An Anglican from South Carolina Learns about Christian Science

At a neighbour's drop-in Christmas party recently I made a new friend from South Carolina who said that he'd learned two things that evening, and he held up his large hand and counted off his fingers to emphasize:

1. How oil is drilled in Alberta
2. What Christian Science is

An unusual curriculum for sure!

I love chatting with folks about Christian Science. My new acquaintence is a dedicated Anglican church member in his State. He knew little of my religion and wasted no time diving in with some specific questions that he'd always (secretly perhaps) wanted answered.

Backing up a bit, it all started when he asked what I do. I told him that I was a Christian Science nurse.

That combination- Christian Science, and Nurse- seemed a contradiction to him- as so often people think of a 'nurse' as being connected to medicine- something he knew that for Christian Scientists constituted prayer of a spiritual means alone.

I described what I did. I said sometimes Christian Scientists- or anyone relying on that kind of prayer alone for healing- needed extra support depending on the kinds of health challenge.

If it involves inhibited mobility, my client or patient may not have enough family support at home to get them to the bathroom up a set of stairs, or if they're bed-bound the family may have no clue how to help them meet the daily needs such as bathing, toileting, food modifications etc.

So then a facility like where I work at comes into play: where a full time round-the-clock staff of Christian Science nurses can properly meet their individual needs while their full-time Christian Science practitioner continues to pray for them and keep in touch, usually by phone.

My Anglican friend wondered- if someone had a serious gash and was bleeding profusely would we tie the arm- kind-of-thing. I said I'd never had that experience, but I had bleeding situations before to a lesser degree but serious, and prayer and affirming God's control and power always proved effective.

I had to insert that facilities basically don't consider themselves as emergency rooms. If someone is in a car crash etc. it's usually a good idea to be taken to the hospital (as ambulances generally would be legally required to do anyways) and once things have calmed down and the patient can ask for legal release forms and requests a transfer to a Christian Science nursing facility.

My friend then wondered if a Christian Scientist gets shunned from church if they choose to rely on medical care- or was there a rule 'against' doing that. I reassured him that was not the case! It's always up to every church member to decide for themselves the kind of health-care they want.

Also he had no difficulty accepting that these kinds of healing happen through relying on prayer to God alone. And he came to the conclusion himself that my job was much more of a calling and ministry than of a medical or even practical nurse. But he sure was impressed with the degree of faith needed to rely on spiritual means alone. I said that for many of us it's a gradual thing- and after a series of healing experiences you just grow more confident in the prayer treatments of professional ministering Christian Science practitioners and of your own practice too.

Mostly he was reassured that we rely on the 'good book' so much. Indeed, our first Tenet includes the statement "we take the inspired Word of the Bible as our sufficient guide to eternal Life.'

Here's a link to a short video testimonial of a woman who had a serious accident and transferred to a Christian Science nursing facility and shortly after recovering had the successful healing medically confirmed (or back broken in 2 places). HERE.

One LPN's appreciation for Christian Science nursing

I met a male LPN the other evening (licensed practical nurse), which is always kind of a novelty, for two male 'nurses' to meet- it seems we're always out-numbered by women (don't worry- that's not a complaint!)

We discussed our somewhat similar lines of work- though there are a few commonalities as the long-term facility he worked at was started by nuns and is funded in part through the Catholic church (I still work as a Christian Science nurse in a care facility as I build up my public healing ministry). They still value the spiritual aspect of the care in his facility and feel it is vital. But from his perspective the bedside care gets pushed further and further out of the picture- eclipsed by technological machinery, record keeping and other job pressures.

As we stood holding our refreshments at the party we were at, he expressed his discouragement and concern for all the politics that go on- between legal, church and provincial and educational entities, plus personality struggles and reams of red tape.

He felt there was a loss of focus on the spiritual aspect of care- not the least of all being the over medicalization and over-drugging that he suspected goes on.

I shared with him that one of the most common healing occurrences I witness as a Christian Science nurse in facilities- where no medication is administered and patients are being prayed for by Christian Science practitioners- was the effective handling of pain. Over and over again I see it quickly and effectively eliminated through reliance on prayer and knowing that matter has no ultimate power over man who is wholly spiritual in nature. My friend said he did believe it- that prayer handles pain.

