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MOVING FROM A MATERIAL TO A MORE SPIRITUALLY BASED CONCEPT of science or theology or medicine is state-of-the-art gift giving, in this lead-up to the approaching holidays. Moving from the impositions of material beliefs into the soaring sense of spiritual being—into the study and practice of the Science of Christianity—brings relief from fear, illness, poverty, addiction, feelings of dissatisfaction and discouragement.

YOU NEEDN'T BOTHER CHECKING to see what the world's largest Internet search engine (whose name shall not be used as a verb in this column) has to say when you search the terms science and love. For this daily Internet user, the first several links I saw brought to mind Mary Baker Eddy's pungent phrase "the tangled barbarisms of learning.

"BEING THERE" has taken on new meaning in a Web-connected world. Distance and remoteness are disappearing as barriers to community, at least for those who have internet access.

THANKS TO SPACE TRAVELERS AND THEIR CAMERAS, the human family has a remarkable conception of earth unknown to the ancients—call it the tiny blue planet phenomenon. Photos like the one on our cover evoke a variety of responses, from awe to nurturing love to a feeling of smallness.

COULD CHRISTIAN HEALING ever be anything but new every morning? It's at least as new as the moment the mind opens to God's constant presence, power, and care—those indicators of Christ's healing action in the world today. It's a presence and action that defies boundaries of geography or culture, of income or influence.

A PIONEERING SPIRITUAL JOURNALIST'S EXAMPLE LOOKS timelier than ever. In the Journal's maiden-voyage issue, dated April 14, 1883, founder and first editor Mary Baker Eddy wrote about half the editorial content in that eight-page periodical.

You May Have Noticed A New Name Under "Managing Editor" On this issue's masthead: Warren Bolon. Warren has been working in the Journal, Sentinel, and Herald editorial department since 2001.

EASTER SUNDAY. THAT DAY BRINGS UP HAPPY MEMORIES FROM MY childhood: a big dinner after church and the Easter egg hunt when each of us would find our baskets filled with jelly beans and chocolate bunnies.

CHURCH. THAT WORD CONJURES UP SO MANY MEMORIES, IMAGES , promises.

THESE DAYS CHURCHES EVERYWHERE LOOK FOR MEANINGFUL WAYS to meet the needs of their parishioners while trying to keep pace with a world changing faster than the latest version of iPhone. In such a rapidly changing environment, how does a church remain a dynamic and yet stable constant in a world in flux? For the last 2,000 years, Christians have looked primarily to their churches for spiritual sustenance, guidance, and companionship.