Article January 2, 2012 Issue

Wedding guests

By Matthew Mbah Udeochu

Some years ago, a fellow church member and I were sent to represent our branch Church of Christ, Scientist, at a traditional marriage ceremony involving a member of our church and his bride. Because the ceremony was to take place in the bride’s hometown in another state far away, we left very early in the morning, armed with the invitation card for directions. On reaching the bride’s hometown we discovered that the name of her village was mistakenly omitted from the wedding card. Her hometown was made up of several villages and it seemed impossible to locate her place without knowing the name of her village. It appeared as if we had reached a dead end, and the only alternative was to return home since nobody around seemed to know the bride or her family. At this junction I decided to pray as we are taught in Christian Science. I assured my friend that all would be well because God was in control.

Christian Science had taught me that there is only one Mind, God, who creates and governs the universe, including each of us. This Mind was my Mind and the Mind of all. Mind is all-knowing because it is infinite. Mary Baker Eddy states in Science and Health, “We can have but one Mind, if that one is infinite” (p. 469). I reasoned further that because God is all-knowing and we reflect the one Mind, we could trust that we would be directed to where we needed to be. I also held tight to the thought that we could not be inconvenienced for expressing love. Attending the marriage ceremony was an act of love and no suffering could accompany it. A line in Science and Health reassured us that “God never punishes man for doing right, for honest labor, or for deeds of kindness . . .” (p. 384).

I held tight to the thought that we could not be inconvenienced for expressing love. Attending the marriage ceremony was an act of love.