Here's just a sampling of voices from around the globe, telling of the deep love people have for Wednesday testimony meetings. We hope you can feel their gratitude for having a special place in which to share their blessings and satisfy their hunger to praise God.

A time to feel close

NELLY DESYATOVA
Kherson, Ukraine

The importance of Wednesday meetings can't be overestimated. Those present tell how they have been healed through prayer, or about how someone else, whose healing they witnessed, has been healed. Our Christian Science Society in Kherson, Ukraine, is among the branch churches, societies, and informal groups around the world holding these weekly Wednesday meetings.

What do they offer to seekers for Truth? The Christ Science, as revealed to Mary Baker Eddy, gives everyone the opportunity to learn how to practice spiritual healing. Theory not corroborated by practice has little credibility. Jesus taught by parables, by using obvious examples from people's daily lives. He knew that by doing this he would be able to explain the profound ideas of Christianity.

Nowadays, examples of healing from everyday life are still tremendously helpful to grasp more fully Jesus' teaching of spiritual healing. The Wednesday meetings offer a wonderful opportunity to hear about those remarkable examples. And for those new to Christian Science, they offer an opportunity to ask questions.

Our Wednesday meetings also allow us to spend more time with those whom we could call our "soul-mates." Those individuals to whom we are related do not always share our spiritual convictions. On the other hand, we might feel a spiritual closeness to people who are not part of our family. If one is to believe classical literature, the highest privilege consists in being in touch with each other at the deepest levels.

At our Christian Science Society in Kherson, we almost always conclude the official part of our Wednesday meeting by having a cup of tea together. We share what's new with our families, and we discuss national and international events, striving to abstain from harsh judgments, which would be unchristian. After our meetings, everybody is in a better mood, people have opened up, and we feel very close to one another.

These meetings are truly special

URSULA DENGLER
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

One has the right, the God-given right, to see and to feel God's love in tangible ways in his or her own life. This is what the Wednesday testimony meeting is all about to me. It is the proof that God, who is Love itself, is the all-permeating Principle whose laws govern the universe. This meeting offers the proof that each one of us is entitled to understand these laws, apply them, and be healed.

For example, once I heard a testimony by a woman who had studied and prayed the 23rd Psalm for five hours, seeking direction from God because her need was great. After that prayer, she still didn't know what to do—however, she was at peace. The next day something happened that dramatically changed her whole life for the better. Hearing this testimony inspired me to study this psalm, and I, too, received inspiration and healing.

I feel that the testimonies given at these meetings are as important as the readings, for they bring tithes into the storehouse (see Mal. 3:10). Furthermore, because everyone may speak and share, right in those meetings, what they've discovered in Christian Science about God, each voice is valued and equally blessed. This is Church in action—affording "proof of its utility and ... elevating the race" (Science and Health, p. 583).

I've certainly learned so much about God, and about who I am, in all my years of attending these meetings. And each time I hear a testimony, I also rejoice in the spiritual growth of the testifier. VOICES

An oasis in daily life

BY ULRICH VON BURSKI
Freiburg, Germany

The Wednesday evening meeting at church has been the highlight of my week ever since I got acquainted with Christian Science some 44 years ago. No other activity seems more attractive, meaningful, and rewarding to me. Coming to this meeting is like walking into a garden rich with flowers in full bloom, and sometimes like reaching an oasis after a journey through a desert.

Everyday life is often burdened with concerns and hardships of all sorts—important responsibilities, heavy workloads, stress of deadlines, financial difficulties, relationship problems, or health challenges. But as an old spiritual says, "I'm going to lay down my burden, down by the riverside ..." I lay mine down, as I enter church, the "temple" of a purified consciousness. There I become joyously aware of the presence of Truth and Love—of God's very being.

Of course, God, being infinite Mind and Life, is present anywhere, in any situation, every moment. Indeed my daily life has been rich with blessings, both small and grand, emanating from the divine presence. Yet the conscious gratitude for God's goodness, combined with the joy of joining together with likeminded visitors, makes me feel more vividly that I am right at home in my "Father's house"—a house filled with the joy of Love and that silent, sacred peace that is "higher than all understanding" (Phil. 4:7, Luther Bible).

A joyful priority

BY JANET BROWN
Cape Town, South Africa

I couldn't imagine not going to Wednesday testimony meetings. I love them. They're a priority for me, and I try not to get caught up in anything that would keep me away. I look forward to the meetings as a midweek feast of fresh healing ideas—a source of huge spiritual enrichment and encouragement.

And even when I'm tempted for some reason not to go to church, but make the effort to attend anyway, I always return home feeling invigorated and grateful for having gone. You meet people there whom you can help or who can help you. Here in South Africa this is especially meaningful at a time when our congregations increasingly represent this rainbow nation of ours. It's so unifying to share this attraction to one, loving Father-Mother God.

At the service I love the readings from the Bible and Science and Health, and the healing messages in the hymns we sing. They alert people to opportunities for spiritual healing, and offer solutions to the issues facing the community. And I especially love hearing about other people's spiritual journeys—their deepening relationship with God, and the joyous freedom and strength that a spiritual healing brings.

A friend of mine once said that to attend church on a Sunday was a Christian duty, but that Wednesday testimony meetings were proof of Christian healing—spiritual and scientific. I've loved that thought. It's one of those things that have really stuck.

Beyond our walls

BY SUSAN THOMAS
Surrey, England

I have always loved the Wednesday testimony meeting. For me it's truly a midweek "pick-me-up." However, I've begun to realize how vital these meetings are not just for me but for the entire world—and that our collective prayers right there in that meeting have a broad healing impact.

The more I study the Bible and Science and Health, the more amazed and grateful I am that answers to every need are found in those two books, be the concern global climate change, bird flu, terrorism, child abuse, technology, or immigration issues. I've learned that praying is definitely "doing something"—the "something" that brings positive change and healing to serious problems in one's own and other countries.

Whether it's singing hymns, listening to readings, praying together, or sharing and hearing shared testimonies of Christian Science healing—or just being together and expressing God's love—the blessing of a Wednesday meeting goes far beyond our walls. And that is what these meetings, and the Church of healing that holds them, have come to mean to me.

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