Articles

A high-school student found peace when the annual spring musical set the stage for a story she hadn't anticipated. Performing and singing in musicals are two of my favorite things to do.

NEITHER RAIN NOR SNOW NOR SLEET NOR HAIL keeps Leonard Lempert and his two retired cronies from their appointed rounds at the picnic table. "We think of ourselves as 'the Christian Scientist, the Catholic, and the agnostic,' " Lempert laughs, referring to himself and "the two Toms"—one a lawyer, the other an ex-advertising executive and current town selectman—who gather most mornings outside the tiny general store in rural Massachusetts.

"Jesus answered and said unto them, Ye do err, not knowing the scriptures, nor the power of God" ( Matthew 22:29 ). "The Scriptures require more than a simple admission and feeble acceptance of the truths they present; they require a living faith, that so incorporates their lessons into our lives that these truths become the motive-power of every act" (Mary Baker Eddy, Miscellaneous Writings 1883–1896, pp.

HAVE YOU EVER NEEDED help restoring order in the face of chaos, ever felt overwhelmed by demands beyond your capacity to cope, or ever craved for "Peace, peace, when there is no peace?" ( Jer. 8:11 ).

LET'S TAKE A WALK TOGETHER . It's early in the morning, and we're heading down a gravel beach on the shore of a great inland lake.

—Phillips Brooks Christian Science Hymnal, No. 222 IMAGINE CELEBRATING A BIRTHDAY with two billion people.

TAKING A LATE-AUTUMN BREAK near the seaside town of Sidmouth in Devon on the beautiful South Coast of England, I revelled in my peaceful surroundings and the solitude. Most of the homes in the caravan park [mobile home park] where I stayed were unoccupied at that time of year, and very few people were around.

DURING MY FINAL YEAR AT UNIVERSITY, a brief discussion with my academic tutor made a deep impression on me. And what a blessing this was! I had presented an essay that was very minimal and lacking in inspiration, and my tutor, a gentle but discerning man, quietly spoke a few words, indicating that work of this calibre would not get me through my final examinations.

Christmas is a season of gift giving. The gift that started it all, though, is not restricted to a single day or month of the year.

1. Barry Huff is a PhD candidate in Biblical studies at Union Theological Seminary in Richmond, Virginia.