Janet Butler
This happened a long time before I knew anything about Christian Science. I was a senior in college. It was my last semester and it was right before my last final, which was linguistics. The term before I’d had the same professor and I hadn’t really night studied before the last before my exam. But the night before I studied and everything came together and I went into the test and aced it. So the next semester I did the same thing (probably not to my credit!). The night before I went over my notes and nothing came together and I thought “Oh no, I’m going to fail this exam and not graduate!”
I went into the exam with fear and trepidation. And sure enough he gave the assignment and it was all the things that hadn’t come together the night before. All the names of people and names of their theories and then one of the students asked: “Is it okay if we just write about the principles that you have taught us?”
I had written earlier a paper on Pidgin English using all the principles so I wrote about that. And I aced the test and got an A in the course. I was just shocked that this had happened,. Now looking back I see other things.
1) that God is always with us and God is near at hand and we can count on him
2) and things can happen in a very unexpected way.
Hilary Wise:
I am most consistent in keeping a daily log of spiritual growth during the tail end of last year and the first few months of this year, when I was praying especially diligently and digging deeper in spiritual study in relation to finding a job. Keeping the log provided traction for metaphysical work and gave me a sense of purpose, especially when I most needed it during a period of prolonged unemployment.
Things I logged back in November when my employment situation felt frustrating but not yet dire pertained to a turning away from personal reputation and a mortal sense of image and appearance, and focusing on Spirit as the source and substance of my identity. I found inspiration in words from the Bible like, “prosper”, “mastery” and “triumph”, which helped me overcome a sense of helplessness and subjection to unsavory material conditions. I also began to treat the belief of unemployment like I would that of a disease. I annulled the claims of inaction, stagnation and non-productivity with the truth of God as the one, infinite Omni-action.
My entries then go on to centre around purpose—divine purpose—and affirming that I am perfectly established in God and at all times reflect his perfection. Over the following days, I write out treatments for myself focusing on God as Truth and God as Mind. I then have a physical challenge—what seems to be the flu—and I log my prayers as they shift to a more humble, meek nature: less personal sense and more of God’s allness.
As the daily logs progress, I am uncovering things in my spiritual study that need to be corrected, such as my judgemental and envious attitude towards others who are employed, impatience as to when I will finally have a job and start making money again, and frustration that no one seems to be answering the hundreds of job applications I am sending out. My treatments are more targeted. I am denying human will and affirming the law of Soul, and spiritual identity, and working a lot with Adam Dickey’s article, “God’s Law of Adjustment”. I am less patient with and impressed by claims of inactivity and insufficiency. I turn to and repeat simple truths: I am of God, I am good.
Months later, at a pivotal point in my employment search, I have a final job interview that goes terribly. It feels like all my efforts have culminated to this point and then failed. It’s actually a wonderful turning point in the demonstration because it forces me to go above the material view of life and self to the spiritual reality. Here’s the log entry I wrote:
Undo the narrative that I failed to be myself today during the interview.
I can’t fail to express or reflect God.
These are attributes of God: communication, articulation, truth, sincerity, skill, clarity, expertise, individuality, uniqueness.
Man is known, seen, and understood in God, through God, and by God.
No lack of clarity of expression in Truth.
Truth is true.
Nothing can block my expression of the Truth,
I am not material. I am not a mortal humanly trying.
I am spiritual.
No sadness. No lack of God, good, joy.
No insufficiency at all.
I have all that I need. I can do perfectly all that God appoints me to do.
The next day, I write this:
Gratitude!
Waking up with God, knowing I am cared for.
Strong sense of home, comfort and safety.
A sense of purpose, even with simple things: getting dressed, talking to friends, praying.
Three weeks later, at the end of March, I receive and accept a job offer. It is a triumphant moment and I feel relieved and extremely grateful. But when I look back on my entries now, I see the biggest triumph was not in getting the job but in the spiritual growth and in learning to be more unselfish, consistent, humble, diligent, and disciplined. The spiritual growth is what is most meaningful and most important to me.
These daily logs are a testament to my yielding to God more and more, and to what mortal-minded suggestions I uncovered and nullified. Reflecting on the value of this assignment, I think of the line from Science and Health, “The habitual struggle to be always good is unceasing prayer.” What good words: habitual, always, unceasing. This is indeed what is required of us in our prayer and study if we are to work out our own salvation and to come out from the world and be separate. I think too of the Bible passage that prefaces the chapter “Recapitulation”: "For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little.” — This is the learning and the demonstration: Day by day, moment by moment, step by step.
Hilary Wise:
I’ve experienced healings that seem supernatural but are, as Mary Baker Eddy says, “supremely natural”: a pair of wireless headphones, presumed lost, reappeared after a heightened sense of completeness and spiritual substance; a deluge of water flooding my bedroom during a rainstorm and suddenly abating after I turned to God as the only power and presence; achieving a competitive score on a business school entrance exam when I could barely answer the questions but prayed with Mind as true intelligence and provision; and the ability walk to a church testimony meeting in less than 20 minutes when, to human logic, the travel time should have been at least 40 mins.
This last experience of traveling to church remains especially dear to me. At the time, I was working an extraordinarily demanding job as a personal assistant and rarely could leave the office in time on any given Wednesday to make it to Testimony Meetings. On this occasion, I left the office too late but very much wanted to make the effort to attend the meeting. To human sense, I simply did not have enough time to arrive to the meeting on time. I was traveling by foot through London during rush hour and the journey would take me at least three-quarters of an hour and I only had about 20 mins until the meeting started. However, I knew the route and decided not to look at my watch and disregard time and distance entirely. I prayed sincerely as I walked, cherishing the definition of Church, as given in Science and Health, and I expressed gratitude in advice for the inspiration that would surely come through the meeting’s readings and testimonies. I remember I kept repeating as I walked, “God is bringing me to church.” When I arrived at church, I looked at the clock on the wall and saw that I had arrived within a few minutes of the Meeting’s start time! To make the meeting even more special, the power had gone out along the street, so the meeting took place, not in the edifice, but in the building’s Sunday School amid candlelight. It was incredibly intimate, cozy, calm—you might even say magical in atmosphere. Everyone listened intently to the readings and then shared sweet, sincere testimonies. From this moment on, I make a habit of beginning my prayers with, “Father, thank you for bringing me to church”, when silent prayer begins during Sunday Services and Wednesday Meetings. This healing showed me the importance of trusting God to guide us to church and not letting physical sense testimony in whatever limiting form it appears—time, distance, etc.—prevent me from recognizing and demonstrating the value of Church and Church attendance.
Hilary Wise:
I know that genuine Christian Science healing occurs in thought, and that the physical senses will never fully show me what only the perfection of Spirit can. Thinking in this line, it’s silly to reduce my life in Christian Science to a timeline with healings dotted along it. I initially approached this assignment in such a manner: I created an Excel spreadsheet with one column containing of all the years of my life and the neighboring column chronicling the healings per year. To a degree, this metric prompted me to effectively reflect on past experiences but ultimately it disgusted me. My demonstration of Christian Science is not linear! Christian Science healings are not finite little moments of revelation; an upward tick that is here today, gone tomorrow. The purpose of this assignment was not, it seems to me, about chronicling human conditions improved. But rather: to recognize the ongoing efficacy of the Christ in our consciousness as well as our experience. Something we heard in class that has admittedly taken me years to really understand is, “Accession is as horizontal as it is vertical.” I take that to mean: spiritual progression is upward and outward.“At all times and under all circumstances, overcome evil with good.” Every moment, under every condition of thought, we are demonstrating Christian Science by simply knowing that God, good is all. Right here, right now, Christian Science healing is ongoing—It is the forever revelation of the Christ made clear in human consciousness.
