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.
However, when I began to study the writings of these spiritual thinkers, I started to appreciate the way Christ has continued to make itself known throughout the ages. A reference in this week’s Bible lesson says that the “leaven of Truth is ever at work.” That’s comforting to me, because I can trust and learn from those who came long before Mary Baker Eddy, as well as those who are speaking with new insights today. And the great benefit for everyone is that these people provide valuable tools for conversations between Christian Scientists and other Christians. We share a history of Christianity, even though we express it differently today. These early Christians are the heritage of Christian Scientists as well as that of all other denominations of Christianity.
Julian of Norwich is woman of special interest to Christian Scientists, because she experienced a remarkable healing. And then she wrote a book about her healing; the book is titled, Revelations of Divine Love*.
Julian lived in England, from 1342 to 1416. This was the time of the Black Plague that ravaged through Europe, killing one third of the population. Everybody was either dying or loved someone who was dying. Julian was a deeply devout young woman who wanted to give her entire life to the church and serve Jesus with all her heart. (She, as all Christians did at that time, thought of Jesus as God.)
She was suddenly struck with the dreaded plague herself, when she was 30. After the third day, she felt she was dying. But she was healed and later wrote about the experience in her book: “I thought it was a great pity to die while still young; but this was not because there was anything on earth that I wanted to live for, not because I feared any suffering, for I trusted God’s mercy. I wanted to live so as to love God better and for longer…” (44). Then she saw a number of “showings,” or revelations.
One of the revelations was about a hazel nut that she envisioned in her hand. She thought it was so small and insignificant, but suddenly it dawned on her that “it lasts and will last forever because God loves it; and everything exists in the same way by the love of God. In this little thing I saw three properties: the first is that God made it, the second is that God loves it, the third is that God cares for it.” (47)
Finally, another one of the ideas that struck her was that she did need to repent and separate herself from fleshly living. That’s what led her to consider the difference between what she calls the “outward part” and “inward part.” She wrote, “The outward part is our mortal flesh, which now suffers pain and grief…the inward part is a high, blessed state of being, full of peace and love…and here I saw truly that the inward part is master and ruler of the outward one” (69-70).
On the same day these revelations came to her, she was suddenly healed. Her healing was permanent, and she went on to become the first female Christian English-speaking author whose writings we still have. She became famous for her saying, “all shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of things shall be well.”
What courage to live and think—and demonstrate—this truth, during the darkest of hours of European history! Christian Science healing emphasizes similar concepts: 1) wanting to live for unselfish purposes; 2) that God loves and preserves His creation; 3) that our fleshly mortality can be ruled by our inward Christ-consciousness; and 4) that all is well, despite the appearances of human tragedy. It’s a joy to know Julian as well as contemporary Christian Scientists who have so much to share.
* Julian of Norwich: Revelations of Divine Love, transl. Elizabeth Spearing, Penguin Books, 1998.
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Shirley,
I didn’t grow up in Christian Science, so I read a number of writers on spirituality and religion all through out my youth. Although these writers would make me feel good, none of their writings really solved the problems I was having. It wasn’t until I came in touch with Christian Science and started to practice its teachings that these “life issues” really got healed. I didn’t have to “grin and bear” it any more.
Les
Unlike Les, I did grow up in Christian Science and remember feeling like I was speaking a foriegn language as a kid with friends in school. When someone summarizing their understanding of Christian Science practice after a discussion would say “Oh, it’s mind over matter,” I remeber thinking hopelessly “she really doesn’t get it.” I couldn’t explain why Mind meant something completely different to me. I remember the “AHA moment” first time I looked at the familiar quote on the wall in church and realized that it was Jesus who said “know the truth.” Christian Science is not a foriegn language!
I can’t wait to find the book of Julian of Norwich with the title “revelations of Divine Love.” I’m so excited to see those words used by someone in the 1300’s! I’ve been learning more recently about the role of the Nicene council and the difference between Orthodox religion and “primitive Christianity.” I am beginning to understand more what Mrs. Eddy meant by that term and I feel a connect. I loved learning recently that the writings of the primitive Christians were discovered over 30 years after Mrs. Eddy’s time, and yet they reinforce her revelation. I feel I am learning to “appreciate the way Christ has continued to make itself known throughout the ages,” also. Christian Science is a gift to the Christian conversation and I no longer take that for granted.
Oh, I also want to add that I am inspired by folks like Les who step into Christian Science and find it makes absolute sense. I have a girlfriend who is so inspired by what she has found in Christian Science in the last few months. She said “It is what I’ve always believed, I just never heard anyone say it before.” Her experience reminds me of the verse from Mrs Eddy’s poem “Feed My Sheep” “Strangers on a barren shore, lab’ring long and lone, We would enter by the door, and Thou knowest Thine own.” She said she had felt alone, but her understanding of God as Father and Mother felt innately familiar to her. She feels “at home.”