Self-forgetfulness, purity, and affection

“Erected 1962” was etched into the concrete cornerstone of the modest brick structure that was our Christian Science branch church. I remember when it was under construction. Gram drove my mother and me by it to point out its progress. As a Christian Science practitioner and church board member, Gram was instrumental in prayerfully supporting this expanding idea of "Church" in our small town.

This was the place where I attended Sunday School and became comfortably acquainted with all the grownups who were Gram’s church friends. Among my favorites were Clarence and Gladys Brehm. They were simple, down‑to‑earth Pennsylvania farmers.

During the gratitude‑sharing portion of the first Thanksgiving service held in our new church, eight‑year‑old me gave my very first testimony. I popped to my feet and blurted out, “I’m grateful to God and all His creation.” Then I sat down.

Oddly enough, I felt both terrified and elated at what I had done. Then embarrassment struck—and stayed. I dashed to the car as soon as church let out and sat in the back seat, hiding. Only Mr. Brehm seemed to notice. He came to the car window (which I respectfully cranked partway down), looked me in the eye, and said in a quiet, kindly voice, “Good for you.” Then, with a grave little nod, he walked away.

Through all my growing‑up years, I attended Wednesday evening meetings with Gram. Of course, testimony time was my favorite part. I especially looked forward to hearing from Admiral Perkins, whose deep, booming voice made the windows rattle.

Near the end of one service, Mr. Brehm stood up. When he spoke, the windows stayed still. In a gentle voice, at a pace unhurried and deliberate, with a tone strong and determined, Mr. Brehm told how he and his wife had turned to God in prayer when a drought jeopardized their crops. Some of their neighbors, he said, had already suffered financial losses.

He explained that he and his wife simply gave gratitude to God. They reasoned that divine Mind had provided the wisdom to know which crops to plant—and when. Therefore, they could completely trust that this same intelligent Mind was nurturing and maintaining each of those crops.

Assured that God already knew their need, Clarence and Gladys—as Gram called them—turned away all worried, fearful thoughts and allowed in only these deeply grateful thoughts. The need was instantly met. It rained that day—just enough to save their crops. (Come to think of it, what was left of the neighbors’ crops must’ve been spared, too!)

On another Wednesday evening Mrs. Brehm arose from her seat. Having never heard her testify, I paid close attention, which is why I still remember what she said and even how she looked.

She gazed slightly upward so as to focus on what she was about to say and avoid eye contact with the congregation. Her words came out slowly, as if she were waiting for God to tell her what to say. With great depth of feeling, she related how one day, when she was standing by a gate helping her husband herd calves into the barn, a young bull who was sprouting small protruding horns abruptly swung his head around just at the moment she knelt down to retrieve a dropped glove. When she glanced up, one of the horns gouged her in the eye.

In a soft, tender tone, Mrs. Brehm said she instantly saw the baby bull as God’s harmless, blameless spiritual idea and saw herself as inseparable from God’s love and thus uninjured.

I noticed Gram, seated next to me, was looking down at the pew rack, expressionless, when Mrs. Brehm recounted how she had called a practitioner to pray for her. I knew what she would say next, for Gram was my practitioner, too, whenever I was in need of a healing. It was thus no surprise to hear from a fellow patient that all pain and all trace of the incident had quickly vanished!

Later, I learned from several of my Sunday School teachers, including Admiral Perkins, that Gram’s spiritual treatments—her realization of God’s goodness and allness—had likewise healed them of various ailments and injuries over the years.

One summer Sunday afternoon the Brehms invited us to their house for homemade ice cream. They were their usual attentive and unpretentious selves, making me feel so at ease around them.

While Mrs. Brehm set the table and the adults were talking, I studied two framed photographs of solemn farm folk dressed in their Sunday best. Her husband called across the room to tell me who was who in the photos. One was of his parents and his six siblings; the other was of Gladys’ family. All the relatives looked as kind‑hearted and modest as I knew the Brehms to be.

As I was lapping up the last spoonful of that delicious ice cream, Mr. Brehm turned to Gram and said, “I’d love Christian Science even if it didn’t heal.” His words, and the sweet sentiment behind them, will never leave me. They remind me of Mrs. Eddy’s simple statement: “Self‑forgetfulness, purity, and affection are constant prayers” (Science and Health 15:26–27).

The little church of my childhood has long since been torn down. There may be only a few folks around today who remember it. Yet its vibrancy and efficacy were never contained in a brick‑and‑mortar building, any more than God’s being—or ours—is physical, finite. That beloved church, just like God’s love for us and our love for God and Church, is forever.

Likewise, the simple goodness of the Brehms endures. The effect their selfless lives had—and still have—on others is reminiscent of one of my favorite Bible stories:

Humbly turning to God for healing—for direction and protection and salvation—is also the work of Christian Science nurses around the globe. Susie Petersen, our Journal‑listed Christian Science nurse, lovingly attends to calls for practical Christian Science care and in so doing benefits not just the client and their family but the entire community. Yes, like the Brehms and the poor wise man, Susie brings God’s blessings to all who may be feeling besieged . . . by a crop‑threatening drought or a bull’s horn or men’s spears.

Lovingly,
The HVCSNS Board of Directors and our Journal-listed Christian Science nurse, Susie Petersen

Photos by iStock

Financial Assistance Available

Any Christian Scientist relying upon the services of a Christian Science practitioner and/or a Journal‑listed Christian Science nurse may obtain financial support by applying to the National Fund for Christian Science Nursing (NFCSN). You may contact The Principle Foundation, which manages this fund, by emailing info@nfcsn.org or by calling (800) 873-2843.

Meet the HVCSNS Board

Dave Daniels, President — Christian Science Society, Spring, TX
Sue Merrill, Vice President — First Church, Bellaire
Salomon Ngalamulume, Treasurer — Seventh Church, Houston
Pauline Nesbitt, Corresponding Secretary — Seventh Church, Houston
Susan Clay, Recording Secretary — Seventh Church, Houston
Lynne Clark, Director — First Church, The Woodlands
Grace Duffy, Director — First Church, Durango, Colorado
Sherry Garrett, Director — Seventh Church, Houston

Members of Houston-area branch churches not currently represented on our board are welcome to join us.

Our office is your home – providing care in the comfort of your residence.

Thank you for your support.

Spring Cleaning

Spring cleaning at my grandparents’ farm usually meant, for me, whatever outside chores my grandfather, Pop, deemed important. In April I could be found helping him plant seeds in the garden. Doing it by hand took several days and included wrangling a small rototiller to prepare the soil. The garden was massive, and I thought it was far more work than the two of us could manage. But apparently that thought never entered Pop’s mind.

He belonged to the local Rotary Club, which met on the first Wednesday of every month. One of those early spring Wednesdays, while Pop was at Rotary for a couple of hours, I decided to see what Gram was up to.

My grandmother, a Journal‑listed practitioner, could almost always be found immersed in her Christian Science books or on the phone with a patient. Today, however, she was doing household chores—starting with laundry.

Even as a 10‑year‑old, I regarded Gram as the glue that held our family together. Her quiet manner and practical matter‑of‑factness drew me to her. Somehow, being with Gram freed me from the self‑imposed burden of trying to work harder to impress Pop. She was always patient with me and never made me feel inept. When I asked questions, she always replied—even if only briefly—in a way I could understand.

Anyway, Gram was in the basement handwashing clothes at the well‑worn concrete double sink. It seemed odd to me that a practitioner was doing such menial work. But there she was, standing in the morning light coming through a small window, bending over the soapy side of the sink. The other side of the sink was for rinsing, and to the right of that stood what we would today describe as a vintage automatic clothes wringer.

Gram seemed to be deep in thought. Curious, I asked what she was thinking. “Just thinking about God.” I accepted that answer, figuring she was praying for a patient and needed to be undisturbed.

I watched her methodically rub each towel or pair of work pants against a shiny washboard propped up in the soapy sink then rinse the item in the second sink. For me, the coolest part was watching her feed the rinsed clothes through the wringer. I loved to see the water squirt from the damp clothes, which came out pancake flat. “Be careful, Davey,” she’d say. “Don’t let your fingers get caught in the wringer.”

After Gram filled the wicker laundry basket with clean clothes, I carried it outside for her, feeling helpful and happy. Looking absent‑minded, she hung each article on the clothesline as I handed her the clothespins. I sensed she was still praying.

For Gram, spring cleaning was primarily a mental—hardly a menial—exercise. It was not confined to a single season. Year‑round, she daily cleaned her mental house and washed the “laundry”—mortal dreams, illusions, and myths about God’s purely good, spotless creation. Sure, she cooked, dusted, and washed windows, dishes, and clothes, but her all‑consuming, 24/7/365 labor involved an activity I call “cherishing.”

She cherished God and she cherished His children—His spiritual man. This cherishing was her main task throughout the day and often into the night. It was what enabled her to heal others.

Mary Baker Eddy says of this kind of toil:

In Gram’s front‑room study hung a gilt‑framed print of Briton Riviere’s 1890 oil painting, “Daniel’s Answer to the King.” Though the lions are prominent characters in the painting, Daniel is the focal point. His upturned face, bathed in light, is serene, at peace. His hands are clasped behind him. His back is turned to the seven hungry lions. How could he have been so nonchalant?

To me, the answer is that Daniel daily devoted his entire attention to God alone. Because he refused to let his thoughts be diverted, he didn’t need to pray for protection from the lions or even for an escape route.

Notably, there is not only no fear shown in his countenance or deportment but also no trace of resentment or righteous anger toward the princes who instigated the decree that prevented him from openly worshipping God and then tricked King Nebuchadnezzar into signing it.

Too late, the king realized he had been hoodwinked into condemning Daniel to die in the lion’s den. He probably spent the night alternating between fury at himself for being fooled by the duplicitous princes and fervent hope that the God the innocent Daniel reverenced was mighty enough to spare his life.

He was. Under God’s omnipotence, Daniel was unharmed by the king’s law and by the lions. He felt nothing but agape love for his enemies, for the king, and even for the beasts. That love shielded him from all forms of attack.

The symbolism of this famous depiction of Daniel with the disarmed-by‑divine‑Love lions reminds us that when we feel trapped in a den of loss, lack, sickness, or pain—and by the fear, doubt, and worry that are behind these conditions—we can claim our dominion, as did Daniel, by calling on our Father, even if, unlike Daniel, we have not been His faithful followers.

We needn’t take inventory of our woes and then try to escape them by praying ourselves out of a hopeless pit we’ve condemned ourselves to. Wouldn’t that be like Daniel seeing vicious lions, counting their number, and envisioning the bones of their past victims scattered over the stone floor?

Daniel didn’t attempt to humanly befriend the lions. He didn’t stroke their beards or twirl their tails. If he had, would he still be standing in the morning to greet the king? Definitely not!

So, how did Daniel dare turn his back on the mortal scene? I sense he was conscientiously doing his mental spring cleaning, while confidently holding fast to “the enduring, the good, and the true.” That whole sentence in Science and Health reads: “Hold thought steadfastly to the enduring, the good, and the true, and you will bring these into your experience proportionably to their occupancy of your thoughts” (261:4).

All these years later, I still remember how Gram, inspired each morning by the Daniel print on her study wall, brought her love of God and a sense of purpose to everything she did, from her healing practice to her farmhouse chores. All her obligations were opportunities to do joyous spring cleaning.

Similarly, our Journal‑listed Christian Science nurse, Susie Petersen, devotes her Daniel‑like thought to God and bathes her clients in His love. She does spiritual spring cleaning before, during, and after every home visit.

We all can do the same spring cleaning wherever we are and whenever—but especially in early April in Houston, where spring has sprung.

Lovingly,
The HVCSNS Board of Directors and our Journal-listed Christian Science nurse, Susie Petersen

Photo by Chittima Stanmore on Unsplash

Financial Assistance Available

Any Christian Scientist relying upon the services of a Christian Science practitioner and/or a Journal‑listed Christian Science nurse may obtain financial support by applying to the National Fund for Christian Science Nursing (NFCSN). You may contact The Principle Foundation, which manages this fund, by emailing info@nfcsn.org or by calling (800) 873-2843.

Meet the HVCSNS Board

Dave Daniels, President — Ninth Church, Houston
Sue Merrill, Vice President — First Church, Bellaire
Salomon Ngalamulume, Treasurer — Seventh Church, Houston
Pauline Nesbitt, Corresponding Secretary — Seventh Church, Houston
Susan Clay, Recording Secretary — Seventh Church, Houston
Lynne Clark, Director — First Church, The Woodlands
Grace Duffy, Director — First Church, Durango, Colorado
Sherry Garrett, Director — Seventh Church, Houston

Members of Houston-area branch churches not currently represented on our board are welcome to join us.

Our office is your home – providing care in the comfort of your residence.

Thank you for your support.

No Death

At breakfast one cold March morning, my grandpa outlined the chores each of us would do that day. Going over the list had been a daily ritual of ours since I’d turned 10. Now I was 13, and Pop was referring to me more and more as his “right‑hand man” and regarding me less like a kid. Though I liked being treated as a grown‑up, I wasn’t keen on being assigned the “manly” chore of cleaning out the sheep stall.

Sheep droppings are odorless pellets. Hiding under countless layers of fresh straw bedding and accumulating over many years, these tiny pellets had been pulverized by tiny hooves, creating a mound of manure that was as hard as sedimentary rock and as high as four feet above the stall floor.

Pop showed me how to dig my pitchfork deep into that mountainous mass until I hit paydirt—well, concrete. I was to remove every last sheep dropping and expose the entire floor−all 50’ x 100’ of it—to daylight. Then I was to haul the dung to the garden. It would fertilize corn and cabbage, sugar peas and potatoes and other succulent veggies that would sprout from seeds Pop planted in the early spring every year.

Pop’s massive garden (it ran the length of a two‑acre field and was maybe a third of the field’s width) required equally massive mounds of manure—and I was just the lad appointed to provide it. From sunup to sundown, I pitched rock‑solid manure into an industrial‑size wheelbarrow, which I then wheeled, over and over and over again, up a ten‑foot oak plank into the manure spreader.

Lest you feel sorry for me, let me assure you that being a farm boy wasn’t all hard work. The reward for shoveling 4’ x 50’ x 100’ of manure from the sheep stall was that I got to drive Pop’s 1949 Ford tractor, which pulled the spreader.

It was a thrill every time I turned the key in the ignition, revved up the engine, and drove down the gradual slope to the garden. Once there, I properly positioned the tractor and manually pulled and ratcheted the antenna‑like gear levers that engaged the spreader.

Then it was off to the races, so to speak. The spreader mechanically flung the manure over a portion of the garden during each pass. Watching it work its magic was another satisfying payoff. The spreading process lasted only five minutes at a time, which meant I had the joy of making dozens of trips, because there was so much garden to cover!

As I drove back up the hill to the barn for yet another round of wheelbarrow filling, I took stock of the gray, chilly, early spring air. I noticed there was nothing green in the entire field. All the weeds and grasses were brittle, dead. Our garden, so lush every late spring and summer, lay dormant, empty. Everything looked abandoned. Cold. Lifeless.

Of course, anyone accustomed to winter in a cold climate knows that nothing is ever devoid of life. Life is going on, even if unseen, until the warmth of sun‑drenched summer days coaxes all things green to awake anew.

Mary Baker Eddy expresses the awakening of life this way: “Being possesses its qualities before they are perceived humanly. Beauty is a thing of life, which dwells forever in the eternal Mind and reflects the charms of His goodness in expression, form, outline, and color” (Science and Health 247:19–24 Being).

Her spiritually rich sentiment undergirds the lessons I learned from my farm days of yore. Spreading manure over a frozen, lifeless‑looking tundra and watching the eventual greening of all that seemed dead in that tundra taught me that Life with a capital “L”—a name for God—is eternal.

The reason I’ve described this decades‑old scene is to make a deeper point about Life—how it seems, to the five senses, to ultimate in death, but how, in Truth, the death of anything that lives is an impossibility. As our Leader succinctly puts this very point: “Nothing that lives ever dies, and vice versa” (SH 374:29–30).

I started to learn this divine fact of Life when, in my early 20s, I experienced the passing—within months of each other—of both my dad and Pop.

When a loved one leaves earth’s scene, it sometimes seems unavoidable that we fall into a yawning hole of grief—and feel a chill of despondency and despair. Such human emotions, if not checked, tend to pull us into a downward spiral of loss and loneliness, guilt and gloom, helplessness and emptiness. Some people grapple for many years with the passing of a dear one. In my case, for several years I actively sought, with varying success, to befriend any fatherly/grandfatherly figure to fill the absence of the two males I missed in my family.

Eventually, I grew weary of searching for others to fill my imagined loss and was ready to accept the truth that there can be no death because Life, including man, is spiritual.

Understanding the truth that dad and Pop had never died felt like a warm beam of sunlight finally breaking through the long‑time darkness. I gently laid aside my futile yearning for surrogate father figures, and the burden of my quest simply fell away.

Mrs. Eddy, who fully understood the pain of loss, speaks tenderly and pragmatically on the subject: “Sorrow is the harbinger of joy. Mortal throes of anguish forward the birth of immortal being; but divine Science wipes away all tears” (Unity of Good 57:25).

Acknowledging the omnipotence and omnipresence of God, Love, heals grief in the wake of a loved one’s passing. Every Easter (the last day of March this year) reminds us of the resurrection of Christ Jesus. His crucifixion left the disciples feeling crushed and defeated. They huddled in fear of a similar fate, then returned to their old lives, following their former careers. We know from the disciple John that they encountered Jesus on the shore of the Sea of Tiberias, where their lives were transformed. They, too, were raised from death—from dead thoughts. They gained a higher, holier understanding of Immanuel, or God with us.

How comforting to know that God, our Father‑Mother, supports all struggling hearts. How reassuring to learn that Life is eternal.

Lovingly,
The HVCSNS Board of Directors and our Journal-listed Christian Science nurse, Susie Petersen

PS: For those struggling with grief over the loss of a loved one, these two articles in the February 2024 issue of The Christian Science Journal are particularly helpful: The joy no one can take from you and Unending Life and 'walking in the pathway of Truth' .

Photo by Theo Onic on Unsplash

Financial Assistance Available

Any Christian Scientist relying upon the services of a Christian Science practitioner and/or a Journal‑listed Christian Science nurse may obtain financial support by applying to the National Fund for Christian Science Nursing (NFCSN). You may contact The Principle Foundation, which manages this fund, by emailing info@nfcsn.org or by calling (800) 873-2843.

Meet the HVCSNS Board

Dave Daniels, President — Ninth Church, Houston
Sue Merrill, Vice President — First Church, Bellaire
Salomon Ngalamulume, Treasurer — Seventh Church, Houston
Pauline Nesbitt, Corresponding Secretary — Seventh Church, Houston
Susan Clay, Recording Secretary — Seventh Church, Houston
Lynne Clark, Director — First Church, The Woodlands
Grace Duffy, Director — First Church, Durango, Colorado
Sherry Garrett, Director — Seventh Church, Houston

Members of Houston-area branch churches not currently represented on our board are welcome to join us.

Our office is your home – providing care in the comfort of your residence.

Thank you for your support.

Loving others

My grandmother arrived on earth’s scene one fine February day. She was named for the flower often associated with this month: Violet. Close friends called her “Vi.” She was just “Gram” to me.

Symbolically, violets suggest loyalty and faithfulness—character traits that befit Gram. Violets also bring to mind grace and love—qualities Gram abundantly expressed.

Here’s an example of Gram’s grace. She noticed that “Pop,” as I called my grandfather, threw himself into his farm work and that I, as his helper, scrambled to keep up with his brisk pace. One day she sensed her six‑year‑old grandson deserved a short getaway. She quietly proposed a day trip, just the two of us, to the Gettysburg battlefield, which was only 30 miles away. Of course, I was thrilled.

That was the first of several pilgrimages Gram took me on to the Civil War’s hallowed ground. As I climbed up and down the giant boulders of Devil’s Den, she sat with her notepad, Bible, and Science and Health at a nearby picnic table. Occasionally she glanced up from her studying to see where I was and make sure I was safe.

When Gram and I stopped for lunch at a Civil War‑themed diner, I paused between bites of cherry pie to ask, “Gram, how did you decide to become a Christian Science practitioner?” This was a rare moment for her because, unless asked, Gram seldom talked about religion—preferring to live it.

She fixed her gentle eyes on mine and opened her heart. She told me about her older brother, George, whom I didn’t know she had. Throughout their growing‑up years, he was her dearest friend.

Violet M. Keck (aka "Gram")

 

One day, when she was in her late teens, George was rushed to a hospital with a life‑or‑death illness. “I didn’t know anything about God, but I prayed as best I knew how,” Gram said. “I made a promise to Him: If you save my brother, I will devote the rest of my life to serving You.”

That’s precisely what she did. Countless people were blessed and healed through her commitment to God, made years ago in a hospital room by her brother’s side. (Incidentally, I was not surprised when, not long after our lunchtime conversation, Gram showed me a snapshot of my great uncle George blowing out candles on his 90th birthday.)

I was one of those countless people helped by Gram’s prayers. The May 2022 issue of “ Good News ” relates how I was healed as a result of her refusal to be impressed by the material picture of a growth on my arm.

So, for me, February is about much more than Valentine romance and red roses, candy and cards. It’s about selfless giving. It’s about loving others compassionately. It’s about Christian kindness. It’s about Christly healing works.

Interestingly, the Latin word Februarius means month of expiation . Its name comes from februo—"to purify by sacrifice." On the 15th day of the month, a Roman festival was held for people to be purified by sacrifices and oblations.

In Christian Science, purification is an entirely spiritual, not material, washing—a silent, sacred communing with God.

Communion, or oneness, with our Father has its origins in the Old Testament and was again articulated in the New Testament in two great commandments given to us by Christ Jesus: “And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment. And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these” (Mark 12:30, 31).

Gram humbly lived the two great commandments at all times and in all ways. She communed with God when washing dishes and cooking meals and hanging clothes on the line.

She remained in such faithful, steadfast communion with Him that patients knew they could call her at any hour of day or night for spiritual support and healing prayer.

Indeed, so attuned was Gram to our heavenly Father that she heard what must have been an unwitting silent plea from her young grandson for a needed break from unremitting farm work.

Our Journal‑listed Christian Science nurse, Susie Petersen, brings the same mental atmosphere of pure love and devoted service to her clients, whether she is preparing a meal, reading the Bible Lesson aloud at a bedside, or cleaning a wound. She responds to each need with expertise, quiet listening, tender care, and confidentiality. She explains to her clients that financial concerns need never be a barrier to serving them, for funding from nonprofit organizations is always available for Christian Science nursing.

Susie and the Board of Directors wish you a February filled with the joy that comes from loving the Lord and your neighbor with all your heart. And we give each of you a festive bouquet of . . .

Photo by iStock

Financial Assistance Available

Any Christian Scientist relying upon the services of a Christian Science practitioner and/or a Journal‑listed Christian Science nurse may obtain financial support by applying to the National Fund for Christian Science Nursing (NFCSN). You may contact The Principle Foundation, which manages this fund, by emailing info@nfcsn.org or by calling (800) 873-2843.

Meet the HVCSNS Board

Dave Daniels, President — Ninth Church, Houston
Sue Merrill, Vice President — First Church, Bellaire
Salomon Ngalamulume, Treasurer — Seventh Church, Houston
Pauline Nesbitt, Corresponding Secretary — Seventh Church, Houston
Susan Clay, Recording Secretary — Seventh Church, Houston
Lynne Clark, Director — First Church, The Woodlands
Grace Duffy, Director — First Church, Durango, Colorado
Sherry Garrett, Director — Seventh Church, Houston

Members of Houston-area branch churches not currently represented on our board are welcome to join us.

Our office is your home – providing care in the comfort of your residence.

Thank you for your support.

The New Year

Millions the world over watch revelers in Times Square mark the turning of the old year into the new by counting down with the dropping ball—five, four, three, two, one: “Happy New Year!”

I confess that I rarely bother staying up for the midnight TV extravaganza. Perhaps my indifference stems from those boyhood farm days when Pop and Gram and I turned in early. So did all the other farmers we knew. Work began at first light. Sub‑freezing temperatures, biting winds, blinding snowstorms—no matter the conditions outside, I had to be up and out the door at dawn to feed the sheep.

New Year’s Day was no exception. The January 1st that I’m vividly remembering now was when I was 14. It was a bitter cold morning. Figuring that the livestock water trough would be frozen, I trudged to the barn, through the swirling snow and howling wind, carrying two buckets of scalding water. As the first streaks of dawn etched the gray sky, the stillness of the darkened barn was broken by the hiss of hot water thawing the ice in the trough.