Brooke Joos:
A month ago, a client had a real estate closing on a Thursday morning. I mention the day because every Thursday, I am the municipal judge in the City of Beloit. I am on the bench the entire day taking pleas, extending defendants’ time to pay forfeitures and hearing civil cases. I have no time on Thursday to handle issues that crop up with my clients. In addition, my assistant was on vacation, so she could not assist me with any issues. During a break in my court, I received a call from the closing company indicating that several documents and approvals were needed prior to the 11:00 am closing. I indicated that I was unable to prepare the documents and secure the approvals prior to the closing. I asked if we could move the closing to the following day. The closing company said that it was impossible as the purchasers of my client’s property were closing on their home immediately prior to my client’s closing. If the correct documents and approvals were not in place the purchaser’s bank would not loan them the money and they would be homeless. I began to panic. I could not think straight. I did not want to disappoint my client and I certainly did not want anyone to be homeless. I told myself to breathe and calm down. I told myself that there is only one mind, Divine Mind. Divine Mind is only good. Divine Mind’s thoughts are harmonious and perfect. Divine Mind would never cause harm to anyone. In the midst of thinking these thoughts, I heard “PR Deed.” Though I was almost shaking because I was so panicked, the phrase was clear and distinct. I heard it a second time and I realized that that was the answer. The situation did not need several documents and approvals, it simply needed a Personal Representative’s Deed. I was elated. I called my father, who is a retired attorney, and he graciously drafted the Deed and delivered it to the closing company in time for the 11:00 am closing. The closing agent emailed me later that day to tell me that the closing went off without a hitch and everyone was very happy. To me, this was a perfect example of God’s “still small voice.” I heard the answer in the midst of panic and fear. God was not in the panic and fear, but in the calm, clear phrase, “PR Deed.”
Ellen Biemer
I had a lot of resistance to this assignment. I started the daily journal, only to keep forgetting about it. I tried keeping the document open on my phone, so I’d be reminded, but somehow it kept closing — and I’d forget again.
As for making a list of healings, I’d started a healing journal at one point after I came back to CS, so I thought that was a good place to start; unfortunately, I couldn’t find it. To be honest, I didn’t take the time to search, because I had no idea where it was.
Meanwhile, I’d been feeling unmotivated to do the work I needed to. I did what I felt was a minimal amount, like catching church every Sunday and most Wednesdays, usually on Zoom, which is better than not at all — and, listening to the lesson while walking my dog; sometimes also reading it, and spending time in prayer and study. But I just didn’t seem to care enough to apply myself like I felt I should.
So, part of the growth I needed was to appreciate any effort as valuable. This is a recurrent lesson for me; sometimes I’m good at it, other times I go back to berating myself. I talked about this at last year’s Association too.
Another part was to work on lifting my thoughts to God. I often found myself complaining in my head, rehashing past wrongs, and finding new issues. Especially while walking my dog, there seemed many opportunities for negativity.
As Association grew closer, I started stressing more. But, I hit a point where I realized it would be helpful to start attending one of the local churches. I’d had it in my head that I needed to get my thought clear about the one I used to attend, but I realized that while that’s true, I could just go to the other church. When I started going, I found it was a great idea — they needed the support, and so did I. I’ve been attending regularly since, and it’s been a real blessing.
I started being more aware of my thoughts, especially while walking my dog, and while driving. And, after starting to write down healings I remembered from my childhood, I found my healing journal. When I paged through it, I was reminded of how I’d focused on finding things to be grateful for every day. I’m working on that now!
My departure date for Association was rapidly approaching. I was leaving on Tuesday morning for the first leg of my journey. Though I’d been working on getting ready bit by bit, there was a ton left to do.
After doing laundry all day Saturday, I wasn’t sure about getting to church Sunday morning. So much left to do! When texting with the First Reader Saturday night, I let her know I wasn’t sure I’d be there, and she wished me well on my trip. I also woke up Sunday morning not feeling well. But, I knew if I went, I’d feel better, and be better able to make progress packing afterwards.
The phone rang at 8:00, right after I’d woken up; it was the First Reader. She said she’d been moved to call me, and mentioned how both her own mother and mine were such strong Christian Scientists - she didn’t pressure me, but it made me get up and get going. I didn’t have much time, and was late leaving. On the way, I thought about some testimonies I’d heard of people getting places on time despite leaving late, and prayed about being in my right place at the right time.
We arrived just before 10:00. I tried to hurry Bucky, to no avail - he insisted on walking, and really did need to, so we walked around the block. Somehow, despite hearing the nearby church chime 10:00 already, they were just starting the service when we went in.
It was a lovely service. I was very glad I went.
Afterwards, when I went out the front door, I found the soloist sitting on the steps. She’d fallen, and her arm was bleeding quite a bit. I started praying, quickly put Bucky in the car, and grabbed my first aid kit (or second aid kit, as they called it at camp - since God is the first aid). As a couple of other women helped, I was able to quickly bandage her arm. I admit, it was a bit challenging - the material picture was rather aggressive - but I was able to negate that in my thought, and take care of what I needed to.
The organist drove her to an urgent care center, and on my way home I kept praying. I’ve been dealing with a wound on my dog’s neck - minor by comparison, but the principle is the same. I widened my prayers to encompass the soloist, and Bucky, knowing that we are all spiritual, not material, and that these seeming problems are merely distractions, trying to get in the way of seeing our true selves.
I was so grateful that I was there to help! It was a case of listening and obeying. And, I’ve carried around first aid kits in my car for years, and only used a few bandaids; but the kit I had contained everything I needed for a larger wound. I was able to put my thoughts into Christian Science Nurse mode, and do what I needed to do.
Patti Gmeiner:
The Message's Romans 8 starts out:
Those who enter into Christ’s being-here-for-us no longer have to live under a continuous, low-lying black cloud. A new power is in operation. The Spirit of life in Christ, like a strong wind, has magnificently cleared the air,... don’t you see that we don’t owe this old do-it-yourself life one red cent. There’s nothing in it for us, nothing at all. The best thing to do is give it a decent burial and get on with your new life. God’s Spirit beckons. There are things to do and places to go! ... This resurrection life you received from God is not a timid, grave-tending life. It’s adventurously expectant, greeting God with a childlike “What’s next, Papa?” God’s Spirit touches our spirits and confirms who we really are. We know who he is, and we know who we are: Father and children.
...and from a practitioner:
"Let a great stir, a fresh wind, move in your thoughts. 'Blow winds of God, awake awake and blow the mists of earth away.' (Hymn 142) The transforming, healing power of Christ, Truth, is a clear breeze that blows away stale perspectives and repeating fears." I love the idea of letting this inspiration blow away any "flat, dusty old lie" about myself or others.
Around the time I was working with these ideas, I had been feeling kind of disappointed that none of my grandchildren were getting any kind of Sunday School or church experience at all. But I decided there was no reason to be disappointed; they were in God's good hands. Then, out of the blue, my daughter texted to ask me if I would teach her two older children Sunday School on Face Time! (There's no branch church in their city.) Of course I would! Then after they had their first session, their little brother wanted a turn, so I did a shorter, easier session with him. Then I told my son what I was doing with my daughter's children, and asked if he would like his boys to do the same. He said yes. So suddenly all five grandchildren have a sort of Sunday School on Face Time. :) (I imagine we won't do it for too long, but it will get them at least an introduction, until at some point they will make the commitment to drive to the nearest city with a Sunday School. At least I know that's what my son has in mind.)
P.S. After the first 2 sessions with the little brother (4-year-old), one day my daughter was yelling at her girls abut something, and the little boy said, "No Mommy, no yelling! God is Love!"
I'm continuing to find Sunday School teaching, although mostly online, very rewarding. A few weeks ago I had gone with God to prepare the lesson plans for Sunday School. I had to prepare 4 different plans, but by the time I got to the last one, I started to feel I just wanted to get it over with, and I started to think about what the lesson that week should be. But then I thought, "No. God loves this child every bit as much as the others. No more thinking. Just listening." As I listened, a delightful plan unfolded. I was smiling and so happy. I could feel God's love for each child so much!