As we parted he was so appreciative to have learned about Christian Science nursing. It reassured him that at least in some facilities around the world the spiritual nature and identity of the patients was front and center as they were cared for.

How To Bounce Out Of Bed in the Morning

I awoke early this morning as usual on a 'work day'. But I didn't feel like getting out of my comfortable bed. Then I remembered: 'oh yah, I'm not mortal.'

All sense of tiredness and resistance disappeared into a poof of mist and out of bed I flew.

Why did this work for me? Because the day before I had been praying about several things and also praying for patients of my healing ministry- and part of what I had been affirming was what Mary Baker Eddy writes about in her amazing Christian healing textbook Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures:

"Now I ask, Is there any more reality in the waking dream of mortal existence than in the sleeping dream? There cannot be, since whatever appears to be a mortal man is a mortal dream. Take away the mortal mind, and matter has no more sense as a man than it has as a tree. But the spiritual, real man is immortal."

Also I had been practicing this throughout my day. Whenever thoughts about being a mortal soul trapped in a body without my control or say in the matter I was rebelling and saying NO. I'm not going to indulge that concept. I acted out of knowing better than that.

And so out of bed I sprung. It could easily have been the other way around- and some mornings it is- that I give in to this concept unconsciously even- that i am just a mortal soul in a material body with limitations.

Why I Jog

This was the situation as I was entering 'mid-life' shall we say: I was feeling that my own body was getting away from me: almost like loosing grip on the harness of a horse you rely on to get you around.

I was needing more naps, lacking energy, getting tired more easily than i ever used to.

So in praying about this I was inspired to jog. And wear my iPod while I jogged (i find listening to music is the key for me).

I worked into a daily routine of jogging for 30 minutes- usually right after work.

Like Mary Baker Eddy wrote in her classic text on spirituality and healing Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures:

   "Inharmony of any kind involves weakness and suffering, — a loss of
control over the body."

When I jog I'm not working with the body so much: what's really being exercised are spiritual qualities like the dominion spoken of in Genesis chapter 1 in the Bible:  

   So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him;    male and female created he them.

   And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.

On the flipside of all this, I try to keep a balanced thought as it concerns the body: that I don't give too much credit to exercise as the source of my harmony and health.

It's all about expressing dominion, discipline, joy, and to me what is normal activity.

(photo credit Drey Roque Jogging Buddies https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/)

Genuine Responsibilities

"Every function of the real man is governed by the divine Mind." 
~ Mary Baker Eddy, Science and Health with key to the Scriptures

The only genuine responsibilities you have to carry out are the ones governed by God.

Gratitude: the Great Magnifier

If gratitude could be 'materialized' it may look like a telescope, periscope or magnifying glass with a specific purpose of magnifying good, but only good. 

Think of it: what if you spent all day holding a magnifying glass up to friends and co-workers: magnifying every bad thing they say, every mistake they make, everything that you don't like about their behavior etc. etc. 

And contrast that with the one who spots the good that is ever-present all around them: the good qualities in a friend, the kindness or thoughtfulness of strangers, the beauty of a simple sunset or sunrise...anything at all that is good. 

It says in the Bible: Ps. 69: 30 

^"I will praise the name of God with a song and will magnify Him with thanksgiving"

(photo credit Brian Pennington, magnify, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/)

What the Cross is About

The cross is about sacrifice- but not sacrificing what's good for us. It's the sacrifice of what we think is good for us,  but really isn't.



(photo credit Claudio Ungari, Jesus Cross, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/)

The Gratitude & Happiness Connection

I just read an article by Oprah about her gratitude journal.

Early in her career she made it a daily priority to list 5 things she was grateful for. She managed to keep this up for ten years. But then her entries became sporadic.

A few years ago while re-reading some of her old daily gratitude lists she asked herself: 'why have I lost the joy of simple moments?'

