by Shirley Paulson
One of the things that surprised me when I attended seminary was the discovery of people long before Mary Baker Eddy’s day who were unusually spiritually minded. I grew up in Christian Science thinking (incorrectly) that I didn’t really need to know much about other spiritually minded people, since I got everything I needed from the Bible and from Mary Baker Eddy’s writings.
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.
by Inge Schmidt
The prodigal son (Luke 15:11-32) is a familiar and favorite Bible story for many people. And really, what’s not to love? The story has all the makings of a quality television drama-a family torn apart by wealth and greed, a father who unconditionally loves his sons, arrogance and repentance, and let’s not forget riotous living!
But even better, the prodigal son has a spiritual moral that we can all relate to. How many times have we been the prodigal son, consumed in materiality in its various forms, only to hit rock bottom and realize that there is a better way if we’re willing to turn ourselves around?
by Mark Swinney
When I was a little kid, I hardly ever stayed in the house in my spare time-I always was outside. I liked to play sports, build forts, and skateboard with my friends. But what I really liked best was exploring the desert where I lived. It was so much fun to walk around different parts of New Mexico-my home state-to see what I could find.
I’d look for animals a lot. I remember finding a hognose snake (it’s harmless). It pretended to be dead. I left it right where I found it and when I came back a few minutes later, it was gone. I also found a nest with little spotted quail eggs once. The eggs were so tiny and beautiful.
by David Evans
“Charity [love] never faileth,” the Apostle Paul writes, after noting that it also “beareth all things” ( I Cor. 13:7,8 ).
“Fine,” you say, “but a bridge in Minneapolis didn’t bear all things any longer. It failed. Dozens of people and their vehicles plummeted into the Mississippi River. What’s Love never failing got to do with that?” (more…)
The following appeared as an editorial commentary in the December 7, 1992, Sentinel.
Mention the name Judas and people all around the world are likely to think of one word: betrayal. What an awful legacy for an individual to have left—to be remembered for nearly two thousand years by hundreds of millions of people as a betrayer! The name Judas seems universally to call forth condemnation.
But there’s another side to the story, and it’s one that shouldn’t be lost sight of. This side calls for our compassion. Relatively few people caught enough of a glimpse of Jesus’ mission while he was here to commit themselves to close discipleship. Yet Judas was one of those few. He did make a beginning effort. But the most significant aspect of this other side of the story has to do with what happened after the betrayal. My feeling of compassion for Judas took quite a leap forward one day as I pondered Matthew’s account of the dramatic change that began to come over Judas when he saw what was happening to Jesus. Judas, according to the Gospel of Matthew, “repented himself, and brought again the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders, saying, I have sinned in that I have betrayed the innocent blood” (27:3, 4). (more…)
