The Touch of Class March 3, 2014 ISSUE

The most valuable instruction I ever had

Evelyn Brookins

Taking Primary class instruction in Christian Science changed everything in my life. I came home with a solid concept that evil, error, any discord, was unreal because it was unknown to God and because God, the only creator, had made everything from His own wisdom, power, and perfection. I saw that it was necessary to begin every metaphysical treatment with this realization.

My parents had become interested in Christian Science when I was three years old, and my siblings and I attended Sunday School a handful of times. But I had witnessed the healing effect of Christian Science and understood that these teachings were the truth. So during high school I began to attend Sunday School regularly, sometimes walking a couple of miles or taking the bus. Whenever I went with questions, they were always answered during the class—often without my having to ask them out loud. I became a member of The Mother Church soon after high school, subscribed to the Christian Science magazines, and studied the Christian Science Bible Lessons. I also became a branch church member right after graduating from Sunday School. But later, as a young mother, I realized that I needed a better understanding of the spiritual concepts I loved so much.

I prayed with a Christian Science teacher while I was pregnant with my third child, and after my son was born, I decided to apply to this teacher for class instruction. I needed a job in order to pay for the class and for child care, as well as room and board during class. The solution couldn’t have come more harmoniously. My former employer recommended me to a newly established bank, and they offered me a job, with the understanding that I would be granted the necessary two weeks so that I could attend class.

The study and preparation for class was illuminating and caused me to delve more deeply into Mary Baker Eddy’s Prose Works, which was an excellent foundation for the further study during class. At the end of the first day, we were requested to write a few words about what that day meant to us. I walked to my room feeling so uplifted, looking at everything for the first time as wholly spiritual and a reflection of God’s being. I described it for the class in the following poem:

All the things I thought I was,
This and that and there,
Were swept away by this great fact
That God is everywhere.
So where am I
If I reflect the “form divinely fair”?*
Why, in His thought.
He places me
And numbers every hair.**

For the first time, I truly felt as though I was on solid ground for practicing Christian Science, and felt ready to help others. In fact, at every opportunity I rejoiced in the knowledge of what was true—and in the unreality of discord in every form. I will always be grateful for that solid grounding that came from those two weeks.

* Mary Alice Dayton, Christian Science Hymnal, No. 52 . ** See Matthew 10:30 .

About the author

Evelyn Brookins is a Christian Science practitioner living in Laguna Hills, California.

Send a comment to the editors
NEXT IN THIS ISSUE
Your Daily Lift
Appropriate angels
March 3, 2014
Contents

We'd love to hear from you!

Easily submit your testimonies, articles, and poems online.

Submit