FINDING THE TIME TO READ

I love receiving my Sentinel in the mail each week. For a while, I gave in to the thought that I was too busy mothering three small children, singing, and teaching, to read the Sentinel, and I let the subscription run out. But in short order, I realized I needed to be obedient to the provision that Mary Baker Eddy set forth in the Manual of The Mother Church to subscribe to the periodicals which are the organs of the Church (see p. 44). So I renewed my subscription and am finding the time to get through each issue.

Thank you for all you are doing at the Sentinel.

HEIDI SKOK
GLENMONT, NEW YORK, US

PRODUCT OF PRAYER

I am so delighted with the Sentinel! Having subscribed to it for over sixty years, I have seen and enjoyed its growth through a number of changes. I congratulate its staff for keeping it up-to-date in design, but, more important, in content.

While the articles have always been rich in spiritual insight, the choice of subjects today is so in line with addressing current problems and thinking that one knows they are the product of much praying and listening.

This letter is impelled by two articles in the May 15 issue ["Prayer not politics"]. The excerpts from the "live chat" with Mary Trammell featured on spirituality.com address an urgent need today. While many of us love the King James Version of the Bible, it is high time we began to address the growing need for more understandable translations. The English language has changed and will continue to change. Students of Christian Science need to be assured it is acceptable to research more recent translations.

The other article I was pleased to see was "The majesty of Christian Science" from the Christian Science Board of Directors. For many years I have felt that too much attention was being given to the merely material aspects of Mary Baker Eddy's life. We have much to learn from her application of Christian Science to the many challenges she face on a daily basis, but the maintenance of her homes and artifacts does not seem to me in line with the importance she obviously associated with the closing of her room in The Mother Church (see Church Manual, p. 69). I fully support and welcome the closing and disposal of the Lynn and Chestnut Hill properties in order to better focus on sharing Christian Science with the world.

Again, thank you for the helpful magazine I receive each week.

ETHEL GREGORY EMMEL
AUSTIN, TEXAS, US

CHURCH—A HEALING PLACE

I wanted to thank the Sentinel and Cindy Neely for the emphasis on and benefits of church attendance. Our church like others has experienced a downturn in membership, but even more so in attendance, especially on Wednesday evenings. Everyone has to decide what is best for him or her, but church service and attendance, especially on Wednesdays, has enriched my life.

In Cindy Neely's article in the June 5 issue ["The healing message of Church"] she states, "It occurred to me that a testimony meeting is the best place to be when you're not well, because you're going to a healing service that rests on Truth and Love, and those words are synonyms for God."

That reminded me of a time when I had to do a huge survey in a large manufacturing facility where I physically took spot checks at thousands of locations throughout the plant. I was exhausted and quite sick by the end of the day. I felt since I was conducting the service that evening at church that I needed to be there. I went and lay on the floor in the Reader's study just up to the time I needed to conduct the service. After the service, I returned to my "sick" position on the floor. Some of the children came back to see why I had not come out to greet people. They laughed, and I laughed. I got up from the floor, and the mesmerism was broken. I was completely free of any discomfort.

I wish to thank Cindy Neely and all officers of The Mother Church for their selfless dedication.

DON SNYDER
FLUSHING, MICHIGAN, US

The Sentinel invites your comments. Please include your name, address, and daytime phone number. All letters to the editor are submissions for publication, unless you request otherwise, and are subject to editing for length and clarity if selected for publication. Opinions expressed in this column are not necessarily those of the Christian Science Sentinel.

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