Another week it occurred to me to help one class understand the synonyms for God by using a book called "God's Gifts." It said in part, "As you listen to Him as Mind...You can suddenly remember where you put your shoes and socks." Well, this particular week we weren't online, because I was also babysitting for the weekend. So shortly after the class, this young boy was complaining that he couldn't find his favorite stuffed animal. His little brother and I tried to help by looking all over the house for it. We looked for quite a while, until it hit me: "Hey, you guys. Stop. What did we just read about God as Mind? As we listen to God as Mind we can suddenly know where to look!" And in literally seconds, the little brother said, "Here it is!" It was pretty much right in front of us the whole time, but none of us could see it, until we listened to God as Mind.
I've been regularly making sure I don't try to prepare the lesson plans alone, but approach the books with God. (Also follow the Manual directions for teaching the children, of course.) Last week my daughter let me know that one granddaughter was having some trouble with a relationship. I had already prepared the lesson plan, and it already addressed her problem very specifically! Apparently it's true, that "before they call, I will answer." :)
Patti Gmeiner:
Around Christmas time The Bible Lesson included this passage: "Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end." (Is 9:7) Wycliffe translates it, "His empire shall be multiplied." And The Living Bible says, "His ever-expanding, peaceful government shall never end."
Pondering this, it occurred to me that the seeming spread of disease, of chaos, of lies, and so on, would have to be the suppositional opposite of the increase and peace of Principle's government. I'm comforted to know that "God is not mocked." (Gal 6:7) Principle and its government has no opposite and cannot be mocked! "God, good, being ever present, it follows in divine logic that evil, the suppositional opposite of good, is never present." (S&H 72) And because of the increase and peace of Principle's government, there is necessarily a decrease of all forms of error.
I found this to be true many years ago when my husband had a stroke. Even though he was a student of CS, he refused to call a practitioner for help. So I called one for myself. This was the concept we worked with, and it proved to be true. There was an increase of Principle's government in the way of balance and more. And of course there was necessarily a steady decrease of symptoms, as well. "His ever-expanding, peaceful government shall never end."
Patti Gmeiner:
“I have a long-distance friend that I communicate with on a puzzle website. Several months ago he let a few of us know of a fatal diagnosis he was given. I sent him a card with a message letting him know that I've been aware of a lot of people who were given a short time to live, and then lived for very many more years. I don't remember my exact words, but I was convinced, and shared with him, that there was no reason the prognosis had to be in stone. And I left him in God's hands (since that's where he was anyway).
Last night he posted this message on the website:
"Those of you who have been aware of my recent health difficulties might be pleased to learn that the results of my latest CT scan show that the lung is now clear and requires no further intervention. ... I wanted to post this item of news because (as a number of folks have pointed out to me) sometimes what seems to be a definitive diagnosis can be confounded by the human body and spirit. My result might give a measure of hope to others. ... Patti, you were the first - way back when - to offer a ray of hope. Bless you for that ♥”
This encouraged me to not hold back in sharing truth with people, even if it's just a little bit. “A grain of Christian Science does wonders for mortals, so omnipotent is Truth, ..." (S&H p. 449:3–5 (to ,)
Nancy Jacobsen:
Many years ago, I had a healing that I know was the result of the
prayers of my mother and grandma who were both Christian Scientists.
As my father was active in another religion, I attended his church. However, I did have exposure to Christian Science. to which my father did not object. My exposure to Science consisted of the bits and pieces I picked up through the years and witnessing my mother's sudden and absolute healing of a debilitating illness.
Regarding my healing, I did not actively participate in it, with the
exception of having asked for help from God at one point. However. i
definitely could sense progress and. looking back, am amazed at how
things fell into place to bring about a complete healing.
I look at so many of Jesus's healings and wonder if those healed
were able to understand what had actually happened. Was Jesus so
magically connected to God that it was like waving a wand? Or, was their
healing the result of Jesus being able to understand forces that they could
not? In my case, I felt the love of my mother and grandma and knew
intellectually that God was love, but did not connect this to my healing.
Years later, this healing stood out as a demonstration of the prayerful
work done for another.
Recalling this experience encourages me to know that my prayers for
others are truly heard and answered. The recipient doesn't have to
understand the work being done or even participate in it, as much as that
is powerful, to experience healing. God and the power of prayer are
manifesting good regardless. "And the prayer of faith shall save the sick,
and the hand shall raise him up..." Jas.5:16
Besides my mother, my grandmother was the most genuinely loving
person. Even as a child, I
could sense the real love she had for everyone.
Years later, she had a series of strokes, the last one leaving her bedridden
and unable to speak for the rest of her life. Years went by and I was angry
and disillusioned that God, whom she loved, served and trusted had allowed
this. She was a life-long Christian Scientist where was God when she
needed him? What kind of a God was he, anyway.
One day, a week before Thanksgiving, God literally spoke to me - not
audibly, but just as undeniably. We must have a built in receptor, because I
knew it was God. He said, "go to see your Grandmother on Thanksgiving."
I never considered not going. and began making plans for my family to be
cared for while I was gone. My oldest daughter decided to come with me.
Co-incidentally, for some reason she had memorized the 100th psalm, the
last two verses of which are,"Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into
his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name, for the lord
is good, his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth to all generations."
I called my uncle, who went to see Grandma every day, to tell him we
were coming. He advised me not to come on the holiday, but wait until the
week-end as nothing had changed. I told him we would be there on
Thanksgiving.
We arrived at the nursing home in early afternoon. After spending
some time in her room, my daughter and uncle left to get something to drink.
I sat with Grandma and was able to tell her how much she was loved and
how important she was in my life. I was giving her water from a sponge
and she was sucking on it. Suddenly, she stopped taking the water and died.
I remember being numb, the way one is when something really big happens,
but you can't quite process it yet. At the same time, there was peace and a
sense of all being well.
I don't exactly know when I knew that this was God's way of letting me
know he was present. I must have sensed it right away, but the magnitude
(for me) of the experience slowly settled into a certaintly that God knew of my
anger and confusion and was giving me reassurance. I was still left with a lot
of questions, but there was no doubt that God is very real and that he knows
our needs.
Mary Baker Eddy assures us that "Divine Love always has met and always
will meet every human need." This experience was, for me, absolute proof
of that. It is so much more than a familiar saying on a church wall; it is right
up there with "Ye shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free."
I have been making real efforts, prayerful efforts, to stifle mortal mind and
unwelcome thoughts. I will be going about my daily life and a thought takes a
step, involuntarily; then another step, down a negative path. Before I know it,
I am dwelling on thoughts that are unkind, fearful, critical or just a plain waste
of time.
Mary Baker Eddy says, "Stand porter at the door of thought." I used to
regard this admonition as pithy and rather high-minded; it made sense,
sounded good, etc. Then one day, in a light-bulb moment, I realized the
strong meaning behind this short imperative.
I was praying for a loved one - working with gratitude for her true identity
as God's child and seeing her as strong, confident and considerate. I know
not to engage in negative character assessments, but down that rabbit hole
I went anyway, recalling a number of supposed unlovely acitions. Suddenly I was brought up short! "Whose prayer is this anyway.
God's child's or mortal mind's? Is this the way we pray in Science?"
The wisdom behind Mrs. Eddy's advise and Paul's counsel in Phillipians,
4:8 became so relevant. "Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is noble,
whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable -
if anything is excellent or praiseworthy, think on such things." Paul also says
in Philippians 2:5, "Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus."
I could plainly see that allowing the intrusion of mortal mind into prayer, or
any other aspect of life, is a cheat. It takes away the quality of what we
experience, for we live in Mind. How can we practice Science from a place
of imperfection? These thoughts put me on the mountain, but, knowing my
past history, I recalled these words of Paul: Romans 7:19 "For the good that
I would I do not: but the evil that I would not, that I do."
Here was Paul , dealing with the same problem that I'm facing. Paul, who
overcame great sin, Paul who preached Jesus Christ, Paul who wrote 13 or 14
books in the Bible. If Paul had to work on this, then I can. And Paul shows us
how to succeed: He says, Romans 7:25,"I thank God through Jesus Christ our
Lord. So the with the mind, I myself serve the law of God."
