Article January 1, 1977 Issue

Looking for Someone?

BEVERLY RICHARDSON BERG

Once upon a time there was a girl who had one goal in life: finding The Right Guy. She traveled widely in her search. She dared not miss a party in case he would be there. Oh, she met some very nice fellows but she eventually discovered each had a flaw. One was too young; another had an odd taste in clothes; someone else was just plain dull. Certainly not top-notch material. Alas, the young woman never found her hero, so she just went on looking.

If this story rings a bell, perhaps you've found that clenching your teeth through a boring date is no fun. How grateful I was when Christian Science came to the rescue! I'd relied on scientific prayer most of my life—when there was illness, or I had trouble with schoolwork. But in my social life, except for pleading with God to send me Mr. Right, I'd resorted to scheming and dreaming.

However, after one too many exasperating relationships I began paying attention to what Mrs. Eddy says: "What we most need is the prayer of fervent desire for growth in grace, expressed in patience, meekness, love, and good deeds."^{Science and Health, p. 4;} All right, maybe it was time to swap my longing for a boyfriend for a "fervent desire for growth in grace." But expressing "patience, meekness, love, and good deeds" seemed a tall order. Mrs. Eddy's next sentence clued me in on where to start: "To keep the commandments of our Master and follow his example, is our proper debt to him and the only worthy evidence of our gratitude for all that he has done."