A pastor that preaches all-encompassing Love

Beverly Ann Erickson

A church's personal pastor often serves in the capacity of spiritual advisor to his or her congregation. How is this work accomplished in the Church of Christ, Scientist, by an "impersonal pastor"—the Bible and the Christian Science textbook by Mary Baker Eddy?

Mrs. Eddy, who designated these books as pastor of the Church she founded, explains, "Your dual and impersonal pastor, the Bible, and 'Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures,' is with you; and the Life these give, the Truth they illustrate, the Love they demonstrate, is the great Shepherd that feedethh my flock, and leadeth them 'beside the still waters' " (Miscellaneous Writings, p. 322). The impersonal pastor turns one to God and to His word, illustrating man's unbroken relation to the One who is ever-present Life, Truth, Love.

An experience I had, showed me how all-embracing these preachers are. They fulfill the promise God makes in Jeremiah: "I will give you pastors according to mine heart, which shall feed you with knowledge and understanding" (3:15). At the time, my husband and I were on an overseas flight surrounded by people from many nations. I found their dress, social customs, and way of praying interesting. Some of the passengers were using open spaces in the airplane to pray publicly. I was thinking about the differences between us, realizing we would be partners in flight for many hours.

Later, while we were flying over the ocean, I began to experience uncomfortable chest pains. Here I was, ill, in the midst of so much that was strange to me. I needed help, and my Bible and Science and Health were near at hand, pointing me to God. I read in the Gospel of Mark what Christ Jesus tells the ruler of the synagogue, who is faced with the devastating news that his daughter is dead: "Be not afraid, only believe" (Mark 5:36). This was my authority to declare silently "I refuse to be afraid." I repeated this firmly, when necessary, and remained unafraid.

Sometime during that drive, I realized I was healed, free from pain.

I continued reaching out to God, pondering my relation to Him, what it means to be the image, the spiritual idea and likeness, of God. Both the Bible and Science and Health state that God is Spirit and that man is made in His likeness. Also, God is perfect; therefore as God's likeness, man is perfect. I trusted that this was true about me, so I was safe. The Bible also reassured me of my safety with these words: "Whoso putteth his trust in the Lord shall be safe" (Prov. 29:25). I needed to continue putting my trust in God.

The pain continued, but so did my pastor's pastoring. The plane landed, and we went to a small, local hotel where we settled in. I was riding in the hotel elevator when I recalled a statement I had previously read in Science and Health. It came to me as a paraphrase in these words: "Forget self in remembering good and the human race." The actual statement reads, "We should forget our bodies in remembering good and the human race" (p. 261). I wondered if that was the message I really needed; however, I had been reaching out to God for healing, and those words would not leave me.

Later, when I was in the hotel lobby, a man there was moaning in discomfort. I was walking past him when he leaned back and lost his cap between the chair and the wall. I stopped and offered to retrieve it, an offer he accepted. I asked where he was from. When he told me, at first I felt pity for him because he was so very far from his home, but the pity was quickly replaced by the realization that qualities such as comfort and love are not confined to one location. They are from divine Love, and so encompass all, everywhere.

As the man told me he was alone, I acknowledged quietly that man is never alone; he is always in the presence of his Father-Mother God. When it was time for me to leave the hotel, I realized the man was no longer moaning. I left to join my husband on a preplanned Sightseeing excursion. Sometime during that drive, I realized I was healed, free from pain, and it did not return.

That day in the hotel lobby, my prayer was one of forgetting self "in remembering good and the human race." More specifically, it was the Word of God impelling me to forget a mortal sense of self with its limited point of view, to rejoice in the ever-presence of God, good, and to love His image and likeness in everyone, everywhere.

Send a comment to the editors

NEXT IN THIS ISSUE

Article

Praying on the Internet

June 2, 1997

Contents

We'd love to hear from you!

Easily submit your testimonies, articles, and poems online.

Submit