Why ...? April 2, 2018 Issue

I have given the name to all the Christian Science periodicals. The first was The Christian Science Journal, designed to put on record the divine Science of Truth; the second I entitled Sentinel, intended to hold guard over Truth, Life, and Love; the third, Der Herold der Christian Science, to proclaim the universal activity and availability of Truth; the next I named Monitor, to spread undivided the Science that operates unspent. The object of the Monitor is to injure no man, but to bless all mankind.

—Mary Baker Eddy, The First Church of Christ, Scientist, and Miscellany, p. 353

Why should a young person read a Journal, Sentinel, or Herald article?

Jenny Sawyer

In high school, while other teenagers were falling in love with their boyfriends and girlfriends, I was falling in love with The Christian Science Journal and the Christian Science Sentinel. I even kept a special notebook, where I pasted in my favorite poems, articles, and insights.

At the most basic level, what interacting with Mary Baker Eddy’s revolutionary publications did for me as a young person was help me in my own budding practice of Christian Science. But deeper than that was this powerful take-away: that in reading and praying with the periodicals, I could be an active member in a worldwide community of healers. Through my interactions with these magazines, I glimpsed something of the universal relevance of Christian Science, and that all, regardless of age, could see its healing effects in their lives.

I still have that notebook—a poignant, miniature record of the permanent record of Truth that captured a teenager’s heart with the promise of how very real God is. It reminds me that the same spirit of Truth still imbues the pages and web pages of each of these publications today, and can speak to children and teens right where they are, in a way they can understand. And that they can be inspired, as I was, to join the conversation—through reading, practicing, and even contributing their own accounts of healing.

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

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