Articles

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.

I awoke dreading the day. I was facing responsibilities that I wasn’t looking forward to.

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.

Several years ago, as I got out of bed one morning and began to walk downstairs, I felt discomfort, slight stiffness, and pain in the area of my ankles and lower legs. The first thought I had was that I should walk around a bit to loosen up; and then the word degenerative came to mind.

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.

In many organizations today, decisions are made and things get done through influence and persuasion, rather than by bosses giving orders and subordinates obeying. Some years ago I worked for a global corporation, and our team was tasked with getting the subsidiary businesses around the world to improve their management processes.

Christian Science Sunday Schools are a vital way for children and teenagers to nurture growth in understanding and proving Christ’s healing message. For many people, their Sunday School education lays the foundation for a lifetime of spiritual growth, healing, and loving their neighbor.

To be responsible means to care for or to have control over something. When I feel burdened by responsibilities, I’ve learned to ask: Who or what is making the demand? Who is in control? Who provides the responsible care? And what is my role in all this?  Who or what is making the demand?  I find my way easier when I acknowledge that Truth, a Bible name for God, is all that legitimately makes demands on us.