by Christian Keelor - The Christian Science Journal, June, 2007

A few months after the school year started at my boarding school, I had an ear problem. One night I noticed a buzzing of some sort in my left ear when I went to sleep. It had been hurting for a while whenever I was talking, running, wrestling, and even sleeping, but I mostly ignored it. That night the noise in my ear got annoying.

(more…)

Roger Gordon - The Christian Science Journal, Dec. 2006

I was thrilled. I had been admitted to college at one of the top theater schools in the United States, in the conservatory’s most competitive year ever.

Freshman year I took theater classes all day long with the same group of 15 students. The program was designed so we would get to know each other intimately, and we formed a very tight knit ensemble together. In our classes and outside of them, we laughed, cried, mourned, and celebrated life together.

(more…)

The Christian Science Sentinel, Sept. 24, 2007

I remember spending afternoons sitting on the floor beside my bedroom window with a sketchpad and a box of colored pencils. I would ardently draw things that I was inspired to reflect on, from the tree just outside, to the house across the street. Sometimes I’d even work on a sketch or painting that would end up as an entry in a local fair. (more…)

Russel Fogg - Testimony from the Christian Science Sentinel, Dec. 18, 2006

After snowboarding for the first time in eighth grade, while I was living in Missouri, I fell in love with the sport and bought all the gear. I snowboarded all the time. I was good at it and identified with it, partly because I got recognition and made friends. But mostly snowboarding felt very much like me being me.

(more…)

Matthew Hellman - Testimony from The Christian Science Journal, June 2007

The book of Luke says that a certain lawyer tested Jesus, asking, “Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” When Jesus threw the question back to him and asked the man what he thought the answer might be, the lawyer responded by saying that Jewish law stated, “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself.” The lawyer then asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbour?” In reply, Jesus told the man a parable—the parable of the good Samaritan (see Luke 10:25–37). Today, even thousands of years later, this story has given me such inspiration.

(more…)

Jan. 21–27, 2008 “Change your thought to change your world” originally appeared in the May 2007 Journal and was titled: “Wouldn’t it be cool if…”

On Saturday, February 10, a sunny winter day in New Haven, Connecticut, the Christian Science Organization at Yale University hosted an intimate and thought-provoking regional “Global Awareness” conference for members of Christian Science Organizations (CSOs) at college and university campuses from New England. The Journal asked Yale student Inge Schmidt, an organizer of the conference and the CSO contact for the university, to share how the conference began and the events of the day.

(more…)

Adapted from the Christian Science Sentinel, May 21, 2007.

February 1995. New Hampshire state championships, cross-country skiing.

After four miles of racing neck-and-neck through forested hills and wind-swept ravines, my rival and I entered the final homestretch. She sped ahead on the last turn. I faltered. And then it was over. Three irretrievable seconds would forever stand between me and the high-school title. I kneeled in the snow, hot tears flowing down my numb cheeks.

(more…)

Mark Swinney - Christian Science Sentinel, Dec. 11, 2006.

I used to know a dog that would run constantly between two doors of the house whenever his owner left. Apparently he felt so much anxiety about the separation that he almost went into a trance. I’d watch that pooch run thoughtlessly back and forth, back and forth, and whenever I could, I’d try to play with him to distract him. This would only help for a little while, though, and soon he’d return to his mechanical running. The owner always came home, but the dog’s behavior never changed.

(more…)

Amy Nickell - Christian Science Sentinel, Feb. 19, 2007

When I was in college, I became obsessed with my weight. My first thought in the morning was either “How can I avoid eating today?” or “I’m fat.” I ate very little and often starved myself. Although this condition was never diagnosed, the symptoms were consistent with anorexia.

I was a lifelong Christian Scientist, and I recognized this as an obsession that wasn’t right. But I prayed about it only sporadically. People commented on my weight, but I would dismiss their concerns. I never considered myself skinny. I didn’t think I had a problem, until I stepped on a friend’s scale one afternoon and tipped it to only 93 pounds—fully clothed and with shoes.

(more…)

ALL LAST SUMMER I had been so looking forward to spending my Labor Day weekend (September 2–3) at my old summer camp in Missouri, the site of the first Spiritual Activism Summit hosted by TMC Youth. However, on the morning I was to get on the plane to fly out there, I woke up and looked in the bathroom mirror. My left eye was swollen to the point that I couldn’t open it all the way. It looked quite awful. This had never happened before, and I was immediately struck with fear. (more…)