Learning about Mary Baker Eddy helped me have a healing
I was so excited when my middle school history teacher gave us an assignment to create exhibits for a National History Day competition.
One of the first topics that came to mind was Mary Baker Eddy. As a Christian Scientist, I had always been inspired by her, but until I began to study her life for this project, I wasn’t aware of some of her accomplishments. Learning about her even helped me have a healing.
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Mrs. Eddy founded a religion, a college, a church, several magazines, and a newspaper at a time when women weren’t really doing things like that. She also wrote a bestselling book called Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures that heals people! Despite criticism and opposition, Mrs. Eddy was able to stay true to what she believed in, which was her understanding that God is completely good. I learned even more about this when I attended this past year’s Annual Meeting of The Mother Church, The First Church of Christ, Scientist, in Boston.
Despite criticism and opposition, Mrs. Eddy was able to stay true to what she believed in.
That weekend, I went to a discussion about finding the courage to stay true to yourself and how that applies to our practice of Christian Science. It occurred to me that Mrs. Eddy did this constantly in her life and that she was able to do this because of God. Here’s one thing she wrote that I think relates to this: “Man shines by borrowed light. He reflects God as his Mind, and this reflection is substance,—the substance of good. Matter is substance in error, Spirit is substance in Truth” (Retrospection and Introspection, p. 57). I love how humble Mrs. Eddy was, crediting her accomplishments to God.
I also love the idea that we are all God’s reflection, expressing God as infinite Mind. This idea has helped me while taking finals, playing sports, and working through challenges with friends. God is like the sun, and we are the rays—and we let God’s light shine. This is definitely what Mrs. Eddy did!
Another key takeaway for me was that Mrs. Eddy had such a clear sense of spiritual perfection. She couldn’t have gotten this idea from looking at the world around us, where it seems like things are anything but perfect a lot of the time. This idea had to come to her from God, and she proved it in her life. As she wrote in Science and Health: “Man is the expression of God’s being. If there ever was a moment when man did not express the divine perfection, then there was a moment when man did not express God, and consequently a time when Deity was unexpressed—that is, without entity” (p. 470). To me, this means that because we are God’s reflection, we can never be separated from God’s perfection.
Mrs. Eddy had such a clear sense of spiritual perfection. This idea helped me one day when my muscles felt sore.
This idea helped me one day when my muscles felt sore. I had done an intense workout the day before, and I felt like I wouldn’t be able to get through my normal activities. I turned to prayer to help me better understand that I am God’s reflection, expressing peace, freedom, and energy. There is never a moment when I can be sore and tired because God is never sore or tired. God is in charge of everything I do, and He maintains me. Knowing this, I was able to continue with my normal activities that day without feeling uncomfortable or tired.
I’m so grateful for the way Mrs. Eddy’s explanation of our spiritual perfection, and the fact that it comes from God, has inspired many of my healings. I’m also grateful for the opportunity to do this National History Day project on Mrs. Eddy because I learned so much and it has really had an impact on me and my study of Christian Science.