My brother David makes pies. Really tasty pies. Really pretty pies. He’s also a first-rate software engineer/designer, he knows how to fly helicopters, and he can fix just about anything, but that’s another story. Back to the pies. The secret, he says, is in the crust. Our mom taught him how to make it, but being the curious guy that he is, David took the recipe and started experimenting with ways to make it better. And boy did he succeed! He made 20 pies (four different kinds) for his son’s wedding last year. He has held classes in his kitchen to teach friends how to make perfect pie crusts. Recently, Mom even took a lesson from him!

The thing about David is that he is teachable. He is a good student. He asks questions and (usually) listens to the answer. Then he thinks about the answer. Then he devises little experiments to test the answer. He is not afraid to explore things—nor, as I recall from our childhood days, is he afraid to “explode” things if necessary, but I digress again.

The other day I was holding the textbook of Christian Science, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy, in my hands while I was praying. The sweetest little thought came to me. It whispered quietly, “Let me teach you.” I looked down at the book in my hands and in an instant realized that “Let me teach you” is the book’s offer, message, and promise. The idea washed over and through me, filling me with gratitude, wonder, and peace. Science and Health is here to teach us about the Science of Christianity, the promised Comforter (see John 14:16–27). In its pages is “the complete statement of Christian Science” (Mary Baker Eddy, Retrospection and Introspection, p. 37) as well as details about the spiritual exploration and healings that proved its validity to Mary Baker Eddy, its discoverer. There is not a single question about Christian Science that it does not answer.

To be teachable means to be sincerely curious, to want to know what is true or possible.

After this holy moment, the question soon followed, “Are you teachable?” That’s when I started thinking about my brother and some of the qualities that comprise teachableness. To be teachable means to be sincerely curious, to want to know what is true or possible and not just seek to prove one’s own point or opinion. It means to get engaged with ideas, to test them and, if necessary, “explode” a few. (Have you ever noticed that, sometimes, the biggest obstacle to learning is what we think we already know?) It means to learn from what we perceive to be failures—not to run away from them, but to honestly, carefully, and nonjudgmentally examine them for the lessons they may hold. It means to be persistent—to be grateful for the progress made as well as to be seeking new horizons. The willingness to be patiently expectant also seems to be an element of teachableness—to set a question aside for a while with the expectation that you will grow into the answer. And we can’t forget humility. Thinking of my mom getting a lesson on pie crusts from my brother never fails to put a smile on my face!

Accept that Science and Health is “the complete statement of Christian Science.” Cultivate teachableness. Your questions will be answered, and you will understand more clearly this Bible promise: “These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full” (John 15:11).