IN THE CHRISTIAN SCIENCE BIBLE LESSON October 20, 2008 Issue

THE TEST THAT EVERYONE WILL PASS

NANCY FISCHER

THINK ABOUT IT —a Bible Lesson titled "Probation After Death" that offers an invigorating message, comfort, healing, and oh so practical and lively ideas! This week's Lesson does just that.

Probation always seems to have an ominous connotation. (We wonder, Am I going to be put "on probation" for doing something bad?) Actually, according to Webster's Dictionary, probation comes from the Latin root probare meaning "to prove," and the definition includes "a testing; a trial of the ability to meet certain requirements."

In practice, probation can be a hope-filled experience. Its importance is clearly stated in the Lesson's opening passage from Science and Health: "Universal salvation rests on progression and probation, and is unattainable without them" (p. 291, citation 1).