How Christian Science helps me with friendships
One day, while I was out for a walk, I was thinking about past friendships I felt I’d messed up or friends I don’t talk to anymore. I felt a strong urge to text them. Because it seems like there are a lot of highs and lows in high school, I wanted to tell these friends how things had been going for me and ask how they were doing.
I’ve struggled with friendships and connecting with peers my age my entire life, so I’ve sometimes felt isolated and alone. But in this case, I felt inspired to reach out to my friends.
Some never replied to my texts, but others wrote back and said they were so grateful to me for checking in. They told me they missed being with me, and I said I missed being with them, too.
I felt inspired to reach out to my friends.
When I woke up the next morning, I saw that I’d even gotten texts from a few friends I hadn’t texted, and they also told me they missed me. This might seem like a coincidence, or friends just being nice, but to me it was something much deeper. I felt a strong sense of God’s overflowing love, and it reminded me of a hymn I like from the Christian Science Hymnal that talks about how Jesus taught us about this love from God. The first verse says,
I love to tell the story
Of unseen things above,
Of Jesus and his glory,
Of Jesus and his love,
I love to tell the story
Because I know ’tis true,
It satisfies my longing
As nothing else can do.
(Katherine Hankey, No. 414)
I grew up attending Christian Science Sunday School, where I learned about the healing truths of Christian Science and how I can apply them to my everyday life. So to me, “the story . . . of Jesus and his love” is really about God’s never-ending love for us, which Jesus exemplified and his healings taught us about.
Knowing that God loves me infinitely is really comforting. I’ve learned that God is my Father-Mother and is always present. I don’t need love from people to satisfy me or make me happy; God’s love is satisfying enough. But I was also grateful to know that the love I felt from my friends when I reached out to them was really God’s love being expressed. It’s all a reminder of infinite divine Love, which is always with each one of us.
The love I felt from my friends when I reached out to them was really God’s love being expressed. It’s all a reminder of infinite divine Love, which is always with me.
Mary Baker Eddy, the Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science, wrote in her book Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, “To those leaning on the sustaining infinite, to-day is big with blessings” (p. vii). So when we lean on God for what we need, we find that it takes form in our lives in good and satisfying ways.
What I love about Christian Science is that there’s always more to understand. I’m a student, and learning new things about God and my spiritual identity deepens my spiritual understanding. I love that this applies even to practical things in my life, like friendships.
This experience has taught me that God is a constant best friend who never leaves us. When we know this, we feel more settled and loved, and that strengthens our other relationships, too.
