Articles

I was raised as a student of Christian Science, and I had certainly accepted and even found healing in the understanding that man is the image and likeness of God, as we learn from the first chapter of Genesis, and is therefore spiritual. But I can remember a time when I was overly focused on life as a spiritual journey that required me to dutifully make progress.

When a Hebrew religious leader asked Jesus, “Which is the first commandment of all?” he answered, “The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord: and thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength” ( Mark 12:28–30 ).   That statement emphatically conveyed the foundation of the Master’s ministry.

Human sympathy for those who are suffering has impelled some medical, charitable, and religious organizations to find ways to comfort people as they are dying—or even to help hasten death. Some have attempted to comfort people by explaining why they feel God would allow or even cause death.

My first memory of hearing about Jesus was my mother reading the story of the Master throwing the money changers out of the Temple (see Matthew 21:12, 13 ). I couldn’t have been more than three years old, but the story made a distinct impression on me.

In the prophetic book of Isaiah in the Bible we read, “With everlasting kindness will I have mercy on thee, saith the Lord thy Redeemer. For this is as the waters of Noah unto me: for as I have sworn that the waters of Noah should no more go over the earth; so have I sworn that I would not be wroth with thee, nor rebuke thee.

Ah, love. Isn’t it wonderful to be in the presence of someone who sees you as delightful, smart, talented! Who really sees and loves you.

The Journal  is pleased to offer readers the first in an occasional column from the office of Christian Science Practitioner Activities at The Mother Church in Boston. “Pathways to the practice” is autobiographical.

As a teen, I learned to drive in a sports car. Exceeding the speed limit was of no concern.

The rapidly advancing capacities of artificial intelligence have grabbed the attention of citizens around the world. Those who see the potential of AI to make life easier and better are elated by some of these advances, but there are also many fears surrounding AI’s possible misuse and its apparent capacities to act autonomously, especially as these might evolve over time.

Seen from space, the earth is beautiful, like a bright blue marble with white swirls encircling it amidst colors of brown, yellow, and green. It is amazing to think that we, as children of God, have been given loving dominion over it!  In Genesis, we read that God gave man “dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth” ( 1:26 ).