Article October 4, 1999 Issue

REFORMER & CHURCH FOUNDER

Heroic efforts, heroic offerings

By Marceil DeLacy

The life of virtually every great religious reformer follows a pattern known in mythology as the hero's journey. The hero leaves the comfort and security of home to embark on an adventure into unknown territory. During this period in the "wilderness," he or she faces tests that require a mastery beyond anything learned before. Through awakening to a higher source of wisdom—which Christians know as God—victory is won, enlightenment achieved, and the hero returns to the world transformed, with something of value to give to others.

Mary Baker Eddy's life follows this pattern in many ways. And she became convinced that Biblical healings accomplished through God's power, healings that defy any known laws of physics or medicine, have a scientific explanation. Through prayer and study of the Bible, she discovered this explanation, which restored not only her own health but that of many others who sought her help.

Now in midlife, after years of struggle in the "wilderness," she had finally slain the dragon of chronic illness and gained deeper insight into the nature of God and the universe. What she chose to do with this knowledge is what put her on the map as a public figure. In her autobiography, Retrospection and Introspection, she writes: "The motive of my earliest labors has never changed. It was to relieve the sufferings of humanity by a sanitary system that should include all moral and religious reform" (p. 30).

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