ANYONE CAN BE A HEALER November 21, 2005 Issue

Next in our biweekly series on how people have nurtured their public practice of Christian Science.

SOMEDAY BECAME 'NOW'

MARILYN PERKINSON—Richmond, Virginia

RECENTLY A FRIEND surprised me by asking: What is a Christian Science practitioner, and why did you want to become one?

For a moment, I couldn't imagine how to describe the deep, God-based sense of purpose and direction that had come into my life since pursuing this ministry. But right then a verse from Psalms offered a three-fold reply to both my friend and me: "The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusted in him, and I am helped: therefore my heart greatly rejoiceth; and with my song will I praise him" (28:7).

I'm not really sure when I first thought of being a Christian Science practitioner. As a child, I loved conversations with practitioners who helped our family through prayer, and at some point I concluded that being one was a "someday" thing for me. But when I reached my 20s, I had let my devotion to Christian Science slide. I was feeling trapped in a devastating and unsafe marriage. I wanted to feel control over my life, and yearned for my two children to know the love of God and the joy that comes from being healed spiritually. I felt that only Christian Science could provide the moral and spiritual support that would bring that security into our lives. So I committed myself to a more dedicated study of the Bible and Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy.

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