Web Originals

By the time we reach our 40s, we’ve often come to terms with life—settled in our ways and not expecting big changes. I certainly never expected the answer to the riddle of the universe to appear at that time and transform my entire existence.

“When the heart speaks, however simple the words, its language is always acceptable to those who have hearts,” wrote Mary Baker Eddy, who discovered Christian Science ( Miscellaneous Writings 1883–1896 , p. 262 ).

Recently, I have had many opportunities to pray about relationships. Since moving to South Korea to teach English for a year, I’ve had to face the challenges of maintaining consistent contact with those I love back home, making new friendships here, and even addressing relationships in a larger context, including the shaky relations between North and South Korea.

It was Monday morning and I was looking forward to starting a new week. But I woke up with a terrible headache.

In the early hours on Thursday, January 20, of this year, I dreamed I had the flu. I woke up, totally well.

These days, buying or selling a house can seem to be a complicated and stressful experience. We all know stories of prospective buyers who cannot get financing, or of people with homes that have been on the market for a long time.

Christian Science has brought many blessings and great joy to my life. A recent experience proved challenging, but persisting with the truths taught by Christ Jesus and Mary Baker Eddy again led me to healing.

Adapted from a talk given at the Boston Church Alive Summit in June 2011. Some of you may be wondering why a trustee of The Christian Science Publishing Society has been asked to give a talk on Church.

My wife and I recently saw a play in Los Angeles titled 33 Variations, by Moisés Kaufman. In the program notes there’s a quote from the early 20th century Russian novelist Andrei Bely: “An instant of life taken by itself as it is deeply probed becomes a doorway to infinity.

One morning last winter, I discovered how stunning a New England beach can be in January. As I gazed down from the snowy edge of a sand dune, the water seemed like a huge sheet of cobalt glass stretching out before me, mirroring an equally flawless, porcelain-blue sky above.