How I found Christian Science—again

At age twenty-seven, I was going nowhere fast. I had no job, no close family, and no discernible path forward. My attempts at forging a future had failed, and I didn’t know how to fix myself. 

I had been raised in Christian Science but had left home as a teenager to go my own way, without feeling a sense of God’s loving ever-presence. Spiritual inclination was lacking, joys were fleeting, sorrows harsh. And that’s the way it went for the next ten years until I wound up in a “far country,” not unlike the prodigal son in Jesus’ parable (see Luke 15:11–32). 

One day I found myself standing in front of a Christian Science Reading Room on Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles, contemplating giving God another chance to help me. A negative mental voice was telling me: “Don’t go in. You can’t understand God.” But looking at the familiar books in the window—the Bible and Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, by Mary Baker Eddy—I had a fresh thought. Even if I didn’t understand God, maybe He understood me. This brought some hope, so I took a deep breath and went in. 

Enjoy 1 free Sentinel article or audio program each month, including content from 1898 to today.

NEXT IN THIS ISSUE
Teens
Don’t push
November 13, 2017
Contents
Changing the story of suffering
My search for truth
Christian Science found me

We'd love to hear from you!

Easily submit your testimonies, articles, and poems online.

Submit