A couple of curious sheep ambled over to investigate and simultaneously sip. They looked at me and stood waiting. I could hear the bleating of the others from the security of their stall.

By the time I turned on the light in the feeding entry, every sheep—plus my horse Buck—was on all fours, peering at me intently. They watched attentively as I mixed molasses bran with oats and barley and poured the concoction into a five‑gallon bucket. When I hustled to their feed trough, heavy bucket in hand, they nearly bowled me over in their single‑minded zeal to chow down.

Clanking the empty bucket across the entry floor, I returned it to its proper place. Then I climbed up the narrow stairs to the loft and threw a bale of hay down the steps. It tumbled end over end straight into the feeding entry.

Buck, in a separate stall on the other side of the entry, stood patiently waiting his turn. He watched my every move as I scooped out his special treat of molasses bran and two ears of field corn. While he was chomping contentedly, I pulled off a hefty section from the bale and dropped it into the hayrack directly above his head. Then I stood silently by his side and watched him eat. After his corn‑and‑bran breakfast disappeared, Buck yanked a bite of hay from the rack. As he chewed, his luminous eyes looked through me, and I felt good.

The sheep had long since devoured every morsel from their feed trough and were milling about in the cozy warmth of their stall.

I climbed the rickety stairway again—this time to wrangle two large round straw bales and drop them neatly through a 3’ x 5’ laundry‑chute hole, from whence they thudded to the front of the sheep stall.

Once back downstairs, I seesawed one of the bales toward Buck, cut the binding twine, and kicked the bale’s contents the length of his stall. It was like rolling out a red carpet of clean, toasty straw. Now he could lie down if he wanted. The sheep got the same straw‑bedding treatment.

After completing my morning routine, I would often pause to enjoy the quiet companionship of my barnyard friends. Sitting with them that New Year’s Day, I couldn’t help hearing the harsh blasts of wind—typical of a Pennsylvania winter—shrieking outside, rattling the metal roof, and causing the wooden beams and timbers of our 150-year-old barn to creak. The building sounded like it was falling apart. I smiled, realizing that would never happen, for, as I'd learned from grandparents, Bible, and Sunday School teachers, God cares for all His creatures all the time.

Buck, snug in his thick winter coat, and the woolly sheep, supremely content, paid no attention to the scary sounds. They, like me, must have instinctively sensed they were protected from harm. Perhaps they understood, as the prophet Nahum did, that “The Lord is good, a strong hold in the day of trouble; and he knoweth them that trust in him” (1:7).

In their company, I, too, felt God’s power—stronger, more solid and secure, than the great limestone walls upon which our wooden barn was built.

Surrounded by this family of sweet creatures, each of them so humble, so trusting, so serene, so content, I felt the same qualities present in me.

Lessons learned from such simple experiences stay with us, don’t they? They are evidence of God in action—of Life richly sustaining, of Love tenderly embracing, of Truth steadfastly upholding Her entirely good, completely spiritual creation.

If in the course of our human affairs we are tempted to be frozen with fear, snowed by deceit, whipped by winds of selfishness, chilled by coldness from (and toward) our church brethren, we can turn from each temptation and be like humble sheep who take no offense, nor give any.

As sheep, we trustingly follow our Shepherd.

As sheep, we meekly imitate His Son—Christ Jesus, the Lamb of God.

Why do we need that perfect Lamb, Jesus the Christ, in our lives? Because he shows us the sole way to our Shepherd. Proves that our Shepherd is the exclusive provider of all good. Demonstrates that we derive all wisdom, receive all direction and protection, are healed of all ills, and are saved from all sin by our Shepherd.

When I sing hymn 245 in the Christian Science Hymnal, Frederic W. Root’s description of God as our “tender, loving Shepherd” brings me back to my boyhood days in the barn.

May this hymn be a holy benediction for the new year ahead. On its first day—January 1, 2024—our Journal‑listed Christian Science nurse Susie Petersen and our entire board of directors send you our love, straight from the Shepherd and His Lamb of Love.

Photos by James Ahlberg on Unsplash and Ninety Studio on Pexels

Financial Assistance Available

Any Christian Scientist relying upon the services of a Christian Science practitioner and/or a Journal‑listed Christian Science nurse may obtain financial support by applying to the National Fund for Christian Science Nursing (NFCSN). You may contact The Principle Foundation, which manages this fund, by emailing info@nfcsn.org or by calling (800) 873-2843.

Meet the HVCSNS Board

Dave Daniels, President — Ninth Church, Houston
Sue Merrill, Vice President — First Church, Bellaire
Salomon Ngalamulume, Treasurer — Seventh Church, Houston
Pauline Nesbitt, Corresponding Secretary — Seventh Church, Houston
Susan Clay, Recording Secretary — Seventh Church, Houston
Lynne Clark, Director — First Church, The Woodlands
Grace Duffy, Director — First Church, Durango, Colorado
Sherry Garrett, Director — Seventh Church, Houston

Members of Houston-area branch churches not currently represented on our board are welcome to join us.

Our office is your home – providing care in the comfort of your residence.

Thank you for your support.

The Significance of Christmas

The approaching Christmas season brings with it a wide variety of perspectives.

Young children, taught to believe the myth imaginatively captured in a now‑famous poem by an obscure poet, gleefully await the December 25th dawn, when they can open their longed-awaited presents left by Santa.

Procrastinating ’til Christmas Eve, frazzled parents hurry scurry from one jam‑packed store to another in hopes of finding toys that Santa will carry down the chimney later that night. Some may prefer getting an early start and avoiding the madding crowds by simply shopping online.

Whoever is caught up in the commercialism of Christmas instead of contemplating the meaning of the meek infant’s birth long ago in a distant manger may end up feeling let down or lost in a swirling sea of busyness.

Certainly, the spirit of love and joy and peace should predominate when families and friends gather to celebrate this occasion, whether they think of it as sacred or secular. How, though, does their holiday cheer uplift the rest of the world—especially those who are bereft of loved ones, who are perhaps living alone or whose spouses are in the armed forces stationed at faraway postings? How do their laughter and hugging and gift-giving and gratitude reach the many who are subsisting hand-to-mouth on the streets?

Recently we saw a YouTube Short featuring a generous stranger giving a young homeless woman a meal and some money. She looked at him with tears in her eyes and asked for only one thing: a hug. She received a warm embrace, along with gentle words assuring her she was valued and loved.

We so support the sincerity of that kind man. At the same time, we maintain that the recipient of his affection and all her temporarily houseless brothers and sisters need not see themselves as victims of loneliness and despair. Bleak beliefs such as these are no more valid in God’s kingdom than are any other extreme mortal moods during holidays or on any other day.

Is one answer to human woe to welcome a lonesome, maybe houseless, person into your home and celebrate the spirit of Christmas with them? Of course, if the offer is inspired by divine Love! Is another answer to send Christmas goodie boxes to shut‑ins? Of course. Or to military men and women far from home? Of course. These are all lovingly motivated forms of human giving.

Yet even the best intentions and warmest, widest outreach cannot extend to all, whereas silent acknowledgement that we all live in God’s perfect habitation can and does extend to and bless each and every man, woman, child, and creature of His making.

I learned a bit about the difference between human goodness and divine bestowals when I was a youngster.

A Christmas Eve tradition we had on my grandparents’ farm was to shake corn kernels in a long-handled basket that we waved back and forth over a crackling fire in the living room fireplace. After the kernels popped, my sister and I threaded them onto popcorn strands for the tree. They varied in length depending on how much of the decoration each of us ate! Then, before heading to bed, we lay on the floor watching the fire and listening to Gram read aloud What Christmas Means to Me by Mary Baker Eddy. Mom was on the sofa next to Gram, Pop sat in his easy chair, and the dog slept nearby.

Our Leader’s words in that slim volume both soothed and stimulated me. In retrospect, I realize they offer the universal answer to all human misfortunes—the solution to our eternal quest for God’s goodness and our own immortality. I realize anew, too, that limited human perspectives and resources are never sufficient to satisfy our spiritual longings.

One of the articles, “The Significance of Christmas,” which Mrs. Eddy originally wrote for New York World, presented ideas I loved—especially:

Patient love that “suffereth long, and is kind” describes Houston’s Journal-listed Christian Science nurse, Susie Petersen, who gently, compassionately supports each of her clients.

We board members and Susie share with you Mrs. Eddy’s 1909 Christmas Day benediction from the last page of What Christmas Means To Me: “Beloved: — A word to the wise is sufficient. Mother wishes you all a happy Christmas, a feast of Soul and a famine of sense. Lovingly thine, Mary Baker Eddy.”

Photos by YouTube and iStock

Financial Assistance Available

Any Christian Scientist relying upon the services of a Christian Science practitioner and/or a Journal‑listed Christian Science nurse may obtain financial support by applying to the National Fund for Christian Science Nursing (NFCSN). You may contact The Principle Foundation, which manages this fund, by emailing info@nfcsn.org or by calling (800) 873-2843.

Meet the HVCSNS Board

Dave Daniels, President — Ninth Church, Houston
Sue Merrill, Vice President — First Church, Bellaire
Salomon Ngalamulume, Treasurer — Seventh Church, Houston
Pauline Nesbitt, Corresponding Secretary — Seventh Church, Houston
Susan Clay, Recording Secretary — Seventh Church, Houston
Lynne Clark, Director — First Church, The Woodlands
Grace Duffy, Director — First Church, Durango, Colorado
Sherry Garrett, Director — Seventh Church, Houston

Members of Houston-area branch churches not currently represented on our board are welcome to join us.

Our office is your home – providing care in the comfort of your residence.

Thank you for your support.

Love Enriches

In the Christian Science church Sunday School in Spring, Texas, there is a small, framed image of Winnie-the-Pooh and Piglet sitting together on a log. Beneath them is a caption: “Piglet noticed that even though he had a Very Small Heart, it could hold a rather large amount of Gratitude.”

The enriching character of gratitude, so sweetly expressed by author A. A. Milne and illustrator E. H. Shepard, is not something we acquire.

Rather, gratitude is a built-in feature of man. It’s inherent in our spiritual nature, which embodies divine Love. And divine Love cannot reflect itself as our love without having a full measure of gratitude.

You could call gratitude our ceaseless prayer, our cup that runneth over, and one of God’s greatest gifts to us and to our world. (See Violet Ker Seymer’s hymn 146/147 in the Christian Science Hymnal.)

Our responsibility—our response to God’s ability—is to be grateful for every good He gives us. One way to show our gratitude to God is to always forgive His children—including ourselves.

When we forgive our neighbor, we are loving him as we would have him love us. Forgiveness is a healing balm: it relinquishes all mental or audible condemnation of self and of others.

When I apologized recently to a dear friend for failing to respond to her email in a timely fashion, she graciously assured me there was nothing to forgive. As proof, she shared the article “ Forgive, And Ye Shall Be Forgiven ” (The Christian Science Journal, May 1908). Its author, Ida Mitchell Roff, beautifully articulates why forgiveness is so indispensable to healing—indeed, to our salvation.

Joining hands with gratitude and forgiveness is the equally essential quality of humility. Mortal sense may dismiss humility as outmoded or ineffectual—as if it means being walked on, like a doormat.

However, if we consider the lives of our humble exemplars, Christ Jesus and Mary Baker Eddy, we realize that humility means forgiving—refusing to be offended by—all wrong committed against one, unless the offense be against God. Their humility allowed them to correct students impersonally—gently or sternly, as needed, but always with divine Love.

Humility heals, even when it takes the form of sheep, the humblest of creatures. Two years ago we shared a true story about the healing power of humble sheep. To re-read it, click here .

Gratitude. Forgiveness. Humility. When we actively live these three Godly qualities, we are able to prove the truth of this message from our Master: “Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened” (Matthew 7:7, 8).

Your Houston Visiting Christian Science Nurse Service feels your love. Your love for God. Your love for Christian Science—the Comforter promised by Christ Jesus.

We feel your gratitude for the healing presence of our Journal‑listed, Houston‑based Christian Science nurse, Susie Petersen.

We ask your forgiveness if we have neglected in any way, at any time, to show our immense gratitude for you!

We understand the spiritual humility it takes for you to depend upon Christian Science treatment—and, if appropriate, Christian Science nursing care—when you are seeking healing.

We know that your Love‑inspired gratitude, forgiveness, and humility have enriched you immeasurably.

And guess what: Your Love-inspired gratitude, forgiveness, and humility have enriched us, too!

From our Piglet‑like "Very Small [Big] Hearts . . . holding a rather large amount of Gratitude," we humbly thank each local branch church and each precious individual who loves, embraces, and bears witness to Christian Science healing and supports us prayerfully and financially.

Yes, friends, thanks to God and His sons and daughters—you!—the Houston Visiting Christian Science Nurse Service is indeed enriched every day.

With Grateful Love,
Board of Directors

Image by Lori Sun from Pexels

Financial Assistance Available

Any Christian Scientist relying upon the services of a Christian Science practitioner and/or a Journal‑listed Christian Science nurse may obtain financial support by applying to the National Fund for Christian Science Nursing (NFCSN). You may contact The Principle Foundation, which manages this fund, by emailing info@nfcsn.org or by calling (800) 873-2843.

Meet the HVCSNS Board

Dave Daniels, President — Ninth Church, Houston
Sue Merrill, Vice President — First Church, Bellaire
Salomon Ngalamulume, Treasurer — Seventh Church, Houston
Pauline Nesbitt, Corresponding Secretary — Seventh Church, Houston
Susan Clay, Recording Secretary — Seventh Church, Houston
Lynne Clark, Director — First Church, The Woodlands
Grace Duffy, Director — First Church, Durango, Colorado
Sherry Garrett, Director — Seventh Church, Houston

Members of Houston-area branch churches not currently represented on our board are welcome to join us.

Our office is your home – providing care in the comfort of your residence.

Thank you for your support.

Love and gratitude

Love and gratitude are indispensable and interdependent qualities. It is not possible to have one without the other. Feeling gratitude without the spirit of unselfed love is like a ship sitting on the sand dunes of the Sahara−too immobile to be of any earthly use. Just as the same ship moves freely once placed in deep water, so is our gratitude made practical when it’s surrounded and sustained by an ocean of Love—the Love that is God. You could say: It is Love alone that “floats our boat”!

Love with a capital “L” heals. Our gratitude to God is simply our expectancy of divine Love’s healing effects. We members of the Houston Visiting Christian Science Nurse Service board believe that this organization exists to support Love’s healing works and that it is natural to feel great gratitude for its mission.

For the past five years we have gratefully and lovingly employed Journal‑listed Susie Petersen as the Houston‑area visiting Christian Science nurse. Every day we see how she supports spiritual healing through her consecrated work, her divinely compassionate character, and her sweet, joyful attitude.

Those of you who have met Susie undoubtedly agree that she radiates grace. Her clients express gratitude for her gentle touch and practical care. Her work also blesses clients’ sometimes-skeptical family members. When she lets the light of Love shine into the sickroom and cut through clouds of doubt and fear, this light warms the hearts of those who are supporting the spiritual conviction of their loved one—even if they themselves are not Christian Scientists.

Occasionally Susie has been called to the side of patients (whom we call “clients”) in the hospital. There, she has an opportunity to share with curious medical professionals how a Christian Science nurse depends upon God, the great Physician, in everything she (or he) does. The nurses and doctors see that Christian Science takes seriously such Bible verses as “. . . thou reignest over all; and in thine hand is power and might; and in thine hand it is to make great, and to give strength unto all” (I Chronicles 29:12). [The bold we added emphasizes that God is the one and only healer.]

At these times, Susie’s respectful conversations with medical practitioners result in their clearer views and grateful acknowledgment of Christian Science healing—and of its practitioners. Such hospital visits are rare. But in each instance, Susie simply follows the behest of Love−supporting her client’s expressed wish while not compromising her ethical oath to her Christian Science nurse training and listing.

The January 2021 “ Good News ” article, “What to Expect from a Christian Science Nurse” can be found on our website.

Other “Good News” issues have featured written testimonies of gratitude from either clients or family members. One such example is in the December 2020 newsletter. These written testimonies of healing and of gratitude to and love for Susie are precious to us. But we equally appreciate the little signs of Love reflected in love—the heartfelt thank you or beaming smile or hand-squeeze—that her clients daily convey to Susie.

As our visiting Christian Science nurse, Susie makes herself available 24/7. She has been known to graciously spend Christmas Day and other holidays away from her family to aid a dear client in need. Of course, we board members never know the names or specific details of her clients. Confidentiality is one of the most sacred duties of a Christian Science nurse.

We are cognizant not only of Susie’s willingness to be ever‑ready to serve her fellow Christian Scientists but also of her many years of dedication to this work.

Her consecration leads us to make this statement: All practicing students of Christian Science—yes, you and you and you and I—are likewise being called upon to serve and support our fellow members with the same compassion and stick‑to‑itiveness that Susie possesses. This demand holds true no matter how long our church brethren seem to be enduring a challenge.

Perhaps John C. Lathrop realized the importance of sticking by our brothers and sisters in Christ when his teacher, Mary Baker Eddy, reminded all the members of her Pleasant View household:

This October 2023 issue of “Good News” is intended to dispel any mental imposition that would interfere with your natural right as a Christian Scientist to ask for and receive the loving help of your Journal‑listed Christian Science nurse.

Your reward for doing so? “Both riches and honour come of thee,” promises the first part of the above I Chronicles quote.

Remember, Love and gratitude join hands to heal us. They float our boat.

Lovingly,
Board of Directors

Financial Assistance Available

Any Christian Scientist relying upon the services of a Christian Science practitioner and/or a Journal‑listed Christian Science nurse may obtain financial support by applying to the National Fund for Christian Science Nursing (NFCSN). You may contact The Principle Foundation, which manages this fund, by emailing info@nfcsn.org or by calling (800) 873-2843.

Meet the HVCSNS Board

Dave Daniels, President — Ninth Church, Houston
Sue Merrill, Vice President — First Church, Bellaire
Salomon Ngalamulume, Treasurer — Seventh Church, Houston
Pauline Nesbitt, Corresponding Secretary — Seventh Church, Houston
Susan Clay, Recording Secretary — Seventh Church, Houston
Lynne Clark, Director — First Church, The Woodlands
Grace Duffy, Director — First Church, Durango, Colorado
Sherry Garrett, Director — Seventh Church, Houston

Members of Houston-area branch churches not currently represented on our board are welcome to join us.

Our office is your home – providing care in the comfort of your residence.

Thank you for your support.

Train up a child

Children in some states have already begun their school year, and more will return to the classroom soon. How wonderful to see them back at school, be it public or private or home-based. The restrictions that marooned many students—forcing them to learn online, in the solitude of their living rooms—have been lifted. Pupils are back to being their free and unimpeded selves!

Many of us believe school should be about more than just showing up in class, obeying administrative rules, and mechanically memorizing a bunch of facts and figures.

Indeed, we conscientious adults observe that true education is about guiding young peoples’ thoughts away from a focus on “self”—being popular, making the cut on teams, winning awards, achieving high rankings—and toward concern for doing good to others, especially those classmates who need a helping hand academically or a warm, welcoming smile that makes them feel included socially.

We support schools where the youngsters, whether in class or on the playing field or on a stage, have plenty of opportunities to practice being kindhearted and thoughtful as well as brave enough to tackle new challenges without fear and to make new friends without fault-finding.

Mary Baker Eddy, the Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science, had a clear understanding of how to mold young minds in the right direction and steer them away from worthless pursuits. In her seminal book, Science and Health With Key to the Scriptures, she wrote:

I learned a lesson about these two kinds of laws—one “so-called”—from my grandmother, a Christian Science practitioner. It happened this way.

My parents divorced when I was in sixth grade, and Mom moved my sister and me to her parents’ farm in rural Pennsylvania. There, she enrolled in a community college and earned a degree in teaching, ostensibly to support us as a working single parent.

Dad came in from Chicago to visit us from time to time. By then, I’d just started my junior year in high school. Apparently, he and Mom had been corresponding and had rekindled their affections. They sat us down one day to say that they were going to be remarried—to each other! We would all be moving to Mundelein, Illinois, to start fresh. Though I was overjoyed for them, I couldn’t bear to leave the farm. So my parents graciously allowed me to stay put until I was ready to join them.

Three months later, I told Gram it was time for me to go to Chicago. Without a murmur, she and Pop drove me there. (I could tell they wanted to keep me under their wing, but they knew not to say so.)

Just before she and Pop headed home to their farm, Gram pulled me aside and spoke to me in a very serious tone. “Davey, remember this. Be careful what you build a bridge to (she was inferring underage drinking and substance abuse), because it’s not so easy to get back.”

Believe it or not, this was a revolutionary idea to me. For the first time, I learned that I had the power to choose. Up until then, I’d heard desperate pleas from my mother to stay away from drugs and alcohol. But here was Gram presenting me with the magnificent power to be a free moral agent!

From that moment on, I never felt overwhelmed by peer pressure to drink, despite attending many social events as a high schooler. I knew exactly who I was: God’s perfect child, spiritual and untouched by those “so-called” physical laws. I blossomed at that new-and-strange-to-me public school. Not once was I tempted by the false attractions that swirled around me, for I was trained up right—trained to happily choose to be upright!

I’m reminded of the words of one of the psalmists, who, thousands of years ago, sang praises to the same God that had showered me decades ago—and still does today—with the blessing of forming “habits of obedience to the moral and spiritual law”: “Let thy work appear unto thy servants, and thy glory unto their children” (Psalms 90:16).

After high school, I entered a private college that at the time accepted only students of Christian Science. It was there, at Principia College, that I first read the following passage, which I loved then and still love to this day. It became my touchstone. It defines true education—not just for young people, but for all people. It gives each and every child of God a grad course for life!

Photos by Johnny McClung and Anna Kolosyuk on Unsplash

Annual Meeting

What: Houston Visiting Christian Science Nurse Service, Inc. Annual Meeting (approximately 75 to 90 minutes)

Where: Seventh Church auditorium
1740 Yorktown, Houston, TX 77056

When: Saturday, September 16, 2023 @ 2:00 PM

Who: For all Christian Scientists and their family members

Why: To hear George Nutwell III (Texas Committee on Publication) and Mike Holmes, Esq. inspire and update us

Dear Friends,
You and your families are warmly invited to join us on Saturday, September 16th, at 2:00 PM at Seventh Church to hear George Nutwell III address the subject, "Handling Impositions on Christian Science." George is the Christian Science Committee on Publication for Texas. Following his inspirational talk, Seventh Church member and attorney Mike Holmes will share some important information on Medicare and legal protections for Christian Scientists, including our legal obligations after the passing of a loved one. After the Q&A, there will be cookies and fellowship in the foyer.
Lovingly,
Board of Directors,
Houston Visiting Christian Science Nurse Service, Inc.

Financial Assistance Available

Any Christian Scientist relying upon the services of a Christian Science practitioner and/or a Journal‑listed Christian Science nurse may obtain financial support by applying to the National Fund for Christian Science Nursing (NFCSN). You may contact The Principle Foundation, which manages this fund, by emailing info@nfcsn.org or by calling (800) 873-2843.

Meet the HVCSNS Board

Dave Daniels, President — Ninth Church, Houston
Sue Merrill, Vice President — First Church, Bellaire
Salomon Ngalamulume, Treasurer — Seventh Church, Houston
Pauline Nesbitt, Corresponding Secretary — Seventh Church, Houston
Susan Clay, Recording Secretary — Seventh Church, Houston
Lynne Clark, Director — First Church, The Woodlands
Grace Duffy, Director — First Church, Durango, Colorado
Sherry Garrett, Director — Seventh Church, Houston

Members of Houston-area branch churches not currently represented on our board are welcome to join us.

Our office is your home – providing care in the comfort of your residence.

Thank you for your support.

Out of the wilderness

I remember the time when dad and I went camping, along with a score or so of other fathers and sons. That first morning I awoke early and quietly slid out of my sleeping bag so as not to wake up dad. I felt like Daniel Boone treading noiselessly through the dense forest that surrounded the campgrounds. My seven‑year‑old enthusiasm propelled me deep into the woods until I suddenly realized it was best to head back to our campsite.

That’s when I turned around and saw only trees. There was no trail. I had absolutely no idea where I was or what direction to go to get back. Panicked, I stopped and stood in the sunlight that filtered through the boughs. With simple trust, I prayed to feel God’s presence. In a moment, a few words from my bedtime prayer came to me: “. . . guide my little feet up to Thee.” Now calm, I waited for God to tell me where to go. He did. Soon, foreboding wilderness gave way to the familiar scene of tents and morning campfires. Dad never knew I’d left.

