Article February 24, 2003 Issue

To see righteously, not self-righteously

By Bea Roegge

I well remember the first time that I ever asked someone to pray for me. I wanted help in finding spiritual solutions to the many problems I was facing, so I called a Christian Science practitioner. We prayed together over several weeks.

One day I said to her, "Don't you think I should stop smoking?" I had been addicted to cigarettes for years, but smoking had become more and more obnoxious to me. I didn't like the way my clothes smelled, and, more importantly, I always felt guilty about it. I was brought up to think that women, in particular, should not smoke. So I felt continually on the defensive.

To my surprise, the practitioner gently said, "You have enough to worry about now. You can think about that later." For the first time since