Article August 5, 2013 Issue

More precious than gold

Nancy Robison

Walking through the old mining town of Bodie, in Mono County, California, I tried to imagine what it was like in the 1860s when it was full of gold seekers. According to the guide book, this was the Wild West, where along with the discovery of gold came greed, gambling, and violent disputes.

About the same time on the East Coast, an intrepid woman was making a different kind of discovery, one even more precious than gold. Mary Baker Eddy was learning how to heal without the use of medicine or other material remedies, by relying entirely on God for healing. She named her discovery, Christian Science, which would “reinstate primitive Christianity and its lost element of healing” (Church Manual, p. 17). And, unlike many who found gold in the Wild West, she shared what she found unselfishly with other seekers.

The amazing part about the California gold rush was that before the discovery, many had passed by the river beds and streams, but none had seen the gold sitting there. It took just one person to find it, and everyone was eager to join in. 