I was eight years old when my mom began attending a Church of Christ, Scientist. When I went to the Christian Science Sunday School, I liked the definition of God on page 587 of Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy: “The great I am; the all-knowing, all-seeing, all-acting, all-wise, all-loving, and eternal; Principle; Mind; Soul; Spirit; Life; Truth; Love; all substance; intelligence.” It just made sense to me that God was not a big man.

In college, I was majoring in voice performance. At the end of my sophomore year, the head of the voice department told me that for my degree program I would be required to go to a doctor to see if I had nodules on my vocal cords that could be causing a break in my voice. The department head had been a successful opera singer in New York. To him, my voice sounded “out of joint,” and this was an issue that he could not understand or see a solution to.

Before going to the doctor, I called a Christian Science practitioner. I also told her that I was dating a boy I was serious about and that he had said he loved me but wasn’t sure about me being a Christian Scientist. The practitioner agreed to pray for me.