Article November 2, 1974 Issue

Prayerful Stillness—An Asset to Healing

DAISY F. CHASE

"This is a healing church." I overheard this remark while leaving a Church of Christ, Scientist, one Sunday morning after an especially inspiring service. I knew that the members of this church always worked prayerfully before the service to establish a healing atmosphere, but now more than ever I sought an answer to the question, "What constitutes a healing atmosphere?"

Is it not the quiet realization of God's allness, the conviction that His healing power and presence fill all space, lifting thought above fear to the consciousness of love, peace, and harmony, that blesses the congregation? The prophet Zechariah admonished the people of his time: "Be silent, O all flesh, before the Lord: for he is raised up out of his holy habitation."^{Zech. 2:13;} Silencing the material senses enables us to feel our oneness with God and to hear His voice.

Mary Baker Eddy writes in Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, "The infinite Truth of the Christ-cure has come to this age through a 'still, small voice,' through silent utterances and divine anointing which quicken and increase the beneficial effects of Christianity."^{Science and Health, p. 367;}