The winter night was bitterly cold, so I was grateful to be walking into a warm, brightly lit Church of Christ, Scientist, that Wednesday evening.

I cheered up when I saw the smiling Reader at the podium and was further comforted by the words she read out loud from the Bible and from Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy. I was so moved by the readings that I stood up at the start of the testimony portion of the gathering to share my gratitude. I was genuinely thankful for all the people helping out with and participating in the church service that night. My joy didn’t stop there, though. 

After I sat down, a woman on the phone (it was both an in-person and remote-access meeting) shared how the readings had helped her, too, particularly the passage about being protected by the “panoply”—the armor—of Love, which is another name for God. Science and Health says, “Clad in the panoply of Love, human hatred cannot reach you” (p. 571). The testifier went on to explain that she periodically replaced the word Love in that statement with other names for God given in Science and Health, such as Spirit.