Turning Points in Spiritual Growth January 1, 2018 Issue

Two commandments that changed my life

Robert Cowen

In 1944, a series of physical exams for enlistment in the United States Armed Forces consistently indicated I had contracted tuberculosis. I was labeled “4-F”—unfit for military service. It was quite a wake-up call.

We lived two blocks from The Mother Church, The First Church of Christ, Scientist, in Boston. My parents had placed me in its Sunday School, but I hadn’t appreciated that opportunity and had eventually dropped out. Now I was being told by doctors to go to a sanatorium, get lots of bed rest, and try not to overexert myself.

I had no symptoms of disease, and tests given me by city health authorities showed no risk of contagion, so instead, I went back to the Christian Science Sunday School. Thus began an ongoing adventure of spiritual growth that brought healing and led to a 60-year career serving The Christian Science Monitor. It also taught me the fundamental importance of the two great commandments taught by Christ Jesus.

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