did Jesus build his global, spiritually prosperous church? What does prosperous mean? According to Webster’s 1828 American Dictionary of the English Language, it means: “Advancing in the pursuit of any thing desirable; making gain or increase; thriving; successful.

How often we find ourselves counting, measuring, and calculating numbers to answer a question, solve a problem, or describe a situation. Numbers permeate so many facets of life, from measuring personal health, to calculating how much time or money we have, to the state of the climate, to name just a few.

We learn in Christian Science that God is omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent. And since God is good, we would naturally expect His government to be good—to be fair and just, to express kindness, honesty, incorruptibility.

A book by a top professor at The Wharton School, the business school at the University of Pennsylvania, identifies some individuals as “givers”—who give without concern for what they may get back—and some as “takers”—who want to receive more than they give and “win” every transaction. The author, Adam Grant, researched which kind of orientation brought more success, both to the individuals and their endeavors.

My parents liked to travel and my childhood was full of many wonderful adventures. I don’t remember every museum, monument, and church we toured, but I remember how Mom prayed before each trip and throughout our vacations.

To quiet the clamor of worldly thinking, many people meditate. Others hike in the wilderness or go on a religious retreat.

Christian Scientists around the world receive the sermon for the Sunday church service ahead of time—a full week in advance! Why is this? To my knowledge, this arrangement is unique among churches. Why did Mary Baker Eddy, the Founder of Christian Science, provide for this? Why not listen to the sermon for the first time on Sunday? Or why not have a Bible Lesson followed by a related sermon with fresh texts?  A study of the Church Manual can help us understand this.