Educated in grace

In the Christian Science textbook, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, Mary Baker Eddy says, “What we most need is the prayer of fervent desire for growth in grace, expressed in patience, meekness, love, and good deeds” (p. 4 ). Through my study of this book and Mrs. Eddy’s other writings, I have learned so much about grace.

Until recently, I viewed grace simply as an expression of beauty—something calm and peaceful. But the 1828 Webster’s dictionary, to which Mrs. Eddy is likely to have turned in her studies, has given me a wider, deeper definition of grace. It describes grace as the “divine influence or the influence of the spirit, in renewing the heart and restraining from sin.” After I’d read that definition, Mrs. Eddy’s reference to “growth in grace” began to take on new meaning for me.

As I see it, what she is saying is that the more we appreciate exactly what it is we are working toward on a spiritual level, the more we will grow in grace—the more we will be divinely influenced. In order to really grow in grace, we need to understand and actively practice “patience, meekness, love, and good deeds.”

I vividly recall an experience during my college days that showed me the importance of consistently expressing these qualities. Over one particular summer, I was preparing with some friends for the fall cross-country season. Although I’d never before considered myself someone who might take to running, I got involved, and soon started to thoroughly enjoy myself. However, during one run I lost all feeling in the lower part of my body and collapsed on the course. A dear friend helped me back to a place where I could rest, praying with me as we went along.

My focus now began to change from fitness as a runner to spiritual fitness as a child of God, filled with a new sense of grace. I asked a Christian Science practitioner to pray with me, and over the next few weeks we shared truths, which helped me overcome the discomfort in my legs and resume training.

I was also enormously helped by a poem by Mary Baker Eddy that I had learned by heart as a child, and which was suddenly shining with fresh meaning for me:

It became clear to me that whether my progress was slow or fast, day by day I was feeling closer to God and more open to His purpose and power, not only in my own life, but in the lives of others, too.

My focus now began to change from fitness as a runner to spiritual fitness as a child of God.

On several occasions I was approached by teammates with requests for support through prayer before their training runs and their races. I’d share ideas that had come to me through my study of the Bible and Science and Health and encourage them to dig deeper for themselves. They thanked me for what I’d shared, even when I could scarcely remember what I’d said to them. When thinking further about this, I realized that I might at such times have simply been a “transparency for Truth” (Science and Health, p. 295 ), providing inspiration God was communicating to them—a form of grace I was humbly grateful for, and which played a key role in the healing that came later in the year.

Soon I was able to walk at a comfortable pace, then jog, and within a few more months, as expected, I was running comfortably again—with a warm heart and a grateful smile on my face. That was when I realized more fully than ever before that being metaphysically prepared for every single activity in our daily lives is essential.

The grace that I came to understand during that year of spiritual growth was really a call for obedience—a call to be still and let God’s work be reflected by me. I learned that time has no relevance in God’s kingdom. We always learn at the right pace. I was able to compete later in the track and field season in that same school year, strengthened by the grace that I found had never left me.