Article October 26, 2015 Issue

What I’ve learned about Mary Baker Eddy

Mikaela Alioto

In Sunday School earlier this year we were sharing things that had inspired us, and I heard myself saying, “Mary Baker Eddy is secretly fabulous!”—“fabulous” as in extraordinary, good, and wonderful. The teacher smiled and asked me to say more about what I meant by that. As I was reading a biography of Mrs. Eddy’s life, I had learned some unexpected facts about her and how she lived. This was helping me understand how to keep a better spiritual focus while living in the world and staying up with the times.

As Christians we often hear that we should be “in the world but not of it,” which relates to a statement Christ Jesus makes in John 17:14–18: “I have given them thy word; and the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil. They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth. As thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world.”

However, with teenagers (and maybe adults, too) there is this culture of “things”—a heavy emphasis on style trends, food, technology devices, pop culture, social status, whom you’re hanging out with, what you post on social media, etc. Although I enjoy many of these things and keep up with the latest trends, I’ve been trying to find the right balance with religious study and spiritual growth.

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