In one way or another, I’ve worked with Christian Science organizations (CSO) for a total of about 5 and a half years—not including the time I spent in my own CSO at the University of Maryland in College Park ( Go Terps!).  For the last year and a half, I’ve been working with the CSO Support team at TMC Youth.  It is a creative environment where I get to work with really interesting and highly motivated people.  I love it! (more…)

Last year the Christian Science Board of Directors came to Uruguay and met with a group of about 20 young people in Montevideo, the capital. I was there. What the five Board members said about the spiritual concept of Church and the role of young people in the church—how we can work for it and improve it—was so moving, so inspiring to me. Their comments were deep, but easy to understand. That was the first time I’d met a member of the Board. They brought Mother Church membership applications with them, and after their chat with us, I didn’t hesitate to fill one out. (more…)

Hey, what are you doing this Christmas?  I know, you’re pretty busy, but I’m wondering if you’d like to go see a light display with me.  Did you get the invitation? You might be saying, wait a minute, who?  Me?  What invitation?  Where’s the display?  We all have an ongoing invitation to see God’s light and goodness, everywhere.  This invitation to “behold” or see God’s light is sent out from the very beginning of the Bible, and continues in the story of Jesus’ birth and life.  So many people respond.  People are visited by angels, they’re led to see the infant Jesus in the manger, and more importantly, they recognize and experience the promise of his life: they see the light of the Christ. (more…)

by Catherine Hellman

I have always loved angels. No, not winged ethereal beings, but angels as Mary Baker Eddy defined them. She wrote in Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures that angels are “God’s thoughts passing to man; spiritual intuitions, pure and perfect; the inspiration of God’s goodness, purity, and immortality, counteracting all evil, sensuality, and mortality.” I love that! It seems to me that angels are our intuitions. They tap on us on the shoulder to remind us who is really in control, and who really loves us all. And that’s God.

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by John Biggs

All these places I’ve been…all the places I’m going…all the places I hope to go, or maybe places I have no plan of going to…whether I think of them as physical locations, mental states, or social or employment situations, there are so many places to choose from, or simply be put in. And sometimes it hits me that no matter where I go or what I do, there’s someone or some thing left behind.

But what if I didn’t think of place as one thing inherently separate from other places? What if I looked past the senses, no matter how beautiful or ugly, and simply saw this place as a day of salvation and an opportunity to glorify God?

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by Inge Schmidt

It had been a long Thursday. There had been a paper to write, an abrasive person to deal with, and seemingly countless other small things weighing me down. But in spite of a day’s worth of consecrated prayer, I crawled into bed that night pretty sure that I had made no progress that day. Close to tears, I closed my eyes to fall asleep.

As I lay in the silence, the thought came to me: “If Fed Ex can guarantee overnight delivery, surely God can do even better.” I had to laugh out loud. The more I study Christian Science, the more I’ve gotten used to feeling the presence of God. On a regular basis, thoughts come to me that are so clearly not my own thinking, that I just know they are Love’s angel messages. But this one was stranger than usual.

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by John Biggs

It’s amazing how time has ceased to be an issue at all for me…every day is just so full. I almost don’t know what to write! Everything has been such a blessing, and an opportunity for blessing…there’s not just one over-arching story.

One thing I’ve been very grateful for is that while many sights and activities have been so new and breathtaking, I’ve really felt at home for the most part. I suppose that some of the things I’ve been doing and seeing are pretty exotic compared to my experiences before this, but it also feels very natural.

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by Steven Cramer

It’s something you need when you travel to any country. It’s proof of your national identity. It gives you a right of passage. In a way, it gives you a purpose for being where you are. It’s your passport.

I know the practical importance of having a passport when traveling, but lately I’ve been thinking a lot about what that document really represents. Is it just something that is used when exploring foreign regions, or can we have a sense of identity, a right of passage, and a purpose no matter where we are?

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by John Biggs

I’ve been in South Africa a week now, visiting with my family and working on my uncle’s ranch in the Karoo. On Saturday, my grandparents and I visited the Valley of Desolation in the Camdeboo National Park, just outside the town of Graaff-Reinet.

I was expecting a barren landscape, something dreary and empty to go along with its name. Instead I saw life blooming everywhere, atop majestic rock formations and in hidden little clefts, with so many colors on the rocks around. The sky had enough scattered clouds that the light came down in sheets and beams, bathing the towers of red rock and making the cliff edges look even steeper.

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