The first part of Mary Baker Eddy’s definition of wilderness—“Loneliness; doubt; darkness”—seemed to be my lot that day. Yet I intuitively knew that focusing on those three mental states would’ve left me lost, wandering in bewildering circles, gripped with fear. Instead, my trusting heart sided with the rest of her description of wilderness: “Spontaneity of thought and idea; the vestibule in which a material sense of things disappears, and spiritual sense unfolds the great facts of existence” (Science and Health, 597:16).

What are “the great facts of existence”? Well, I’m sure I was comforted by the one great fact I knew: God is Love. I also understood what it meant for divine Love to be "reflected in love." For, even at that young age, I was learning Mrs. Eddy’s spiritual sense of the Lord’s Prayer (SH 16:7). It meant, to me, that we’re to love all our neighbors as God loves us.

Oh, and there’s one more thing I knew without a doubt: Jesus, who taught his followers the Lord’s Prayer, was the best man ever, because his love for God and his neighbors was so huge!

Come to think of it, perhaps I even recalled, from reading all those Bible stories in Sunday School, that Jesus actually liked to go into the wilderness. He wasn't afraid of forests or deserts or mountaintops.

In fact, when Jesus heard about the death of his cousin John—his playmate when they were little boys and the young man who would baptize him at the start of his healing ministry—his response was to walk into a desert, a wilderness place, to commune quietly with his heavenly Father. There, Jesus let Love lift him out of grief.

When some people who wanted his help scouted him out, Jesus was so uplifted by his alone time with God in the wilderness that he was ready to selflessly meet their needs. Later, his disciple Matthew remembered that day, “And Jesus went forth, and saw a great multitude, and was moved with compassion toward them, and he healed their sick” (Matthew 14:14). From this account of our Master we learn not to be afraid of—but even to welcome—our own wilderness experiences.

Of course, that’s easy to say, harder to do. Dire circumstances sometimes press upon us, leaving us feeling embattled.

Consider how besieged Abraham Lincoln felt during the Civil War, yet he remained steadfast and stayed the course. He once said, “I know I am not a great man−and perhaps it is better that it is so−for it makes me rely upon One who is great and who has the wisdom and power to lead us safely through this great trial.”

That’s from a new book titled And There Was Light by Jon Meacham (p. 226). Meacham continues:

Lincoln was not a churchgoing man. He embraced no theology except a desire to humbly acknowledge and yield to God. Trustingly he said: “I am satisfied that when the Almighty wants me to do or not to do a particular thing, he finds a way of letting me know” (p. 255).

Just as the Almighty found “a way” to guide humble Christ Jesus and humble Mary Baker Eddy and humble Abe Lincoln, so does He direct the way when each of us honors and obeys Him. We prove, during our foreboding wilderness trials, that no discord, no illness, no crushing obligation, no loss, no form of evil can ever separate us from God’s goodness, from pure peace, from fearless freedom.

One of the most humble servants of God we have the pleasure of knowing is our Journal-listed Christian Science nurse, Susie Petersen. God always “finds a way of letting [Susie] know” exactly how to help each dear one for whom she is caring. When the physical picture presents a trying wilderness experience, she bears witness to "spiritual sense unfold[ing] the great facts of being."

A special trait we’ve observed in Susie is that, no matter what trials her clients face, she faithfully follows this request from our Leader: “Let us serve instead of rule, knock instead of push at the door of human hearts, and allow to each and every one the same rights and privileges that we claim for ourselves” (Miscellaneous Writings, 303:13).

Photos by Gustavo Queiroz on Pexels and Library of Congress on Unsplash

Save the date

Save the date for our HVCSNS annual meeting: Saturday, September 16, 2023, at 2:00 PM. There’s plentiful parking at our chosen location: Seventh Church of Christ, Scientist, 1740 Yorktown in Houston (77056). Soon we’ll announce the names of our two special guest speakers.

Financial Assistance Available

Any Christian Scientist relying upon the services of a Christian Science practitioner and/or a Journal‑listed Christian Science nurse may obtain financial support by applying to the National Fund for Christian Science Nursing (NFCSN). You may contact The Principle Foundation, which manages this fund, by emailing info@nfcsn.org or by calling (800) 873-2843.

Meet the HVCSNS Board

Dave Daniels, President — Ninth Church, Houston
Sue Merrill, Vice President — First Church, Bellaire
Salomon Ngalamulume, Treasurer — Seventh Church, Houston
Pauline Nesbitt, Corresponding Secretary — Seventh Church, Houston
Susan Clay, Recording Secretary — Seventh Church, Houston
Lynne Clark, Director — First Church, The Woodlands
Grace Duffy, Director — First Church, Durango, Colorado
Sherry Garrett, Director — Seventh Church, Houston

Members of Houston-area branch churches not currently represented on our board are welcome to join us.

Our office is your home – providing care in the comfort of your residence.

Thank you for your support.

Freedom:

I remember marching from my house down 313 East Main Street to the Mechanicsburg Public Library on the corner of Simpson and Walnut streets, which was nearly a mile away. I was serious about being a soldier. My mom had outfitted me in her old high school blue coat, adding gleaming gold buttons. I looked like a real Civil War Union infantryman, complete with a kepi on my head and plastic gun belt and cavalry sword at my side.

Running around the neighborhood, I fought dozens of imaginary Confederates. I’d charge with plastic sword waving and plastic Army Colt pistol blazing. ’Twas not for my own glory, though: I was fighting to preserve the unity of the United States of America.

For the sake of authenticity, I took regular dives, flopping on the ground as if wounded. Each fall bent the sword scabbard in half, so I had to bend it back—never breaking it but leaving several permanent crimps. The imaginary bullets I endured for the cause were how I learned self-sacrifice.

Everybody in the family knew of my fascination with the four‑year (1861‑1865) American Civil War. Dad took me frequently to Gettysburg, which was only 30 miles from our house. There, I happily climbed on the giant granite boulders of Devil’s Den and hiked up the hill of Little Round Top, from where I could see the same panoramic view of the battlefield that the actual Northern troops saw. After that, we’d drive over to the site of Pickett’s Charge, where General Lee’s valiant men were repulsed in a deadly clash that would become known as the high‑water mark of the Confederacy. The Southern forces never fully recovered from that defeat.

As a college student, I fancied myself fairly well versed in the Civil War until a history professor asked us a simple question that stumped me.

The question: What lesson did we learn from the Civil War?

The answer: It represented our nation’s inability to compromise.

The Civil War isn’t on our minds much these days. Few of us know its details or can imagine the bloody battles and broken‑up families.

We all know, though, that the points of view of North and South were at great odds. And isn’t that the nature of strong human will? It inflames our passions. It divides us, often pitting neighbor against neighbor, friend against friend, even family member against family member. Stubborn will thrives on opposing viewpoints, keeping well‑intentioned humans forever at war. It perceives the other party as not just wrong, but evil.

Mary Baker Eddy, who was in her fourth decade—and on the cusp of discovering Christian Science—during the Civil War, understood, from her lifelong love of the Bible, that human will must be subdued by, must surrender to, Divine will.

Years later, when celebrating her nation’s independence with 2,500 members of The Mother Church, whom she had invited to join her at Pleasant View on July 4, 1897, she spoke these words, which remain relevant in our day:

That God’s kingdom on earth is a present possibility gives me a much greater thrill than the battlefield victories of my active boyhood imagination and the present‑day fireworks spectacles accompanied by Sousa marching music.

Let us pray that the horrible human toll wrought by that war and all wars be mitigated through mankind’s improved understanding of our true nature as the spiritual, thus pure, and perfect, sons and daughters of God.

Mrs. Eddy may have been thinking that very thing when, in the same Fourth of July message, she observed:
 
Failure to compromise is one of the characteristics of intransigent human will that masquerades as our thinking. In Christian Science, we learn that divine Love destroys the mortal belief of many minds, of at‑odds opinions, with the immortal fact that God, the one and only Mind, is omnipotent, supreme, All.

This truth sets us free from the temptation to be willful; to stay stuck in obdurate, inflexible positions; to resist our Father‑Mother’s humane command to sometimes—at all the right times—cede some ground to our brother man.
 

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The Houston Visiting Christian Science Nurse Service, Inc. exists to provide the Christ’s healing touch of freedom to all Christian Scientists throughout our area who are in need of metaphysically based physical assistance. The loving labors of our Journal‑listed Christian Science nurse, Susie Petersen, attest to our Leader’s Bible‑based declaration:
 
Let freedom ring!

Photo Courtesy of Dave Daniels

Financial Assistance Available

Any Christian Scientist relying upon the services of a Christian Science practitioner and/or a Journal‑listed Christian Science nurse may obtain financial support by applying to the National Fund for Christian Science Nursing (NFCSN). You may contact The Principle Foundation, which manages this fund, by emailing info@nfcsn.org or by calling (800) 873-2843.

Meet the HVCSNS Board

Dave Daniels, President — Ninth Church, Houston
Sue Merrill, Vice President — First Church, Bellaire
Salomon Ngalamulume, Treasurer — Seventh Church, Houston
Pauline Nesbitt, Corresponding Secretary — Seventh Church, Houston
Susan Clay, Recording Secretary — Seventh Church, Houston
Lynne Clark, Director — First Church, The Woodlands
Grace Duffy, Director — First Church, Durango, Colorado
Sherry Garrett, Director — Seventh Church, Houston

Members of Houston-area branch churches not currently represented on our board are welcome to join us.

Our office is your home – providing care in the comfort of your residence.

Thank you for your support.

Honoring Fatherhood:

The poet Robert Browning wrote: “There’s a blessing on the hearth, A special providence for fatherhood!” (Familiar Quotations, John Bartlett, 11th Edition, 1942; p. 491).

These heartwarming words bring to mind fond memories of my father, Harry Daniels.

Fatherhood is forever, so it doesn’t really matter where our father resides—whether he’s sitting in the next room or is no longer physically present.

Fatherhood exudes love because it emanates from Love, which, with a capital “L,” is a name for God. Our divine Father and our human father never leave us loveless. They envelop us beyond 24/7, to eternity. They love us as dearly and hold us as tightly as we do them.

As I contemplate the purpose of commemorating Father’s Day, I’m filled with happy recollections of my dad and of the loving qualities he lived. (Lives!)

I remember the time he introduced me to the Indian Guides* program while we were driving home one evening. He described how fathers and sons spend time together, including outdoor activities. “We’d be in the Chickasaw tribe,” he said, his voice filled with excitement. “And we’d have Indian names. Hey, Davo, how ’bout Big Silver Horse and Little Silver Horse?” “Yeah,” I yelled with equal excitement, “those are great names for us, Dad!”

When we got home, he collected some treasures—a book about Indian lore, bits and pieces of horsehair, black felt, and feathers, long strips of rabbit skins, and genuine-looking Indian beadwork—and announced we were going to make ceremonial headdresses.

My bed was our workbench. I say “our,” but, truth be told, Dad did practically all the work. I helped hold in place whatever he glued or stitched together. When he sewed the black felt into a beanie for me, I saw its slight resemblance to the pictures in the how-to book and was convinced these random bits of fabric would turn into something magical! The second photo is the remains of my Last of the Mohicans headdress.

From then on, each Monday night Dad would give me a quarter—enough wampum to put on the tom-tom during our Indian Guides meeting. All the other six-to-seven-year-old kids did the same. We sat proudly next to our fathers, raised our palms, solemnly spoke the magic word “How!” and tried not to squirm in our seats. The dads smiled down at their serious would-be-warrior sons.

An annual Indian Guides fundraiser that paid for our big weekend campout was a pancake dinner held at the Raritan Valley YMCA. I was awed when my dad volunteered to organize the event.

Together, we shopped for a galvanized trash can, a canoe paddle, and cases of pancake mix and Log Cabin syrup. I also went door-to-door with my fellow eager-beaver Guides, holding up pancake supper tickets and hoping our neighbors would buy them. They did, thank goodness.

My friend Marky’s father did a magic show to keep the crowd entertained while my father stirred the trash can full of batter and manned the griddles with a couple other dads. The line went out the door! Everyone stuffed themselves—and many declared Dad’s flapjacks the best they’d ever eaten.

I still have the plaque that the Y executive director presented to Dad in recognition of his being the powerhouse behind the most successful pancake fundraiser ever! The pride I felt in him lingers—so much so that to this day I honor our combined Indian Guides name as my backpacking trail name. (See Silver Horse photo.) 

The top photo is a crinkled Polaroid of my father taken at my bachelor’s party. He told me how happy he was to see me getting married and “being all set” with a bright future. I was 23. He passed away five months later.

Dad’s natural joke-telling talents rubbed off on me. I find myself thinking “Dad would love this one!” whenever I tell a passing stranger the latest joke I’ve learned—which, incidentally, does not thrill my wife.

The legacy my father and my mother (whom I celebrated in last month’s Good News article) left in my life can be summed up in two words: unconditional love. I don’t have to describe it to you, for you undoubtedly feel the same ever-present parental affection from your folks, be they at your side or advanced to the next plane.

We identify their love’s common source as God, the real Parent of us all. Mrs. Eddy put it best:
 

We can stake all our wampum on our Father-Mother Love. Honest!

* “Indian Guides” was a YMCA program for young boys that harks back to the 1920s. It and related programs are described on a website called Vintage Kids Clubs Online Museum (see this page: https://www.vintagekidstuff.com/ymca-indian-guide-program ). We realize that the language used for many decades to describe the original inhabitants of the continent of North America is today rightly considered inaccurate and often regarded as offensive. Were we not trying to be true to what Dave and his dad thought, said, and did as a father-son team in the 1960s, we would of course be writing the respectful words “indigenous peoples” or “Native Americans.”

Photos Courtesy of Dave Daniels

Financial Assistance Available

Any Christian Scientist relying upon the services of a Christian Science practitioner and/or a Journal‑listed Christian Science nurse may obtain financial support by applying to the National Fund for Christian Science Nursing (NFCSN). You may contact The Principle Foundation, which manages this fund, by emailing info@nfcsn.org or by calling (800) 873-2843.

Meet the HVCSNS Board

Dave Daniels, President — Ninth Church, Houston
Sue Merrill, Vice President — First Church, Bellaire
Salomon Ngalamulume, Treasurer — Seventh Church, Houston
Pauline Nesbitt, Corresponding Secretary — Seventh Church, Houston
Susan Clay, Recording Secretary — Seventh Church, Houston
Lynne Clark, Director — First Church, The Woodlands
Grace Duffy, Director — First Church, Durango, Colorado
Sherry Garrett, Director — Seventh Church, Houston

Members of Houston-area branch churches not currently represented on our board are welcome to join us.

Our office is your home – providing care in the comfort of your residence.

Thank you for your support.

Cherishing Motherhood:

Steve Hartman is a well-known broadcast journalist whose human‑interest stories are often featured on the CBS Sunday Morning show. This one appeared on April 22nd—just in time for Mother’s Day. Here’s the synopsis:

After watching the beaming smiles and bear hugs that finally-found-innocent Lamar and Ginny exchanged upon his release, we can all agree: The ways selfless motherhood expresses itself are infinite—and profoundly moving.

Mary Baker Eddy defines Mother (capital “M”) as divinity itself: “MOTHER.  God; divine and eternal Principle; Life, Truth, and Love” (Science and Health, 592:16–17).

Because we are all children of this one Mother, Mrs. Eddy’s definition speaks to the spiritual identity of each human mother, including my own.

My memories of Rosemary Daniels don’t include any awesome life‑changing accomplishment. You could say her time here consisted of many little but meaningful-to‑me moments. In that sense, she was like most mothers.

My mom’s background in theater was an outgrowth of her boundless creativity. My sister Deb and I credit our love of reading to Mom, who every evening read us classics like Robin Hood, Little Women, Treasure Island, Huckleberry Finn, The Wind in the Willows, to name a few. She would channel each character’s voice, sounding just like the Sheriff of Nottingham . . . Jo and Amy . . . Billy Bones . . . Huck and Tom . . . Toad and Mole. It was magical. We’d hang on every word, begging for just one more chapter! Then, Mom always made us say a special bedtime prayer (Miscellaneous Writings 400:14–18) before kissing us goodnight:
 
We always felt warmed inside and out by this prayer, a gift from Mrs. Eddy to “the little children.”

Deb and I remember Mom had a paint-speckled wooden box stuffed with art brushes, a multi-hued pallet, and a gaggle of well‑used oil paints, which she’d haul out any time inspiration struck.

Such was the case one snowy Christmas at the farm. I was nine or ten that year. I was playing Civil War on the floor with my new plastic soldier set I’d gotten that morning. I saw Mom set up her easel by the window behind me. Out of curiosity, I kept an eye on her sketch—a view of the corncrib and barn visible from her perch. Soon, I became enthralled watching her blend colors on the pallet and bring the buildings to life by just dabbing and brushing them into existence.

Suddenly, Pop, my grandfather, appeared. He headed outside carrying a bucket of hot water to thaw the frozen water trough and feed the sheep. Just like that, Mom painted him into the picture. It remains one of my favorites, because I watched it happen!

My mother absolutely expected us to attend college. Her mantra was that she wanted us to avoid her mistakes, like dashing off after high school to be stage actors in New York, as she had. When our parents divorced, Mom needed a job. So she enrolled as the oldest freshman at a small local college to earn a teaching degree.

Many a night when I went to bed she was still up studying or researching a paper for college. It amazed me to see her still at it the next morning. All her hard work paid off when Mom graduated and actually got a job teaching English—in our high school. Surprise!

We didn’t see our mom for the next three summers. She went on to earn a master’s degree at Northwestern University in Chicago. Even though we missed her, we supported her decision, for we knew she loved us. Which brings to mind:
 
A few short years later, Mom passed on at my house. Though someone was with her, I felt terribly guilty that I was at a required work function instead of with her. So deep was my regret that within a couple of weeks I became ill myself—to the point where I thought I, too, might pass on.

I called a friend who was a Christian Science practitioner and teacher. She emphatically declared, “There is no beckoning!” In an instant, I realized that guilt and separation are no part of God’s kingdom. The grief and guilt were gone. After that, the walking pneumonia quickly cleared up. I realized that my mother was moving forward, far beyond my limited human capacity to remember how she looked. By releasing her as God’s precious spiritual child, I, too, was free.

Photos Courtesy of Dave Daniels

Financial Assistance Available

Any Christian Scientist relying upon the services of a Christian Science practitioner and/or a Journal‑listed Christian Science nurse may obtain financial support by applying to the National Fund for Christian Science Nursing (NFCSN). You may contact The Principle Foundation, which manages this fund, by emailing info@nfcsn.org or by calling (800) 873-2843.

Meet the HVCSNS Board

Dave Daniels, President — Ninth Church, Houston
Sue Merrill, Vice President — First Church, Bellaire
Salomon Ngalamulume, Treasurer — Seventh Church, Houston
Pauline Nesbitt, Corresponding Secretary — Seventh Church, Houston
Susan Clay, Recording Secretary — Seventh Church, Houston
Lynne Clark, Director — First Church, The Woodlands
Grace Duffy, Director — First Church, Durango, Colorado
Sherry Garrett, Director — Seventh Church, Houston

Members of Houston-area branch churches not currently represented on our board are welcome to join us.

Our office is your home – providing care in the comfort of your residence.

Thank you for your support.

“Gratitude is riches”

The spiritual nature of gratitude confers the power to heal.

We all want to see healing in our lives and in the world. What, then, we might ask ourselves, are we grateful for?

As students of Christian Science, we reserve our utmost thanks for the “pearl of great price”—the gift bestowed upon the world by God through Christ Jesus and, later, through the Discoverer and scribe of this Science, Mary Baker Eddy.

Truly, we’re so thankful to the master Christian and his closest adherent, our beloved Leader, for teaching and living the Word of God and for giving mankind the understanding of scientific spiritual healing. Equipped with that understanding, we’re able to conquer challenges of all kinds, including physical ills and injuries, relationship issues, financial afflictions, and emotional woes.

This gift of divine healing comes to us in countless constructive forms. One form is the instant and constant availability of Susie Petersen, our Journal‑listed Houston Visiting Christian Science Nurse. Susie is Love in action. She ministers, supports, cares for, and comforts in the highest traditions of Christian Science nursing. She brings to each home she visits a pure thought that recognizes only the uplifting, indwelling presence of the Christ.

Many of us have had the special opportunity of getting to know Susie. If you haven’t yet, we encourage you to reach out for a “friendly visit”—a no‑strings-attached way to meet her in your home and ask her any personal and practical questions you may have. Everything about her visit remains confidential, just like the Christian Science nursing calls she makes.

So, please take advantage of the blessing of making a new friend and getting to know a treasured member of our Christian Science community. You’ll find it time well spent—and a joy!

We all feel deep gratitude for God’s gift of the Houston Visiting Christian Nurse Service. “Our gratitude is riches,” wrote Vivian Burnett in Hymn 249/250 (see the Christian Science Hymnal).

We each share our “riches” with HVCSNS in manifold ways. One important way is through financial support, which demonstrates the infinitude of divine Love’s currency and offers practical evidence of that inexhaustible Love meeting the human need.

Thank you, dear friends, for the generous prayers and funds you’ve bestowed upon the HVCSNS over the years—even decades! Indeed, some of you have been our allies since 1971, when a small band of visionaries established the Service for the express purpose of ensuring that Christian Science nursing would always be available in our city. With your continued support, this shepherding Service will remain able to lovingly assist our Christian Science neighbors in time of need.

If you prefer to donate online, simply click the button below. Should you prefer to mail a check, please send it to 815 Valley Ranch Drive, Katy, Texas 77450.

Meet the HVCSNS Board

Sue Merrill, Acting President — First Church, Bellaire
Salomon Ngalamulume, Treasurer — Seventh Church, Houston
Linda Lindeman, Corresponding Secretary — Fourth Church, Houston
Susan Clay, Recording Secretary — Seventh Church, Houston
Lynne Clark, Director — First Church, The Woodlands
Grace Duffy, Director — First Church, Durango, Colorado
Pauline Nesbitt, Director — Seventh Church, Houston

Members of Houston-area branch churches not currently represented on our board are welcome to join us.

Financial Assistance Available

Any Christian Scientist relying upon the services of a Christian Science practitioner and/or a Journal-listed Christian Science nurse may obtain financial support by applying to the National Fund for Christian Science Nursing (NFCSN). You may contact The Principle Foundation, which manages this fund, by emailing info@nfcsn.org

Cherishing Christian Science Nursing

My earliest recollection of nursing occurred during an overcast and chilly spring day on my grandparents’ farm. I was 12, a newly minted member of The Mother Church, when my grandfather, Pop, asked me to help him in the barn. It was lambing season—the time of year when newborn lambs enter the world. We welcomed any and all additions to the flock, for each one was critical to the financial viability of the farm. We couldn’t afford to lose a single lamb.

Pop led me to where a small ewe, lying on her side, was moving her head restlessly to and fro. She was clearly struggling in labor. Her sister sheep stood by watching as I followed Pop’s instructions to “hold her head down.” Then Pop positioned himself behind the ewe and gently took hold of two tiny protruding hooves. Sensing her need for help was being met, the mother lay still as slowly, steadily, Pop pulled her lamb free. The becalmed mom rested a moment then stood up, ready to nurse her wobbling little one.

This experience has stayed with me. It was evidence of my grandfather’s willingness to take whatever practical steps were necessary to assist—as noninvasively and inoffensively as possible—a fellow being.

Doing the most practical thing with tender love is also what Christian Science nurses do. The help they give may take the form of cleansing and bandaging a wound or bathing the body or preparing a nourishing meal. In other words, doing whatever a situation requires.

But even more than attending to physical needs, Christian Science nurses turn to divine Principle, Love, knowing that its action is always more potent, pure, and perfect than any human act and is always correcting any claim of discord.

Christian Science nurses realize that God alone is the healer and that His constant care maintains every one of His precious ideas, be they lamb or human. Supporting the Christian Science practitioner treating the case, a nurse keeps her own thought free of the false picture of illness or injury. She holds to the truth, either silently or audibly, that the one she is aiding remains a solely spiritual, thus always harmonious, child of God.

Recently I was reminded of a lovely letter written by a grateful family about our Journal‑listed visiting Christian Science nurse and published in our December 2020 newsletter. It bears repeating:
 

*The family has given permission for us to publish their letter without a signature.

Photo by Tonia Kraakman on Pexels

Financial Assistance Available

Any Christian Scientist relying upon the services of a Christian Science practitioner and/or a Journal-listed Christian Science nurse may obtain financial support by applying to the National Fund for Christian Science Nursing (NFCSN). You may contact The Principle Foundation, which manages this fund, by emailing info@nfcsn.org or by calling (800) 873-2843.

