Eternal lessons

BILL DAWLEY, EDITOR

This issue of the Sentinel is about class instruction in Christian Science. What a wonderful topic! What superb grounding class instruction gives a person for living a life in accord with the Science of Christianity.

Years ago, when I had first gotten interested in Christian Science and decided I really wanted to learn more about how to heal spiritually, I wondered how I would ever find the right teacher of Christian Science for me.

It happened at an Annual Meeting of The Mother Church when I heard one of the speakers. I felt in my heart that he was the teacher that should be my teacher. I knew I could connect with this person just by the way he talked about Christian Science.

Not long after, I interviewed with him and was accepted for class. I really didn't know what to expect. Others who'd gone through class instruction told me that when they finished the 12-lesson period of instruction, they were "walking on a cloud."

That's not the way it happened for me.

I found that although the twelve lessons based on the chapter "Recapitulation" in Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy were inspiring and deep, they really only began to take hold in my thinking as I progressed through life experiences. Sometimes points of instruction didn't become "real" to me until years later, as I lived this truth. Something would pop into my mind and I'd think to myself, "Ah—that's what he meant."

Today my class instruction—and the yearly association it entitles me to attend—still stands me in good stead. There's hardly a day that goes by when I don't return to my teacher's words or go to my class notes for clarification about some spiritual point or another. I continue to be so grateful every day for that period of class instruction taken some 30 years ago—and for the teacher who helped me gain a much fuller understanding of Christian Science and how to practice it. And I remember something that my teacher said that has always stuck with me—that God is our "only and forever Teacher." What better course of instruction can one ever embark on?

WHAT I SAY UNTO YOU I SAY UNTO ALL, WATCH. —JESUS

The Christian Science Sentinel was founded in 1898 by Mary Baker Eddy, and its mission remains the same: "to hold guard over Truth, Life, and Love." The Sentinel continues to report on the unlimited ways that the healing power and presence of the Christ activates, uplifts, and transforms the lives of everyday people around the world.

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