I can just imagine how crazy busy she must have gotten- and still must be! Boy, I like to think I'm a busy person-- but what a laugh that is compared to her and her publishing entertainment empire! I can just imagine...

But she didn't blame the busy-ness because during those ten years of unbroken gratitude journaling she was just as busy.

She reflected how she had accumulated so much wealth, responsibility and possessions. But her happiness had not exponentially grown.  She felt she'd become too stretched and too busy doing things to feel much of anything- or to have the time to even feel delight.

She'd lost sight of the power of gratitude in her life, and was focussing instead on her have-nots.

She writes that she's back on track journaling -electronically now- whenever there's a grateful moment. And that this has caused new shiftings in her experience.

So after reading this article, I went and started my own gratitude journal.

How about you? Do you keep one? Want to start?

( *November 2012 Oprah magazine )

(photo credit; Antti Rahikka, connection, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/2.0/)

What is Health?

I've been asking myself: What is health, anyway?

I don't think it's about something that is absent- physical diseases, sickness or debilitation, -as much as it's about what needs to be present: wholeness, completeness and soundness both physical and spiritual.

Mary Baker Eddy, my favorite theologian thinker writes: "To be every whit whole, man must be better spiritually as well as physically."

Do all who work to help the sick get well have this important duality of wholeness in mind? I don't think so. Too often the mental and spiritual world are seen as two entirely independent spheres or realms of activity.

In considering wholeness it's needful to contemplate: What makes you feel whole?

Healthy friendships? Good relationships? Living an honest life? Feeling true to yourself? Feeling valued, appreciated and purposeful? Feeling loved? Don't all these things make you feel good inside and outside too?

Mary Baker Eddy wrote of medicine's historical advancements:  "Hippocrates turned from image-gods to vegetable and mineral drugs for healing. This was deemed progress in medicine; but what we need is the truth which heals both mind and body." (emphasis added)

Will material medicine ever reach the pinnacle of power to be able to remove all liability to be ill? According to Christian Science: never.  Not that people won't try, or that their efforts aren't noble and praiseworthy. But it's been demonstrated thousands of times over the last hundred and thirty years in the practice of Christian Science healing that illness of the body- to be permanently removed- needs to be healed at its source or origin: which is always in the mind or consciousness of the patient.

Healing the sick through spiritually based, God-centered prayer is an intrinsic part of Christian Science theology. Sometimes family or friends don't get why a student of these teachings is not merely seeking healing of a physical ailment when they are praying for an apparent physical health challenge. 'Why not just take medicine and be done with it" some might say- especially since medicine has proven to have a relatively reliable track record with certain ailments (though many create equally troublesome side-effects).

But for this student it's my own thoughts and concepts of myself as God's- divine Love's- creation- that are at the root of the challenge.

Would anyone take their car to the garage and merely silence the trouble-light indicator and drive off satisfied?  Or would they rather actually fix the problem that triggered the warning light in the first place? That's how I see my body. If something is wrong- by body is my dashboard telling me that my thinking has become unaligned with God, good.

When I look back at my own Christian Science healings- which are many- it's not so much the repaired matter-body that comes to mind. It's the Christ-thoughts that brought the healings in the first place- like light replacing darkness.

What I value most are the Christ thoughts that arrived like angels -mentally- that erased the disease-causing misconceptions of myself. I see moral improvements, fears overcome, increased faith and reliance on Spirit for my sustenance, growth in humility and order, as well as the resultant plantar warts and illnesses vanishing, or the damaged ligaments healing incredibly fast, or the infection clearing up, or the nausea or cancerous growths disappearing. And the list goes on.

(photo credit: Walter [flikr]  DSC 3953 pp; https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/)

How To Count to Infinity

Ben (6) asked me how to count to infinity.

I prayed and thought first: what would God lead me to say about such an important question?

And the idea came: "Ben, if you can count to one, you can count to infinity. Because God is All and infinite, and there is only one God and one infinity- so all you have to do is count to one!"

This made sense to him and he was satisfied with my answer, for now...

(photo credit: momo, flikr, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/)

Grace in a Texas Burger King

Here I am, at a Burger King in Texas.