Meet the HVCSNS Board

Dave Daniels, President — Ninth Church, Houston
Sue Merrill, Vice President — First Church, Bellaire
Salomon Ngalamulume, Treasurer — Seventh Church, Houston
Pauline Nesbitt, Corresponding Secretary — Seventh Church, Houston
Susan Clay, Recording Secretary — Seventh Church, Houston
Lynne Clark, Director — First Church, The Woodlands
Grace Duffy, Director — First Church, Durango, Colorado
Sherry Garrett, Director — Seventh Church, Houston

Members of Houston-area branch churches not currently represented on our board are welcome to join us.

Our office is your home – providing care in the comfort of your residence.

Thank you for your support.

"Feed my sheep"

SHEEP — 3. Figuratively, God's people are called sheep, as being under the government and protection of Christ, the great Shepherd. (Webster's 1828 Dictionary)

This tender image of us as sheep—meek, tranquil, willing to be led and fed by the Good Shepherd—calls to mind a state of harmony and peace we all seek.

It reminds us that, like sheep, we cannot lead ourselves. If we try, we stray. We lose our way. We become prey. We stumble, fall, tremble with fear, live in constant danger. Then, when we finally tire of that fate, we turn back to the watchful, patient, "gentle presence" of our ever‑on‑duty Shepherd for direction and protection.

The Bible is full of sheep analogies. In the Old Testament, David sang, "The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures; he leadeth me beside the still waters" (Psalms 23:1, 2). In the New Testament, Jesus proclaimed, "I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep" and "I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine" (John 10:11, 14). After querying Simon Peter "lovest thou me?" three times and hearing Peter's affirmative "Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee," Jesus demanded proof: "Feed my sheep" (see John 21:15–17).

God's sheep are still His lambs—just bigger. Similarly, so‑called grown‑ups are still God's children. In God's eyes, all of us are His forever‑innocent lambs.

This point is beautifully brought out in a recent Daily Lift, Unearned love . In it, a small boy gets out of his dad's car and runs up to a stranger, who has just smiled at him. He pleads with her to stop walking along the roadside, where, he believes, she isn't safe. Have a listen. Does the word "guilelessness"—a lamb‑like quality—come to thought when you hear what the little boy says next?

We may be feeling like little lost lambs when we call on Christian Science practitioners and Christian Science nurses for help. Gently, ever so gently, they steer us away from our fears and back to the Shepherd's fold. They cherish—and patiently remind us of—our true selfhood as the safe, inviolable children of our near and dear divine Parent.

Three years have elapsed since we introduced you to our Houston‑area Journal‑listed visiting Christian Science nurse, Susie Petersen. Those of you who are new to this letter might like to meet her in these pages—and later in person. (And we figure our long‑time readers/supporters would like to greet Susie anew.)

MEET SUSIE!

Everyone who encounters Susie discovers in her a loving servant of God who is fully qualified to care for every human need. Her years of practical Christian Science nursing experience include both private duty cases and work in Christian Science nursing facilities.

Susie holds the distinction of being the first pupil in the United States to have received Le Verger Christian Science nursing instruction. Le Verger, headquartered in Rolle, Switzerland, is authorized by The Mother Church to conduct nursing training at all skill levels wherever there are sincere Christian Science nurse candidates ready and eager to be taught.

First and foremost, Susie is a metaphysician. As she fulfills her client's practical needs with calm joy and quiet love, she is identifying each one correctly—as the innocent, valued, whole, free offspring of Spirit, subject to neither mortal beliefs nor material circumstances. Susie entertains no wavering, wondering, or wandering thoughts in her consciousness—not even for an instant! 

To underscore this point, I'll give you an example of the type of mental pattern that my colleague Susie would not indulge while in the sickroom—and probably not even on the road! 

Recently, while driving my small car to a Wednesday testimony meeting, I noticed the flat tire light was lit up on the dashboard display. It was dark and there were no convenient gas stations, so I prayed. The phrase ". . . Love inspires, illumines, designates, and leads the way" from our textbook (page 454) reassured me that I would arrive safely at church and return home safely. I did.

The following afternoon I drove to an air pump dispenser behind a local gas station. I was so sure the tires were drastically underinflated that I changed a $5 bill into quarters to feed the pump dispenser. But before blindly adding air, I heard a little voice tell me to test each tire with a reliable tire air gauge. I complied. Twice.

Both times, the gauge showed that all four tires were already perfectly inflated! I was dumbstruck. When I started the car, though, the flat tire light was still lit. Hmmm. The same little voice instructed me to press the reset button. Voila! The light went off. Nothing had been wrong with the tires. Instead, I had wrongly assumed the light was right.

You can imagine the joy and humility I felt. That seemingly inconsequential episode taught me yet another lesson in the lifelong subject of identifying correctly what is always true and not unquestioningly accepting false information. In other words, once I returned to my sheep status and followed God's voice, all fear, worry, doubt, and opposing voices—like the blaring insistence of car trouble—were silenced. The stilling effect of prayer is precisely why we call practitioners and Christian Science nurses like Susie!

If you know of a fellow Christian Scientist who may need the nursing care Susie so skillfully and lovingly provides—giving a bath and shampoo, cleaning wounds, applying bandages, preparing a meal, running simple errands, and, most especially, reading the Bible Lesson aloud—we urge you to contact her directly and discreetly at (713) 304‑8384 or at susiepetersen3@gmail.com . She's also available to drop by for a friendly non‑nursing Christian visit. All visits, nursing or otherwise, are always confidential.

Thank you for keeping Susie occupied—and happy as a lark. Thank you, too, for your cherished prayerful and financial support. No prayer or gift is too small to contribute to the Houston Visiting Christian Science Nurse Service, which exists to benefit all area Christian Scientists and thus bless not only them but also their families and our entire community.

Photo by Jaka Škrlep on Unsplash

Financial Assistance Available

Any Christian Scientist relying upon the services of a Christian Science practitioner and/or a Journal-listed Christian Science nurse may obtain financial support by applying to the National Fund for Christian Science Nursing (NFCSN). You may contact The Principle Foundation, which manages this fund, by emailing info@nfcsn.org or by calling (800) 873-2843.

Meet the HVCSNS Board

Dave Daniels, President — Ninth Church, Houston
Sue Merrill, Vice President — First Church, Bellaire
Salomon Ngalamulume, Treasurer — Seventh Church, Houston
Pauline Nesbitt, Corresponding Secretary — Seventh Church, Houston
Susan Clay, Recording Secretary — Seventh Church, Houston
Lynne Clark, Director — First Church, The Woodlands
Grace Duffy, Director — First Church, Durango, Colorado
Sherry Garrett, Director — Seventh Church, Houston

Members of Houston-area branch churches not currently represented on our board are welcome to join us.

Our office is your home – providing care in the comfort of your residence.

Thank you for your support.

‘How Gentle God’s Commands’

The above title leads off the comforting hymn:

How gentle God’s commands,
How kind His precepts are;
Come, cast your burdens on the Lord,
And trust His constant care.¹

Trusting God’s gentle commands and feeling the kindness of God’s precepts—these are assurances tired humanity seeks. We long to be held close, clasped tight, cared for, and cherished—without qualification or condition—by divine Love, our protector and preserver.

Sometimes we don’t feel worthy of that love, though.

I once felt that way. I was sitting in a plane on the tarmac at the Cancun airport. The rain was coming down in sheets. My fellow passengers and I nervously peered out the windows and were visibly relieved when the captain announced his intent to wait for takeoff until the storm had passed.

But no sooner had I exhaled an “Oh, thank goodness” than the engines roared to life. The plane lurched forward and splashed through deep puddles the length of the runway. Yet neither the intense rain nor the gale force winds had abated.

The plane was bouncing, jostling us—first on the ground, then during lift off, then in the air. The sky looked dark and foreboding, fitting my frame of mind.

Frankly, I felt justified in being upset, for the captain had ignored his own announcement, had made what appeared to be a reckless decision, and had put all of us in a state of panic—and, I thought, of outright danger.

As the plane nudged toward cruising altitude, the weather remained rough. Suddenly, brilliant light streamed through the windows, and a bright blue sky replaced the dark storm clouds. No more bouncing, pitching, and rolling. I sat there dumbstruck, smiling, thanking God profusely, and feeling foolish for having been so afraid and so resentful.

Naturally, the ire I’d kindled toward the captain completely melted away, replaced by complete peace. He and his crew knew that clear, calm, sunny skies were above us the whole while. Doubtless, they’d experienced abrupt transitions in the weather from below the clouds to above them many times. I hadn’t before—hence my initial distrust, self‑righteousness, and misery.

You could call my experience a “David” moment, when I realized, along with the Psalmist, “The Lord is my light and salvation; whom shall I fear? the Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?” (Psalms 27:1). For I had learned that, despite my ugly attitude, I’d never been unworthy of God’s forgiving love and unceasing protection.

Another admirer of David’s Psalms was the Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science, Mary Baker Eddy. She had this to say about darkness and light: “Truth destroys falsity and error, for light and darkness cannot dwell together. Light extinguishes the darkness, and the Scripture declares that there is ‘no night there.’ To Truth there is no error, — all is Truth” (Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures 474:31–2 to 2nd .).

When we’re facing mental storms and darkness in our lives, whether it be sickness, loneliness, chronic pain, guilt, frustration toward another person, lack, or fear, we’re believing either that the problem is imposed on us from someone or something outside us or that it’s part of our identity: our sickness, our bad temper, our panic. The light that dispels the darkness comes when we humbly acknowledge that nothing unlike God, good, can be present or have power over us. This prayer spares us from blaming the other guy or from attempting to fix something that appears out of whack. You can’t fix nothing. If it doesn’t come from God, it is nothing.

The Spanish literary great Miguel de Cervantes wrote: “Truth will rise above falsehood as oil above water.”² The oil of inspiration and consecration³ that rises above water is the truth that we’re now and always held in God’s tender embrace. We can know this truth with certainty—and give thanks.

Such spiritual knowing is the heart of Christian Science nursing. Susie Petersen, our Journal listed CSN, crosses the threshold of each client’s home assured that the light of Truth and Love is already present—and that “in him is no darkness at all” (I John 1:5). This divine light provides the wisdom Susie applies to each case, as she gently, expertly gives practical aid that supports healing.

By the way, Susie is also happy to assist with simple errands and is always ready to read the Bible Lesson aloud to you.

We’ll close our February letter with an apropos axiom from Presidents’ Day honoree Abraham Lincoln: “Most people are as happy as they make up their minds to be.”⁴

1 Christian Science Hymnal, Hymn 124/402. Adapted by Philip Doddridge. The Christian Science Publishing Society.
2 Peterson, Gail. Proverbs to live by: truths that live in words. Kansas City: Hallmark Editions (1968). 56.
3 See the definition of OIL in the Glossary of Science and Health. 592.
4 Peterson. Proverbs. 30.

Photo by Tom Barrett on Unsplash

Meet the HVCSNS Board

Dave Daniels, President — Ninth Church, Houston
Sue Merrill, Vice President — First Church, Bellaire
Salomon Ngalamulume, Treasurer — Seventh Church, Houston
Pauline Nesbitt, Corresponding Secretary — Seventh Church, Houston
Susan Clay, Recording Secretary — Seventh Church, Houston
Lynne Clark, Director — First Church, The Woodlands
Grace Duffy, Director — First Church, Durango, Colorado

Members of Houston-area branch churches not currently represented on our board are welcome to join us.

Financial Assistance Available

Any Christian Scientist relying upon the services of a Christian Science practitioner and/or a Journal-listed Christian Science nurse may obtain financial support by applying to the National Fund for Christian Science Nursing (NFCSN). You may contact The Principle Foundation, which manages this fund, by emailing info@nfcsn.org or by calling (800) 873-2843.

Our office is your home – providing care in the comfort of your residence.

Thank you for your support.

“. . . Behold, I make all things new . . .”

— EXCERPT FROM REVELATION 21:5

Today is Saturday, January 1, 1910. You wake up bright and early to yet another new year. Peeking out the window of your second-floor bedroom at 400 Beacon Street, in Brookline, Massachusetts, you see a new layer of sparkling snow blanketing the spacious lawn.

After studying your Bible Lesson on “God,” reciting your daily prayers, and saying grace over a bountiful breakfast with the rest of the household, you adjourn to the parlor to hear your beloved teacher, Mary Baker Eddy, read aloud a poem she wrote in a mere ten minutes earlier that morning. You and your fellow householders listen expectantly, knowing that whatever she composes—whether on the spur of the moment or after deep reflection and many revisions—is filled with spiritual blessings.
Fast forward 113 years.

Today is Sunday, January 1, 2023. You have just finished reading the Bible Lesson, whose subject, “God,” is the same as it was the first week of 1910.

Along with you, we (the Houston Visiting Christian Science nurse and board of directors) are treasuring not only Mrs. Eddy’s first poem of 1910—which would turn out to be the last year of her life on earth—but also her wealth of thoughts on the subject of newness. They elevate our understanding of what a New Year means spiritually.

There’s this: “Each successive stage of experience unfolds new views of divine goodness and love,” from page 66 of Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures.

And this: “Truth makes a new creature, in whom old things pass away and ‘all things are become new,’” from page 201 of the same book.

***

Recently we found a year-old Sentinel article, “Embracing the ‘new birth’ at Christmas, New Year’s, and always,” which encapsulates the spiritual sense of the New Year. Author Susan Booth Mack Snipes quotes the “Extempore” poem (see above) then writes of Mrs. Eddy:
 
Next, Snipes speaks of how Christmas and New Year’s are united—not just by the seven days between them but by “the new song of divine Science”:
 
Please finish reading “ Embracing the ‘new birth’ at Christmas, New Year’s, and always .”

***

Snipes’ last paragraph reminds us that every time Houston’s Journal-listed visiting Christian Science nurse Susie Petersen steps into a client’s room, she makes “fresh discoveries” of divine Love’s infinitude and of the dear one who is embraced in Love’s tender care.

To Susie, to all of us at HVCSNS, and to our friends—you!—New Year’s is no hackneyed holiday. Rather, it’s a joyous affirmation of the message John of Patmos heard from Christ Jesus, via an angel, and penned some two thousand New Years ago: “. . . Behold, I make all things new . . . .”

 

Financial Assistance Available

Any Christian Scientist relying upon the services of a Christian Science practitioner and/or a Journal-listed Christian Science nurse may obtain financial support by applying to the National Fund for Christian Science Nursing (NFCSN). You may contact The Principle Foundation, which manages this fund, by emailing info@nfcsn.org or by calling (800) 873-2843.

Meet the HVCSNS Board

Sue Merrill, Acting President — First Church, Bellaire
Salomon Ngalamulume, Treasurer — Seventh Church, Houston
Linda Lindeman, Corresponding Secretary — Fourth Church, Houston
Susan Clay, Recording Secretary — Seventh Church, Houston
Lynne Clark, Director — First Church, The Woodlands
Grace Duffy, Director — First Church, Durango, Colorado
Pauline Nesbitt, Director — Seventh Church, Houston

Members of Houston-area branch churches not currently represented on our board are welcome to join us.

Our office is your home – providing care in the comfort of your residence.

Thank you for your support.

John Randall Dunn and Christmas and Christian Science Nursing

John Randall Dunn was a devoted Christian Science practitioner, teacher, and lecturer in the first half of the 20th century. He wrote hundreds of articles, editorials, and poems in the Christian Science periodicals and served as editor of those publications until shortly before his passing in 1949. Six of his articles and editorials are about the spiritual significance of Christmas. We happily share excerpts from three of them in this month's newsletter.

In a 1932 Christian Science Sentinel article, "Happy Christmas!," John Randall Dunn wrote:  

[To continue reading "Happy Christmas!," please click here .]

One of Mr. Dunn's two Christmas 1945 contributions to the Christian Science periodicals was "No Unhappy Christmas," in which he asked a simple question, followed by his own poetic answer:
 
The other Christmas 1945 piece Mr. Dunn penned, an editorial in The Christian Science Journal titled "Again Loved Christmas is here," ends with these two spiritually stirring paragraphs:
  [Note: The above quote, "again loved Christmas is here," refers to the opening line of Mary Baker Eddy's "Christmas, 1900" article, which can be found in Miscellany (256:16–257:22).]

The following description of Mr. Dunn's qualities reminds us of the love that our Journal-listed Houston visiting Christian Science nurse Susie Peterson lives and breathes: "Those who had the privilege of knowing Mr. Dunn are well aware of his great love for and loyalty to the Cause established by our Leader, Mary Baker Eddy. His unvarying cheerfulness and loving understanding have been an outstanding example of true friendliness. Through his lectures and editorials he has voiced the message which has brought encouragement, comfort, and healing to countless numbers."

We trust you will be happy to call upon Susie at any time for skilled Christian Science nursing care or simply a Christian visit. We described both in our November 2022 newsletter .

To close our Christmas "Good News," please join us in pondering a portion of Mrs. Eddy's "What Christmas Means to Me" message, found on pages 261–263 of Miscellany:
   

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Below is a letter written to us by a grateful client of Houston's Visiting Christian Science Nurse Service:

How grateful I am for one very skilled and devoted Christian Science nurse in Houston when I was a busy young mother in the late seventies. My last two children were delivered at home with the assistance of a midwife. Right after each birth, a wonderful visiting Christian Science nurse named Martha came to my aid—all smiles. She efficiently freshened up my surroundings, helped me with the first feedings, and made sure I was comfortable in every way. Because of her absolute conviction of divine Love’s omnipresence, a sweet assurance of God’s protection reigned in my household. With both births, I was able to rest just enough and then bounce back to my duties quickly because of her support. I called her many times during those early years for practical advice in managing the four little ones under six years old.

One day, as I was scurrying around the kitchen preparing supper, the children were all competing for my attention. One was propped up in a baby bouncer seat on the counter, one was trying to climb up on a chair to “help” me cook, one was pushing a doll carriage into my legs, and one was crawling after a toy.

In the middle of all this activity, I realized the door from the kitchen to the garage was open, so I reached over and pulled it shut. Screams of alarm from little Christian instantly told me I'd slammed the door on his hand. When I picked him up, I saw that the tip of his finger had been snapped off. I quickly went to the phone to call a practitioner. Next I called Martha. She arrived in a very short time. We sang hymns as she cleaned and carefully set the finger tip in place then bandaged the finger. In the next few weeks, the practitioner and Martha and I prayed to know that “the Divine Science of man is woven into one web of consistency without seam or rent” (Science and Health, pp. 25–26). I obediently resisted the temptation to check for progress “in matter” when Martha came by weekly to change the bandage.

I am ever grateful to report that the top of the finger reattached itself and that my son has had full use of the finger ever since. A slight line in the skin serves to remind us of Martha’s part in supporting the demonstration of perfect God and His perfect child, always safe and whole.

I know, first-hand, how those who rely on God alone for healing are blessed by the “practical wisdom,” skill, and loving attentiveness of our Christian Science nurses. I so appreciate Mary Baker Eddy’s provision for these visiting angels, who come to our side to witness, with us, the perfect work of all-powerful, ever-present Love.

— SUSAN MINICH

Meet the HVCSNS Board

Sue Merrill, Acting President — First Church, Bellaire
Salomon Ngalamulume, Treasurer — Seventh Church, Houston
Linda Lindeman, Corresponding Secretary — Fourth Church, Houston
Susan Clay, Recording Secretary — Seventh Church, Houston
Lynne Clark, Director — First Church, The Woodlands
Grace Duffy, Director — First Church, Durango, Colorado
Pauline Nesbitt, Director — Seventh Church, Houston

Members of Houston-area branch churches not currently represented on our board are welcome to join us.

Financial Assistance Available

Any Christian Scientist relying upon the services of a Christian Science practitioner and/or a Journal-listed Christian Science nurse may obtain financial support by applying to the National Fund for Christian Science Nursing (NFCSN). You may contact The Principle Foundation, which manages this fund, by emailing info@nfcsn.org

Cherishing our Houston Visiting Christian Science Nurse Service

A letter written by one grateful Houstonian

“Motives and acts are not rightly valued before they are understood. It is well to wait till those whom you would benefit are ready for the blessing, . . . ” reads Science and Health With Key to the Scriptures (238:1–3).

Rightly valuing and understanding the reasons for having a Visiting Christian Science Nurse Service in Houston may seem obvious to longtime students of Christian Science.

But maybe it’s time to take another look.

One dictionary defines “value” as “worth in usefulness or importance to the possessor.”

We can ask ourselves: How useful is the Visiting Christian Science Nurse Service to Houston? How much importance do we place upon this service?

Here are some of the many ways the Houston nurse service demonstrates its “usefulness” and “importance” to all who are “ready for the blessing.”

Our VCSN:

• “has a demonstrable knowledge of Christian Science practice,” “thoroughly understands the practical wisdom necessary in a sick room,” and “can take proper care of the sick” (Manual of The Mother Church 49:11).
• is prepared, ready, and willing to come to your side at a moment’s notice, giving you the ability to practice Christian Science (with the support of a Christian Science practitioner of your choice) in the peaceful surroundings of your own home without having to travel to a care facility or depend upon medical services for support.
• expresses the comforting presence of the Christ and works with the tenderness and love so needed and appreciated. “Like as a mother, God comforteth His children; / Comfort is calm, that bids all tumult cease; / Comfort is hope and courage for endeavor, / Comfort is love, whose home abides in peace” (Christian Science Hymnal 174:1).
• gladly responds to requests to come for a “Christian visit”—to read the Bible Lesson and Christian Science periodicals aloud to you and help you with small household tasks—even when you don't need skilled Christian Science nursing care.
• is “cheerful, orderly, punctual, patient, full of faith,—receptive to Truth and Love” (SH 395:19), qualities that are the basis for the metaphysical healing that Christ Jesus practiced more than 2,000 years ago and that his faithful follower, Mary Baker Eddy, discovered, explained to the world, and practiced.

“Metaphysical healing, or Christian Science,” Mrs. Eddy wrote, “is a demand of the times. Every man and every woman would desire and demand it, if he and she knew its infinite value and firm basis” (Miscellaneous Writings 1883–1896, 232:21–24).

There’s that word “value” again!

This November newsletter is an appeal to support our Houston Visiting Christian Science Nurse Service. The regular monthly contributions made by branch churches make up only 50% of its budget. For many months, funds have been declining rather than maintaining or increasing. Hence this request for any and all “love offerings”—big or small, regular or occasional, metaphysical or financial (or both!).

Surely all of us “desire” and “demand” that the Houston Visiting Christian Science Nurse Service prosper and continue to bless! We can be reassured that, as Mrs. Eddy makes clear, it is “the deific law” that “supply invariably meets demand” (MW 45:16).

If you have any questions on how you can support the service, please don’t hesitate to visit our website  or contact Sue Merrill at 281-808-3731 or sue@doesprayerheal.com .

Now, we’re happy to share the testimony of a Houstonian who has long treasured our city’s Visiting Christian Science Nurse Service. Here’s her story:
 

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Christian Science Nursing Helps Bring Healing

I’d like to share my appreciation for the Houston Visiting Christian Science Nurse Service by telling you what it has meant to me over the years.

My first remembrance of my family’s interaction with the Christian Science nursing service was when I was a senior in high school and came down with the measles. Having been raised in the Christian Science Sunday School, I knew nothing of the belief that this disease is more severe when contracted after early childhood, but I sensed that my mother was fearful.

Since she worked full time outside the home, my mother wasn’t able to be with me during the day. Back then, Houston had two Christian Science visiting nurses, Martha Gifford and Edna McCants. For two weeks, one or the other of them was with me when my mother couldn’t be there. It felt like I always had a guardian angel at my side! Also, I had a wonderful Christian Science practitioner praying for me.

Martha and Edna brought with them unlimited kindness and joy and comfort. I always felt loved and cared for when they were on the scene. Not only did they give the needed practical care, but they also provided that even-more-important spiritual uplift to the sick room. They radiated God’s love, and I could feel it so tangibly. Yes, I was always happy to see Martha or Edna!

Later, after they retired, Mary Roadman was Houston’s visiting Christian Science nurse. She continued the wonderfully uplifting support that this service had come to mean to me. I always felt that the Christ went before Mary when she entered a room, so clear was her thought.

