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I didn't know they were the pastor of my Church. I thought they were my Sunday School books—the Bible and Science and Health.

"What is your pastor's name?" asked a little girl during a group tour of a branch Church of Christ, Scientist. When two books were held up and it was explained that our pastor was not a person but the Bible, and Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy, the Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science, the group was plainly impressed.

A student of Christian Science had been struggling for quite some time with a combination of physical difficulties. She had worked prayerfully, long and hard, sometimes with the help of a Christian Science practitioner and sometimes praying alone to heal a condition that was affecting all five of the physical senses.

Let us consider, for a moment, some possible headlines—ones that might have been written about events that concerned the lives of our neighbors, and possibly our own lives, directly or indirectly. "Record-breaking cold hurts peach crop," "Floods damage homes, spring plantings," "High waves erode beaches, demolish homes and hotels," "Industrial waste hurts fishing industry," "Attacks by terrorists increasing.

Sometimes people, when learning that I'm a Christian Scientist and rely on God for healing, will ask, "But could you trust God's help in an emergency?" My answer to that is always a wholehearted "yes," because I've experienced God's restorative power so many times in my life. One healing stands out above the others.

One of the most worthy careers that anyone could follow is that of the Christian Science nurse. It is tremendously demanding both metaphysically and physically, but its rewards are great, for the nurse is bearing witness to healing as the patient turns to God in prayer.

Many believe they are at present sinning mortals separated from God, their divine source, hoping one day to win their way back to divine favor. Yet Christian Science assures us of man's divine and continuing sonship, which has never been interrupted by mortality.

Man is believed by many to be only what he appears to be, a corporeal being with a mind of his own. Even those who think of Almighty God as the only cause and creator still often finish up with an imperfect world and a mortal man.

Christ Jesus' instantaneous healing of people with longstanding infirmities shows the immediate efficacy of Christian healing even in chronic cases. But the Bible also shows that sometimes such cases are healed only by mighty mental wrestling, which first transforms individual thought and character.

Sometimes it may seem much easier to describe what Christian Science is and how it operates than it is to actually demonstrate Christian Science by healing. We may well wonder just what more we need to understand, since Mrs.