Articles

I’ve always linked gratitude to the idea of praising God. In the Bible, the book of Psalms overflows with powerful expressions of glorifying God, divine Love.

Throughout the Bible God promises that we will know Him, and I find that the practice of Christian Science fulfills this promise. The teachings of Christian Science—the divine laws of God that Christ Jesus demonstrated in his healing mission—awaken us to God’s promises of present perfection and the possibility of seeing these promises made manifest in our daily experience.

The Mother Church regularly receives thoughtful questions from individuals around the world wanting to learn more about Christian Science as part of their own spiritual journey. Some are simple inquiries, while others afford the opportunity for deeper thought and prayer.

Some time ago, I sold advertising for a local daily newspaper. The previous publisher had clashed with a car dealer in the community, who was the largest advertiser for the paper.

During one of the most challenging times of my life, God’s angels were at hand, proving the truth in the following words of Hymn 9 in the Christian Science Hymnal:  He knows the angels that you need,        And sends them to your side,        To comfort, guard and guide.                      (Violet Hay, © CSBD) In Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, Mary Baker Eddy defines angels in part as “God’s thoughts passing to man; spiritual intuitions, pure and perfect” ( p.

The nature of God as pure goodness is naturally reflected in each of us; and Christ, God’s message to mankind, makes us aware of our Godlike identity—the reflection of God, divine Love itself. Christly thoughts come to our immediate rescue to pull us out of any discordant or threatening situation.

Late one Saturday night, sitting alone at my desk, I was dreading what I’d agreed to do the next morning—substitute teach a class of teenagers at a Christian Science Sunday School.   I’d done many tough things in life, including covering civil wars as The Christian Science Monitor ’s Africa correspondent and giving speeches to large audiences.

When challenges persist, we should remember that God is consistently the only power—the only cause and effect.

I awoke dreading the day. I was facing responsibilities that I wasn’t looking forward to.

How can we pray for peace effectively? What can we do to make it possible to experience the promise of “on earth peace, good will toward men” ( Luke 2:14 )? The Discoverer of Christian Science, Mary Baker Eddy, was very engaged with this subject. In response to the war between Russia and Japan in 1904 and 1905, at one point she called on all the members of The Mother Church to “pray each day for the amicable settlement of the war” (see The First Church of Christ, Scientist, and Miscellany, p.