Once, when I injured my back playing golf and was taken off the golf course unable to move, my brothers called Mary because they knew she would know just what to do! Her gentle presence calmed my husband and allayed the fears of my mother and father-in-law. I remember she arrived on a Sunday afternoon as soon as she got home from the airport after a trip. She brought a sense of levity to the sick room—which was my downstairs library! Her presence that evening meant so much to me—as did the prayers of a dedicated Christian Science practitioner. After a couple of days, Mary was instrumental in helping my husband and brothers properly lift me off the sofa and carry me upstairs to my bed. All the while, her unfailing joy lifted my spirits immeasurably. I was scheduled to fly to Disneyland with my son and a dear friend and her two children at week’s end. I did not want to miss out! With Mary’s steadfast assistance and the prayers of the practitioner, I was able to thoroughly enjoy that entire trip.

Lastly, I would like to share how much I value and truly appreciate all that Susie Petersen, Houston’s current visiting Christian Science nurse, did for me in a time of real crisis in my life. Susie came to help me when I was considered very ill. This was shortly after the nurse service initiated “friendly visits,” whereby the nurse stops by to read the Lesson or the periodicals, to bring a meal or to just help out in little ways that don’t require skilled Christian Science nursing care. These “Christian visits,” as they are now called, are for the purpose of simply expressing love, whether in the home, in a Christian Science care facility, or even in a hospital. Susie was a real rock to me, and I will forever be grateful for her steadfastness, practical assistance, and the loving spiritual thought she brought to the sick room. She helped me in so many ways and demonstrated, for all to see, what Christian Science—living the Christ—is all about. Susie was, and of course still is, an example of true Christian Scientist.

Needless to say—but I’ll say it once more anyway!—I am extremely grateful for the Houston Visiting Christian Science Nurse Service!

— HEATHER BOWEN

Meet the HVCSNS Board

Sue Merrill, Acting President — First Church, Bellaire
Salomon Ngalamulume, Treasurer — Seventh Church, Houston
Linda Lindeman, Corresponding Secretary — Fourth Church, Houston
Susan Clay, Recording Secretary — Seventh Church, Houston
Lynne Clark, Director — First Church, The Woodlands
Grace Duffy, Director — First Church, Durango, Colorado
Pauline Nesbitt, Director — Seventh Church, Houston

Members of Houston-area branch churches not currently represented on our board are welcome to join us.

Financial Assistance Available

Any Christian Scientist relying upon the services of a Christian Science practitioner and/or a Journal-listed Christian Science nurse may obtain financial support by applying to the National Fund for Christian Science Nursing (NFCSN). You may contact The Principle Foundation, which manages this fund, by emailing info@nfcsn.org or by calling (800) 873-2843.

Persistence Personified: The Saga of Marcus the Mariposa

(Part 3 of 3)

Welcome to the final installment of our three‑part series. Before diving in, be sure you've read Parts 1 and 2 in our August and September newsletters .

Last month's account ended with my incapacitated butterfly friend one day going airborne and vanishing into the wild blue yonder, leaving me both giddy over his newfound freedom and worried about his fate.

That evening, every time I was tempted to wonder whether Marcus had been truly healed—and wonder about his whereabouts—I reminded myself that God was in charge of His butterfly. Divine Love would never direct Marcus to leave the security of my home—his month-long resting place—only to be exposed to an uncertain, dangerous future. Nor would divine Mind have instructed me to sit on the porch and pray with Marcus unless there were some spiritual lessons for both of us to learn. I knew this to be true.

What kept me occupied and uplifted that night and into the next morning was an album I was filling with photos I had taken of Marcus. At noon, exactly 24 hours after he left, I finished the album. Time to walk to the grocery store.

Something impelled me to take the quieter of two routes, through a private cul de sac across from my townhouse. As I proceeded slowly down the lane, I reached out to our Father-Mother God. In an instant, the last vestiges of concern for Marcus fell away, replaced by pure peace. I was convinced that my mariposa could never be deprived of divinely derived safety, food and water, warmth, freedom, and all of his fine attributes—chief among them persistence!

Just then I passed a sparkling outdoor Christmas display. Its three letters, "JOY," spelled out exactly how I felt. A few steps later I reached the entrance to the public street and turned right, in the direction of the store.

Suddenly, out of the corner of my eye, I saw something moving a few inches behind, above, and to the left of my face. I looked up and beheld a pair of monarch wings in motion! They floated directly in front of my eyes then flew to the other side of the street.

I watched in awe as the winged creature rose upward and landed on a bare branch near the peak of a 30-foot tree. "Marcus?" I called out, making a beeline for the tree. As I stood under it, gazing up at a tiny orange angel, I knew my eyes weren't deceiving me and I knew I wasn't dreaming.

The butterfly paused—as if to assure me that he recognized me—before taking off from the treetop and heading for the roof of a nearby house. He soared over it, flapping his wings slowly, strongly, without faltering or falling. The strokes were those of a perfectly formed, perfectly flying butterfly! Seconds later, Marcus disappeared behind the roof.

I stood still for a minute, letting my joy and gratitude sink in. Several birds perched on a telephone wire next to the tree seemed to be staring down at me. Some of them swooped off the wire into the sky then back again, as if showing me they understood my connection to the beautiful butterfly. What best describes the moment is Mary Baker Eddy's pronouncement: "The depth, breadth, height, might, majesty, and glory of infinite Love fill all space. That is enough!" (Science and Health, p. 520)

Our Journal-listed visiting Christian Science nurse, Susie Petersen, has witnessed many a case of a client being healed upon feeling and knowing that the "glory of infinite Love" does indeed "fill all space." So, as I did last month, I invited Susie to join me in joyfully singing a hymn of praise to the creator of heaven and earth and man—and Marcus the Marvelous Mariposa:

1. All glory be to God most high,
And on the earth be peace,
The angels sang, in days of yore,
The song that ne'er shall cease,
Till all the world knows peace.

2. God's angels ever come and go,
All winged with light and love;
They bring us blessings from on high,
They lift our thoughts above,
They whisper God is Love.

3. O longing hearts that wait on God
Through all the world so wide;
He knows the angels that you need,
And sends them to your side,
To comfort, guard and guide.

4. O wake and hear the angel‑song
That bids all discord cease,
From pain and sorrow, doubt and fear,
It brings us sweet release;
And so our hearts find peace.

(Hymn 9—Words by Violet Hay)

Financial Assistance Available

Any Christian Scientist relying upon the services of a Christian Science practitioner and/or a Journal-listed Christian Science nurse may obtain financial support by applying to the National Fund for Christian Science Nursing (NFCSN). You may contact The Principle Foundation, which manages this fund, by emailing info@nfcsn.org or by calling (800) 873-2843.

Meet the HVCSNS Board

Sue Merrill, Acting President — First Church, Bellaire
Salomon Ngalamulume, Treasurer — Seventh Church, Houston
Linda Lindeman, Corresponding Secretary — Fourth Church, Houston
Susan Clay, Recording Secretary — Seventh Church, Houston
Lynne Clark, Director — First Church, The Woodlands
Grace Duffy, Director — First Church, Durango, Colorado
Pauline Nesbitt, Director — Seventh Church, Houston

Members of Houston-area branch churches not currently represented on our board are welcome to join us.

Financial Assistance Available

Any Christian Scientist relying upon the services of a Christian Science practitioner and/or a Journal-listed Christian Science nurse may obtain financial support by applying to the National Fund for Christian Science Nursing (NFCSN). You may contact The Principle Foundation, which manages this fund, by emailing info@nfcsn.org or by calling (800) 873-2843.

Meet the HVCSNS Board

Dave Daniels, President — Ninth Church
Sue Merrill, Vice President — Bellaire Church
Salomon Ngalamulume, Treasurer — Seventh Church
Linda Lindeman, Corresponding Secretary — Fourth Church
Susan Clay, Recording Secretary — Seventh Church
Lynne Clark, Director — The Woodlands Church
Grace Duffy, Director — First Church, Durango, CO

Members of Houston-area branch churches not currently represented on our board are welcome to join us.

Our office is your home – providing care in the comfort of your residence.

Thank you for your support.

Persistence Personified: The Saga of Marcus the Mariposa

(Part 2 of 3)

Welcome to Part 2 of our series. We trust you've already read Part 1 (in August 2022 issue).

The whole time he was in my care, I refused to think of Marcus as beyond hope. I knew he was included in the Science and Health statement, "God is the Life, or intelligence, which forms and preserves the individuality and identity of animals as well as of men" (550:5–7). And I knew he deserved a Christmas gift: Christ healing. What I didn't know was that three days after Christmas . . .
 

The freedom Marcus experienced that day resembles the healings that Houston Visiting Christian Science Journal-listed nurse, Susie Petersen, witnesses when her clients emerge victorious over claims of illness. Susie joins me in joyfully singing:

"Praise the Lord, for He is glorious;
Never shall His promise fail;
God hath made His saints victorious,
Sin and death shall not prevail.
Praise the God of our salvation;
Hosts on high, His power proclaim;
Heaven and earth, and all creation,
Laud and magnify His name."
(Hymn 282, Verse 2)

Stay tuned for Part 3 on October 1st.

Financial Assistance Available

Any Christian Scientist relying upon the services of a Christian Science practitioner and/or a Journal-listed Christian Science nurse may obtain financial support by applying to the National Fund for Christian Science Nursing (NFCSN). You may contact The Principle Foundation, which manages this fund, by emailing info@nfcsn.org or by calling (800) 873-2843.

Meet the HVCSNS Board

Dave Daniels, President — Ninth Church
Sue Merrill, Vice President — Bellaire Church
Salomon Ngalamulume, Treasurer — Seventh Church
Linda Lindeman, Corresponding Secretary — Fourth Church
Susan Clay, Recording Secretary — Seventh Church
Lynne Clark, Director — The Woodlands Church
Grace Duffy, Director — First Church, Durango, CO

Members of Houston-area branch churches not currently represented on our board are welcome to join us.

Our office is your home – providing care in the comfort of your residence.

Thank you for your support.

Persistence Personified: The Saga of Marcus the Mariposa

(Part 1 of 3)

Students of Christian Science are grateful for both quick healings and slow healings. Those that take a while are filled with teaching moments, testing times, and steadily growing trust in God's love for His children.

Recently I recalled one such healing. A neighbor had asked me to let the painters out of her house on a late November evening. As I sat in the dark on her patio step waiting for them to finish cleaning up, I noticed a tiny form huddled on the cement at my feet. Bending down, I saw the outline of a monarch butterfly with wings closed. He wasn't moving. All around him were large pots my neighbor had filled with milkweed—a monarch's favorite food. Without thinking twice, I gently scooped his lifeless body into my gloved hands and brought him home to recover from the cold night air.

Within a few minutes of being indoors, the monarch spread his wings and flapped them weakly. He made repeated attempts to fly but couldn't lift off. At that moment I realized he required not simply physical warmth but Christian Science treatment.

In the coming days and weeks, I learned from nature‑loving friends, from butterfly websites and from hands‑on experience how to care for the daily needs of this monarch, whose migrating friends had by now reached their winter destination in Mexico.

I also became well acquainted with verses in the King James Bible, passages in Science and Health, and lines in the Christian Science Hymnal that speak of wings, flight, rising, upward, Spiritward, soaring, and the like.

Every day he practiced flying from my index finger—his launch pad—to a piece of furniture or a silk plant or the bed quilt or the carpeted floor, all of which served as landing pads. He rested after each attempt. But his spirits never flagged. He didn't seem to think of these aborted sessions as failures. Nor did I. Rather, they were opportunities for me to keep knowing, and for him to keep proving, that he could do what he was meant to do: fly. In between his periods of exercise, he took hours‑long—even days‑long—naps. (I later learned that he was undergoing his own north-of-the-border hibernation, in spurts.)

One reason my memories of Marcus (named after my dad) the Mariposa (butterfly in Spanish) are vivid is that I kept a diary of his progress. Later I rewrote all the entries in essay form. A few selections follow:
 

We'll stop our story here and pick up next month. You already know it has a happy ending—or we wouldn't be telling this tale. But just how Marcus was healed—and what happened afterwards—are the spiritually uplifting details that will be revealed in the September and October issues of "Good News."

Before signing off, though, let's consider how the patience and persistence expressed by Marcus and his caregiver are reminiscent of the loving, loyal care our Houston Visiting Christian Science Journal-listed nurse, Susie Petersen, gives to her clients. When healing isn't immediate, Susie faithfully shows up, day after day. She isn't tempted to give up or become frustrated by seemingly slow progress. Instead, she joyously affirms the truth that each dear one she visits is already well in God's eyes.

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"But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing" (James 1:4).

Financial Assistance Available

Any Christian Scientist relying upon the services of a Christian Science practitioner and/or a Journal-listed Christian Science nurse may obtain financial support by applying to the National Fund for Christian Science Nursing (NFCSN). You may contact The Principle Foundation, which manages this fund, by emailing info@nfcsn.org or by calling (800) 873-2843.

Meet the HVCSNS Board

Dave Daniels, President — Ninth Church
Sue Merrill, Vice President — Bellaire Church
Salomon Ngalamulume, Treasurer — Seventh Church
Linda Lindeman, Corresponding Secretary — Fourth Church
Susan Clay, Recording Secretary — Seventh Church
Lynne Clark, Director — The Woodlands Church
Grace Duffy, Director — First Church, Durango, CO

Members of Houston-area branch churches not currently represented on our board are welcome to join us.

Our office is your home – providing care in the comfort of your residence.

Thank you for your support.

Celebrating Global Independence

This July 4th commemorates the 247th year of our nation’s independence. Being just three years shy of the quarter-of-a-millennium mark, we might as well start celebrating this historic occasion now!

Though various commentators will remind us of the many faults, injustices, divided opinions, and problems beleaguering our country, we will come together next Monday to honor an enduring fact: We are the United States, meaning that our 50 states were born united and remain united. Our gratitude for this unity is an example of what my mother used to call “magnifying the good.”

Mary Baker Eddy, the Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science, understood the supreme power of oneness. She perceptively reminded her followers—indeed, all mankind—that obedience to God “is the offspring of Love, and Love is the Principle of unity, the basis of all right thinking and acting. Love fulfills the law. We see eye to eye, know as we are known, reciprocate kindness and work wisely, in proportion as we love” (Rolling Away the Stone: Mrs. Eddy's Challenge to Materialism by Stephen Gottschalk, p. 211).

Mrs. Eddy recognized that when we allow ourselves to become fractionalized, or separated, we are inviting in a dangerous infatuation with human personality along with egotistical traits such as self-justification and self-will. In doing so, we create scapegoats, foment pessimism, nurse resentment, stir up dissension.

Our Leader saw that devotion to divine Principle knits us together as one under God. Living out our oneness harmonizes strife, calms fears, gentles foes, and leads us to live the motto printed on all U.S. currency: “In God We Trust.” This blessed concept of oneness is also emblazoned across the scroll clenched in the eagle’s beak on our nation’s seal: “E pluribus unum”—out of many, one. History buffs know this Latin phrase was adopted in 1776 to symbolize the emergence of the thirteen colonies into a new single nation. That’s oneness!

Oneness signifies more than states and citizens within a nation coming together. It describes our spiritual heritage as God’s children—never separated from our Father-Mother, never split from our brothers and sisters in the one divine family. This perspective recognizes and cherishes the unfolding story of independence not simply within our own nation, but in other nations around the globe.

Let us acknowledge and prayerfully support the oneness and goodness inherent in all countries, including those that, like the U.S.A., are celebrating their freedom day this month. In alphabetical order, they are: Algeria (July 5th), Argentina (9th), The Bahamas (10th), Belarus (3rd), Belgium (21st), Burundi (1st), Canada (1st), Cape Verde (5th), Comoros (6th), France (14th), Hong Kong (1st), Kiribati (12th), Liberia (26th), Malawi (6th), Maldives (26th), The Netherlands (26th), Peru (28th), Rwanda (1st), Sao Tome and Principe (12th), Slovakia (17th), Solomon Islands (7th), Somalia (1st), South Sudan (9th), Vanuatu (20th), and Venezuela (5th).

Whether called a democracy or an autocracy, each sovereign nation is peopled with citizens loved by God. That’s why Paul’s words in Galatians 3:28 ring just as true today: “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.”

One in Christ Jesus. One in Christ’s healing, saving love. This Christly love binds up the wounds of nations with all the tenderness and effectiveness exhibited by our Journal-listed Christian Science nurse, Susie Petersen, when she ministers to her Houston-area Christian Scientists.

And, just as nations proclaim their liberty, so do Susie and her clients insist that disease, sickness, injury have no place in the kingdom we live in, where "God made man free” (Science and Health 227:16).

Financial Assistance Available

Any Christian Scientist relying upon the services of a Christian Science practitioner and/or a Journal-listed Christian Science nurse may obtain financial support by applying to the National Fund for Christian Science Nursing (NFCSN). You may contact The Principle Foundation, which manages this fund, by emailing info@nfcsn.org or by calling (800) 873-2843.

Meet the HVCSNS Board

Dave Daniels, President – Ninth Church
Sue Merrill, Vice President – Bellaire Church
Salomon Ngalamulume, Treasurer – Seventh Church
Linda Lindeman, Corresponding Secretary – Fourth Church
Susan Clay, Recording Secretary – Seventh Church
Lynne Clark, Director – The Woodlands Church
Grace Duffy, Director – First Church, Durango, CO

Members of Houston-area branch churches not currently represented on our board are welcome to join us.

Our office is your home – providing care in the comfort of your residence.

Thank you for your support.

Reflections on Our Father—and My Dad

This Father's Day reflection by a daughter about her dad's love of God, good, was submitted for publication in the June newsletter.

FATHER. Eternal Life; the one Mind; the divine Principle, commonly called God (Science and Health 586:9).

Question. — What is Life?
Answer. — Life is divine Principle, Mind, Soul, Spirit. Life is without beginning and without end. Eternity, not time, expresses the thought of Life, and time is no part of eternity (SH 468:25–29).

Mary Baker Eddy's spiritual definitions of Father and of Life, both names for God, resonated deeply with my human father, who was a lifelong student of Christian Science. I understand why, for they ring true to me, too. What my sisters and I can't figure out, though, is how our dad became acquainted with Christian Science in his boyhood, growing up as he did in a non-religious family.

The single clue that suggests he learned about Science at a young age is in his prep school files. On one of the forms, he listed Christian Science as his religion. Our dad's college senior yearbook confirms that he remained a Christian Scientist throughout his university years.

Also, we know, by reading his WWII journal, that prayer protected our navigator dad and his crewmates during the 50 missions they flew over munitions factories and railroads in their Liberator bomber. After the war, our father proved his gratitude for The Mother Church by becoming a promotional copywriter for The Christian Science Monitor, where he met our mom.

Recently I spent several happy hours remembering the many ways Dad expressed his love for God, for God's children, and for God's Science of Christianity. In my reflections, I traced a golden thread that wove through his life: an appreciation for everything that spoke to him of man's God-made, therefore innate, innocence, goodness, meekness, and morality.

Here, from his youth, are two examples of what I mean.

— In sports, Dad excelled at baseball and basketball. He followed the rules and put all his energy and intelligence into practices and games alike. (Hence his nickname "Sparky.") He and his teammates were what we'd call "clean" players: no cheating, no matter how big the stakes; no boasting, no matter how big the accomplishment. Only after his passing did my sisters and I learn that our leftfielder father had helped Princeton defeat Columbia in an historic baseball game—the first-ever sporting event to be played live on television in the United States.

— As for academics, I'm convinced my dad chose English literature as his major because he loved learning life's lessons through the words and deeds of the ethical characters vividly portrayed in the Victorian novels of Austen, Dickens, Hardy, Elliott and lesser-known authors. Thanks to Princeton's online archives, my sister and I were able to download his 70-page senior thesis, "Thackeray's Moral Convictions." It's filled with our father's praise for the novelist's and the characters' sound moral sentiments.

Throughout his adult life, my father looked to nature for its treasure trove of teaching moments. He saw evidence of God's goodness, gentleness, and generosity in the quiet woods and lively stream surrounding our semi-rural house. And, although it didn't sink in at the time, I now understand why he taught his daughters, by example, to respect the lives of all denizens of the outdoors—to regard them as friendly, deserving-of-our-help neighbors. His no-kill policy extended to even the hungriest creatures who occasionally ate the veggies and flowers my parents planted and tended with care. (Yes, some years Dad resorted to fencing.)

One precious recollection is of how my father, an entrepreneur, treated late-payers. If a gift shop owner, after ordering and receiving a shipment of the stained glass art pieces my dad designed and made, didn't adhere to the due date, he wasn't disturbed. He'd wait a few more days before composing an unusual reminder letter: a rhyming verse about tardiness, blending whimsical humor with gentle coaxing. Dad's dunning ditties charmed delinquent storekeepers into mailing a check on the spot. They never again fell behind.

Though we didn't save his pleas for payment, my sisters and I held on to the serious poetry our dad wrote. Many of his odes described an aspect of nature that allowed him to make a moral point or metaphysical observation—like this one:

"Seeds"

After rain
a mirror-faced puddle
settled under the tree
so that branches and trunk
reflected their upward
growth in water.

But before skyward sweep
in mirror shown
came seed
with in-known
power of reflecting
what is to come.

Thus to the world
we show clearly in
the looking glass
of our face
seeds of thought
planted springs ago.

As can be seen in "Seeds," my father's poems acknowledged, even if indirectly, God's good creation. They recognized, as Samuel Longfellow put it, "Thy hand in all things . . . and all things in Thy hand" (Hymn 134, Christian Science Hymnal).

The graciousness, humility, love of purity, and moral fiber so evident in my father's life and poems are instilled in each of us, men and women and children alike, by our heavenly Father.

I see the same attributes, and many more, reflected by Houston Journal–listed visiting Christian Science nurse Susie Petersen.

Just as my dad was patient and gentle with his garden's wildlife guests and his business customers, so does Susie treat her nursing clients with patience and gentleness derived from the same divine source.

Like my dad, Susie shares joy, drawn from Spirit's bottomless well, with everyone she serves.

And, as was true of my dad, Susie's sweet sense of humor brings smiles to clients' faces.

Both my dad and Susie exemplify one of my favorite passages in Miscellaneous Writings (110:4):

Financial Assistance Available

Any Christian Scientist relying upon the services of a Christian Science practitioner and/or a Journal-listed Christian Science nurse may obtain financial support by applying to the National Fund for Christian Science Nursing (NFCSN). You may contact The Principle Foundation, which manages this fund, by emailing info@nfcsn.org or by calling (800) 873-2843.

Meet the HVCSNS Board

Dave Daniels, President – Ninth Church
Sue Merrill, Vice President – Bellaire Church
Salomon Ngalamulume, Treasurer – Seventh Church
Linda Lindeman, Corresponding Secretary – Fourth Church
Susan Clay, Recording Secretary – Seventh Church
Lynne Clark, Director – The Woodlands Church
Grace Duffy, Director – First Church, Durango, CO

Members of Houston-area branch churches not currently represented on our board are welcome to join us.

Our office is your home – providing care in the comfort of your residence.

Thank you for your support.

Mother

Mary Baker Eddy defines “MOTHER” in her textbook’s Glossary as “God; divine and eternal Principle; Life, Truth, and Love” (Science and Health 592:16–17). In other words, our true and eternal Mother is divine, not human. My grandmother was very clear on this spiritual point.

People would call Gram at all hours of the day and night, asking her to pray for them. Being a Journal-listed Christian Science practitioner, she responded by listening both to the person’s state of thought and to God’s wisdom. Then she’d tenderly assure each caller of their spiritual identity, using simple metaphors to convey God’s love for them.

When a call came in the middle of the night, often she’d stay awake praying, until she felt certain all was well. On those nights of little sleep, mornings were not Gram’s favorite time of day, and I learned to respect her breakfast silence. She never complained about “inconvenient” or “untimely” calls. Lots of times when the phone rang, she would calmly rise from the table in the middle of a family meal—which, perhaps, she had spent hours preparing—to answer the phone in another room.

If she were able to return to the kitchen before we finished eating, Gram usually had a distant, thoughtful look and would rarely take part in the swirl of workaday talk. At those times, I knew she was praying. Pop and I, sensing Gram needed quiet, would put our plates on the counter and go back outside to finish farm chores, leaving her to eat lunch or dinner alone. Then she’d wash the dishes and head back to her study place on the family sofa, surrounded by her C.S. books, legal pad, and pencil. Gram's solemn commitment to healing led her to devote hours to studying deeply to learn more about God. She would jot down her spiritual insights, pause to listen for divine inspiration, then write again, hour after hour—until the next call came.

Gram loved God and loved to help her patients feel His presence. She was meek, kind, patient, selfless, and loving. Her demonstration of Christian Science was always practical and compassionate. And she healed her cases quickly.

When my best friend noticed a quarter-sized hard growth on my arm and said something about it that scared me, I turned to Gram. She calmly remarked that cancer was simply cells in chaos and asked me if mentally I felt in chaos, which I confessed I did. Looking me in the eye, she asked: “Can you promise me not look at or touch your arm?”

