NO QUESTION ABOUT IT. Modern technology does provide wonderful tools for reaching masses of people with the glorious news that God loves each one of us, including ready-made audiences that include the elderly, the shut-ins, and the undecided—especially those who are "shopping" for a faith to hang on to.

According to a report by Religion & Ethics News Weekly, there are more than 10,000 TV ministries around the United States, both big and small. Broadcasts by Pastor Joel Osteen of Houston, Texas, are said to draw more than seven million viewers a week. The Hour of Power, from Crystal Cathedral in Garden Grove, California, estimates its worldwide audience at 20 million a week, including listeners and viewers in Canada, Europe, the Middle East, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, the Philippines, and China.

Yet in its spiritual expression, broadcasting is so much more than an electronic marvel—more than all the signals streaming from satellites circumnavigating the earth. Heart-to-heart, person-to-person communication has the potential to be life-transforming. More than a mass medium, it can essentially be communication that offers persuasive proof, in "real time," of the effectiveness of God's power in individual lives—convincing evidence of spiritual healing and regeneration. It often starts with something as simple as a firm handshake, a listening ear, and a heartfelt readiness to pray with someone in need.

Interactions like these are at the heart of Christian Science. They make practical in this age the spirit that animated the healing words and works of Christ Jesus. They illustrate the presence of the Comforter Jesus promised would come—the divine Science of Christianity.

The universal pastor of Christian Science speaks through the pages of the Bible and Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, by Mary Baker Eddy, to spread the news that we're all created spiritually, imbued with the divine nature, and are loved and cared for by God. And in this magazine—founded by Mrs. Eddy and now available in print, on the Internet, and on the radio—we're constantly seeking new ways to explain the healing laws of God that Mary Baker Eddy discovered and first wrote about over 135 years ago. The Sentinel is one of the ways she encouraged those who encountered her discoveries to be modern Christian "broadcasters." In its pages, Christian Scientists share how they have been healed and how they themselves have learned to become spiritual healers, thereby spreading message of God's comforting presence with "honest seekers for Truth" everywhere (Science and Health, p. xii). And to do so by example more than words.

Effective communicators always have something impelling to say and are clearly convinced of the validity and importance of their message. This makes the transmission of God's Word not just easier, but so convincing and memorable that it cannot fail to bring comfort and spiritual growth to others. In a world beset by conflict, abuse, distrust, lawlessness, depression, true spiritual communication is desperately needed to ensure greater stability, peace, and hope.

If we sometimes feel inadequately equipped to go "on air," so to speak, in our own lives in order to spread the news of the healing, transforming power of God, we can trust that with God, all things are possible. The most loving thing anyone can do is to share this good news with others. We are not ultimately the communicators; God speaks through us when we're receptive, transparent, to His transforming love.

"Wise sayings and garrulous talk may fall to the ground, rather than on the ear or heart of the hearer," wrote Mary Baker Eddy, "but a tender sentiment felt, or a kind word spoken, at the right moment, is never wasted" (Miscellaneous Writings 1883-1896, p. 127). The most effective way to reach the "heart of the hearer" is through one's actions. Our lives are often more closely observed than we realize. Our truthfulness and trustworthiness, our compassion and kindness toward others, form a "broadcast ministry" of their own—without dependence on technology.

A well-loved hymn explains:

Those with whom you share this inspiring message can grasp the inescapable, joyful fact that God's ways are understandable. God is knowable. His divine signals don't need satellites or cables to reach you and spread outward, with healing effect, to the circle in which you live. And His signals are always loud, clear, and convincing. css