Article September 5, 1994 Issue

Who couldn't use more light, more clarity in a time of questioning? And if we are in the middle of our own search for light, it sometimes helps to hear the experiences of others who are finding "there ariseth light in the darkness," as the Psalmist describes it. This column records experiences that show something of the wide range of seekers and the way in which the light of Christ, Truth, restores, redirects, and regenerates lives.

Original sin or original innocence?

Finding Light

I have a friend I've known for over twenty years. My relationship to this friend has often been a stormy one, and this account is about how the relationship was recently healed.

The friend I'm talking about here is the Christian Science textbook, Science and Health. I was raised attending a Christian Science Sunday School, and in my teen years I began to question what this religion was all about. I had always been able to give a Sunday School teacher rote answers, but really had no appreciation for what they meant.

When I embarked on reading the textbook more conscientiously, I was drawn to the logic and spiritual illumination it gave. What I found difficult, though, was that often I would feel worse for having read the book! Uneasiness and guilt would come over me initially, which made reading it from cover to cover impossible, even though thinking about what I'd read afterward often helped me.

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