Editorial April 18, 2016 Issue

When Christly certainty wells up from within

Barbara Vining

At the time, it just came so naturally. I didn’t think of it as a demonstration of the spiritual truths I’d been learning in Christian Science. But now, these many years later, I know that it was. It had to do with my desire to own a piano. More about that in a moment.

I had started studying Christian Science a couple of years before I married, had continued studying it, and had experienced healings through my study. But I had made no commitment to its teachings. Then, when we had a toddler daughter and an infant son, I realized I had to make up my mind about the role Christian Science would play in raising them. My husband was a lifelong Christian Scientist with a full conviction of the validity and effectiveness of its teachings, but he wisely and lovingly left me to come to my own conclusions. So, I had been digging deeply into my study of the Bible and the writings of Mary Baker Eddy to find the answers—and a full conviction of the fundamental truths taught in Christian Science had taken root in my thinking to the extent that it had become my chosen way of life. And I was just naturally putting Christian Science into practice in my daily life, sometimes without even realizing I was doing that.

The desire for a piano came from the fact that I had taken lessons all during my childhood. I missed having a piano on which to play familiar pieces and to learn new ones, and having a piano in the home would be a good thing for the children. However, our financial resources were very limited. I know, of course, that even a right desire to own a piano is not a major concern in raising a family—or in the many other really challenging things that come along in life—but how Christian Science came so naturally into practice in this instance has been instructive to me regarding all of life’s challenges.

Send a comment to the editors

This is the end of the issue. Ready to explore further?

Online features Audio