"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
Last year I was introduced to the story of “The Frozen River.” It came at a time when I was wondering how long it would be before my daughter (who is in her 30’s) would renew contact with me. I had tried in vain over quite a long period to be in touch with her, but she was angry. One of the reasons was because her father and I had needed to separate, and she appeared to want nothing more to do with me or anyone else in the family.
This was a very difficult time and I was very sad. However a new life had opened up for me as a Christian Science nurse, and I continued with my studies and training, knowing that was what God was guiding me to do. I was waiting for the river to thaw, knowing that the sun was always present.
Years earlier my daughter had witnessed my own healing through Christian Science of hypo-thyroid-ism, and had become interested herself. She studied Science and Health and was well embraced by the members of our local Christian Science Society. She attended Focus, and met other young Christian Scientists, as well as mature Christian Science thinkers -- even staying with them in a family setting. But she continued to feel that she needed medication in order to cope with life, and eventually decided that this would not be acceptable to her new friends, and so she turned away. With our marriage difficulties she also turned away from her family, and cut us off.
She has always been a seeker, and found another type of home community in the local Buddhist temple. From time to time she continued to call a family friend who is a Christian Science practitioner, but that stopped as well. I only heard occasionally through mutual friends what she was doing, and the message was always negative towards the family, and that she never wanted to see any of us again.
I knew that she was a kind, loving person, and that her one desire was to help others. This was an integral part of her, no matter what. Eventually I heard that she was staying in a Christian community centre where they had given her a home, and that she was working in the community. But there was still no communication. I tried a few times over this long period, only to be told yet again that she wanted nothing to do with me. However, out of sight to me, the river was thawing! My friends and I had never stopped praying for her, and we had to take on trust the fact that God was caring for her at all times.
Recently, while I was finishing my final nursing studies, I was doing homework in the classroom with a fellow student when my mobile phone rang. This was unusual, as I never normally took my mobile into the classroom. It was my daughter! And she was crying. She said she needed to be reunited with her Mum! She told me that she hadn’t been feeling well, and had been woken up by a loud voice earlier in the day telling her to phone her Mum. She decided to ignore it, because she didn’t want to phone me! But later in the afternoon she was again woken up by the same loud voice with the same message. This time she recognised it as an angel message, and phoned me immediately. I was overwhelmed with happiness and thankfulness!
She explained that at the community centre she had been talking regularly with the cleaning lady, who happened to be a Major in the Salvation Army! She had heard my daughter playing her musical instruments, and asked if she would like to play for their next church service. They got to talking about life and God and the Salvation Army, and what volunteer work was needed, and my daughter became involved.
She discovered the joy of Bible study for the first time, and began reading their daily Bible lessons. I have no doubt at all that they saw her deep need, and had been praying for her as well. She said that when the angel message to phone me came to her, she realized that all her anger and antagonism had simply disappeared! When she called me, that aggressive element simply wasn’t there. The Christ had been speaking to her in a way that she could understand and accept.
We ended up speaking for over an hour on the phone, and the next day her sense of depression had lifted and she was feeling much better. We were both so thankful to be reunited! I was filled in on the life she had led during our separation, and it was very difficult as a mother even to imagine what she had been through. We arranged for her to come and stay with me for a week after I had finished the class, which she did, and we had a wonderful time together. We discussed the prayer-work that had been going on all through the time we were separated, and we were both well aware of how we had been looked after by our Father.
There is such joy! We continue to speak regularly on the phone, and we will see each other again very soon. The river is now flowing freely! This beautiful parable that Mrs Eddy had read in her household helped me so much in my understanding of the Father’s ever-presence. Even in those moments when there seemed to be no movement, He was always there.