Article August 14, 1995 Issue

The Christian Science Reading Room: an amazing place

A Sentinel reader who lives in Pennsylvania tells us how she was introduced to Christian Science Reading Rooms, and of the continuing joy and inspiration she derives from time spent there.

Joyce K. Marin

My introduction to Christian Science Reading Rooms happened when I lived in New York City. A friend and I were planning on getting together one evening, and we needed to decide on a place to meet before starting out on our evening's activities. He suggested that we meet at a Christian Science Reading Room, and he gave me the location. I didn't know what a Reading Room was, and I was afraid to ask.

When I got there, I entered a small vestibule with pamphlets and books and a nice woman who asked if she could help me. I looked at the pamphlets awhile, and then I bought two. When my friend had still not arrived (as it happened, he would be almost an hour late), I explored a reading area behind a door that I had seen someone enter. There were comfortable chairs in this room, pleasant lamps and tables, and lots of books. There, amid the turmoil and trouble of this large noisy city, in the turmoil and trouble of my own life, was something that quite amazed me. There was a profound peace. It was deeper than the peace that I found in my walks in the park, although similar. It was entirely different from the quiet of my apartment. To me, it was more like "the peace of God, which passeth all understanding ..." (Phil. 4:7).

Not all Reading Rooms look exactly like the one I first walked into. What they do have in common is explained in the Manual of The Mother Church, Article XXI, Section 3, where Mary Baker Eddy writes: "The literature sold or exhibited in the Reading Rooms of Christian Science Churches shall consist only of Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, by Mary Baker Eddy, and other writings by this author; also the literature published or sold by The Christian Science Publishing Society." Because each branch church establishes a Reading Room, I like to think of Reading Rooms as an expression of the members' love for the people in their community.