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Ever since I was a small child, the sense that life was temporary...
Ever since I was a small child, the sense that life was temporary or mortal bothered me a great deal. Our family attended an orthodox church, and although I always felt very loved by the members there, I did not find satisfying the doctrines professed by the church. When I was in high school, our family began attending a branch Church of Christ, Scientist. (An uncle of my mother's was a Christian Science practitioner and had helped her through prayer with several problems.) In the Christian Science Sunday School I learned that God is divine Love, unlimited good, and man is God's image and likeness. I also learned that no one is excluded from God's all-embracing care.
To me the most wonderful concept of all was discovering that man is not and never was a mortal sinner. God's man—the real being of each of us—is pure and perfect. I did not realize until much later how this belief that God could make a sinner had burdened me. Science and Health by Mrs. Eddy tells us (p. 171): "Through discernment of the spiritual opposite of materiality, even the way through Christ, Truth, man will reopen with the key of divine Science the gates of Paradise which human beliefs have closed, and will find himself unfallen, upright, pure, and free, not needing to consult almanacs for the probabilities either of his life or of the weather, not needing to study brainology to learn how much of a man he is."

September 30, 1985 issue
View Issue-
The second effort
VIRGINIA L. AUSTIN
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We can pray anywhere, anytime!
THOMAS RICHARD MITCHINSON
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Eliminating discouragement and depression
ISABEL F. BATES
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What's in your attic?
ELIZABETH GLASS BARLOW
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Joy, right where we are
MARGARET CAMPBELL
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Inevitable good
LUCIA W. MCNEILL
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You are not a mouse!
AYLESA FORSEE
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The old prophet, the man of God, and spiritual obedience
ALLISON W. PHINNEY, JR.
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Christian Science, not human will, heals
CAROLYN B. SWAN
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Child of God—not a showoff
Judith Ann Hardy
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Christian Science came into my life when I was...
ELLA PFAELZER CIOLINA
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I am grateful for Christian Science
MARGARET GRAHAM
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Ever since I was a small child, the sense that life was temporary...
JUDITH F. CHAPLIN