I am practicing being more aware of thoughts. More often now, when
negativity encroaches, a red flag pops up. I try to replace it with a truth that
I can apply to dispel it. I get additional encouragement from Paul's advice in
First Timothy 4:15,"Practice these things, immerse yourself in them, so that
all may see your progress." I like to interpret that as "so all your thoughts
may reflect your progress." I have to say that I am making progress. That
is a kind of healing.
.
Janet Chisholm
Thoughts About This Assignment
As I spent time with this assignment, I began to be more and more aware of what was in my thought. I noticed that multiple times every day, I would have a symptom appear or a moment of concern, and then as I reversed whatever it was, it would fade. I slowly became conscious of the countless times during each day this occurred, even though at the beginning of the assignment, I would have characterized myself as not being very alert and someone who didn’t do a very good job of keeping my thought elevated. I don’t think my thought changed, but my understanding of how I was working every day did. I had been judging my own success by how many hours I studied and how many challenges I was facing. This shifted into a different perspective as to what success means as a Christian Scientist. I finally realized that I couldn’t possibly record every healing I have experienced or been involved with, because they were literally happening all the time. This has altered my view of myself as a thinker and has given me more confidence in my healing ability. It reminds me of the words in John 21:25, only in the context of my own work.
“And there are also many other things which Jesus did, the which, if they should be written every one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that should be written. Amen.”
Surely, this is true of all of us, both individually and collectively, as sincere followers of Christ, as Christian Scientists.
Healings
The Swimming Pool
My family and I were at a public swimming pool one summer day when we lived in Atlanta. Suddenly the lifeguards blew their whistles and yelled at everybody to get out of the pool. I looked and saw someone floating face down. One of the lifeguards pulled the person out of the pool and began trying to resuscitate them. During this time, I was working metaphysically in as strongly as I could, arguing for the truth of being. About a minute later, they blew the whistle again, saying that this had just been a test for the lifeguard to pass. I was shocked at the difference between what I felt before that announcement was made, and the relief I felt afterwards. This was a tremendous instruction in what it means to argue for the Truth vs. actually knowing the Truth. It remains a touchstone for me in determining the quality of my healing work.
Break a leg? — Go Back to ClassDuring the time I lived in Oklahoma, I was unable to find a Christian Science church I wanted to attend. I tried several of them and never felt comfortable. I know that this was in large part because of a personal betrayal, on the part of my ex-husband, who was a Scientist. I simply couldn’t find comfort in the church. Even though I prayed about it, I never found a solution.
A few years later, I was teaching violin at the University of Oklahoma, and had just completed a solo recital. A pianist friend of mine from another state had flown in to play with me. The next morning, I got up at about 5 AM to wake her, get dressed, and take her to the airport. As I hurried down a couple of stairs into my living room, I slipped and fell. I heard a sound in my leg and thought I might have broken it. She heard me fall and came to me. I asked her to bring me the phone, and I called a practitioner. He went to work immediately. I managed to get up, and my friend wondered whether I should drive. I insisted that I would rather drive her at that very moment, then wait around and see how I felt. I drove into Oklahoma City from quite a distance away and then home again. I felt pain most of the day and could not put weight on my leg. Friends came to check me that evening and told me they thought I should go to the emergency room, because if I couldn’t put weight on the leg, it was likely broken. I agreed to let them take me. When we got there, even though it was 9 o’clock on a Sunday night, the room was packed with people. During the three-hour wait to see a doctor, I looked around me, and saw intense suffering in the faces of men, women, and children. As I took this in, I realized I was very likely the only person in the room who knew the Science of being, and that I had been taught how to heal. After finally seeing a physician, they x-rayed my leg, and told me it was broken with a clean break and that I should see an orthopedic doctor the next day. I did, and they gave me a boot to use and sent me home again. The next morning my friends who had taken me to the ER invited me to spend a few days with them. Before I left home, I grabbed all my class notes, the list of citations, and my CS books. I knew that it was time to go back to class. Over the next 12 days. I attended class on my own. Within two days, I gave up crutches and switched to a cane. After two more days, I put away the cane and the boot. My healing was very quick. Within two months of this experience, I was led to move to Madison. I immediately began attending the CS church and eventually became a member. Shortly after that, I was elected as a board member, and eventually as a reader. This was truly a prodigal experience where my Father-Mother God ran to meet me and bring me back into the fold.
Who Said That to You?!One time, right before the Reader elections at my church in California, it came to me that I might be elected First Reader. The day of the election, I was at the church by myself going through some music, as I was soloist at that time. The phone rang, and I answered it. It was a member of the church who I worked for in her design business. She told me that if I was nominated that night at the meeting, I should remove my name from the list. She strongly recommended that I wait until I was older to read. I was very upset, grabbed my phone calling card from my purse, and called my teacher, I quickly explained to him what had happened. He said to me, “Do you really think a person just called and told you that? That was not a person. That was animal magnetism.” I immediately felt a sense of complete freedom. I was not elected reader, and I don’t think I was even nominated. A fellow member who sat next to me, said to me afterwards that he thought I would be elected First Reader, and he would be elected Second Reader. I told him I thought we would know why things had unfolded in this way within six months. At the end of six months, I had moved to Los Angeles. In the meantime, I learned one of the most valuable lessons about impersonalizing error. From Foe To Lifelong Friend
During class instruction, I kept my head down, and although I was friendly with other people, did not make strong connections with anyone. I was staying at a dorm room in Stanford University in California. There were no televisions or distractions. At that time, I really had a strong desire to go into the practice. As it turned out, due to family circumstances, the practice I had begun where we resided, was short-lived. We had to move to another city, and I had to find a full-time job. About two weeks after class, one of the women I had a friendship with called me one day to check in. She told me that another classmate, as she understood it, was going into the practice. I immediately felt envious, and wished I could be in that position. As soon as I noticed my thinking, I grabbed the sheet with my classmates’ information and looked up this woman’s phone number. I could see that animal magnetism was trying to use me to malpractice her. I called her immediately and congratulated her on going into the practice. She just laughed and said that that wasn’t really true, and that she thought I was going into the practice. We became the closest of friends, supporting each other through the years. In fact, we arranged every year to sit together during Association. This was such a lesson in how insidious animal magnetism is in making us feel that we are separate from each other as Christian Scientists instead of being on the same team.
Divine Love is Here, Now
Once I experienced an extreme betrayal by someone who I thought really loved me. I was in a great deal of emotional pain. One night I felt overwhelmed by it and called a practitioner for help. I didn’t explain why I was in pain, but just said that I was in deep emotional distress. The practitioner was quiet for a moment, and then said to me with vivid spiritual authority, “The Divine Love that parted the Red Sea and raised Lazarus and Calvin Frey from the dead is present in the room with you right now.” Almost immediately, I felt the temperature in the room rise about 10° and was surrounded by warmth and love. This was a remarkable, instantaneous healing which still speaks to me.
