NO ONE COULD HAVE DESCRIBED for me the long-sought happiness that can be found by prayerfully reading and pondering the entire Bible. I remembered my grandmother's devotion to it. And I knew how three years of intensive Bible study had dynamically reversed Mary Baker Eddy's misfortunes and blessed her richly (see Science and Health, p. 109).

So I decided that my own quiet, prayerful examination of the Scriptures might help me discover the inspiration, or points of light, that had led Mrs. Eddy—and my grandmother—to revitalized, purposeful lives, and to remarkable healings.

For a year and a half, I studied the Bible, reading several chapters each day, sensing from the start the very presence of God. I joined Abraham and Sarah in their journey to the Promised Land, gradually coming to understand a little more about the divine covenants people entered into in those days. The historical pages let me travel with the 12 tribes of Israel, keep company with kings, and march into battle with priests. I yearned with the prophets to make the people understand their God, feeling the frustration of those who found themselves preaching to deaf ears and cold shoulders.

From Genesis through Revelation, I saw how people's concepts of God grew from crude imaginings to the full realization of His presence and power. It was especially exciting for me to recognize for myself the Science within the Scriptures that Mrs. Eddy discovered and presented in Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, and to gain, as I read its pages, a deeper awareness of God's presence and power, which are so vital to healing.

The book of the Bible I actually dreaded reading was Job. It seemed so dreary to rehearse Job's terrible losses. But I read it anyway, going with Job through his torment and, finally, celebrating with him as he reached the healing pinnacle of praise for God, at which point all was restored. Job turned out to be the most inspiring book for me, especially in the light of Mrs. Eddy's explanation that our real identity is spiritual and eternal, and can never be lost. "It is impossible," she wrote, "that man should lose aught that is real, when God is all and eternally his" (Science and Health, p. 302).

My growing appreciation of the "living Word of God," as many of my fellow Christian friends call the Bible, showed me that when we give ourselves to the Life that is God, we see ourselves more clearly as God's own likeness. Jesus demonstrated this spiritual fact. Mrs. Eddy highlighted it when she wrote, "The Bible teaches transformation of the body by the renewal of Spirit" (Science and Health, p. 241).

It gave me special joy to follow Jesus, step by step, through the Scriptures while he taught his disciples how to love others and help heal them. I read for myself, word for word, the book of James, which tells of God's tenderness toward His creation in sending "every good gift and every perfect gift" (1:17). Yes, I'd read that verse many times, but seeing it in the context of James' entire letter gave me a greater sense of this eternal reality—a better grasp of everyone's inherent right to live this perfection.

The Bible characters have become my friends. Through them I have learned better "to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with [my] God" (Mic. 6:8).

My Bible research continues, and my love of the Scriptures deepens every day. The special bonus lies in being able to speak more comfortably and confidently with friends of other religious persuasions, and even those who claim no faith. I enjoy sharing Christian Science with others—often through the magazines and weekly Bible Lessons put out by The Christian Science Publishing Society—because I more clearly appreciate that we're all rooted in the same truths about God and His children.

Now, as I read Science and Health, I can better understand Mrs. Eddy's discerning statements about the nature of God and His laws. The points of light I saw—and continue to see every day—have brought me great joy and many healings.css