I'd finished my meal and was just sitting and reading Science & Health on my 5 year old original iPod Touch when two couples sat down in the booth behind me.

There was some good natured chatting and I couldn't help but delight in the famous Texan drawl I was hearing. It seems the two gentleman were wearing real-deal cowboy hats and boots.

Then I heard something that surprised me: one of the guys paused and gave a little prayer thanking God for blessings and the company of those he cared about.

After I emptied my plastic tray in the garbage I walked by and addressed the guys: "Which one of you just gave a prayer?" and one of the big guys said "It was me."

"I've never heard anyone pray before dining in a fast food restaurant in my life" I confessed, and one of the ladies started to chuckle.

"Really?" he said in a thick Texan accent.

"That was really sweet. Good for you!" I gratefully commented, and strolled on out into the parking lot.

(photo credit Mike Mozart Burger King https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/)

How to Make Decisions: Motive-Seaching

There really is a way to base your decisions on prayer.

I'm speaking of the kind of prayer where you are probing your own thought to know your own motives. Because your own motives determine the outcome of whatever it is you wish to do.

If your motive is impure: involving greed, competition, comparison, selfishness, etc. then your decision and consequent follow through will in the long run prove the old axiom: you reap what you sow.

BUT if your motives are pure: involving a desire to bless others as well as yourself, to make genuine step allowing progress in some way, unselfish, generous, noble, etc. there will be blessing all around- and success. Regardless if it is ever seen or appreciated.

Another warning sign of poor motivation would be a mental dialogue of self-justification. There's just never any room for self-justification when good and pure motives are involved. It's a helpful indicator- if you're alert to it.

Shall I Profess Christian Science or Practice it!

As I've been dedicating more time to my public practice as a Christian Science healer I had a neat-o realization about the chapter in Science and Health called Christian Science Practice. 

This is actually helpful within itself, as it is not called Christian Science Profession.

It's helped me realizing more clearly that this is not so much a 'profession' as it is a practice. For example, a musician gets better or is at his best when he's playing for an audience or practicing. Practicing and playing are almost the same thing- one is just being a lot more public about it.

The Christian Science practice takes practice too- by doing it you learn it and get better at it. There's just no fool-proof way to practice Christian Science than to take a patient and pray for them- even if that patient is a public 'issue'- like praying for the Elections or the economy etc.

But do pray: take up anything and everything that comes to thought and treat it with your spiritually healing prayers as best as you know how- working closely with Christ Jesus' example and the Bible and teachings of Christian Science. Oh, and be sure to read LOTS and LOTS of testimonies of healing (in the Christian Science weekly and monthly magazines)  They are modern day precedents of healing work as Jesus practiced it two thousand years ago.

Bible Versions and Translations (part 1)

Though I consider the King James Version as my ‘home base’ of Bible translations, I’ve never shied away studying others alongside it.

Among my favorites is JB Phillips New Testament in Modern English. One verse from Romans (2:12) stands out as a favorite: “Don’t let the world around you squeeze you into its own mold.” To me this is a fine example of rendering the ancient original text into modern vernacular without losing any of the inspiration or punch, and it gave me comfort many times when I felt the need for encouragement to swim against the stream of some opposing current in my life.

I’ve also referred to the Amplified Bible countless times over the years to help me get beyond the familiar surfaces of many passages throughout both the Old and New Testaments..

I’ve also enjoyed The Good News Bible a.k.a. Today’s English Version when I absolutely want to get away from any flowery-ness of words to a bare-bones plain-ness.

There are many more too, but these versions stand out as having served me well through many experiences.  

(photo credit: David Masters, Thy rod and thy staff they comfort me; https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/)

Dream-like Nature of Pain Demonstrated

One afternoon a few months ago I lay on my bed for a much needed nap.

I drifted off easily and dreamed that I was walking down a forest path when suddenly I twisted my ankle! The pain was so vivid that it startled me back awake.