Journey from Serious Injury to Freedom
When I was a new student of Christian Science, I attended 2nd Church Atlanta, along with my husband and daughter. One day, as we were driving down the road next to the church, we came upon a woman whose dog had been hit by a car, and who was crouching over it in the middle of the moderately busy street. My husband pulled the car over and went to her. He tried to convince her to move the dog out of the street, but she refused, worried that the dog would become more injured. Shortly after this, I saw a car drive by me, and I looked for their brake lights to come on. They did not come on. Horrified, I realized the car had run over my husband, the woman, and the dog. It took a few seconds for me to fully comprehend what was actually happening. I rushed out of the car and ran to them. My husband had been carried on the hood of the car about 20 feet and thrown into the road. When I got to him, I could see his eyes glazing over and knew he was close to passing on. I began to speak with authority to him. I told him he had to repeat everything I said and proceeded to loudly speak the Scientific Statement of Being, which I had very recently memorized, and the Lord’s Prayer. He began to be able to focus his eyes and was able to respond to me. In the middle of this, a man approached me and asked me what he could do to help me. I pointed to our church sign and asked him to find the number for the church and call them or their reading room and ask for the phone number of a Christian Science practitioner. He asked my name and said he would do that and left. In the meantime, an ambulance came and put my husband in it. Then they took my husband out and put the woman in it. Then we waited longer for another ambulance. All the time, I was able to keep working with him. When we finally got into the ambulance and headed to the ER, it had been probably 45 minutes or more since the incident. When I arrived at the hospital, they took my husband somewhere, and sent me to an administrative office. I walked in and after giving them some information said that I needed to make a long-distance call. I knew my father-in-law’s phone number by memory. He was a part-time practitioner, and I knew no matter what, I could get help from him. I was trying to make the call but could not get the phone to work. Just then, a medical attendant came through the door and told me that I had a phone call and needed to come with him. We went down a long hall with nothing on the walls except one phone. It was right next to my husband’s gurney. When I picked up the receiver, it was the CS practitioner that the man had managed to contact. He had given him my name and information, so that he could find me at the hospital. I asked for help which he agreed to give. Then I asked the attendant how to make a long-distance call. He told me, and I proceeded to reach my husband’s father. For the rest of the time, which was probably a couple of hours, my husband refused medical care. One of the nurses would periodically come and check on him in the hallway and take his blood pressure. He began to tell me that there was swelling, and he might be bleeding from internal injuries. About the third time he came, he told me my husband’s blood pressure was dropping and was alarmed. I left for a moment to find the phone I had used before so that I could call his father to let him know. He kindly told me that I should express gratitude to the nurse the next time he came and then ask him to stop taking the blood pressure. I did that, and the nurse took it fairly well. A short time later, a doctor approached me. He explained that he had Christian Science friends and understood my situation. He said that he could check us into a private room, and not require we accept medical care. The only condition was that before we left, we would need his permission. I spoke to my husband. We discussed it and refused the offer. We asked for an ambulance to take us home.
During the ride home in the ambulance, I felt nothing but total freedom and inspiration. Over the next two or three days, my husband responded remarkably quickly to Christian Science treatment, and was up and about, only using a cane to walk. There was a knock on our door one morning, and my husband answered it. It was an insurance agent who had stopped by to find out how my husband was doing and inform us that there was coverage for whatever we needed. It was not our insurance company, as we had none. It was the driver’s. When he saw my husband at the door, he was totally shocked. He explained to us that when he had been called to the hospital about the incident and understood that we had refused treatment, he spoke to the doctors. He had then told his company to prepare for a wrongful death suit, because my husband would likely not survive. My husband and the agent spoke about Christian Science for a while, and then he left.
During the first day after my husband and I returned home, I remember taking a short break outside on the fire escape of our apartment while my husband spoke to the practitioner. I remember feeling immersed in love and warmth. At that moment, I understood that I was experiencing baptism in its purest state. This healing continues to be an inspiration to me.
Service to a Reformer
Before I attended class instruction, I quit my job at a Christian Science nursing home. I didn’t know how I would get a job after class, but I wasn’t very concerned, because I knew I was taking the right step. Within a short period of time, an elderly practitioner, whose daughter we knew from our church, was looking for someone to stay with her in a home she was going to rent as she prepared to leave Arden Wood. She needed some light home care, including meals, and someone to take her for errands. My family agreed to help her. My husband was working outside the home, and my daughter was at school. The duties therefore fell to me. This arrangement met our needs extremely well, as we were able to live there without paying rent.
The woman had been in the practice for over 50 years, and she was a remarkable person and healer. But she was also very demanding. She was extremely particular about her meals, and I began to feel some resentment because of it. One day she came to the kitchen and told me what she wanted. Although I felt resentful, I made the meal and took it to her in her room. About two minutes later, she came back to me, carrying the tray. She told me that she didn’t know why, but she couldn’t tolerate the food, and asked if could make something simple for her. I was horrified, because I knew I had delivered her resentment rather than food. This revealed to me the insidious nature of animal magnetism, which would have us become its instrument of hate. I never discussed it with her, but I never made that mistake again.
On another occasion, she called me into her room and appeared to be asking me for help. She pointed to her mouth, and I could hear that all her words were coming out in a scrambled way. I sat in the chair next to her bed and began to work along with her. The whole room seemed to crackle with a strange energy. Five minutes later, she looked up and said, “Oh. thank you.” Her speech was completely normal. She walked to her purse and removed a five-dollar bill. She handed it to me, saying “I was taught to pay immediately.”
At the end of one year, during the Easter holiday, the practitioner left to spend time with her family. While she was gone, my family agreed that we were now ready to find our own home and couldn’t continue to care for her. We were worried about what would happen. When she returned, she called us into her room and told us that during the time she was gone, it had come strongly to her that she was ready to have her own apartment and that she couldn’t continue our arrangement. She was worried about us. We immediately reassured her that we had made the same decision. We all rejoiced.
The time I spent caring for this fascinating healer, although very challenging at times, continues to give me fresh insight.
Mary’s MoneyWhen I applied for class instruction, I had no way of knowing how I would be able to pay for the tuition or for a place to stay. This was before I had access to a credit card. In fact, at that time, women weren’t allowed to have them. My family had almost no extra money. When we reviewed our finances, I realized I could probably afford either the fee for the teacher, or a place to stay, but not both. I felt that somehow things would work out. At that time, I worked in a Christian Science nursing home. One of the other nurses was a member of my church and was a mentor of mine in Christian science. She was a lot of fun and a very good thinker. As the time for class approached, I resigned my position at the nursing home, so that I could attend class for two weeks. On the last day of my job, my friend handed me an envelope. When I opened it, it was a retirement card. She had added a few words on the cover of the card so that it read, “Congratulations on your total retirement from matter.“ When I opened it up, a one hundred dollar bill fell out. Inside the card she had written me a note telling me that Mary Baker Eddy occasionally gave scholarships for students to attend class. She said that even though Mary wasn’t there, she was, and here was my tuition. Here was Mary’s money for me. How grateful I am for this example of God’s provision, not just for the tuition, but for my friend’s expression toward me of generosity and compassion.
Fear of LifeAbout 20 years ago, when my daughter was in middle school, I decided to quit my full-time job so that I could be home with my her after school. On the last day of my employment, I picked her up, along with a friend of hers, and took them to get some ice cream. While we were at the ice cream shop, I began to feel very ill. By the time we got home, I was on a very dramatic downward spiral. By the end of the day, I could barely breathe with symptoms of either pneumonia or severe asthma. I worked with a practitioner for several days. However, my breathing did not improve. Every night I sat up by myself on the edge of my couch and prayed that I would make it through until morning. On the fourth day, I called the practitioner for further help. He was quiet for a while, and then asked me, “Janet, what are you so afraid of?“ I almost instantly answered him in a most surprising way. I said, “I’m afraid of having to live forever.” We discussed my feeling that I had no ability to fill the looming void of immortality. We spoke about this material view and worked to reverse the belief that it was my responsibility to do anything. Instead, everything was already filled with what God was creating. After that, my symptoms improved and finally faded.
About 10 days later, I attended a Christian Science lecture. I have no memory of the lecture title or name of the lecturer. During the lecture, I felt myself absorbing every truth that was being expressed. Much of what was addressed was mortal mind putting us in cages. At the very end of the lecture, he spoke about a lion, or other big cat, who had been imprisoned in a cage. When the door was opened, the animal didn’t know it could walk out of the cage and into freedom. He then dramatically said to the entire audience, “Let’s walk out!” and then walked off the stage. It was remarkable. After the lecture was over, I stood in line to thank him. When I approached him, he stepped toward me and simply enfolded me in his arms, while he whispered in my ear, “You are going to live.“ This was a profound experience on every level, including the last moment with the lecturer, which showed me that God is the only Mind, and that, regardless of how desperate a situation we are in, we are cared for.