“I promise, Gram.” Instantly, I felt calm. All fear vanished, and I realized that my thought no longer felt chaotic. I don’t know when the growth disappeared because I never looked at it until one day I accidentally glanced at my arm and smiled to see it had completely healed.

In a family of colorful and dominant personalities, Gram was the most influential and pivotal presence, though she never engaged in debate or proselytizing. She just lived Love. She embodied Mrs. Eddy’s definition of Mother.

One evening I answered the front door. A gentleman asked for Pop. He said he had marked several of our Black Walnut trees in the woods along the creek and wanted to pay Pop on the spot for permission to extract them. Years later, Gram shared with me that our family had been unable to meet the mortgage payment coming due at that time. She had turned to God in prayer, had humbly and fervently acknowledged Him as the only source of supply, and had seen through the lie of lack. Was it miraculous that the precise need was met at the exact right time from a most unlikely source? No. It was divinely natural. Our need had not been unknown to God.

Someone else I know who reflects God’s motherhood is our Journal-listed Christian Science nurse, Susie Petersen. Her gentle, caring touch mothers each person who calls upon her. She administers practical care with overflowing motherly love.

Each in their own way and in their own age, Gram and Susie have shown me the tender yet powerful motherliness of God’s love. But the woman who most closely modeled divine motherhood was our beloved Leader, Mary Baker Eddy. In reply to a student who had asked her, “Tell me what you are, that is, tell us what you are to the world,” Mrs. Eddy responded: “As Mary Baker Eddy, I am the weakest of mortals, but as the Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science, I am the bone and sinew of the world” (Mary Baker Eddy: Christian Healer, Amplified Version, p. 184).

Financial Assistance Available

Any Christian Scientist relying upon the services of a Christian Science practitioner and/or a Journal-listed Christian Science nurse may obtain financial support by applying to the National Fund for Christian Science Nursing (NFCSN). You may contact The Principle Foundation, which manages this fund, by emailing info@nfcsn.org or by calling (800) 873-2843.

Meet the HVCSNS Board

Dave Daniels, President – Ninth Church
Sue Merrill, Vice President – Bellaire Church
Salomon Ngalamulume, Treasurer – Seventh Church
Linda Lindeman, Corresponding Secretary – Fourth Church
Susan Clay, Recording Secretary – Seventh Church
Lynne Clark – The Woodlands Church
Grace Duffy – First Church, Durango, CO

We would welcome a board presence from churches not currently represented.

Our office is your home – providing care in the comfort of your residence.

Thank you for your support.

God will bless the work of your hearts and hands. — Miscellany 197:28

A holy air is breathing round,
A fragrance from above:
Be every thought from sense unbound,
Be every action love.



O God, unite us heart to heart,
In sympathy divine,
That we be never drawn apart,
To love not Thee nor Thine;



But by the life of Jesus taught,
And all his gracious word,
Be nearer to each other brought,
And nearer Thee, O Lord.

— Abiel Abbot Livermore (Hymn 4 in the Christian Science Hymnal)

EASTER MESSAGE, 1902

Beloved Brethren: — May this glad Easter morn find the members of this dear church having a pure peace, a fresh joy, a clear vision of heaven here, — heaven within us, — and an awakened sense of the risen Christ.

— Miscellany 155:16–20

Financial Assistance Available

Any Christian Scientist relying upon the services of a Christian Science practitioner and/or a Journal-listed Christian Science nurse may obtain financial support by applying to the National Fund for Christian Science Nursing (NFCSN). You may contact The Principle Foundation, which manages this fund, by emailing info@nfcsn.org or by calling (800) 873-2843.

Meet the HVCSNS Board

Dave Daniels, President – Ninth Church
Sue Merrill, Vice President – Bellaire Church
Salomon Ngalamulume, Treasurer – Seventh Church
Linda Lindeman, Corresponding Secretary – Fourth Church
Susan Clay, Recording Secretary – Seventh Church
Lynne Clark – The Woodlands Church
Grace Duffy – First Church, Durango, CO

We would welcome a board presence from churches not currently represented.

Our office is your home – providing care in the comfort of your residence.

Thank you for your support.

'Give us this day our daily bread': A testimonial

These familiar words from the Lord’s Prayer remind us of God’s tenderly bestowed, always available, ever-at-hand supply of all our day-by-day needs. Recalling how the children of Israel received daily manna for forty years in the desert inspires us today when we find ourselves in a mental or physical desert of want.

I once felt I needed such divine inspiration at a time of desperation.

Years ago my former wife, our infant son, and I lived in a small, rented guest house in Van Nuys, California, behind the home of our landlord, who was also an acting coach and a personal friend. I was an on-camera actor who, like my peers in the profession, was continually seeking employment. I auditioned for every suitable acting job and spent my days wondering how, where, and when the next paycheck would materialize.

One afternoon I suddenly realized that our $300 rent was due the next day. A quick review of our finances showed a checkbook balance of $1.50 and savings of $5.50. The rent might as well have been a million dollars!

I sat at my desk in silent panic. The problem I was facing seemed insurmountable—way beyond my control. In abject humility, I turned wholeheartedly to God and prayed: “Father, this is your career. You led me here, but I’m perfectly willing to leave acting at your direction. Nevertheless, I know you have infinite ways of blessing your children. Thank you.” As I clung to the Truth and Love undergirding those comforting thoughts, I released all feelings of personal responsibility and self-blame. The panic diminished and soon departed, replaced by the reassuring promise of the Lord’s Prayer: God’s daily supply includes this very day. Soon, I felt at peace and rejoined my family in the other room.

Within an hour my agent called to tell me about a TV commercial audition appointment for the next morning. “You’re perfect for it,” she enthused. What wonderful news! I recognized it as immediate proof of the power of prayer and gave thanks.

The next morning was a different story. Bumping along in the conga line of cars traveling through Laurel Canyon, I let doubts and fears creep in and overshadow the previous day’s peace. Rationalizations and projections abounded: If I got this commercial, the session fee—paid on the day of the actual shoot—probably wouldn’t be in my hands for two weeks. Maybe the landlord—my friend!—would understand the reason for the late payment?

My muddled thoughts were as congested as the traffic. Finally, when I reached the Mulholland Drive red light, both my car wheels and my mental wheels stopped spinning. On the door of a plumber’s van in the next lane was a magnetized sign that read, “Radio Dispatched.” The driver looked so relaxed, sipping his coffee and hanging a meaty elbow out the open window.

I envied his nonchalance and woefully observed to myself, “Man, that guy’s got it made. He’s already at work, being paid every time he’s sent—radio dispatched—from one job to another.” No sooner had that thought come to me than an entirely expansive and far more meaningful idea dawned.

“Wait a minute! I’m already employed by divine Mind right now! So why am I going to this audition? Is my prayer just to beat out all the other actors and get the part? No, I’m going because God has radio-dispatched me, and I happily obey.” This reasoning clarified the true purpose of my tryout: to give employment instead of trying to get employment.

The audition went well, I thought. But as I drove home, the little foxes of mortal mind’s self-analysis chimed in, suggesting my performance had been subpar. Then divine Mind snapped me awake and impelled me to declare aloud: “No! I am already employed as God’s perfect child and I know all is well.”

Upon arriving home, I stopped by the mailbox and absently retrieved the mail. One envelope contained—you guessed it!—a residual check, seemingly out of the blue, for $364.28 from a TV commercial I’d done at least two years earlier. This blessed manna fell just when I needed it most. I was filled with deep, deep gratitude to God and wonder at His awesome works. And the spiritual lesson I learned was permanent. My rent for the remaining years I spent as a professional actor was always on time and paid in full. Oh, the audition? Never heard another word.

That single line of the Lord’s Prayer is available to all of us! Give us health this day. Give us joy this day. Give us harmony this day. Give us to know that God loves and cares for each of us this day and every day.

Every time we prove God’s complete care, we are acknowledging the abundance of Love’s love. Our Journal-listed Christian Science nurse, Susie Petersen, models Love’s abundant love by caring for each dear one sweetly, comprehensively, and expertly—this day and every day. She tenderly supports her clients as they learn the truth of Mary Baker Eddy’s counsel: “Every trial of our faith in God makes us stronger. The more difficult seems the material condition to be overcome by Spirit, the stronger should be our faith and the purer our love” (Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures 410:14–17).

Financial Assistance Available

Any Christian Scientist relying upon the services of a Christian Science practitioner and/or a Journal-listed Christian Science nurse may obtain financial support by applying to the National Fund for Christian Science Nursing (NFCSN). You may contact The Principle Foundation, which manages this fund, by emailing info@nfcsn.org or by calling (800) 873-2843.

Meet the HVCSNS Board

Dave Daniels, President – Ninth Church
Sue Merrill, Vice President – Bellaire Church
Salomon Ngalamulume, Treasurer – Seventh Church
Linda Lindeman, Corresponding Secretary – Fourth Church
Susan Clay, Recording Secretary – Seventh Church
Lynne Clark – The Woodlands Church
Grace Duffy – First Church, Durango, CO

We would welcome a board presence from churches not currently represented.

Our office is your home – providing care in the comfort of your residence.

Thank you for your support.

What are we called upon to do?

February is jam-packed with special designations. Among the many worthy ones are Black History Month, the Chinese New Year, World Interfaith Harmony Week, recognition of the Battle of the Alamo (the 23rd), Abraham Lincoln’s birthday (the 12th), and Valentine’s Day (we all know what date that falls on!).

Maybe you have plans for World Interfaith Harmony Week—which actually starts January 29th and goes into early March! Perhaps you’re planning to surprise someone on Random Acts of Kindness Day (the 17th). Or pondering how to honor World Thinking Day (the 22nd). These celebrations of humanity at its best are shoehorned between the spectacular performance called Super Bowl Sunday (the 6th) and the not-so-wonderful remembrances of World Cancer Day (the 4th) and Rare Disease Day (the 28th). Oh, and confirmed dog-and-cat-lovers will surely want to observe National Love Your Pet Day (the 20th).

But don’t feel guilty if you can’t keep up with the month’s myriad proclamations or espouse every laudable cause du jour. As a Christian Scientist, you can take solace in knowing that our God of peace and love recognizes each of us individually, encircles all of us universally, and causes us to embrace everyone in love, the way “our divine Exemplar” Christ Jesus did. Such love is not finite—confined to certain people or to specified days—but infinite, all-encompassing, and expressed moment by moment for eternity!

Stephen Gottschalk makes a similar point about the Discoverer of Christian Science in his book Rolling Away The Stone: Mary Baker Eddy’s Challenge to Materialism (p. 163):

The divine Love so perfectly understood, beautifully articulated, and consummately lived by Mrs. Eddy is the high standard Christian Scientists are called upon to emulate. When our selfless prayers embrace the world, as hers did daily, we see that God’s mighty-yet-tender love truly does dissolve hatred, misunderstanding, self-righteousness, fear, resistance to good, and every other foe to human progress. Just think—on World Thinking Day!—of the freedom found when we love inclusively and impersonally, as our Way-shower taught us to do and as our Leader exemplified for us.

The world seems to clamor for acknowledgment that all is not well. Indeed, the corporeal senses provide overwhelming evidence that current events and competing ideologies make our lives a constant battle against misery. Yet aren’t our human struggles silenced whenever we turn toward and listen to “a still small voice”? (See I Kings 19:12.)

That gentle voice is the “Love reflected in love” that our Journal-listed visiting Christian Science nurse, Susie Petersen, brings to the sickroom. Like a bright sunbeam, her irresistible, impersonal love for God and her clients floods the room—consciousness—and promotes healing. This is the high calling with which she goes about her Father’s business. Not just on Random Acts of Kindness Day, but 24/7/365.

Susie welcomes calls from her brothers and sisters in need who are ready—even if they don’t realize it—to let go of all worries and doubts and fears, just as dark clouds and dense mist and freezing rain make way for the light and warmth of the sun!

Financial Assistance Available

Any Christian Scientist relying upon the services of a Christian Science practitioner and/or a Journal-listed Christian Science nurse may obtain financial support by applying to the National Fund for Christian Science Nursing (NFCSN). You may contact The Principle Foundation, which manages this fund, by emailing info@nfcsn.org or by calling (800) 873-2843.

Meet the HVCSNS Board

Dave Daniels, President – Ninth Church
Sue Merrill, Vice President – Bellaire Church
Salomon Ngalamulume, Treasurer – Seventh Church
Linda Lindeman, Corresponding Secretary – Fourth Church
Susan Clay, Recording Secretary – Seventh Church
Lynne Clark – The Woodlands Church
Grace Duffy – First Church, Durango, CO

We would welcome a board presence from churches not currently represented.

Our office is your home – providing care in the comfort of your residence.

Thank you for your support.

New Year’s Resolutions or Revelations?

The world generally regards each new year as a time to begin afresh by resolving to exercise more, eat less, work harder, make more money—you get the picture.

Early one January, while the topic of New Year’s resolutions was being bandied about by my colleagues at the water cooler, my mind was elsewhere, planning the pre-dawn business trip I was to take the next day.

It was a 5:45 a.m. flight, as I recall. I was preoccupied with calculating the exact minute I needed to leave the house . . . worried about arriving at the off-site airport parking lot in time to take the shuttle to the terminal . . . obsessing over getting through security . . . fearful I’d be delayed by a long line of fellow travelers. Frayed nerves? Knotted stomach? What, me? No way. I was simply being conscientious, I rationalized.

Next morning, I made good time to the parking lot, boarded the shuttle in pitch darkness, and plopped into the seat nearest the exit. Though outwardly patient while other passengers boarded, inwardly I was chafing to get going.

A bulky guy bounded up the shuttle steps. I said a subdued “Good morning” as he passed by. He took the seat directly behind me and returned my greeting with a joyful exuberance that was both startling and refreshing. Somehow, it calmed me. He said he was excited to be going to work. “I love people. I’m a janitor at the airport, so I get to meet all kinds of folks. I’m a people person, ya know?” he reiterated then added, as an afterthought, “I'm retired.”

“What did you retire from?”

“I was a long-distance hauler. Drove a truck for 25 years.”

Every word he spoke sounded so warm, so loving, so jubilant! I don’t recall what else we talked about, but his joyous outlook on life and my smile in the darkness are indelible.

“This is my stop,” my new friend announced merrily. As he stepped off the shuttle, he wished me a “safe and good trip” and a “God bless!” before disappearing into a sea of airport employees heading to their respective jobs.

That sweet interchange happened years ago. I can’t tell you which city I traveled to that day, but I’ve always remembered that stranger in the darkness. Every so often, whenever I feel a bit harried, I stop whatever I’m doing and reflect upon the love he beamed with—a selfless love that lifted my foreboding, freeing me from worry, doubt, fear.

My resolution that year, as in previous years, was to be a better person—calmer, kinder, gentler. Yet here it was only January and already I was a failure, trying to control every detail of that business trip just so I’d look good in the eyes of my boss.

Eventually, I came to see that my New Year’s resolutions had been feeble attempts to exercise human will. That janitor, I realized, hadn’t needed to resolve to be a better person. He naturally bubbled over with love—active, living love. What a revelation this was to me.

The inspiration that sparked my revelation was divine. It emanated from the light we call Spirit, a name for God. Divine light destroys darkness with Truth and Love. Mary Baker Eddy explained the effect of divine light this way in her seminal work, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures:

My airport shuttle friend had helped me “drop . . . swaddling-clothes” of anxiety and accept the pure light of Love. All of us students of Christian Science respond to “the perpetual demand of Truth and Love” by subjugating our own maneuverings and substituting human resolutions with divine revelation—“the music of the spheres”!

Practitioners of Christian Science are here to support us whenever we believe ourselves engulfed in “chaos” and “discord.” And just as they identify us as God’s purely good children, so, too, does our Journal-listed Christian Science nurse, Susie Petersen. She recognizes God’s perfection in her clients, who may need to feel the same love I felt all those years ago in the darkness before the dawn, thanks to one joyful janitor.

 

Financial Assistance Available

Any Christian Scientist relying upon the services of a Christian Science practitioner and/or a Journal-listed Christian Science nurse may obtain financial support by applying to the National Fund for Christian Science Nursing (NFCSN). You may contact The Principle Foundation, which manages this fund, by emailing info@nfcsn.org or by calling (800) 873-2843.

Meet the HVCSNS Board

Dave Daniels, President – Ninth Church
Sue Merrill, Vice President – Bellaire Church
Salomon Ngalamulume, Treasurer – Seventh Church
Linda Lindeman, Corresponding Secretary – Fourth Church
Susan Clay, Recording Secretary – Seventh Church
Lynne Clark – The Woodlands Church
Grace Duffy – First Church, Durango, CO

We would welcome a board presence from churches not currently represented.

Our office is your home – providing care in the comfort of your residence.

Thank you for your support.

Christmas Remembered and Always Here

When I was fourteen and living on my grandparents’ farm, Gram saw to it that my dream of having a horse came true. She bought Buck from friends down the road for the kingly sum of $250. He and I soon became inseparable.

For a couple of years, I subscribed to a horse magazine. The Christmas issue always featured artists’ renderings of cowboys on a wintry range. One image displayed a cowboy on his horse walking under a full moon. They were dragging a Christmas tree through the snow toward a lamp-lit cabin nestled in a pine forest. To me, it was the perfect Christmas tableau.

The same scene came to life when, just a few days before Christmas, six inches of snow blanketed our farm. I could barely contain my glee as I saddled up Buck, grabbed a hatchet and a rope, and headed off to the stand of pines atop a small hill overlooking one of our distant fields.

My experience wasn’t quite like the magazine’s idyllic depiction, though. It took me forever to worry through the stubby trunk. The dull hatchet blade—which kept falling off the handle—probably couldn’t have hacked through a stick of frozen butter. When the tree finally toppled over, sacrificing an impressive pile of pine needles in the process, I tied my nifty rope around the trunk, wrapped the other end around the saddle horn, and mounted up—just like a real cowboy!

The trek back home being nearly half a mile, I did what any impatient boy would have done: rode faster! The tree in tow became airborne—a pine tree kite that alternately flew and bounced over the snow, trailing branches and needles the entire way. Not until Buck and I got home did I notice that one half of the tree had been stripped bare. No worries. The flat side would face the wall.

Christmas Eve was my favorite part of the holiday. Our small family cozied up in the front room around a fire blazing in the 150-year-old fireplace. Pop would wave an ancient, long-handled basket back and forth over the flames to make popcorn, and my sister and I tried our best to string the kernels into strands with the sewing needles and thread Gram gave us. When tree-trimming festivities came to an end, Gram would read aloud Mary Baker Eddy’s “What Christmas Means to Me.” As I listened, I lay in front of the fire, watching its glowing embers and feeling completely loved.

The peace I felt on that special eve is what Christmas means to me. It’s a peace that originates in and emanates from God, who is Love—a peace that cloaks us in like-minded love for God and for one another. This peace and love were epitomized by the Bethlehem babe, who grew into the man regarded by Christians as the most peace-giving, love-living Son of our heavenly Father. Sure, secular traditions are fun and often meaningful, but the real joy of Christmas lies in our quiet confidence that Christ’s love, which Jesus so perfectly embodied, is forever and everywhere.

Embracing one another as dear friends—especially those precious members of our church family who are facing challenges—is the way we reflect divine Love. As a kid, I understood the healing import of such unselfish love, for I always saw my grandmother quietly comforting others, both in our church and in our neighborhood.

Christian Science nursing is Christmas in action. It is the tender touch of the Christ. It is merciful love for our fellow man. It is the healing Truth that lights up a sick room and soothes a suffering heart. We are so grateful to behold the spirit of Christmas behind every call our Journal-listed visiting Christian Science nurse, Susie Petersen, takes and makes. She loves her clients in a Christly way—year-round. Merry Christmas! Joyeux Noël! Feliz Navidad!

Financial Assistance Available

Any Christian Scientist relying upon the services of a Christian Science practitioner and/or a Journal-listed Christian Science nurse may obtain financial support by applying to the National Fund for Christian Science Nursing (NFCSN). You may contact The Principle Foundation, which manages this fund, by emailing info@nfcsn.org or by calling (800) 873-2843.

Meet the HVCSNS Board

Dave Daniels, President – Ninth Church
Sue Merrill, Vice President – Bellaire Church
Salomon Ngalamulume, Treasurer – Seventh Church
Linda Lindeman, Corresponding Secretary – Fourth Church
Susan Clay, Recording Secretary – Seventh Church
Lynne Clark – The Woodlands Church
Grace Duffy – First Church, Durango, CO

We would welcome a board presence from churches not currently represented.

Our office is your home – providing care in the comfort of your residence.

Thank you for your support.

Thanksgiving and Trees

The season of gratitude to God, which in the United States we celebrate as Thanksgiving in late November, is fast approaching! This end-of-harvest holy day puts me in mind of the bountiful lessons I have learned from trees.

This one, for instance: Isn’t it amazing how the meek-but-mighty tree sturdily stands its ground, unmoved by seasonal changes and varying weather conditions? During the pause in its growing period, a deciduous tree remains firmly rooted, undisturbed when its leaves change color and fall off. Do trees worry over their disappearing canopy and naked branches? No, they instinctively know that green shoots will unfurl in the spring. This annual cycle of dormancy followed by new growth hints at the eternality of divine Love. Her gentle presence, peace, power, and perfection may seem absent for a time, but, in truth, Love never leaves us. (No pun intended!)

The natural phenomenon of trees resting between renewals reminds us that life is not meant to be spent ruminating over our imagined winter woes—grumbling about our bare branches. Rather, when we look up and see a tree’s denuded limbs, it prompts us to practice patiently trusting God. Just as the tree calmly awaits inevitable new buds, so we serenely, expectantly wait for Spirit to form in us fresh spiritual ideas that guide our daily thoughts and deeds. As our Christian Science textbook assures us, “When we wait patiently on God and seek Truth righteously, He directs our path” (Science and Health 254:10-12). Our path of gratitude.

Gratitude was a daily staple in the farm house where my grandparents raised me. Like all grandmas of yesteryear, mine was a first-class cook. I can still taste her delicious Thanksgiving Day dinners—topped off with made-from-scratch pies. And, like all country folk, my grandmother loved nature. Trees were among her favorite teachers.

As a Christian Science practitioner, Gram often shared metaphysical truths with me. Whenever she related those treasures to nature, I listened extra-closely. Once she remarked that world thought misapprehends age. It believes that men and women are fallen mortals who eventually descend into inactivity, disability, uselessness, despair. And yet, she observed, no one thinks of trees as declining with age—getting decrepit, waiting to die. Rather, we associate trees with advancement, with continual growth.

“A tree,” Gram would say, “grows ever deeper roots and spreads its branches ever wider, providing us with more shade each passing summer. That’s how I want to live my life. With deepening roots that represent a foundation of love—reflecting divine Love—for family and friends. And with broadening branches that represent expanding thought imbued with that same divine Love, embracing, encircling, and transforming the globe.”

Every day is Thanksgiving: We thank God for loving us. Every day we are like trees: God enlivens and grows and preserves us. Every day we wait patiently for God to direct our steps and give us spring-green thoughts. Likewise, our Journal-listed Christian Science nurse, Susie Petersen, is thankful to God for the opportunity to serve her fellow followers of Christ. Like a firmly-in-place yet flexible tree, she patiently awaits and graciously responds to every call for practical care. Her healing touch is solidly based upon extensive training and experience—not human problem-solving, but divine reality-seeing.

A Song of Thanksgiving
Christian Science Hymn 374:3
John Randall Dunn

We thank Thee, Father-Mother,
For blessings, light and grace
Which bid mankind to waken
And see Thee face to face.
We thank Thee, when in anguish
We turn from sense to Soul,
That we may hear Thee calling:
Rejoice, for thou art whole.

Financial Assistance Available

Any Christian Scientist relying upon the services of a Christian Science practitioner and/or a Journal-listed Christian Science nurse may obtain financial support by applying to the National Fund for Christian Science Nursing (NFCSN). You may contact The Principle Foundation, which manages this fund, by emailing info@nfcsn.org or by calling (800) 873-2843.

Meet the HVCSNS Board

Dave Daniels, President – Ninth Church
Sue Merrill, Vice President – Bellaire Church
Salomon Ngalamulume, Treasurer – Seventh Church
Linda Lindeman, Corresponding Secretary – Fourth Church
Susan Clay, Recording Secretary – Seventh Church
Lynne Clark – The Woodlands Church
Grace Duffy – First Church, Durango, CO

We would welcome a board presence from churches not currently represented.

Our office is your home – providing care in the comfort of your residence.

