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Gory Bible passage? Look again...
I have the opportunity this semester in college to serve as the First Reader for the Christian Science Organization (CSO) on my campus. Each Sunday morning before the church service, I sit quietly in the Reader’s office and pray for myself, for the service, and for all Christian Science services happening that day. As a theater major, I’m accustomed to speaking in front of live audiences. However, my first week on the job as Reader, moments before I was about to step onto the platform, I was suddenly overwhelmed by doubts about my readiness and moral qualifications to read. Not that I’d broken any laws, but I felt that maybe I wasn’t “good enough.”
Fortunately, I had just spent over an hour giving prayerful treatments and practicing my reading of the Christian Science Bible Lesson, so I was ready to confront any negative mental suggestion. A habit that I’ve recently developed during prayer is to open the Bible or Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, by Mary Baker Eddy, at random to see what this impersonal pastor has to say about what I’ve been praying about. The Word of God speaks to consciousness through those pages. By praying and listening, our thought is purified and prepared for that inspired Word.
This exercise has been a wonderful and practical way to hear God’s comforting message. So when I opened the Bible and my gaze fell on this passage from Isaiah: “The sword of the Lord is filled with blood” (34:6), I understandably wasn’t very comforted!
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