Before I Called, HealingThe first healing I can remember in Christian Science was when I stepped on something and felt a burning pain in my foot. When I looked on the floor, I saw that it was a yellow jacket and realized I had been stung. I was in a lot of pain, limped into the kitchen where the phone was, and started to dial a practitioner. By the time I had dialed all but the last number, the pain had disappeared. Amazed, I hung up the phone, as the healing was already complete.Peace, Not Pain
Another very early healing I experienced involved pain in the shin of my leg. This was something that had recurred from a very young age. My mother would always come and look at my leg and not find anything wrong with it and then comfort me. This time I was alone. I became very quiet, and suddenly a sense of peace came over me and the leg pain vanished. This was a huge epiphany, as I realized that the opposite of pain was not an absence of pain, but was actually peace.No Evidence on the HandMy husband, daughter, and I were on our way from our home to San Francisco to see a production of A Christmas Carol. As we got out of the van, my husband pulled the large side door closed. Unknown to him, my daughter’s fingers were still in it, and the door slammed shut on them. He immediately grabbed her up into his arms, said that we should simply keep going, and turn completely away from what had happened. Soon she stopped crying. By the time we were in our seats, I looked at her fingers and there was a slight red line and nothing else. To human sense, this was not possible. But with Science, it was natural. We loved the play were able to speak to the actor who played Scrooge, who was a friend of my husband’s. My daughter was thrilled.A Little Child Shall Lead ThemWe were traveling at night in our van, which was a commercial vehicle without extra seats or seatbelts. This was decades before all the safety laws were in place. My daughter was lying down on a mattress in the back sleeping. She suddenly woke up screaming hysterically, “Slow down! Slow down! Stop going so fast!“ My husband immediately slowed down. My daughter laid back down and relaxed. About 30 seconds later, there was an extremely dangerous event right in front of us on the freeway which we would have been involved in had we not dramatically reduced the speed of the van. It was obvious that this was a divine intervention through the awareness of our child.A Great Big Joke
During a Sunday church service, I suddenly experienced an erratic heartbeat and was consumed by great fear. I quietly left and made it to a chair in the church lobby. I used my cell phone to call a practitioner, who when I explained what was happening, said "Well, that's just a great big joke. You go back into church, and I'll take care of this.” By the end of the conversation, my heartbeat was normal. Several years later, this occurred a second time while I was attending a concert and had to leave. I left, called a practitioner, and was instantly healed. It happened a third time right before I left home to perform in a string quartet concert. On that occasion, I left a message. By the time I arrived at the University for the concert, everything was normal. When I returned home, there was a message on my answering machine indicating that the practitioner had received the message about two minutes after I left the house. Eventually these instances stopped completely.No Mote in the EyeI was standing at the window in my in-law’s house one day when my daughter ran up to me, sobbing, and telling me that there was something in her eye. I knew this couldn't be true. This was an instance of my knowing the Truth and not an argument. I looked down at her finally, and said “Okay, honey”. I saw something in the corner of her eye but was not at all impressed. I knew I should reassure her by reaching toward her eye. But by the time I had lifted my finger and started to move toward her, the object completely vanished.True WomanhoodI lived in San Mateo California and was beginning to develop a part-time Christian Science practice. One year, my in-laws and husband traveled to Los Angeles for their Association. When they returned, my husband explained that he had visited his sister and her boyfriend, both of whom were actors. He had decided that he did not want to continue working as an employee in a business in San Francisco and wanted to move to LA to pursue a career in show business in Hollywood. I was shocked, but didn't object, as I felt that he should pursue his dream. We visited his parents, and when he explained his decision, his father became enraged. He started yelling, and even picked up a photograph of my husband that was next to him on a table and smashed it on the floor, still screaming. My husband left the house and went for a walk. When he returned, we went home. He returned to Los Angeles a few days later to see if he could find a place for us to live.
I spent the entire weekend praying, specifically looking up everything I could find on “woman and womanhood”. By the end of that two days, I became utterly clear that my connection was directly to God and not through my husband or any other person. I felt completely at peace. My study had enlightened me on all of Mrs. Eddy’s views on womanhood, the place of woman in Genesis, Revelation, in the history of Jesus and the emergence of Christianity. I went to visit my mother-in-law, and we had a very deep and endearing conversation as we sat at her breakfast nook. She asked me how I was. I explained to her everything I had learned from my study and told her that I felt completely at peace with moving. She was surprised and supportive toward me. This resulted in a deepening of my relationship with her which continued through our time together until she passed. The understanding I gained during the weekend after the drama in my family never left me. The marriage dissolved eventually, and both my in-laws are no longer here. But I progressed and never looked back.A Single EyeAt one point, I was in the part-time Christian Science practice in the area in which I lived. A fellow church member, who was a young man, called and asked for help. He very much wanted to be a pilot, but his eyesight was not 20/20, so he knew he would be unable to pass the eye exam required to qualify for flight school. While listening to him speak about his desire, it came to me to tell him that even though I understood his deep wish to be a pilot, it wasn't quite right to approach Christian Science treatment like a shopping list. I explained that the real impetus and motive in healing was to glorify the spiritual universe which God has made in which we are a part. He became very quiet and thanked me. I could sense that he was offended by what I said and had a feeling he would not call back. That ended up being the case, until two weeks later. He called me and explained that he had been very upset when we last spoke. He told me that he had thought about what I said and felt I had been right. He now wanted to go forward with treatment but with a different point of view. I happily agreed to work with him.
His medical exam for flight school was the next day, and I did my work. However, he called back with the results and said that they had found a problem with his bloodwork that indicated a serious medical condition. I was shocked, but remained calm, reassured him, and said I would work. I immediately called my Christian Science teacher and told him what had happened. I said, “I worked for him, and now things are worse." He was quiet for about 10 seconds and then said, ”Oh, Janet, thank you for clearing this up for me. I had no idea there were two powers, you and God." We both just laughed, and I immediately rejected the idea that I was a person working for another person, and that I was the source of anything good or bad. I continued my work. The next day the young man called me and said that any evidence of a problem had completely disappeared. We took a break from the work at that point, as he had to delay applying for flight school.
Quite a few weeks later, I received a note from him saying that he was in flight school in Tulsa, Oklahoma, because his vision was now 20/20. He thanked God for this result. I learned a great deal from being involved in this healing, especially in my approach to treatment. Sometimes I still must remind myself that the patient is well before I start the work — and that healing is a discovery of what is already real, not recovery from a material condition.
The Manual and Easter Revealed
When I first read The Manual when I became a Christian Science student, I was intrigued by the bylaw about Easter Observances Article XVII, Section 2 states in part — “In the United States there shall be no special observances, festivities, nor gifts at the Easter season by members of The Mother Church. Gratitude and love should abide in every heart each day of all the years. Those sacred words of our beloved Master, ‘Let the dead bury the dead,’ and ‘Follow thou me,’ appeal to daily Christian endeavors whereby to exemplify our risen Lord.”
Even though my daughter had celebrated Easter before this, my husband and I sat down and talked to her about it, asking her if she really believed that a bunny rabbit carried a basket of eggs to our house and delivered them to her. She just laughed, and said, “That’s really silly. Let's not do that anymore,”
At some point a few years later, I began to feel some depression and didn't understand where it was coming from. As I read the lesson that day, and was reviewing The Manual, I realized that Easter was in a few days. It came to me that although we didn't celebrate Easter, I hadn't really replaced it with the essence of what the Manual bylaw meant. I spent time thinking about the resurrection and the elevation of thought above a sense of mortality, physical death, and physical resurrection. Within about an hour, all depression left me, and it has never recurred at that time of year. Most importantly, I learned the value of following The Manual Bylaws, which might at times seem arbitrary. Most Christian Scientists I knew at that time did not follow the bylaw about Easter. I did, and I still am reaping the reward.
A Cat in Tree? Not really.
