Article September 9, 1996 Issue

Sharing Christian Science in the school nurse's office

with contributions from Susan Gregory, Douglas Stock, Brian Stock, Gwendolyn G. Stock

For several years whenever a school nurse called me to come pick up one of my children due to illness, I would pray on my way to the school, tuck the child under my arm when I arrived, thank the nurse for calling me, and be able to reassure her that everything would be fine. I'd share some spiritual truth with the youngster on the way down the hall, and then drive home. The calls were infrequent, and the healings rapid, with the child sometimes returning to school before the day ended! But each year I became more and more uncomfortable with whisking the children away for healing. I wanted to explore and, if possible, increase the common ground between the nurses' concern for my children's well-being and my own.

In order to do this, I needed to understand better my relationship to the medical community. I found this paragraph very helpful in that regard: "A genuine Christian Scientist loves Protestant and Catholic, D. D. and M. D.,—loves all who love God, good; and he loves his enemies. It will be found that, instead of opposing, such an individual subserves the interests of both medical faculty and Christianity, and they thrive together, learning that Mind-power is good will towards men. Thus unfolding the true metal in character, the iron in human nature rusts away; honesty and justice characterize the seeker and finder of Christian Science" (Mary Baker Eddy, The First Church of Christ, Scientist, and Miscellany, p. 4). This gave me hope not only of increasing the common ground the nurses and I shared but of our thriving there.

Before the school year began, I thought about the spiritual aspects of the care provided by the school nurses. Children went to them for comfort, love, and encouragement. I know these God-given qualities play an important role in healing and appreciated the nurses for expressing them. I also spent time getting rid of any fear I had of talking about Christian Science and spiritual healing with those in the medical community. I prayed to know how to express spiritual poise and to feel God's ever-presence.

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