Articles

Early in my study of Christian Science I learned the importance of spiritual alertness. As a result of some very challenging experiences, I began to see that we don't pray to change people or circumstances.

I woke one night with a torrent of resentment rushing through me all because I felt a family member had been inconsiderate. I couldn't believe there could be such a lack of love in my own thought.

Compassion , when utilized properly, is a quality that has far-reaching healing effects. Our Master, Christ Jesus, was filled with compassion for his fellow men and women—whether they were labeled friends or enemies.

At times in my life I have experienced profoundly the healing power of an acceptance and understanding of the divine idea of Church—"the structure of Truth and Love; whatever rests upon and proceeds from divine Principle," Science and Health , p. 583.

When a person looks at the world and considers all of its deep and urgent needs, he may feel he doesn't really have the resources or the capacity to make much of a difference. It's often challenging enough to meet what comes to us in the course of our own daily lives.

I'm a concerned grandmother—concerned about the way the media cover criminal prosecutions in my state, California. Several parents, who are Christian Scientists, have been charged with murder and manslaughter for turning to spiritual healing instead of seeking medical aid for a child who died.

The understanding that it is a specific theology which makes possible the practice of Christian Science healing seems to dawn slowly for many of us. We're willing to turn to God, Spirit, for healing in time of physical need, but we're often more impressed with what we are doing than with the nature of the God to whom we are turning.

The following are excerpts from a hearing before the Judicial Committee of the General Court of Massachusetts on March 25, 1991. The subject was the legality of Christian healing.

Children's health care has become a major issue on the national agenda in recent years. For those who care about the First Amendment as well as families, one particular aspect of this issue has presented something of a moral dilemma: the care of children whose parents rely on healing prayer in time of sickness.

The immediate question for the medical community in 1910 was how to respond to the nearly one hundred thousand followers of Christian Science. Public policy was unclear.