Thank you for your support.

HVCSNS Celebrates 50 Years of Service

On July 15, 1971, a modest group of dedicated Christian Scientists were led to envision, nurture, pursue, and ultimately form the Houston Visiting Christian Science Nurse Service, Inc.

Today, 50 years and three months later, we, the HVCSNS board of directors, pause to commemorate the pure motives and divinely inspired actions of those intrepid pioneers.

One board member reminded us that 1971 was marked by another auspicious event: Starbucks was established. You might be asking: “Why relate Starbucks to Science?” Because doing so underscores the pitfalls of celebrating dates simply for the sake of recording personal milestones. If left unchallenged, such mortal mind musings and memorials open the door to a myriad of fears and woes that sneak into our consciousness and cause havoc. One such musing is that the now-worldwide coffeehouse chain is better known to many Christian Scientists than is the existence of—and practical services tenderly performed by—visiting Christian Science nurses! That troubling suggestion can be disproven by everyone who honestly acknowledges and earnestly demonstrates the healing efficacy of skilled Christian Science nursing care. After all, what could be more attractive, more winning, than the Comforter? (For more details about services a Christian Science nurse provides, click here .)

Speaking of “winning,” I’m reminded of a fable my third grade teacher read to our class. A weary traveler trudged along a dirt road in a heavy coat on a late-November afternoon. On either side of him were trees that held a few straggling leaves. The autumn sky was dark and foreboding. Our ears perked up when the story introduced Old North Wind and Sun. Wind proposed having a contest with Sun: Whichever of them first forced the coat off the weary man would win. Sun’s answer: stillness. So, rushing to be the first to try, Old North Wind blew with gale force, stripping and swirling the last remaining leaves, whipping the bare branches to and fro—and causing the cold traveler to lean into the blast and clutch his coat more tightly to his chest.

After an hour of high-speed huffing and puffing, Old North Wind was no closer to his goal of removing the coat. He paused to catch his breath. Sun chose that moment to poke through the clouds, flooding the overcast skies with light. Instantly warmer, the traveler unbuttoned his coat. In the last scene, we see him striding home happily, the coat draped over his arm.

For me, this simple story holds spiritual import. Among its lessons: Even when we face numbingly cold circumstances, even when we cling to our great coat of fear, even when we remain wrapped up in troubles, even when we walk through a seemingly lifeless material landscape, our Father-Mother’s soft warmth and gentle light always reveal themselves. Always prevail over hardship. Always bring joy, contentment, peace to weary ones. Always win! As Genesis 1 confirms, man—the only real, spiritual man—does have God-given dominion over all woes and foes, over all errors and terrors.

We are today’s scientific, sturdy pioneers, tracing the way of Christ Jesus and Mary Baker Eddy, yet forging ever-new spiritual paths. Emulating our Master and our Leader, we are learning “to hew the tall oak and to cut the rough granite” (Science and Health vii:24). One trailblazer fitting this description is our consecrated Journal-listed Christian Science nurse, Susie Petersen, who serves her clients at divine Principle’s direction and under divine Love’s protection. (To learn about resources available to Christian Scientists, click here .) 

Financial Assistance Available

Any Christian Scientist relying upon the services of a Christian Science practitioner and/or a Journal-listed Christian Science nurse may obtain financial support by applying to the National Fund for Christian Science Nursing (NFCSN). You may contact The Principle Foundation, which manages this fund, by emailing info@nfcsn.org or by calling (800) 873-2843.

Meet the HVCSNS Board

Dave Daniels, President – Ninth Church
Sue Merrill, Vice President – Bellaire Church
Salomon Ngalamulume, Treasurer – Seventh Church
Linda Lindeman, Corresponding Secretary – Fourth Church
Susan Clay, Recording Secretary – Seventh Church
Lynne Clark – The Woodlands Church
Grace Duffy – First Church, Durango, CO

We would welcome a board presence from churches not currently represented.

Our office is your home – providing care in the comfort of your residence.

Thank you for your support.

On Being Shepherded Through the Darkness

God’s light of love shines even in the darkest hour. One dark period in my life was when my parents separated. As a sixth grader, I didn’t understand why our happy family suddenly split up. Mom moved my sister and me to her parents’ farm. As much as I loved being in the country and helping my grandfather with chores, I felt alone. I missed my dad.

One of my responsibilities was feeding the sheep. Strange as it is to me now, I held these innocent animals in contempt. I didn’t understand how such timid creatures, who acted afraid of everything and anyone most of the time, turned into stampeding cattle at meal time, practically trampling me to get at their food.

One afternoon, when feeling absolutely abandoned, I was surprisingly moved by an overwhelming love for those sheep. They were resting in the cool of the barn. Startled at my sudden entrance, they crowded into a corner as far away from me as they could get. This time, rather than reacting to their fear, I quietly sat down near the open barn door, leaned against the wall, and let myself be filled with a strange-yet-welcome sensation of tender love for them. Looking back, I realize this was my simple way of reaching out to God, who is Love itself.

Sheep are curious by nature. Step by halting step, they followed each other toward me. One ewe actually lay down next to me and put her head on my thigh. I was transfixed—and even more surprised when a second ewe laid her head on my other leg. Then the rest of the flock settled down close by.

Those gentle creatures soothed the soul of a boy craving validation. As I looked down upon my woolly friends calmly breathing and resting their heads trustingly on my lap, I felt totally loved. My heart was healed. My thoughts, once dark, were filled with light. I was comforted. I was at peace.

That pastoral scene surely fulfilled the New Testament promise, “Be perfect, be of good comfort, be of one mind, live in peace; and the God of love and peace shall be with you” (II Corinthians 13:11 Be).

Interestingly, when I allowed myself to be shepherded by a flock of lowly sheep, I found myself, in turn, able to “shepherd,” if you will, my own thinking. The lonely feelings no longer controlled me. The darkness vanished in the light of divine Love—the Love that is our head Shepherd, guiding His little flock home.

Do you know anyone—maybe even yourself—who, like that lonesome lad of long ago, feels estranged from divine Love? Who is perhaps manifesting physical symptoms of thoughts darkened by lovelessness? Who is resisting seeking the spiritual help of a Christian Science practitioner and the practical aid of a Christian Science nurse? If so, it’s time to let that imposition of resistance be silenced by the calm assurance and assistance of our Journal-listed Christian Science nurse, Susie Petersen. She is one of God’s humblest servants—the meekest of sheep! And she’s only a phone call away: 713-304-8384.

“When the stars together sang,
Then the Truth triumphant rang:
Be there light; And there was light.
Gone are chaos, fear and night;”
— John Randall Dunn (excerpt from Hymn 310 in the Christian Science Hymnal)

Financial Assistance Available

Any Christian Scientist relying upon the services of a Christian Science practitioner and/or a Journal-listed Christian Science nurse may obtain financial support by applying to the National Fund for Christian Science Nursing (NFCSN). You may contact The Principle Foundation, which manages this fund, by emailing info@nfcsn.org or by calling (800) 873-2843.

Meet the HVCSNS Board

Dave Daniels, President – Ninth Church
Sue Merrill, Vice President – Bellaire Church
Salomon Ngalamulume, Treasurer – Seventh Church
Linda Lindeman, Corresponding Secretary – Fourth Church
Susan Clay, Recording Secretary – Seventh Church
Lynne Clark – The Woodlands Church
Grace Duffy – First Church, Durango, CO

We would welcome a board presence from churches not currently represented.

Our office is your home – providing care in the comfort of your residence.

Thank you for your support.

One Verse. One Song.

In my boyhood, the wonders of my grandparents’ Pennsylvania farm knew no bounds. As soon as chores were done, I’d roam the woods down by the creek. The only absolute family rule I had to obey was to always come running when Gram rang her antique bell—a relic from a one-room schoolhouse—announcing dinner was ready. I learned that obedience brought its own delicious reward!

The memory of the love poured out to me by dear Pop and Gram makes me smile. And that brass bell, now in my office, serves as a reminder that my universe as a youth was happy because I felt God’s love so tangibly—reflected in my grandparents’ care for me. Even when the bell wasn't calling me, I was being beckoned by my divine Parent in many ways—and I did my best to obey Her gentle commands.

Recently, a friend pointed out that universe means one verse. This one verse expresses God’s law of unity and harmony. You could say that God, the composer of our spiritually perfect, all-harmonious universe, sings Her one verse joyfully to Her family—us. And we sing our love back with humble, grateful hearts.

Gratitude to God is the watchword of our Journal-listed Christian Science Nurse, Susie Petersen. As she meets each client compassionately, she actually sings—either silently or aloud. Yes, Susie sings praises to our divine Parent for His ever-presence, power, goodness, and ongoing healing activity. And so do her clients! Every day, they witness the beneficial effect of their one-verse songs: “Christian Science silences human will, quiets fear with Truth and Love, and illustrates the unlabored motion of the divine energy in healing the sick” (Science and Health, 445:19–21).

God’s universe is ever-expanding, always new. So, too, are the Christian Science nursing (and related) services offered to those who need assistance. We are happy to share one such recently launched program. It is offered by The Principle Foundation (TPF) and is called Caring for Christian Scientists. “This new avenue for care, which consists of a website, www.RiperYears.org , and a call center, brings together a central directory of care resources for Christian Scientists,” writes TPF. “These resources include information on housing, personal assistance, Christian Science nursing and care facilities, insurance, legal issues related to health care, and more.”

Currently, the call center’s hours are between 1:00 and 3:00 p.m. Central Daylight Time, seven days a week. Call toll-free at (800) 930-3797.

The Christian Science Nurse

By David L. Horn
From the January 1968 issue of The Christian Science Journal

Daughter of patience, compassion and care,
Mary and Martha united in Love,
Yours a persuasion of unceasing prayer—
Yours a profession ordained from above.
Hearts who would vanquish mortality's claim
Find in your gentleness heavenly rest.
Trusting the wisdom you use in His name,
Fearless we turn to the Christ and are blest.
 

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We lift our hearts in gratitude to God, joyfully heeding His bell-beckoning call. “For he spake, and it was done; he commanded, and it stood fast”
(Psalms 33:9).

Financial Assistance Available

Any Christian Scientist relying upon the services of a Christian Science practitioner and/or a Journal-listed Christian Science nurse may obtain financial support by applying to the National Fund for Christian Science Nursing (NFCSN). You may contact The Principle Foundation, which manages this fund, by emailing info@nfcsn.org or by calling (800) 873-2843.

Meet the HVCSNS Board

Dave Daniels, President – Ninth Church
Sue Merrill, Vice President – Bellaire Church
Salomon Ngalamulume, Treasurer – Seventh Church
Linda Lindeman, Corresponding Secretary – Fourth Church
Susan Clay, Recording Secretary – Seventh Church
Lynne Clark – The Woodlands Church
Grace Duffy – First Church, Durango, CO

We would welcome a board presence from churches not currently represented.

Our office is your home – providing care in the comfort of your residence.

Thank you for your support.

Proclaiming Our Independence

July is associated with waving flags and fireworks in celebration of our nation’s Independence Day. Even more compelling—and spanning every day of the year—is the divine promise that we can each proclaim another kind of independence: freedom from fear.

I’ll give you a for instance. As a small boy, I was terrified that monsters under my bed would grab my feet and pull me into their ravenous clutches as soon as Mom had tucked me in and turned out the light. This irrational fear held me in its grip for quite a while. Of course, my parents told me that monsters weren’t real, and logically I knew this. But I also knew that I was the one who had to prove it. They couldn’t remove the fear of monsters for me.

One night I bravely forced myself to stick my feet out from under the blankets. The next morning, I saw, to my great delight, that my toes were intact! To this day, I sleep with my feet protruding from the covers.

That’s the way all healings happen, isn’t it? Whatever the scary claim, whatever the dire prediction, healing starts when we dare to stand up to baseless fear. In its place comes a deep-down secure feeling that we can never be separated from our dear Father-Mother God’s love. Then we identify with the Psalmist’s night-time prayer, “I will both lay me down in peace, and sleep: for thou, Lord, only makest me dwell in safety” (Psalms 4:8).

Invariably, when our full healing is revealed—when day dawns in a quiet moment of spiritual clarity—we find ourselves indeed free from suffering, from quaking fears. It makes no difference how long the night lasted, for once the light of divine Truth, Life, and Love dispels the darkness, we are transformed. What comfort it brings us to quietly know, “For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways” (Psalms 91:11).

During any dark, dream-like state, it is also a comfort to know that our Journal-listed visiting Christian Science nurse, Susie Petersen, can be at your side whenever you call.* She will lovingly bind up your wounds while declaring your spiritual perfection. She will remind you that you can no more be separated from divine Love than it is possible to be separated from your image when you are looking in the mirror.

Susie administers neither prescription drugs nor sleeping pills, neither shots nor salves nor supplements—not even holistic preparations and potions. As a Christian Science nurse, she gently performs basic tasks such as bathing, meal preparation, and ambulatory assistance.

All Christian Science healing proclaims, demonstrates, and reveals the forever fact that man is now—and always—free from fear, for man’s coexistence with God means we are blessed with joy, dominion, and freedom. Fittingly, as we honor our country’s independence—her “healing” from bondage to Britain nearly two and a half centuries ago—let us cherish that most profound phrase of The Pledge of Allegiance: “…one Nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.”

*Susie Petersen may be reached at susiepetersen3@gmail.com or by calling (713) 304-8384.

Safety

By Violet Hay
From the January 1941 issue of The Christian Science Journal

He whose thought is lifted ever
To the perfect realm of Mind,
In that secret place abiding
Shall a full protection find.
Safe beneath the Almighty’s shade
He shall dwell—all unafraid.
Thousand errors may confront us,
They shall fail on every side,
All our ways are kept by angels,
All our steps they guard and guide.
They who slumber not nor sleep
Day and night their watch shall keep.
They shall show us Love’s salvation,
Teach us how to trample fear.
Nothing evil shall befall us
Nor shall any plague come near.
We our Father’s name have known,
We will trust in God alone.

Financial Assistance Available

Any Christian Scientist relying upon the services of a Christian Science practitioner and/or a Journal-listed Christian Science nurse may obtain financial support by applying to the National Fund for Christian Science Nursing (NFCSN). You may contact The Principle Foundation, which manages this fund, by emailing info@nfcsn.org or by calling (800) 873-2843.

Meet the HVCSNS Board

Dave Daniels, President – Ninth Church
Sue Merrill, Vice President – Bellaire Church
Salomon Ngalamulume, Treasurer – Seventh Church
Linda Lindeman, Corresponding Secretary – Fourth Church
Susan Clay, Recording Secretary – Seventh Church
Lynne Clark – The Woodlands Church
Grace Duffy – First Church, Durango, CO

We would welcome a board presence from churches not currently represented.

Our office is your home – providing care in the comfort of your residence.

Thank you for your support.

That Ole Coca-Cola Bottle Trick Can't Fool Us!

I was around age six when I visited my friend Mark with my parents and several other family friends. We all sat in Mark’s living room watching his dad regale us with a razzle-dazzle magic show. The big reveal at the end appeared to be a frosty-cold glass bottle of Coca-Cola, which the magician casually placed inside a paper bag. He then crumpled up the bag and tossed it over his shoulder.

His audience erupted in joyful applause. All of us knew it wasn’t a glass bottle—all of us, that is, except Mom, who was mystified. To her, it had to have been the real deal. She recognized that famous brand of bottle when she saw it! Thus, she was positive that the act she’d just witnessed defied logic.

We tried in vain to explain the trick to her; Mom remained unmoved, unconvinced. Then Mark’s magician dad quietly placed the rubber Coca-Cola bottle in her hands. Suddenly, she saw the truth. Oh, my, what a good laugh she had at herself!

All of us can identify with my mom. We’re deceived by an illusion and then, in a moment of clarity, discover the truth and snap out of the spell. Once we see a lie debunked, we’re never again fooled by it. Whether the lie appears as chronic illness or immobility or lack of any sort or inharmony within families, churches, governments, our Mind, God, is right here to awaken us to the truth of our perfect being, untouched by mortal mind’s hypnotic illusions.

It’s really about perspective, isn’t it? “Mortal mind sees what it believes as certainly as it believes what it sees,” explains Mary Baker Eddy on page 86 of Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures.

The kindly way my friend’s dad disproved my mom’s false perspective and gently corrected her thought by showing her the real object cut through the noise of a room full of well-meaning explainers. It mattered not that she was the last one in the room to get it.

Likewise, when we enlist a Christian Science nurse, our thought opens (either instantly or gradually) to Truth. Our mental storm is quieted, enabling us to recognize and accept our God-made perfection. We are blessed spiritually, in ways far beyond the practical physical aid we receive. Our Journal-listed nurse Susie Petersen gently turns our consciousness to the tender, loving presence of the Christ and encourages us to firmly reject fear and the fetters of false beliefs, which claim to disguise us as frail, injured, or sickly mortals.

Working alongside a Christian Science practitioner on every case she attends, Susie brings the light of Christ, Truth, into the sickroom by refusing to see us in any way other than the way God sees us. You might say that every lie presenting man as a failing mortal is no more real to her than was the collapsible rubber bottle of Coca-Cola to me!

Rise Now

By Faith Walsh Heidtbrink, published in Boundless Light, p. 112
(from the December 29, 1986, Christian Science Sentinel)

I waited
and waited
(like the man at the pool of Bethesda)
for an angel
to come and move the waters
of my thought.

But then God said:
“Don’t wait . . . rise now!”

So as I looked
with my heart I found
that His angels were all around!
And, as I rose, they took my hand
and tenderly
led me on.

Financial Assistance Available

Any Christian Scientist relying upon the services of a Christian Science practitioner and/or a Journal-listed Christian Science nurse may obtain financial support by applying to the National Fund for Christian Science Nursing (NFCSN). You may contact The Principle Foundation, which manages this fund, by emailing info@nfcsn.org or by calling (800) 873-2843.

Meet the HVCSNS Board

Dave Daniels, President – Ninth Church
Sue Merrill, Vice President – Bellaire Church
Salomon Ngalamulume, Treasurer – Seventh Church
Linda Lindeman, Corresponding Secretary – Fourth Church
Susan Clay, Recording Secretary – Seventh Church
Lynne Clark – The Woodlands Church
Grace Duffy – First Church, Durango, CO

Members of Houston-area branch churches not currently represented on our board are welcome to join us.

Our office is your home – providing care in the comfort of your residence.

Thank you for your support.

Thoughts of Springtime and Our Ever-Fresh CS Nurse

The wooded landscapes covering the Houston area are greening daily with the natural splendor of unfurling leaves. Triumphant springtime heralds the appearance of small buds, soon to blossom into their fuller selves. So, too, the divine laws of inevitable, irresistible growth that undergird this glorious display of nature's wonders include each of us. Our creator causes us to show forth more and more of our true beauty and goodness daily—to increasingly manifest His love for us.

Yet sometimes, to sense, storm clouds gather and threaten, imposing sickness, fear, want, worry, and leaving us feeling alone and vulnerable. The antidote to these woes always lies in turning thought to God. “But whoso harkeneth unto me shall dwell safely, and shall be quiet from fear of evil” (Proverbs 1:33).

Christian Science nurses are trained to turn their thought to God to meet all needs while skillfully rendering practical care. They hold to the divine truth that man is 100% spiritual and immortal, unmixed with a single element of so-called matter—thus never a suffering, fearful mortal.

Our Journal-listed visiting Christian Science nurse, Susie Petersen, stands ever-alert and ready to meet the human need in each of her cases with abundant patience, quiet grace, and tender love. Her sometimes strenuous schedule never depletes her energies. Rather, in loving and serving God and her neighbor, she remains springtime fresh, spiritually sturdy and strong as a deeply rooted sapling, and buoyant like a kite in a crisp breeze. In the eyes of her grateful clients and their families, she surely wears the crown of the faithful. They would say of her work: “All this is accomplished by the grace of God . . . understood” (Christian Science versus Pantheism, p. 10:22–24).

Realm of Prayer

By Lyle M. Crist, Boundless Light, p. 65 (April 22, 1983 CSS)

SEEK not a better mortal care,
however needed it may seem;
but have a higher goal for prayer—
resolve to break the dream.

When healing’s grace is what is sought,
seek first of all immortal thought.

Financial Assistance Available

Any Christian Scientist relying upon the services of a Christian Science practitioner and/or a Journal-listed Christian Science nurse may obtain financial support by applying to the National Fund for Christian Science Nursing (NFCSN). You may contact The Principle Foundation, which manages this fund, by emailing info@nfcsn.org or by calling (800) 873-2843.

Meet the HVCSNS Board

Dave Daniels, President – Ninth Church
Sue Merrill, Vice President – Bellaire Church
Salomon Ngalamulume, Treasurer – Seventh Church
Linda Lindeman, Corresponding Secretary – Fourth Church
Susan Clay, Recording Secretary – Seventh Church
Lynne Clark – The Woodlands Church
Grace Duffy – First Church, Durango, CO

We would welcome a board presence from churches not currently represented.

Our office is your home – providing care in the comfort of your residence.

Thank you for your support.

Resurrection

The gladness of Easter commemorates the deathless nature of God’s children, as proven by the hallowed example of our Master’s ascension after the crucifixion experience. The following resurrection testimony may be found in “By Your Fruits Ye Shall Know Them” (Testimonies of Healing from the Christian Science Periodicals, p. 21) as well as in the July 1898 issue of The Christian Science Journal, where it originally appeared.

   

Financial Assistance Available

Any Christian Scientist relying upon the services of a Christian Science practitioner and/or a Journal-listed Christian Science nurse may obtain financial support by applying to the National Fund for Christian Science Nursing (NFCSN). You may contact The Principle Foundation, which manages this fund, by emailing info@nfcsn.org or by calling (800) 873-2843.

Meet the HVCSNS Board

Dave Daniels, President – Ninth Church
Sue Merrill, Vice President – Bellaire Church
Salomon Ngalamulume, Treasurer – Seventh Church
Linda Lindeman, Corresponding Secretary – Fourth Church
Susan Clay, Recording Secretary – Seventh Church
Lynne Clark – The Woodlands Church
Grace Duffy – First Church, Durango, CO

We would welcome a board presence from churches not currently represented.

Our office is your home – providing care in the comfort of your residence.

Thank you for your support.

Pussy Willow Buds, Healing Babe, and Gentle Beams

There was an old weeping willow tree on the farm where I grew up. As March winds swept it to and fro, I held the tiny, downy-soft pussy willow buds between cold fingers. Then I held them gently to my face, feeling a special closeness to God’s natural glory.

That cherished memory humbles me and speaks of God’s love for each one of us—timeless, felt in tangible ways, and perfectly tailored to every individual need. It also reminds me of why we celebrate the consecrated work of dedicated Christian Science nurses, like our own Journal-listed CSN, Susie Petersen.  

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I'd like to share with you the theme we have chosen for 2021: “Cherish the babe of Christ healing by being a gentle beam of living Love.”*

These 1828 Webster’s Dictionary definitions of the words in our theme are still in use:

Cherish: To treat with tenderness and affection; to give warmth, ease or comfort to.

Babe of Christ: THE ANOINTED; an appellation given to the Savior of the world.

Healing: Curing; restoring to a sound state.

Gentle: Mild, meek, soft, soothing, tame; peaceable.

Beam (there was no noun for "beam" of light in 1828, so we'll go with the verb): To emit rays of light; shine; to send forth.

Living: Producing action, animation and vigor; quickening; as a living principle; a living faith.

Love: The love of God is the first duty of man, and this springs from just views of his attributes or excellencies of character, which afford the highest delight to the sanctified heart. Esteem and reverence constitute ingredients in this affection. [I John 4:16 God is Love.]

*See Miscellaneous Writings, 1883–1896, page 370, and Hymn No. 23 in the Christian Science Hymnal.

In his Association address of 1910, “Prayer and Practice,” Adam Dickey shared an insight into how Mrs. Eddy healed: 

 
Mrs. Eddy proved that as we “cherish the babe of Christ healing by being a gentle beam of living Love,” we heal! And we witness healing, as our visiting Christian Science nurse—a beam of living Love if there ever was one!—does when she makes her daily rounds.

Financial Assistance Available

Any Christian Scientist relying upon the services of a Christian Science practitioner and/or a Journal-listed Christian Science nurse may obtain financial support by applying to the National Fund for Christian Science Nursing (NFCSN). You may contact The Principle Foundation, which manages this fund, by emailing info@nfcsn.org or by calling (800) 873-2843.