My family had a cat at one time who, when he climbed a tree, could not get down. We would always have to rescue him. One beautiful Saturday afternoon, I had just gone out to our deck with a book I wanted to read and settled into a lawn chair. As I opened to the first page, I heard a noise, looked up, and saw our cat run straight up an extremely tall pine tree. He was at least fifteen to twenty feet from the ground with no branches underneath him. He turned around and began meowing in distress. For about 20 seconds, I was very frustrated, because I just wanted to relax and read my book! It then came to my thought very clearly, “There is no cat stuck in a tree! This is not real." I pondered this for a few seconds and vividly realized it was true. I looked up just as the cat turned around and ran down the tree. He never got stuck in a tree again.
A Streetcar to the TruthWhen I was in my early 20s, I began my spiritual journey. I would go to the metaphysical sections of bookstores for inspiration and insight. When I opened one of the books, the words “spiritual development“ were brightly illuminated. I knew immediately that this was what I was looking for. Over the next several years, the books I read all pointed in one direction, that the beliefs we hold create the reality we experience. I adopted this point of view.In my mid 20’s, I moved to the Boston area. I lived in Brookline and worked in Boston, which meant I had to take a streetcar every day to my job. Travel was very difficult, especially having to endure days of standing in the pouring rain while hoping to get a seat in a car. Then it occurred to me to apply what I had learned about beliefs creating reality. I thought that there was no reason why I couldn’t find the perfect spot to stand so that the streetcar door opened in front of me. I tried it, and it worked! No matter where I stood, the door would open in front of me. After that, I thought -- Well, I sure would like to have an actual seat in the streetcar instead of having to stand up. The following day, I got on and found a seat! This is great, I thought! But you know, it sure would be nice if I could sit on the right side of the car, so that on the way home I could enjoy a view of the Charles River. That worked too! I was thinking – Hey, this is pretty good. But then I thought -- Gosh, I sure would like to have fewer people on the streetcars! That would be so much better. Before long, I was riding on almost empty cars.I was feeling really impressed with being able to accomplish all this. Then one day, on my way home, it occurred to me that I could use this in other ways, and that I could probably even win the lottery! I thought of all the money I could have, but immediately, everything came to a grinding halt. I just knew that this would be wrong. I began to reflect on the idea that if every person on the planet only experienced what they happened to believe, then reality would be completely subjective. I heard a voice yelling inside of me, “But where is the Principle!?“ It didn’t seem right to me that there was nothing absolute that you could hang your hat on, but that we were all just living in our own subjective bubbles. At that moment, I completely rejected the path I was on.About a year later, after I moved to the Atlanta area, someone handed me a copy of Science & Health. I read the entire book within a short period of time. Parts of it disturbed me, like all the references to Jesus when I had rejected mainstream religion. Also, the chapter on Marriage was a shock. However, the person who gave me the book said to just keep reading no matter what. When I began reading the chapter “The Science of Being”, things changed. I experienced many moments in which what I was reading rang true. This was a result of my own application of various ideas I had tried to apply during my own journey, especially the “beliefs create reality“ approach to the streetcars. Now, in this book, I had found the answer to my burning question, “But where is the Principle!?” By the time I finished reading the textbook, I was a committed student.When I traveled on those streetcars from Brookline to Boston, they took me to my job, which was located only two blocks from the Christian Science center. I would walk there every day to eat my lunch next to the reflecting pool. How could I know that the divine guidance I received in response to my desire for spiritual growth would lead me to the Truth of being discovered by a woman whose worldwide movement built the beautiful pool that calmed my thought and brought me peace? I’m so grateful that the Divine Principle I sincerely longed for brought me home.
Genia Allard:
The Daily Log; How it has impacted my practice of Christian Science
It’s not hard to notice all of the times throughout the day inspiring thoughts come along, usually small pearls of wisdom that involve decision-making, or searching for the right idea. Often, these thoughts come to me with the voice of my mother, and certainly in the reflection of Father-Mother God.
Recording these moments of clarity has caused me to sit up and take notice in a more alert manner; to realize that divine inspiration and help are constant companions, even when feeling alone or helpless. I recently watched a National Geographic documentary on elephants, and what I found most fascinating about these animals is the fact that they never stop moving. In the case of the African elephant herds, movement means survival, and some of them travel the equivalent of the distance of Alaska to Florida multiple times a year. This movement is much like a reflection of God’s constant communication to mankind – angel thoughts that never cease, though sometimes they sound so faint amid the turbulent storm of mortal thoughts. I saw this daily journal as a consistent affirmation of those ever-present angel thoughts, the continual bearing witness to Truth, whereas before I had taken this activity for granted.
When I went back and started to re-read the entries I had been making since December 26th, I was in awe of what had come to me then and the progression of thought that followed.
Recently, a family member made an off-hand comment to me about how my love and pursuit of the arts didn’t sound all that fulfilling and that I was so “blessed” that my husband works so I was free to follow less lucrative paths. “It must be nice that you don’t really have to work,” she commented. I really wanted to be hurt by this, especially since this conversation occurred on opening night of the high school music I had just finished co-directing, and this person was a guest at the performance. I wanted to snap at that person that this job came about as the result of deep prayer and Soul-searching, and culminated in bringing on four more piano/voice students to my studio, as well as the opportunity to mentor a young student who needed support (more on that in a moment). Instead, I thanked the person (I didn’t feel very thankful, though).
In a quiet moment while I was still stewing that same evening, I recalled a journal entry I had made a while back after studying an article entitled “True Artistry” from the Christian Science Journal, March 1950.
The author wrote,
“Those engaged in the fine arts are sometimes spoken of as moody, temperamental, extremely sensitive, and living in a dream world of their own.
The real man, the image and likeness of God, has but one Mind, the divine Mind – omnipresent and omniscient. Man, the idea of God, is not a mixture of conflicting elements. He reflects only the characteristics of the divine likeness, is harmoniously related now and forever to every other idea of God, and blesses his brother man.”
True art is an expression of spiritual freedom. This is the real blessing, and it was wonderful to be reminded of this. The musical was a success and I was later asked to coach and assist the middle school musical as well. Indeed, this year as a whole has been a most fruitful demonstration of my love of music and theater, and has offered some truly unique opportunities.
During the rehearsal process, I met a young girl on the stage crew who seemed sweet and kind and had such an aura of purity and joy that I was immediately drawn to her. When my daughter Genna attended evening rehearsals with me, this girl eager volunteered to babysit while I assisted actors. Not long after meeting her, I learned she had a terrible home life – she was being raised by her father, and didn’t have a mother present in the home. Her mother was addicted to drugs and had largely neglected her, resulting in a loss of custody. This girl went to live with her father and two older brothers. She confided to me that as a young child she had suffered severe neglect and several instances of sexual abuse. Her father worked out of the house and left her alone for long hours. She had never lived in a home of peace and love and harmony.
And yet, she had such an upbeat air about her that I knew instantaneously was innate. I could not get this girl out of my thought and felt divinely compelled to help in whatever way I could. As I turned to prayer over what to do, I was led back to my journal that I’d been keeping. In one entry, I found I had been working with the idea of “grace.” Grace means loving the ones no one else will. Grace allows Christ to define and animate us by walking past indignities without hurt feelings, by walking through walls of hate and indifference, and by walking over waves of fear and betrayal, still expressing pure love with readiness and eagerness to do what is right, rather than being right.
Shortly thereafter, I received permission from the school district and her father to begin mentoring her and I’ve been doing so ever since. In our joyous times together since, I’ve learned this girl is thirsting for mother love. What seemed to be lacking God has generously provided, and I’m so grateful to bear witness to the unfoldment of a blooming idea of Love and Soul. The mentorship continues to bless both of us.
Each of the journal entries I’ve made since the beginning of this assignment seems like a small seed of Truth, planted and tended in the garden of my practice. St. Paul writes to the Galatians,
“…he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting.”
