Articles

AS FAR BACK AS I CAN REMEMBER , I have always believed in God. I was christened in the Russian Orthodox Church, but my family didn't attend church regularly.

NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA: Down here, they just call it the storm. As in, "before the storm.

WHEN FACED WITH AN ILLNESS or an alarming problem, we might be tempted to think that spiritual healing can come only through deep prayer and study, great spiritual insight, and tremendous spiritual growth. Or that the road to recovery might be long.

I RECALL THE FIRST TIME I WENT HORSEBACK RIDING. The runs were exciting and unsettling.

MANY BIBLICAL NARRATIVES ILLUSTRATE how steadfast persistence in prayer, unwavering trust in God's omnipotence, and joyous expectancy of the triumph of Spirit over material resistance result in healing. One story that never fails to inspire me when I need to prayerfully persist in seeking healing is the Old Testament account of the battle of Jericho.

The author emphasizes the need to rely on "spiritual sense" rather than on our material senses.

American Gospel: God, the Founding Fathers, and the Making of a Nation By Jon Meacham 416 pp. New York: Random House, $23.

I'M A CHURCH-GOING ENTHUSIAST. I just love being there.

A New Yorker who loves to read? Not a surprise. But Paula Rice Jackson, a former magazine editor-in-chief, who lives in Manhattan, also brings her special insights as a Christian Scientist to this month's book commentary ( American Gospel, by Jon Meacham).

THE SWALLOWS WERE NESTING . My daughter brought the news.