"Precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept, line upon line, line upon line, here a little and there a little." Isaiah 28:10
"Precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept, line upon line, line upon line, here a little and there a little." Isaiah 28:10
I have experienced a really big year in my growing understanding of Christian Science practice. I was accepted into the Journal in October 2019 and that was just the start of my spiritual journey. A lot of spiritual maturing and growth followed. I’d like to share two of my practitioner experiences.
A patient left a voicemail message asking how to “let” God do Her thing. I studied the current Lesson-Sermon and started to formulate what I could say that would be helpful. The main ideas were to spend dedicated time listening for God’s voice and to open the Bible after prayer to see what appeared.
I soon realised that instead of just telling the patient about those things I could just do them. So, I did. And had a wonderful time!
I gained some great insights during my listening prayer. Then I opened the Bible to Isaiah 35; just the right chapter for me to read at that moment. When I called my patient, I could hardly get a word in because the patient was on fire with wonderful inspiration she had gained. I learned, then, that I am not the “man in the middle.” The inspiration that comes to me can be intended just for me and not necessarily for me to pass on to my patient.
Calling about a separate issue my patient mentioned that she could only read the periodicals and did not like reading the Bible or Science and Health. I didn’t say anything then, but took note of this, having just started re-reading Science and Health myself.
My aim was to read the book as a “new” student. I didn’t want to pass over ideas, nor accept some of them and reject others. I wanted to be convinced! This renewed study helped me to understand that Mary Baker Eddy wrote from her own inspirational experiences. Her inspirations were not ethereal concepts but concrete truths she had put to the test. My appreciation for our textbook was then joyously renewed.
Within the next few days my patient called me again to say she was in love with Science and Health! In addition, she said that, as she read, she was able to recognise many passages from the Bible. My patient revealed that she had experienced a bad relationship with the Bible early in life but was now seeing it differently through our textbook.
These experiences have helped me see that the practice isn’t about separate minds: one with a problem calling another who hopefully has the solution. It is about us keeping our own thinking: “in the secret place of the most High” at all times and being a constant transparency for Love. That way, when a patient calls, they are met with the impersonal Truth that is power.