A conversation starter
I’m always open to having a dialogue with my children to help them understand how to apply Christian Science in everyday life. I know they’re learning about God in Christian Science Sunday School, but they rarely talk to me about what they’ve discussed in class.
For a while, when my oldest son, who was six at the time, asked me questions about life, I would give him a human explanation. Then I would talk to him about the spiritual reality. Soon he began to cut me off by saying, “You always speak ‘spiritual’, ” making quotes with his fingers. I found it upsetting that he was refusing to listen or engage in this type of conversation with me. I thought that if I didn’t help him see that Life was limitless and not material, no one else would. I began praying to know how to speak to my son so that he wouldn’t shut out good ideas.
While I didn’t know it at the time, my spiritual lesson began one day when my sons were watching a Veggie Tales cartoon movie about a boy who told a lie. The boy was encouraged by a little character named Fib to tell the lie to evade punishment. When it appeared the lie was a success and had prevented him from getting into trouble, the boy was pleased. However, tempted by Fib, the boy continued lying to cover up his first lie. Every time the boy listened to Fib and told another lie, Fib grew bigger and bigger. Eventually, Fib became the size of a monster that was terrorizing the town. It was at that point that the boy knew he needed to be brave and tell the truth. The boy no longer let Fib influence him. Each time the boy told the truth, Fib shrank a bit until he disappeared. The image of this huge monster shrinking to nothing was very vivid. The kids enjoyed the movie.
We had a lovely conversation about Truth and God’s perfect man.
A couple of weeks later, as I was driving in the car again with my oldest son, I remember praying about a couple of unresolved challenges I had at the time and thinking about a line in Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy. She writes, “The way to extract error from mortal mind is to pour in truth through flood-tides of Love” (p. 201 ). All of a sudden, I thought about Fib, and how the boy’s truth-telling defeated that monstrous error. I realized that I needed to begin telling the truth about who I was, a perfect child of God, with no room for error. I felt these ideas of being challenged in any way lose their influence over me, and knew that, as I held my ground spiritually, they would melt away until I was fully healed.
As I began thanking God for this inspiration, I heard my oldest son pipe up from the back of the car, “What is a fib?” I was surprised he had suddenly asked this question, but was thrilled at the same time; I had been thinking of all these wonderful thoughts, and here was an opportunity to share my recent inspiration with my son.
I started by mentioning the movie he had watched, explaining how a “fib” was another word for lie, and we talked about how the moral lesson of the movie could help us think more spiritually. My prayers had been answered. We had a lovely conversation about Truth and God’s perfect man.
A few weeks went by. I was driving alone this time, and I remember thinking how curious it seemed that the word fib had also come to my son’s thought that day. At first I thought maybe my good thoughts had somehow made my son receptive to know what I was thinking, or maybe it was just a coincidence. But then it became clear to me that God, divine Mind, was talking directly to my son, just as He talks directly to each one of us. Mrs. Eddy states in Science and Health, “The intercommunication is always from God to His idea, man” (p. 284 ). It was almost as if God was telling me, “Of course I will supply opportunities for you to share your love for Me with your children. But remember, all ideas come from Me directly. You don’t need to be My mouthpiece. I take care of all of My children.” What a relief and comfort!
Now, as I go about my day, I am listening and endeavoring to express good more consistently in my life and learning to trust that God cares for my children. I am cherishing the spiritual thoughts that come to me and knowing that God is supplying each one of His children (mine included) with exactly the inspiration needed each moment.
One of my favorite Bible passages says, “Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths” (Proverbs 3:5, 6 ). Understanding this enables us to differentiate between when God prompts us to share inspirations and when to cherish them silently; when to act and when to wait patiently.
—Robyn Scancich, Long Beach, California, US