Article May 26, 2003 Issue

Can I like myself?

By Ginny Luedeman

IT USED TO BE that if a friend commented she liked my new dress, my reply would usually be something like "This old thing? I got it at the Goodwill for $5.00." Or if I completed a project and was complimented on it, the next thing out of my mouth would be some remark like "I'm sure it could have been done better by someone else," or "I should have done it more quickly."

For most of my life I mistook this kind of self-depreciation for being humbly virtuous. I thought it was vain to think of myself as good or as capable of doing well. But when I started to find out more about how God made me, and about my link to Him, amazing things began to happen in my life—changes and new views that were wonderful beyond what I thought possible. Studying Christian Science and applying its ideas to every situation were becoming my great adventure.

On a number of occasions, I was invited to speak or to write about the things I was learning in Christian Science, but I always declined. I thought there was no way I could do the subject justice. I figured if I stayed to myself and kept my mouth shut, I'd be safe from anything that would dishonor either me or the things God was doing in my life. I thought my words could never express how much God had begun to mean to me.

About the author

Ginny Luedeman is a Christian Science practitioner. She lives in Salem, Oregon, with her husband, Craig, and the two youngest of their six children.

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