Practice—how much does it take?

As you walk down a hallway past numerous practice rooms in a university music school, the music coming from those rooms could sound chaotic. With pianists practicing scales, trumpeters blaring, singers vocalizing, and engineers synthesizing, it would be difficult to discern a Beethoven sonata even if someone were playing one. However, go inside any of those rooms and what would resonate is each student’s devotion of thought to fine-tuning the skills needed to master the music and their instrument.

The value of practicing conscientiously in this way is captured in a statement in Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, the Christian Science textbook: “The devotion of thought to an honest achievement makes the achievement possible” (Mary Baker Eddy, p. 199). 

During my musical studies, I was already a student of Christian Science, so I was devoting my thought not just to mastering songs and perfecting my technical skills but to yielding to God and letting a performance come forth from the divine Mind. At the same time, I yearned to more effectively and consistently practice Christian Science. More than anything, I wanted to engage in convincing healing work—with the scientific and compassionate activity of helping people in Christian Science.