Of Good Report

As a small child , loving Christian Science, I thought of myself as a Christian Scientist. Both of my parents had grown up going to Christian Science Sunday School and relied on Christian Science for all our needs.

When I was in graduate school, I used to go to the Reading Room in a nearby town to read the weekly Bible Lesson from the Christian Science Quarterly.   One day, I noticed a woman there in the study room with the Quarterly open and the marked Lesson books in front of her (the Bible and the Christian Science textbook, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy).

Some years ago, a church position was vacant that needed to be filled. I was only partially qualified for it, but as I prayed about it, I was led to volunteer until a fully qualified person was found.

There’s a lot going on in the world right now, and sometimes it can feel daunting to know where to even begin my prayers. How can I pray for my family, my community, and the world when I feel like the challenges I need to deal with in my own life are enough? Yet, I’ve realized that the ideas I pray with concerning a personal situation can be just as applicable to community or world issues.

For a very long time , I thought of faith as something feeble, weak, and inconstant, something we had to bolster continually. However, a while back I realized that faith was a quality I needed to think more about.

Have you ever thought that the two simple words “Oh, no!” with a God-inspired thought behind them can prepare the way for healing? Well, they can! Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy has this to say about successfully overcoming challenges: “Suffering is no less a mental condition than is enjoyment. You cause bodily sufferings and increase them by admitting their reality and continuance, as directly as you enhance your joys by believing them to be real and continuous” ( p.

I am learning that some healings require complete surrender to God, on our knees like Daniel in the Bible, humbly giving in to whatever God’s good design is.   When we nestle into the arms of divine Love, God, not outlining, not having a plan, not worrying about the future, but letting go and relying on God completely, the answer comes.

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.

Ever since my husband retired, we usually take the car together when we go anywhere. He drives the longer distances, while I drive short trips to run errands.

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.