These words are emulated in a beloved hymn that seems to encapsulate the purpose of this journal work,
“We thank thee for work in the wide harvest field,
For gladness that ripens when sorrow is healed;
Made strong with Thy goodness that meets every need,
We gather the fruit of the Sower’s good seed.” Hymn 150
Genia Allard:
An Association member once reminded us that sometimes thinking about getting the dishes done is harder than simply doing the dishes. I suppose this is true of any job we don’t particularly relish, even when completing it is so satisfying. In my prayerful preparation to begin this year’s assignment, I came across this statement from an early Christian Science Journal. The author writes,
“The first step toward getting a job done is to start. Start where you are and replace a wrong concept with a right idea. Then you gain courage and strength for the next step. Some people fail to start because they are abashed at all that must be done.”
This has certainly been me: standing there abashed and almost fearful to start, knowing the way will be long and arduous, and there may be a chance I won’t be able to finish satisfactorily. As I began the task of recalling and then recording each instance in my life that constituted a Christian Science healing, whether my own or witnessing another’s experience, I realized that this log of healings represents all of the moments I was completely unabashed. It started to look like a long list of everything I was grateful for. I was reminded of how the daily practice of Christian Science was so woven into the fabric of my life that there was simply no fear, and prayer and healing were a matter of course: the times that both my brothers suffered near-fatal farming accidents and my parents carried on in spite of the fear they must have felt, so that I was unaware there was anything to fear at all. Why should I have suffered an instant of fear? – they were praying. Or the day, for instance, that my grandmother was violently ill while babysitting me, and I kept on coloring because I knew she was deep in prayer despite numerous trips to the bathroom to vomit (I later learned she had suffered a heart attack and was completely healed that same day).
What this recollection ultimately brought to mind was the moment I knew I wanted to practice Christian Science for the rest of my life, the instant I understood it was going to be my way of life, even after I “graduated” from Sunday School. The practice had grown beyond the requisite weekly family church attendance that mom and dad asked of us. The moment occurred on a trip that I took with my dad to Seattle when I was 15 years old. On the plane ride, I suffered an ear blockage that occurred as the plane was descending. The blockage persisted throughout the week that we spent in the city and worsened as time went on until it was painful. I never told dad about the trouble, but by the second-to-last evening, I was in agony. I awakened in my bed in the hotel room about 3am, feverish and in pain. The ear was excruciating. The only way I could get any relief was to sit up, so I did this and tried to pray. From Sunday School, I knew the daily prayer, the Lord’s prayer and the Scientific Statement of Being. I said them one after the other, quietly to myself. In this way, I understood that I needed to change my thought before anything could change about my condition. As I repeated the Scientific Statement of Being, I suddenly had the thought that this was really important; I must remember what these words mean my whole life and not forget them. I was so engrossed in the thought that this is what it means to practice Christian Science, I let out a yawn without really realizing it (it was, like, 3:30am after all). At that moment there was a popping sensation in my ear; the pain was instantaneously gone. I fell asleep crying because I was so grateful. When dad and I returned home two days later, I remember asking mom what it meant to join The Mother Church, and how could I do this. Whatever we had been living as a family my whole life, I wanted more of it.
Spending time in gratitude writing down those healings has reminded me that there are always doubters and naysayers, and that sometimes it’s hard to put into words how profound the healing work was. Sometimes, you know the healing has taken place even if you are the only witness and you can’t really tell anyone about it. Since many of my experiences also involved my siblings, I was grateful to see them in a new, beautiful light, despite the fact that my family has largely splintered apart and hatred has run rampant through our ranks.
When, this past winter, my young daughter was stricken with one childhood virus after another and scarcely a week went by without her coming down with something else, I was able to remember the calm thought of my parents in the worst crises, the quiet, earnest prayer, the refusal to yield to the mortal picture. Even though nearly two months went by in this state, it now feels to me as if none of it ever happened, because I was so engrossed in my list of healings throughout this time.
Each healing is like a prayer in and of itself. Prayer results in a change of consciousness, and a change of consciousness results in a change of living. If we think rightly and understandingly, we shall live rightly, for action ever follows thought. A spiritual renewal of thought manifests itself in a newness of body. Mary Baker Eddy writes,
“Be active, and, however slow, thy success is sure.”
Sarah Maner:
I was recently given an article by an usher at our church thought to be by Mary Baker Eddy “A Treatment for Every Day.” It turns out Mrs. Eddy never wrote this article but it draws on things she shared with her students. I have been including this in my morning quiet time. I will share the first two paragraphs.
“Every time you declare you are perfect in God there goes through the body a health giving power. When you realize this truth of Truth- that you are now, not will be, perfect in God - without a single doubt, wonderful things will come to pass.
But let me urge you, however difficult it may seem, to declare time without number, that you are perfect, joyful, triumphant and complete. Say often “God is my strength; God is my life; God is my health; God is my understanding.”
As I have recorded the healings that I have experienced and re-read them, I am filled with God’s love. I clearly see how Love has taken care of every need that has arisen. There is nothing too big or too small for God. I remember when I was in those situations how real the unreal appeared. Every single one dissolved in Love when I knew without a doubt God’s omnipotence, omnipresence and omniscience.
Most of all, I can’t help but notice what a transformation I have experienced since becoming a Christian Scientist 19 months ago.
Family and friends remark how happy I am and that I exhibit kindness and patience. I have been inspired and led to join committees in my church and at my job. I have seen how giving my time and effort has come back to me tenfold. Every challenge has been met through Science. I do not have to look outside of myself for guidance. I have been shown to handle each situation that has arisen. God is the reason why such Goodness is with me.
From Science and Health: “Love inspires, illumines, designates, and leads the way.
I wanted to share a healing that I experienced last year. Since my move back to New Mexico about 5 years ago from Quebec, Canada, I have been plagued with events from my past with my ex-husband, boyfriends, my son’s teachers, even the real estate agents who sold my house that had left me feeling angry, resentful and full of self pity. This past fall I had the sense that God was bringing this all to light, so that I could work on resolving my past pains. Although I was reading the weekly lesson each morning, Mary Baker Eddy's writings and healing accounts in the Sentinel to help me forgive, love and let go, I was not feeling a sense of peace or forgiveness.
One Sunday morning as I was getting ready for church, I was crying, feeling so much pain and self pity that I cried out to God to please help me. I know that we are to love our neighbors as ourselves, but I was struggling with getting past the hurt and anger. I didn’t want to carry this burden that I felt anymore.
That afternoon I went to listen to a Christian Science lecturer that our church was hosting and had come to Santa Fe. She spoke about her past marriages and the anger and resentment she had felt towards those she felt that had wronged her. It was the first time that I had heard another Christian Scientist speak about divorce, resentment and anger towards those who she felt had wronged her. As I listened to her journey to forgiveness and peace, I felt all of my angst lift from my thoughts. Tears started falling uncontrollably down my face. I knew that I had been healed in that moment. I was filled with peace and joy. The burden was gone after carrying it around for so long.
The next day those thoughts came back like a tape that had been turned on to play again. I firmly let them know that it was over. It is Done. I let them know that God had taken care of that already. I included every person on that list in my prayers for the following weeks. I genuinely felt love for each one and prayed that they would have abundance and peace in their lives.
Matthew 22:37-39 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.
We have also been asked to keep a daily log of our spiritual growth. It is a mix of revelations, troubles, healings, quotes from MBE, the weekly lesson and the bible scriptures. Everything that I had written down as a worry or stress have been answered. Once again I am shown how Divine Love always meets our human needs. I know that God is ever present and through prayer I grow closer to my true identity. I am never left alone to figure things out. That is a reassuring promise that the Christ is always with us.
I want to share a quote from Mary Baker Eddy from the same “article” that I shared at the beginning of my assignment.
“Beloved Father-Mother, give me the wisdom to meet the problems that come up to be met today. Give me the understanding to deny error. Give me the grace to remain silent when it is not necessary to speak. Oh Love, take me in. Give me one Mind; one consciousness and enable me to love my neighbor as myself. When I cease to judge, criticize or condemn, I begin to make progress. “
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