Church Alive January 16, 2012 Issue

The following was written in support of Church Alive, a focus of The First Church of Christ, Scientist, that explores the meaning and possibilities of awakening to the spiritual basis and impact of Church. 

Church prayer meetings lead to healing of depression

By Marilyn McPherson

For many years I suffered great mental strain and anxiety. I had attended a Christian Science Sunday School but stopped when I went to college in the tumultuous 1960s during a difficult time in my family life. Emotional instability and confusion weighed on me starting in adolescence, with insecurity and fear plaguing many interactions. As the years went by, I found temporary relief through various avenues of therapy and empowerment. Yet I despaired of finding permanent relief. This is where Christian Science re-entered my life. I began to remember hymns learned in Sunday School and passages from earlier study of the Bible and Science and Health, by Mary Baker Eddy, that led me into daily spiritual study and practice of Christian Science.

During acute periods of depression and hopelessness, I would call my Christian Science teacher or another practitioner for treatment and find not only relief but a wonderful sense of light and freedom. They continually turned my thought to God as the source of strength and the loving presence I could depend on to meet all my needs. Assignments for my annual Christian Science Association meetings would press me to go deeper into finding and applying God’s laws of health, stability, and wholeness for myself, others, and the world. Yet the darkness would return during periods of stress, and I would think that maybe I was doomed and that my human history could be neither “revised” nor “expunged” (see Mary Baker Eddy’s Retrospection and Introspection, p. 22). This continued as I participated in the activities of a branch Church of Christ, Scientist, and the larger Christian Science movement.

There was a turning point a few years ago when members of two local Christian Science branch churches started meeting to pray for our churches and communities. We would find inspiration from the Christian Science Bible Lesson and periodicals with their inspired interviews, articles, reports on church renewal, and testimonies of healing. Topics for prayer would also be gleaned from The Christian Science Monitor’s coverage of both positive human endeavors and seemingly hopeless situations. 

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