Article June 30, 2014 Issue

To be teachable

Elizabeth Kellogg

This originally appeared as a “Living Christian Science Today” blog on JSH-Online.com.

My brother David makes pies. Really tasty pies. Really pretty pies. He’s also a first-rate software engineer/designer, he knows how to fly helicopters, and he can fix just about anything, but that’s another story. Back to the pies. The secret, he says, is in the crust. Our mom taught him how to make it, but being the curious guy that he is, David took the recipe and started experimenting with ways to make it better. And boy did he succeed! He made 20 pies (four different kinds) for his son’s wedding last year. He has held classes in his kitchen to teach friends how to make perfect pie crusts. Recently, Mom even took a lesson from him!

The thing about David is that he is teachable. He is a good student. He asks questions and (usually) listens to the answer. Then he thinks about the answer. Then he devises little experiments to test the answer. He is not afraid to explore things—nor, as I recall from our childhood days, is he afraid to “explode” things if necessary, but I digress again.

The other day I was holding the textbook of Christian Science, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy, in my hands while I was praying. The sweetest little thought came to me. It whispered quietly, “Let me teach you.” I looked down at the book in my hands and in an instant realized that “Let me teach you” is the book’s offer, message, and promise. The idea washed over and through me, filling me with gratitude, wonder, and peace. Science and Health is here to teach us about the Science of Christianity, the promised Comforter (see John 14:16–27). In its pages is “the complete statement of Christian Science” (Mary Baker Eddy, Retrospection and Introspection, p. 37) as well as details about the spiritual exploration and healings that proved its validity to Mary Baker Eddy, its discoverer. There is not a single question about Christian Science that it does not answer.