Rick - Christian Science Sentinel, Aug. 11, 2008
Photo: Stuart Bowness
A common remark regarding sports, especially from coaches, is how people can learn many of life’s lessons through athletics.
In my case, surfing large waves actually taught me how to become a better healer. Two simple spiritual realizations have been important:
Peter Jackson
A single wooden pole rose vertically to a height of around 30 feet. At the top was a simple flat platform with no handrail, and standing on top of that…was me.
It was day three of Focus, a Christian Science camp in the UK, and today I had decided to throw caution to the wind and sign up for the most extreme activity on the list—the trapeze. The climb up to the summit had been achieved via a series of wooden pegs sticking out from the pole, and now I stood gazing upwards and outwards at a horizontal bar hanging from two ropes. My fellow trapeze participants watched intently from below. The giant pole swayed gently in the wind.
by Rosie Taylor
First impressions of Iceland:
by Meg Dendler
I had a wonderful lesson in humility and spiritual listening while I was working at summer camp last year. My role during this particular session was to serve as a Christian Science practitioner for a group of 34 high school students in the camp’s junior leadership program. Along with prayerful support and answering questions, the job often put me in the role of counselor and helping hand.
Anna - Christian Science Sentinel, Nov. 5, 2007
My school days are jam-packed with activity.
Before the sun is even up in the morning, I’m off to school where I scurry from one class to the next. When the bell rings at the end of the school day, I hop in the car to get a ride home, ready for another schedule of events—sometimes soccer practice, ballet class, or a piano lesson, doing my homework in between. Even though it can be tempting to find the incessant bustle and buzz of my busy days exhausting, my reliance on God for strength and intelligence provides me with an endless source of energy.
Nicole T. - The Christian Science Journal, Dec. 2007
Performing and singing in musicals are two of my favorite things to do. One reason that I love musicals so much is that they give me an opportunity to share with others my God-given talents.
All through grade school, I watched the musical productions at our high school with the hope of some day being the lead. During the first two years of high school, I was the understudy for the lead roles. In my junior year, when auditions came around for our spring musical, “Annie Get Your Gun,” I practiced the audition material until I felt fully prepared. When the cast list was posted, I was thrilled to find that the directors had cast me in the lead role of Annie.
Dorothy P. - The Christian Science Journal, Jan. 2008
I had an experience in my sophomore year of high school that really challenged my ability to feel God in my life. I swim on my high school swim team. I’m always nervous before races, but this particular year, fear paralyzed me. I felt nauseous throughout each race. I swim the long races—200– and 500–meter freestyle—so that’s a long time to feel sick and sluggish.
As always, I turned to God for help, but my prayers were empty. I felt as though God had forgotten me. I even called a Christian Science practitioner for help, but I completely fell apart at Sectionals and States—two big swim meets. This situation caused me to greatly doubt my ability to pray. I kept wondering what I was doing wrong. I never doubted God, but I did doubt my ability to practice Christian Science.
My mom was a great help. She assured me that God had not forgotten me and that I would be able to find healing. However, she told me not to wait until the next swim season to pray about this. So the summer between my sophomore and junior year was spent in prayer and study. Every day I read the Bible Lesson, which consists of passages from the Bible and from Science and Health. I also read the Journal and Christian Science Sentinel magazines and listened to Radio Sentinel. I saw how other people, who often had much worse problems than mine, prayed and were healed. That was greatly encouraging.
Heather H. - the Christian Science Sentinel, July 2, 2007
A few summers ago, I was a counselor at a summer camp for Christian Scientists.
One evening, my cabin of six middle-school-aged girls went bumper tubing on the lake—a water sport where you ride in a tube that’s attached by a rope to a powerboat. The girls were having a great time, laughing as they took turns in the tube and enthusiastically bumping along the waves. After everyone had had a turn, my co-counselor and I decided to take a ride together.
by Casey Fedde
Fear is the source of all problems. At least most of my challenges have been rooted in fear.
When I am stressed out about upcoming tests, papers, midterms, and finals, I first address my fear of failing, of not articulating my thoughts clearly on paper, and of nervousness on the big day. Every time I have prayerfully handled the fear, I have been able to move with grit and grace throughout the respective experience.
Kevin H. - the Christian Science Sentinel, Dec. 17, 2007
A few years ago, I didn’t know where my life was headed. I’d just begun college, and I had a growing feeling of uncertainty about the future, which turned into a fear of the future. I didn’t know which major to choose or which friends to hang out with, and I found being a college student was more of a struggle than I’d ever imagined.
