Articles

As a teenager , I attended a church that taught that everyone is a miserable sinner. I often cried myself to sleep at night, thinking I was a horrible person steeped in sin.

A couple of years ago my wife and I decided to take a late-autumn, seven-mile loop hike in the mountains near our home. Our midday start kept us mindful of sundown.

Christ Jesus, the long-promised Messiah, preached that the kingdom of God is at hand. What hope that must have ignited in the hearts of a God-loving people oppressed by pagan Rome! Yet at one point Jesus’ disciples asked him who was the greatest in that kingdom, and he pulled the rug out from under that inquiry by placing a little child before them.

Christ Jesus was surely the Master, who showed his followers how to practice scientific Christianity. His Sermon on the Mount blueprints with clarity the good practice of graciously living the Christ message in daily life—a message requiring meekness, purity, and peace.

Jesus’ baptism concluded with “a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased” ( Matthew 3:17 ). Immediately following this, and just before the start of his healing mission, Jesus went into the wilderness for an extended period of time.

On a recent flight I fell asleep and had a dream. I dreamed that I was working in my home office in Los Angeles, when I felt a rumbling.

All too often , we confront problems that involve conflicts—within the family, in the workplace, or even within ourselves. While humanity has devised a number of mechanisms for settling disputes—such as courts and tribunals, arbitration procedures, and other mechanisms for bringing people together harmoniously—I’ve found that true peace is obtained only when a radical change takes place in the consciousness of the parties involved.

Traveling some distance by air and returning home after a short period of time may be a familiar scenario for many travelers. Years ago, I dearly wanted to travel from the United Kingdom to another country to attend my Christian Science students’ association meeting, but I could only spare a weekend to undertake this journey.

In the Preface of Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures , which sets forth the divine Science of Mind-healing that Jesus practiced, Mary Baker Eddy wrote, “Future ages must declare what the pioneer has accomplished” ( p. vii ).

One of Mary Baker Eddy’s beloved hymns declares: It matters not what be thy lot,        So Love doth guide;  For storm or shine, pure peace is thine,        Whate’er betide. ( Christian Science Hymnal, No.