But it didn't end there. My dream-self's ankle that was twisted and painful was for a few moments co-existing with my waking-self's ankle right there on the bed! I was conscious of my mind trying to automatically superimpose the painful ankle onto the untwisted ankle. And for a few moments it did 'take on' the pain as if it had happened to my waking self!

As I quickly started to realize what was going on-- that i was in fact on the bed trying to have a nap and that the experience of hurting my ankle was a dream--the pain almost instantly dissipated and vanished.

This reminded me of Moses' experience as told in Genesis in the Bible. It's written God told him to place his hand in his tunic and remove it. He did and his hand was suddenly infected with a terrible skin disease. Then God told him to put his hand back in and pull it out again. This time his skin was back to normal. In her book "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" Mary Baker Eddy wrote of this text:

"It was scientifically demonstrated that leprosy was a creation of mortal mind and not a condition of matter, healed when Moses first put his hand into his bosom and drew it forth white as snow with the dread disease, and presently restored his hand to its natural condition by the same simple process. God had lessened Moses' fear by this proof in divine Science..."

A couple of weeks ago I was outside jogging after work when one of my feet landed half on the sidewalk and half onto a lower part of someone's lawn, causing me to twist my ankle and almost fall. The pain was vivid.

My first thoughts were all fear-based: "oh no, I've just started to establish a jogging routine and now I'd have to take several days off to heal" "...how am I going to go to work tomorrow?" "...How am I going to help take care of the family if I'm stuck in a couch with my feet up all day..." etc.

Also I realized that I'd been feeling a little proud of myself about my new jogging routines- a bit of pride had crept into my thought.

Of course too, I recalled the twisted ankle dream. The pain was basically the same variety that I was experiencing here on the sidewalk in my 'awake' body.

That was my first step toward experiencing a healing, a lessening of my fear. I already knew that matter is not everything it's cracked up to be. I've had many spiritual healings already in my life through practicing the teachings of Christian Science which have proven reliable from flu to plantar warts. I've seen how God is Spirit and how I'm his reflection and likeness as it says in Genesis chapter one.

The next morning i was in the couch with my leg resting. I had emailed a Christian Science practitioner for prayerful help. I was thinking maybe I should stay home from work and was ready to call in sick. Then I got a reply from the practitioner that we should strive for an immediate healing. I loved that idea, responded to it by immediately getting up for work.

Work began well, but a few hours into my shift as a Christian Science nurse the ankle started hurting again. I thought I'd better get busier in guarding and disciplining my thinking. I didn't want to rely merely on the inspiration of my practitioner and needed to do more of my own mental work or praying.

So I did more 'leaning' on God, and not feeling so personally burdened or responsible about things on my job or in feelings about my personal life, but to adjust my thinking more to be in line with the idea that I was reflecting God and not carrying on all by myself according to my own efforts etc.

The pain receded noticeably and within the hour I caught my self mid-stride realizing that I was leaning on God, and that the healing was complete.

After my shift I did a four kilometer jog and have done so almost every day since without any restrictions in how I jog or walk.

photo credit: keven ryder, flikr, public domain

Injured Ankle Quickly and Thoroughly Healed with Prayer

A file in my drawer has handwritten testimonials of times I applied the practical rules and concepts of Christian Science in my daily living and experienced physical healings.

The following was one of a healing I had of an apparently sprained ankle back in the summer of 1994.

It was while I was co-director of a Youth Camp in Ontario’s Algonquin Provincial Park on the beautiful shores of Whitefish Lake. It was not uncommon to wake up in at base camp to find a moose or two standing nearby munching on vegetation.

Each year we took a mid-week 3 day canoe trip to the ‘interior’- inaccessible by car or motor boat. The group was of about 20 people spread over several canoes and one kayak.

Early on in the trip we had a 1.7 km. portage. After my first drop off I returned to the beginning of the trail to get another load to carry when I suddenly twisted my ankle. Oh no! I thought- I still had 2 trips to make, and there were two more portages to go before reaching our site on a pristine interior lake.

