Article October 22, 1984 Issue

How The Christian Science Monitor changed my life

KIM MATTHEWS WISCKOL

When I was a youngster, my family was active in a Protestant church. I attended Sunday School and youth fellowship, and became a member of the church as soon as I could. Although I enjoyed these activities and thought church was important, all of this didn't result, in my case, in seeing God as having any active role in my life. To me He remained a far-distant creator and passive observer.

The most vivid memory I have from attending Sunday School is of a teacher who shared with us her son's comment "Don't tell me anything more about God. I have to think about this myself and make my own decision whether I accept Him or not." She warned us that we too would probably also experience this struggle and have to make our own decision.

It was difficult for me to relate spiritual values to the issues that were most important to me as a teen-ager. I was engrossed in trying to figure out who the "real" me was. I rebelled at the person I thought my parents wanted me to be and negated much of what I heard. I smoked, drank, and took drugs, and had innumerable battles with my parents. Although they never kicked me out of the house, my visits home were infrequent and always included loud and sad arguments.

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