Turning Points in Spiritual Growth January 15, 2018 Issue

Never unwanted

Elisabeth Groß

As a child, I was often told I was unwanted, unwelcome, even a “thorn in the flesh.” These remarks sank deeply into my heart. And so, when I was an adult, the following lines from the Bible gained great importance to me: “Fear not: for I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy name; thou art mine.” And a few lines later, “Since thou wast precious in my sight, thou hast been honourable, and I have loved thee” (Isaiah 43:1, 4).

When I became acquainted with Christian Science, I thankfully learned that Father-Mother God was my divine Parent. This apprehension was helping me to forgive those who had said hurtful things and to begin to remove the deep-seated pain from my heart. But I had not been aware that simply getting past the verbal barbs would not remove the roots of the aching. Being told, “You are loved by God, Elisabeth,” still did not help the ache.

One day at a Christian Science students’ association meeting, I heard those words “You are loved by God” yet again, and as in the years before, they had little effect on me. But this time those words, within this particular talk, were followed by some others that I had never heard in my life: “You are a ‘wanted’ child.” And they struck my consciousness like lightning. That was exactly what I needed to hear!

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