Fears immediately began to set in. I didn’t want the whole trip spoiled- nor did I want to be a burden on my fellow campers. But it was an ideal opportunity to put Christian Science to good use in praying for the situation. So I reached out mentally and earnestly to God (I didn’t record what ideas I worked with at this point of my account, but likely it was as simple as knowing that God was Love, and Love was ever-present and surrounding me, and that man is made in the image and likeness of God- as mentioned in chapter one of Genesis). It helped me enough to take my thought off of the ankle. Correspondingly I was able to continue the long arduous portages without too much trouble- delivering more packs and paddles to the other end of the portage.

But that evening at our destination site I started limping severely. Instead of helping cook dinner I thought it wise to do some metaphysical/prayerful work and let the other directors look after things, and they were supportive.

I went to my tent and studied my Christian Science Bible Lesson, consisting of citations from the Bible and also from Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy. It’s the same Lesson covering a weekly topic that is read Sunday in Christian Science churches around the world.

I was so tempted to just fall asleep in my cozy retreat but I fought the tendency knowing I really needed to do the ‘mental work’ that would potentially heal me from my physical problem- which really has its roots in the mental arena as the body so often manifests the conditions of one’s own thinking.

This ‘mental work’ to me is really is the ‘working out of [my] own salvation’ spoken of in the Bible: that being on earth is an opportunity to grow spiritually– to overcome problems and challenges that are unique to individual thought through better understanding my own nature as God’s reflection and likeness and His spiritual creation.

There are so many times that it’s tempting not to stand up to fear. I love the story of David and Goliath as it clearly illustrates the possibilities of relying on God to guide us as we face giant-seeming situations that try to dominate our lives. I needed to tackle my Goliath right there in the tent: a giant-sized fear of being a ‘cripple’ for the remainder of the trip!

So I studied and prayed for about 2 hours: digging into the spiritual ideas of these books- for inspiration and insights that would free me.

A breakthrough idea dawned and resonated through me (and I noticed- though I wasn’t looking for it- a sensation of the immediate mending of my injury)- – that God, being Spirit, was my support and that spiritual substance was infallible, because I was inseparable from God as one of His spiritual ideas- and that was my true substance. Matter really had no lasting part of me if I was God’s perfect spiritual man.

Also the concept of flexibility was of great help to me as I prayed. It would seem that my ankle was a picture of inflexibility as I had been keeping it rigid to help me get around.  But flexibility is a spiritual concept and can’t be opposed by the material picture of things. God, Spirit was more powerful and substantial and long-lasting than matter.

I had an overwhelming sense of gratitude during these clearer realizations of my relationship to God and emerged from the tent feeling completely unafraid and fully confident that I was healed.

I was God’s flexible idea and I could lean on the substance of Spirit to maintain and sustain me.
I shared an idea for an evening activity and it was went over well and we all had fun.

Afterwards I sat on at the edge of a rock with a co-director and friend as the loons called hauntingly and beautifully on the placid small lake. I remember looking up to the evening stars twinkling clearly and brightly above.  We had a great conversation and I could feel a change had gone on in my thought- like some attitude-adjustment was going on.

The next day I was consistently strong and able to function normally. I even did two more portages in which I solo-carried a canoe over my head- something I’d never done before- and I felt so especially grateful to be expressing such dominion.

The rest of camp had many had many more activities that I participated in without a hitch, including volleyball. The ankle had healed so fast and thoroughly that I had an aura of amazement and gratitude for Christian Science for the remainder of the camp.

(photo credit: Jeremy Hung, kayak, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/)

A Path of Healing

Ever since I took a two week course with an authorized teacher over 20 years ago I wanted to start my own full-time public practice of Christian Science healing. Did it happen? Not too many people in my class of about 30 did it, sadly. But I did...then I didn't...then I did and am doing so again... Well, here's my story.

Maybe two or three years after 'class' (as we Christian Scientists simply but ominously refer to it- even though it's a life-changing transformation without comparison) - soon after completing my apprenticeship to be a chef- I began my own part-time practice of spiritual healing out of my basement office in London Ontario- in a house my brother and I rented.

