ANYONE CAN BE A HEALER March 17, 2008 Issue

IN THE SPIRIT OF SELFLESS SHARING

BONNIE MITCHINSON——Naperville, Illinois

AFTER YEARS OF HARD WORK in the field of public relations, I was finally enjoying the career of my dreams—or so I thought until I saw a brochure about Christian Science nursing on a church bulletin board. Something resonated deep within me, and I remember thinking, "That's what I really should be doing."

I'd grown up in a household where I was taught the joy and importance of Christian stewardship at a young age. To me, Jesus' command to wash one another's feet meant that I should help others in practical ways (see John 13:14). When I was a little girl, I loved accompanying my mother when she visited church friends who needed assistance with cooking or shopping. As a student in a Christian Science Sunday School, I'd learned this idea from Science and Health: "God rests in action" (p. 519). I took this to mean that helping others was a tangible expression of the fact that God is always constructively at work and is never idle or passive.

Three years after I spotted that brochure, my husband's job relocated our family near a Christian Science nursing facility. I knew by then that God had directed me to pursue Christian Science nursing, and I chose not to return to my public relations career. Gone were my high heels, business suits, and fast-paced travel schedule. Instead, I began Christian Science nursing classes and embarked on an exciting time of learning more about my relationship with God. It was an opportunity to live, and daily apply, my budding understanding of spiritual law. Whether I was learning how to provide graceful skilled care or bringing humor to people in moments of heaviness, this was a time of expanding on the selfless motives my parents had taught me.

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