Those who enter into a deep and sustained study of Christian Science discover that being a Christian Scientist is not a passive endeavor. It involves an active pursuit of Truth, which calls forth vigor and stamina in the one studying and praying. The work is joyous and liberating, and it energizes all of one’s activities, personal and professional. 

To those who daily participate in such work, it is natural to respond, through this spiritual activity, to difficulties of all sorts that may come up in one’s life or in the world; and it is normal to see difficulties healed through this approach. This question may arise, however: What if you face circumstances that either make it difficult for you to pray or leave you feeling you don’t know how to pray about the problem at hand? It is comforting and encouraging to know that on such occasions we can avail ourselves of the healing ministry of the Pastor of the Church of Christ, Scientist.

When Mary Baker Eddy ordained the Bible and the Christian Science textbook, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, as Pastor over The Mother Church and its branches, she gave those cherished and sacred texts the roles of nurturing and ministering to students of Christian Science.  

Being a Christian Scientist is not a passive endeavor.

The healing ministry of the Bible was vividly demonstrated in Mrs. Eddy’s life when she turned to her Bible and subsequently was fully restored from injuries sustained in an accident that others believed would prove fatal. In her prose writings she briefly describes her remarkable healing, noting that on the third day after the accident: “… I called for my Bible, and opened it at Matthew ix. 2. As I read, the healing Truth dawned upon my sense; and the result was that I rose, dressed myself, and ever after was in better health than I had before enjoyed. That short experience included a glimpse of the great fact that I have since tried to make plain to others, namely, Life in and of Spirit; this Life being the sole reality of existence” (Miscellaneous Writings 1883–1896, p. 24). 

Mrs. Eddy also describes the healing ministry of Science and Health. In it she writes: “If the reader of this book observes a great stir throughout his whole system, and certain moral and physical symptoms seem aggravated, these indications are favorable. Continue to read, and the book will become the physician, allaying the tremor which Truth often brings to error when destroying it” (p. 422).

At one time this Pastor, the Bible and Science and Health, was the acting physician, in the fullest sense of that term, when I was confronted with a sudden and frightening health challenge. I awoke in the middle of the night and found I could not turn my head in either direction without experiencing acute pain. As I lay in bed, I thought of several spiritual truths about God and His creation. They brought immediate comfort to my thought, but the immobility and pain persisted.

In the early morning I slowly made my way to the living room and proceeded to read that week’s Christian Science Bible Lesson, which consists of passages from the Bible and Science and Health. But to say I read the Lesson does not adequately describe what took place. More precisely, I listened mentally with my whole heart, thoughtfully taking in the ideas in the Lesson as I read. I deeply pondered each biblical verse and every statement from Science and Health in an effort to absorb the healing wisdom in everything I read. 

As I slowly and patiently worked through the Lesson, I felt like a small child, sitting at the feet of my loving Pastor, hanging on to every word. By the time I finished studying the Lesson, I realized I had completely forgotten about the health challenge. I noticed I could now turn my head freely, without pain. For a few days there was some slight sensitivity in that area of my body, but I continued to affirm spiritual truths that had been particularly helpful from that Bible Lesson, and in a short time all discomfort disappeared.

There is immense comfort in knowing we can rely completely on one we have come to know well, our beloved Pastor.

One aspect of this active, prayerful engagement with my Pastor that morning has been especially instructive to me: Because of my great need for help, I pondered with my full attention what I read in the Lesson, and so I experienced no mental distraction. Since then, I have been aware of how challenging it can be to remain undistracted in the course of one’s daily study. 

When our attention is diverted from the ideas in the Bible and Science and Health, we, in effect, hit the “mute” button on Truth. When we read the Lesson, in order to receive the full benefit of our Pastor’s healing ministry, we need to listen so attentively that we hear only the Pastor’s voice.

Leaning on this Pastor in a time of great need is not, of course, an alternative to regular study and prayer during times when we may not have such a need. Since, in the Gospels, the healing works of Christ Jesus are presented as natural, even effortless, it can be easy to overlook the fact of Jesus’ constant communing with God. 

Developing a consistent spiritual “work ethic” helps strengthen our relationship to our Pastor, enabling us to trust more confidently our care to it when we feel unable to help ourselves. On those occasions there is immense comfort in knowing we can rely completely on one we have come to know well, our beloved Pastor, whose healing ministry extends to all who seek it.