Articles

I am the librarian of a Christian Science Reading Room in a busy downtown area of a city in central California. Assisting visitors in their search for spiritual insights and guidance has been rewarding.

Imagine standing at the threshold of the fourth century after Christ Jesus’ ascension and watching the shadows gather portending a dark time ahead for humanity, as Christian healing disappeared from the practice of Christianity. What if you knew it would be over a millennium before Christ’s Christianity, with its attendant “signs following,” would begin to reappear? Would you just give up, feeling it was futile and pointless to stand against the currents of such an overwhelming nighttide? Or would you dig deep, and resolve never to abandon the Truth you had witnessed the power of—not only for your own sake, but at least as importantly, for the sake of the many in need you could still help and heal? Your decision would have outsized effect—as a modern-day analogy illustrates.

While reading the allegory of the Greek philosopher Plato, born about 400 years before the Christian Era, I was able to draw parallels between it and what Mary Baker Eddy, the Founder of Christian Science, discovered about God and spiritual man in His image. In the allegory, found in his influential work The Republic, Plato imagines some prisoners in a cave, who have lived there all their lives.

My mother was a concert pianist, so the healing message about the “Key of Love” touched my heart.

In the clash of electoral politics, vitriol is a pollutant that fills the mental atmosphere with personal acrimony. A hyper-partisan spirit, whether pro or con, depicts a “me first” mentality that puts the self-interest of some ahead of the common good and exalts political dogma above the wisdom of God, the universal Principle that reigns over all His creation equitably.

Listening to the news these days, we might feel dismayed by the many problems confronting us, including wars, weather extremes, immigration crises, and political conflicts. To anyone who is concerned about the state of the world, helping humanity can feel like a daunting challenge.

Have you ever heard of a “Godwink”? My daughter recently used that phrase to describe an experience where she felt God’s tender care for her. It’s a little reminder, as if God is saying, “I love you, My child.

I once told a spiritually mature friend of mine that I had finished reading the weekly Bible Lesson from the Christian Science Quarterly. He replied, “Oh? I am just on the first section!”  It’s tempting to enjoy the spiritual concepts in the Bible and the writings of Mary Baker Eddy while reading about them, but then allow them to drift out of thought.

I had just finished reading the story of Moses’ encounters with God in Exodus. The Bible records that “the Lord spake unto Moses face to face, as a man speaketh unto his friend” ( Exodus 33:11 ).

In 2015, I received a letter from The Mother Church inviting me to Boston that June for training sessions for Communications Coordinators around the world. The first thing I did was renew my passport.