I advertised in the local Yellow Pages. The lady on the phone was dubious when I told her to list me as a "C.S." under the heading "Christian Science practitioners". As far as she was concerned no such heading existed. After a minute of searching..."Oh! There is a heading for that". One more person educated (I did a lot of 'educating' along the way).

My first call for my new practice line came from an inebriated woman. Who's this? she demanded. I told her. What are you reading? she demanded. I happened to be reading a Christian Science Journal. "I ain't never heard of no Christian Science Journal" she exclaimed. I told her about Christian Science and spiritual healing. She was quite changed by the end of the call, thanking me for the information and we calmly said goodbye to each other. Like I said, I do a lot of educating along the way.

My first success in healing came early. A newcomer to Christian Science had called on me to pray at the recommendation of her sister in another country. During one home visit, this dear one had an instantaneous healing of a leg problem of many years. I called my teacher to relay the good news- he was very pleased and I felt very grateful for his encouragement, as I called him from time to time for advice on public practice.

A little later in my practice, during a shopping trip for groceries on Wharncliffe road, I was getting out of the car in the parking lot and had a precious moment of incredible clarity and insight. I had 4 clients that day for whom I was praying for simultaneously- a 'record' number for me at that point ---- and it just hit me in such a profound way- that I really LOVED this prayerful work. I felt completely and utterly in my 'right place' in the universe- along with a profound sense of gratitude and privilege to be able to do this. Even now this moment is permanently imprinted in my memory. It was just one of 'those moments'.

Then there was another moment only tens of minutes later- equally emblazoned in memory- as I stood in line to pay for my groceries. I was working mentally on the spot- taking advantage of the unoccupied moments as we always have to do when praying in Christian Science- to watch my thoughts carefully- to always question how we are thinking and what we are accepting as truth about ourselves and others. I sensed quite clearly how this was my practice- even when not on a phone with a client or studying deeply the Bible and Science and Health by Mary Baker Eddy (who was an amazing healer with an incredible record).

So even in line at a grocery store I was turning away critical thoughts, or temptations to label, categorize or stereotype others. My continuous duty was to see everyone as God's purely spiritual child in reality--to clear out the junk-thoughts moment to moment.

A few weeks later I had one case that seemed to not yield after many treatments. I was allowing it to get me down. And I didn't seek encouragement from my teacher.  Rather than keep praying and continuing the case I one day turned it down. I can recall how disappointed the patient seemed over the phone. Now, looking back, it seems a tragic error to make in my practice and I would never turn a case away based on feeling discouraged.

Some other things were weighing heavily in mind back then too:  I had strong enough desires to feel that by going into the healing practice I might miss out on something career-wise in music as a song-writer/producer.  So I decided to pull back and hold off on the practice. In retrospect, I can see that it was better not to go into the practice at that time as I was not ready to commit 100% to it.

But I would have another opportunity to commit to a healing practice -and this time stick with it un-waveringly, as a Christian Science nurse. This was about 3 years after meeting and marrying my wife. We dropped everything in Canada- put all our stuff into storage and flew out to California for a 26 month work/training program in San Francisco.

Although i would never 'officially' say that Christian Science nursing can lay an excellent framework of experience ideal as precursor for a career in the full time healing practice, it may have been so in my own case.

Recently during  summer vacation I started to get requests for Christian Science treatment 'out of the blue'. It's worth noting, that summer get-a-ways are often times of great fertility of mind for me- the space where great new fresh ideas and directions emerge.

And as I took up praying for others I realized I had been stuck in a kind of funk lately and this seemed to be the ticket out. It felt like I had wings that were being exercised at long last.

Frankly, though, I've been feeling little prods from God for about 3 years now to go into the full time healing practice. For example, while walking home from the bus stop after a shift at my Christian Science nursing facility in Toronto, I prayed to God: should i go into the practice now?...and everything that was green around me suddenly jumped out- 'green lights' etc. It seemed quite obvious what the answer to that prayer was.

Had I missed out on my career as a Christian Science nurse, well... I just can't bare the thought of it. It's been so insightful, fascinating, educating...so valuable to me.

But it's also time to move on. The transformation has begun...

(photo credit: anokarina on flikr, the conversation; https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/)