Protesting for health

I am writing to you how much I appreciate every Sentinel and how much I look forward to receiving the next one.

I was especially helped by Channing Walker's article "Protest for health" (November 10, 2003). I had volunteered to take care of the horses at the Del Mar fairgrounds after the fires in California and apparently had come down with the flu. I went to bed and read Mr. Walker's article and immediately put his ideas into practice. In about 40 minutes I was completely free from all symptoms.

I am so grateful for all of these wonderful articles and the practical and immediate help that comes from them.

I also want to say that Paul Shippey's beautiful photograph of the village in the mountains of Nepal in the January 19 Sentinel is one of the most outstanding pictures I have ever seen. It is nothing less than inspired and award winning. Thank you for incorporating this into the Sentinel.

Ann Scott
Carlsbad, California

'A keeper'

Thank you very much for the Christmas present—the December 22 issue. What a joy it was to read all those Christmas experiences.

When my Sentinels arrive, I usually put them in my bedroom to read in bed later. When this issue arrived, I sat down and started to read it and couldn't stop until I had finished it.

I'm sending two copies to relatives, and my copy is going to be a keeper. I look forward to getting the Sentinels so much. Many thanks to all of you who put them together.

Dorothy Kerr
Victoria, British Columbia Canada

Expanded concept of peace

Thank you for the issue of the Sentinel focused on "Peace" (January 5). I especially like your articles constructed as composites of individual commentaries on a specific topic. In this Sentinel, they were under the umbrella heading of "Prayer for peace in the new yeard," and were so thought-expanding. I read them, then reread them, highlighting the varied components of peace being discussed.

I found that I had a new, richer, more expansive view of the whole concept. Klaus-Hendrik Herr's "Assistance in brotherhood" was so original that it has given me a new approach in my prayers for peace.

Debbie Fry
College Station, Texas

Prayer-propelled actions

I would like to say how much I appreciated the January 5 issue, on "Peace." In our Christian Science Reading Room window, in Winchester, England, we have several copies on display. The brilliantly designed cover shines out like a beacon to everyone who passes by.

I appreciate every article in this issue and perhaps particularly the one by Beverly Goldsmith titled, "Consent to peace," because it gives such a good example of moral courage, as she faces up to an issue that is often swept under the carpet and not discussed—domestic violence (in this case, in the relationship of a neighbouring husband and wife). I valued the comment that "nothing is going to change without the actions that our prayers impel us to take."

It is relatively easy just to sit comfortably in an arm chair, praying about violent situations. This article, however, has prompted me, and I am sure many others, to think more about the actions that are needed to prove our care and love for immediate, and more distant, neighbours. These actions will perhaps be even more significant if we have needed to first overcome fear in ourselves before giving out love. I also liked Mrs. Goldsmith's pointer to the fact that "peace is a state of mind, not just an absence of hostilites." I have enjoyed thinking round those words.

Josephine Pickup
Winchester, Hampshire England

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