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One day while I was working in the Reading Room of my local Christian Science church, a gentleman whom I hadn’t seen before came in the door. He began asking questions about Christian Science.

I used to find thoughts about church coming to me such as, “Do you really want to go? Have you figured out how far you have to drive, what it costs, and how long you’ll be on the road?” These thoughts needed to be checked and corrected.   Several ideas from a recent Journal article inspired me as I thought about this topic.

A backhoe operator dug a deep hole in the lawn with such careful attention that his coworker yelled with delight, “You’re a sculptor!” That might seem like an odd way to describe someone operating heavy machinery, but his coworker was commenting on the preciseness of his work in shaping this deep hole. We may not be sculptors by trade, but we all can work with similar precision in shaping our thoughts.

What a joy to be free of feeling burdened—that beautiful release from feeling weighed down. It’s a moment of light and grace that changes everything.

When I was appointed chair of my branch church’s lecture committee, I felt a bit daunted. I had never been involved with planning a Christian Science lecture before.

Early in my public practice of Christian Science, someone called me late one night to see if I would pray for a woman (a Christian Scientist) who was only semi-conscious and delirious. I agreed to pray for her and set at work to understand more fully that God is Life.

I love listening to the recording of Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy that plays continuously online at christianscience. com.

Recently I experienced the longest trip of my life, and it reinforced my understanding of and trust in God. I was traveling with a comrade to another part of the country, to support a mutual friend at a family funeral.

“Be a sunflower,” a friend posted online­—a reminder to me to focus my attention on God, as young sunflowers track the sun.   Not long afterward, I was on an early morning dog walk and marveled at a vast field of sunflowers, all turned upward toward the rising sun.

In an editorial in the Christian Science Sentinel dated May 1, 2023, the author speaks of stillness and how, in busy contemporary life, many people turn to prayer for calm grounding (Mary Beattie, “ The value of stillness ”). She writes, “Opening up to a quiet fount of spiritual ideas stills thought that is fearful, muddled, or self-focused and leads to healing.