Articles

Guy Gilbert is a French Catholic priest who is well known for his commitment to underprivileged populations. He’s a student of the Bible and said something a few years ago that touched me: “Live in such a way that your way of living causes people to think it is impossible for God not to exist.

Often in daily life , we feel a need for guidance in solving our problems. Sometimes technology can provide the needed help—such as when I use the GPS (Global Positioning System) navigation in my car.

Something special happens when people gather together to explore their relationship to God and church. As they draw closer to divine Love, God, and share inspiration, they find themselves drawing closer to each other, too.

About a year ago, 19 Christian Scientists who had never met before traveled abroad together. We had a communication app we used during the trip to help our group leader keep in touch if there was a change in the day’s schedule.

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.

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.

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.

We’d known for months that our elder son and his wife, who was pregnant with our first grandchild, were moving to Australia. I thought I was prepared for this, but two days before they left, I was in deep mourning because it felt like another loss in a series of losses after my parents and several dear friends had passed on in recent years.

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.