Meet the HVCSNS Board

Dave Daniels, President – Ninth Church
Sue Merrill, Vice President – Bellaire Church
Salomon Ngalamulume, Treasurer – Seventh Church
Linda Lindeman, Corresponding Secretary – Fourth Church
Susan Clay, Recording Secretary – Seventh Church
Lynne Clark – The Woodlands Church
Grace Duffy – First Church, Durango, CO

We would welcome a board presence from churches not currently represented.

Our office is your home – providing care in the comfort of your residence.

Thank you for your support.

Gratitude, Rocks, and Fleas

The following anonymous quote aptly embraces God’s law of abundance: “Gratitude turns what we have into enough.” Enough is plenty, isn’t it? We HVCSNS board members think so!

We humbly acknowledge the plenty-full prayerful support and the many kind comments you've sent our way. We love hearing how grateful you are to read newsletters that voice clients’ appreciation for the healing touch of Christian Science nursing in Houston. And we thank all who have lovingly provided financial gifts. We cherish each donation as evidence of your selfless desire to share God’s goodness.

Our Journal-listed CSN, Susie Petersen, continues to serve with grace, providing immediate, loving, practical Christian Science nursing care “to those leaning upon the sustaining infinite” (Science and Health vii:1). This sustaining infinite—divine Love—does not see claims of conflict, confusion, fear, or upheaval. Rather, Love sees only what She creates and sustains: peace, calm, quiet joy, perfection. Love is truly our rock of salvation.

Mentioning "conflict" and "rock" in the same breath reminds me of a comment Mick makes in the 1986 movie Crocodile Dundee as he tries to educate his girlfriend, who's visiting the Australian outback for the first time:  

We’re not fleas and we don’t live on a dog, yet the warring factions of so-called mortal mind seek to prey on us, infest us, divide us, confound us. The alert Christian Scientist well understands Mrs. Eddy's wise observation, “Ignorant of our God-given rights, we submit to unjust decrees, and the bias of education enforces this slavery” (SH 381:2-4), and her equally wise counsel, “We sustain Truth, not by accepting, but by rejecting a lie” (357:5-6).

The consecrated work of the Christian Science nurse is to sustain Truth by rejecting lies about each client. The mortal scene always lies and always personalizes.
 
The calm, still thought is what brings the light of divine Truth, Life, and Love that heals. This is why our Journal-listed CSN, Susie Petersen, is in demand. She always makes room for God, always sees spiritual man. Not fleas. Not lies. Not personalities. Not confusion. Just perfection.

Financial Assistance Available

Any Christian Scientist relying upon the services of a Christian Science practitioner and/or a Journal-listed Christian Science nurse may obtain financial support by applying to the National Fund for Christian Science Nursing (NFCSN). You may contact The Principle Foundation, which manages this fund, by emailing info@nfcsn.org or by calling (800) 873-2843.

Meet the HVCSNS Board

Dave Daniels, President – Ninth Church
Sue Merrill, Vice President – Bellaire Church
Salomon Ngalamulume, Treasurer – Seventh Church
Linda Lindeman, Corresponding Secretary – Fourth Church
Susan Clay, Recording Secretary – Seventh Church
Lynne Clark – The Woodlands Church
Grace Duffy – First Church, Durango, CO

We would welcome a board presence from churches not currently represented.

Our office is your home – providing care in the comfort of your residence.

Thank you for your support.

What to Expect from a Christian Science Nurse

Though 2020 is now in our collective rearview mirror, some people predict the new year will be more of the same: non‑stop COVID‑19 coverage, continuing political strife, racial tensions, economic woes, and mounting personal fears—not a hopeful human outlook.

Christian Scientists instinctively know that the antidote to the tumult is right at hand: God, our Savior from any and every harm. Examples of divine control may be seen everywhere, including in the most mundane settings, such as at the grocery store.

Where I shop there are modified grocery carts resembling mock race cars, complete with steering wheel! Little children, secured by parents in the driver’s seat, steer their “car” as if they’re on a track, sometimes wildly spinning the wheel. All the while they believe they’re in control, Mom or Dad is calmly directing the cart down the aisles.

Just as certainly, God is directing our lives. We are not the ones in control, though external images tempt us to forget that fact, especially when our world seems to be out of control. Impossible! For, as our Leader, Mary Baker Eddy, comfortingly assures us, “Mind’s control over the universe, including man, is no longer an open question, but is demonstrable Science” (Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures 171:12-13).

It is also a comfort to know that dedicated Christian Science nurses confidently put God in control of every case and stand firm with Him, no matter how persistently mortal sense seems to scream for attention.

We thought you might like to know what a client can expect when calling upon our devoted Journal-listed Christian Science nurse, Susie Petersen:  

CHRISTIAN SCIENCE NURSE SCOPE OF SERVICES

The care provided by the Christian Science nurse includes:  

• Accepting a case with the expectancy of complete and immediate healing;
• Giving care that is consistent with the theology and ethics of Christian Science;
• Offering loving reassurance of God’s tender care, ever-presence, and omnipotence, faithfully and consistently acknowledging man’s spiritual perfection;
• Encouraging an individual’s expression of normal activity and natural vitality;
• Reading to or with an individual from the Bible, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures and other writings by Mary Baker Eddy as well as from other literature published by The Christian Science Publishing Society;
• Communicating in an ethical, moral, and loving manner with the client, family, friends, Christian Science practitioner, and others, including observing ethical and legal requirements with regard to private information about the client;
• Maintaining an atmosphere that is conducive to spiritual healing and supportive of harmonious care;
• Providing all necessary personal care to meet the needs of cleanliness and comfort;
• Assisting with mobility, including standing up, walking, moving about, sitting, lying down—with or without mobility aids or comfort items;
• Preparing and modifying nourishing food, assisting with feeding, giving appropriate encouragement to eat;
• Cleansing, covering, and bandaging to provide for cleanliness, protection, support, and comfort;
• Instructing the client and others (family members, for example) in how to provide care to meet individual needs;
• Being obedient to the laws of the land.

The care provided by the Christian Science nurse does not include:  

• Making a medical diagnosis or prognosis;
• Assuming responsibility for making health care decisions for the client;
• Administering medication or drugs or using medicated, herbal, or vitamin‑based products and remedies;
• Using and administering medically oriented techniques or technology, including, but not limited to, administering food or liquids with medical equipment—e.g., intravenous feeding;
• Manipulation, massaging, or giving physical therapy;
• Assuming responsibility for a client’s financial or household business transactions;
• Intruding on the private relationship between the client and the Christian Science practitioner or between the client and his or her family;
• Giving personal advice and counsel.

Fundamental to the ministry of a Christian Science nurse is an active, prayerful confirmation of man’s innate spirituality and responsiveness to God’s harmonious government. This spiritual witnessing undergirds each aspect of the care a Christian Science nurse renders.

Light edits were made to this document, whose content was updated by Christian Science Nursing Activities Department of The First Church of Christ, Scientist, in Boston, Massachusetts, in April 2018.

Meet the HVCSNS Board

Dave Daniels, President – Ninth Church
Sue Merrill, Vice President – Bellaire Church
Salomon Ngalamulume, Treasurer – Seventh Church
Linda Lindeman, Corresponding Secretary – Fourth Church
Susan Clay, Recording Secretary – Seventh Church
Lynne Clark – The Woodlands Church
Grace Duffy – First Church, Durango, CO

We would welcome a board presence from churches not currently represented.

Our office is your home – providing care in the comfort of your residence.

Thank you for your support.

Christmas: The Gift of Love

In What Christmas Means To Me—And Other Christmas Messages, Mary Baker Eddy lovingly wrote:

What a precious gift this Science of the incorporeal Christ is for each of us—and for the world!

At Christmas, we feel special reverence for Christ Jesus and our hearts embrace all mankind in generous love. Our affection during this holiday hints at God’s ceaseless — season-less! — love for all of His children.

Speaking of year-round love, we at HVCSNS are aware that God’s solicitude is constantly evidenced in the tender care with which Christian Science nurses minister to their charges. We need no further proof of their gentle love than the following paean of praise written by an appreciative Houston-area family to our Journal-listed Christian Science nurse, Susie Petersen. Though lightly edited, the words are authentic:

To whom it may concern,

Our family wants to express our gratitude to the Houston Visiting Christian Science Nurses. We would especially like to highlight the outstanding work of and the blessings we have received from Susie Petersen. We have a family member who has been receiving the assistance of Christian Science nursing since December 2018, so we have had experience with many different caregivers over the past two years.

Susie stands out as truly exceptional amongst all the caregivers. Her skills are deep and diverse. They include helping a difficult patient prepare for a three-hour journey, aiding in showering and personal grooming, and styling her hair beautifully. Although the practical needs vary, Susie’s approach never varies. Whatever she does is done with love, care, and patience.

What I most value in Susie is her understanding and practice of Christian Science. On many occasions I have spoken with Susie about practical nursing advice. During these discussions, I am grateful to come to know Susie’s clear understanding of man as God’s expression. It is such a help to me that Susie sees my family member correctly; namely, she doesn’t see a mortal patient, but God’s spiritual idea.

When I think of Susie’s nursing, I’m reminded of Mary Baker Eddy’s statement about Christ Jesus in Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, where she writes: “The divine nature was best expressed in Christ Jesus, who threw upon mortals the truer reflection of God and lifted their lives higher than their poor thought-models would allow, — thoughts which presented man as fallen, sick, sinning, and dying” (259:6).

Susie has — on every occasion — exhibited the above sentence in her practical nursing. She lifts her patient’s thought because she always comes prepared for a case with the highest standards of what it means to be a Christian Science nurse.

Sincerely,
A grateful family*

*The family has given permission for us to publish their letter without a signature.

Coming Attractions

Look for the Christian Science Nurse Scope of Services in the January 2021 newsletter. This document itemizes the types of care that Christian Science nursing includes as well as services that Christian Science nursing care does not include.

Meet the Board

Dave Daniels, President – Ninth Church
Sue Merrill, Vice President – Bellaire Church
Salomon Ngalamulume, Treasurer – Seventh Church
Linda Lindeman, Corresponding Secretary – Fourth Church
Susan Clay, Recording Secretary – Seventh Church
Lynne Clark – The Woodlands Church
Grace Duffy – First Church, Durango, CO

We would welcome a board presence from churches not currently represented.

Our office is your home – providing care in the comfort of your residence.

Thank you for your support.

Happy Thanksgiving

Gratitude is a hallmark of all customs, cultures, and nations. It replaces selfishness with selflessness, causing us to think of, and care for, others. Thanksgiving—giving thanks—is so much larger and longer-lasting than a day of feasting. It is the humble acknowledging and yielding to God, the source of all good—no matter what challenges may seem to engulf us.

Expressing gratitude for a pivotal Union Army victory at Gettysburg, President Abraham Lincoln proclaimed November 26, 1863, as a national day of Thanksgiving. His proclamation reads in part:

Thanksgiving Day reminds us to continually proclaim God’s love for us—Her adored children—which She shows by feeding the hungry, receptive heart. As Mrs. Eddy beautifully writes:

Christian Science nurses, reflecting God's love for Her own, bless "the human family with crumbs of comfort from Christ's table." They give "waters" of rest and peace to brothers and sisters seeking practical care. And while their ministry lovingly, tenderly, addresses the human need—bandaging, mobility needs, meal preparation, obstetrics cases, and much more—they understand that man’s identity is now and forever spiritual, no matter what the human scene presents.

Sometimes the dear ones to whom Christian Science nurses attend may, like our ancestors who endured that seemingly endless Civil War, be tempted to fear they are caught in circumstances beyond their control.

Such a fear—and, really, any and all fear felt by any and all of us—can be met and overcome by our faithful service to God and grateful love for God:

Amen!

Photos by Kiy Turk and Library of Congress on Unsplash

Meet the Board

Dave Daniels, President – Ninth Church
Sue Merrill, Vice President – Bellaire Church
Salomon Ngalamulume, Treasurer – Seventh Church
Linda Lindeman, Corresponding Secretary – Fourth Church
Susan Clay, Recording Secretary – Seventh Church
Lynne Clark – The Woodlands Church
Grace Duffy – First Church, Durango, CO

We would welcome a board presence from churches not currently represented.

Our office is your home – providing care in the comfort of your residence.

Thank you for your support.

Lifting the Veil

Halloween is around the corner. Its origins lie in the pre-Christian Celtic festival of Samhain. The ancient belief that the dead come back to earth on the night of October 31 and that the wearing of masks and animal skins scares away evil spirits has long since evolved into the happy tradition of children dressing up in costumes—sometimes with masks—and ringing neighbors' doorbells in hopes of receiving treats.

The latest mask-wearing custom, practiced by Christian Scientists during the so-called pandemic for the sole purpose of lovingly allaying others' fears of a contagious disease, will likewise evolve until it, too, fades away.

On what basis do we make such a bold statement? On a divine basis! Donning a face covering, it will one day be seen, has no more bearing on man's spiritual substance and identity than does sickness itself. God's children are forever immortal, free from earthly taint. Mary Baker Eddy explains:

Christian Science practitioners and Christian Science visiting nurses have the daily privilege of compassionately blessing those seeking help. They do this by gently rousing thought. Our Leader inquires, “Now I ask, Is there any more reality in the waking dream of mortal existence than in the sleeping dream?” (Science and Health, 250:22–23). The answer, of course, is NO! To awake from the "waking dream" is to lift the veil of belief that we live in matter and to acknowledge that we actually live in Spirit. Spirit and Her man see face to face.

Error has no face. We are beheld by—and, by reflection, we behold—only the loving face of God. Not for an instant is the light of Divine Love's face obscured by false fear. Joy is here!

Tricked? No way.

Treated? Yes, every day is God’s day!

Photo by Steven Libralon on Unsplash

Christian Science Nurse COVID‑19 Response

Our Journal-listed Christian Science nurse, Susie Petersen, meets State of Texas COVID‑19 requirements when caring for clients in their homes. This includes, but is not limited to, wearing a mask if required, washing hands, wearing gloves, cleaning surfaces if appropriate, and asking COVID‑19-related questions when assessing a case. If an in-home visit is deemed unfeasible, she counts on God’s infinite embrace to answer the need when she phones His (and her!) dear ones.

Meet the Board

Dave Daniels, President – Ninth Church
Sue Merrill, Vice President – Bellaire Church
Salomon Ngalamulume, Treasurer – Seventh Church
Linda Lindeman, Corresponding Secretary – Fourth Church
Susan Clay, Recording Secretary – Seventh Church
Lynne Clark – The Woodlands Church
Grace Duffy – First Church, Durango, CO

We would welcome a board presence from churches not currently represented.

Our office is your home – providing care in the comfort of your residence.

Thank you for your support.

Watching

Some years ago Jack Doerr, a Christian Scientist from St. Louis, was traveling midweek on business in Texas. That Wednesday evening he attended a Christian Science meeting and heard a testimony that stayed with him.

Years afterward, Mr. Doerr—a longtime Principia dad and alum—was preparing a chapel talk at The Principia Upper School. (Chapel talks are intimate settings for students, faculty, and staff to gather to hear inspired speakers.) He wanted to share the testimony he’d heard in that little Texas church, so he dialed its number in hopes of finding someone who knew testimony and testifier. The sweet-voiced woman who answered the phone said she was the mother—and she gave Mr. Doerr permission to share her testimony at the chapel talk.

A Principia teacher who was present at the chapel that morning shared the testimony with friends, including me. Though it was never published, I verify its authenticity based on the character of each teller.

The spiritual power of the truth that man is God’s “perfect image and likeness,” which had been their daily declaration for many weeks, not only protected the child but allowed his mother to release him to God, which caused her to remain spiritually calm and clear despite his apparent decease. Faithfully keeping active watch of her thoughts had defended them both from the foe—the lie of life in matter.

The community in that Texas town called it a miracle. The young mother called it a divinely natural proof of God’s love—and she later became a Christian Science practitioner.

Photo by Jeff Dunham on Unsplash

Christian Science Nurse Intern Opportunity

The Christian Science Nursing Youth Service Corps, a project of the Youth Action Committee, seeks to make young Christian Scientists, ages 18–30, aware of a threefold opportunity: serve others, learn lots, and get paid for nine months! To find out more details, please visit  www.comforterscalling.org or email csnyouthservicecorps@gmail.com .

Meet the Board

Dave Daniels, President – Ninth Church
Sue Merrill, Vice President – Bellaire Church
Salomon Ngalamulume, Treasurer – Seventh Church
Linda Lindeman, Corresponding Secretary – Fourth Church
Susan Clay, Recording Secretary – Seventh Church
Lynne Clark – The Woodlands Church
Grace Duffy – First Church, Durango, CO

We would welcome a board presence from churches not currently represented.

Our office is your home – providing care in the comfort of your residence.

Thank you for your support.

Pray With Us

In recent months, the Board of Directors of the Houston Visiting Christian Science Nurse Service has been actively listening for divine direction on a subject that we are now ready to present to you for your prayerful consideration. It is this: We have a growing conviction of the wisdom of either building or buying and renovating a home that would be suitable as a spiritual rest and healing retreat for Houston-area Christian Scientists. We would love to have you join us in praying about this proposal. If divine Love leads you to share either metaphysical inspiration or practical suggestions on this subject, please don't hesitate to contact us at HoustonVCSNS.comments@gmail.com .

True Education

A great deal of media attention has been focused of late on the education of children. At issue is whether children should return to school this fall or remain at home. No matter what each family decides to do, the pervading fear that we are living in a pandemic-driven "new normal" can feel like a dark cloud overhead, dimming all children's educational prospects.

Actually, education is not confined to children. It includes each of us, no matter our age. It is lifelong learning. Thus, the place where education is happening is beside the point. That's the premise of education pioneer Mary Kimball Morgan, who founded Principia College in 1898. She writes:
 

Morgan reminds us that true education involves putting God first. Education is not the mere accumulation of facts. It is not confined to formal educational timetables. Rather, it is the development of moral character, which is perpetual. Not confined to "the letter," it embodies "the spirit" of the two great commandments: Love God and love our neighbor as ourselves.

It we fail to discipline our thoughts and lives in accord with divinely inspired moral values, we unwittingly sow seeds of chaos. Morgan puts it this way:
 
Another deep spiritual thinker in the Christian Science movement who well understands that the consequences of human will have nothing to do with “the establishment of right thinking” is Barbara Cook Spencer, a longtime Journal-listed Christian Science practitioner.

In a talk given to Christian Science nurses at Fern Lodge in 1993, when she was still Barbara Cook, she says: “Human will is the essence of the belief in thought and action separate from God. It is chronic rebellion against divine authority. And this rebellion leads to the belief that the body, the subjective state of mortal mind, can be rebellious and disobedient, subject to all kinds of overactive and underactive behavior—like poor circulation, or abnormal cell multiplication. Disease is disobedience, a body in mutiny against government, as human will is mutiny against the Holy Ghost” ("The Dove's Dry Land", the closing poem of this talk, was published in The Journal ).

From these statements we see that the goal of true education is to stir us to right thinking, which ultimately dispels belief in the generally accepted view that we are under the imposed confines of a "new normal"—or, indeed, that there can exist any limited view, whether new or old, of God’s perfect man.

What wipes out this wrong view of man as willful and disobedient and limited? Cook's answer: “Our work—self-immolation [self-forgetfulness]—is to make room for the Holy Ghost.”

Yes, Morgan and Cook have described true education. Clearly, a physical place—whether school or home—has nothing to do with our acceptance of the Holy Ghost. With our lifelong learning of and growth in grace.

Photo by Aaron Burden on Unsplash

Meet the Board

Dave Daniels, President – Ninth Church
Sue Merrill, Vice President – Bellaire Church
Salomon Ngalamulume, Treasurer – Seventh Church
Linda Lindeman, Corresponding Secretary – Fourth Church
Susan Clay, Recording Secretary – Seventh Church
Lynne Clark – The Woodlands Church
Grace Duffy – First Church, Durango, CO

We would welcome a board presence from churches not currently represented.

Our office is your home – providing care in the comfort of your residence.

Thank you for your support.

Celebration and Gratitude

On July 4th America will celebrate its 244-year-old Declaration of Independence from tyranny. For many years both before and after this famous document was signed, the colonists endured unjust restrictions and harsh privations in their unflagging pursuit of freedom. Yet their faith in the Almighty's justice and mercy remained unwavering.

Our national anthem, The Star Spangled Banner, was likewise inspired during a time of crisis. It heralds Providence's protection during a long, anguishing night of battle, when “the dawn’s early light” revealed the fort intact and found our “flag was still there.”

There have been, and undoubtedly will continue to be, many such testing times for this nation — for every nation. As individuals, too, we encounter trials. By trusting divine guidance, we face these challenges boldly and emerge with newfound purpose. With humble expectancy and acceptance of good. With gratitude for God's uninterrupted reign of harmony and peace.

We are guaranteed to learn needed spiritual lessons from tribulation when we follow in the footsteps of Christ Jesus. Ever conscious of His Father's goodness, Jesus remained at peace during tumultuous times. When political and religious intolerance was harsh, hostile, extreme, he didn't lead protest marches against injustice or sign petitions addressed to the temple rabbis. Instead, Jesus simply loved. Honoring his Father, divine Love, he loved in the holy, unselfed way that healed all who appealed to him for help. Such pure and perfect love, originating in the Father and best embodied in His Son, shone on all alike, transforming receptive hearts and minds and ultimately changing the course of the entire world, without flourish or fanfare.

The meekest yet mightiest of men, Jesus always gave gratitude to God. The Bible records him lifting his eyes and thanking God before the five thousand were fed and before Lazarus rose from his grave. Looking up — away from the discordant impositions the world saw — he humbly acknowledged God's infinite love and man’s innate freedom. The blind, the lame, the deaf, the mute, the leprous — all were freed from the prison of belief that there could be a power other than God, Love.

The Discoverer, Founder, and Leader of Christian Science, Mary Baker Eddy, knew that her mission on earth was to prove that the peace and harmony Christ Jesus taught and demonstrated was a practical Science meeting every human need — and not simply a dim hope. She carried out that mission by following the Master's example of looking up to God — for direction and with gratitude —when she awoke every morning and when she put her head on her pillow every night.

Mrs. Eddy kept on her nightstand this single sentence written by her friend Phillips Brooks, Episcopal pastor of Trinity Church in Boston:

At the bottom she had penciled the words: "The secret of my life is in the above."

So, when should we lift our thought and look up to God in thanks? Always! One especially good time to celebrate His love is on the 4th of July, when we're gazing up at fireworks. These dazzling displays of light — best seen in darkest night — fill us with wonder, awe, and joy! Let us then, now, and always rejoice that “Truth and Love come nearer in the hour of woe, when strong faith or spiritual strength wrestles and prevails through the understanding of God.” (Science and Health, 567:3–6).

Photos by Karolina Grabowska and Anna-Louise from Pexels

Meet the Board

Dave Daniels, President – Ninth Church
Sue Merrill, Vice President – Bellaire Church
Salomon Ngalamulume, Treasurer – Seventh Church
Linda Lindeman, Corresponding Secretary – Fourth Church
Susan Clay, Recording Secretary – Seventh Church
Lynne Clark – The Woodlands Church
Grace Duffy – The Mother Church

We would welcome a board presence from churches not currently represented.

Our office is your home – providing care in the comfort of your residence.

Thank you for your support.

Peace of Mind

“Quiet minds can not be perplexed or frightened, but go on in fortune or misfortune at their own pace, like a clock during a thunderstorm."

– Robert Louis Stevenson

It is comforting to picture quiet minds moving calmly onward despite external storms, but true calm comes from our steadfast spiritual understanding that one Mind governs all.

In these particularly trying times, we are daily faced with the mental imposition of many groups of human minds trying to influence, coerce, or control others. Sometimes we may feel bombarded by fear and doubt as these not-so-quiet human minds — be they healthcare industry officials or government leaders — give oft-changing recommendations of actions to take or not to take.

How can we rise above the turmoil swirling around us? Better yet, how can we help the world be free of the grip of fear and confusion?

The Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science, Mary Baker Eddy writes: “Growth is governed by intelligence; by the active, all-wise, law-creating, law-disciplining, law-abiding Principle, God. The real Christian Scientist is constantly accentuating harmony in word and deed, mentally and orally, perpetually repeating this diapason of heaven: ‘Good is my God, and my God is good. Love is my God, and God is Love’" (Miscellaneous Writings 206:17).

When we rely on God, Mind, our thought is calmed, quieted. Our consciousness is uplifted by our sure knowing that we can never be outside of infinite Mind. Like a clock during a thunderstorm, we can live and move in perfect peace.

For Your Info:

We thought you’d like to be reminded that there are several national and international organizations that nurture Christian Science nursing. They are, in no particular order:

1. The Principle Foundation
   The mission of The Principle Foundation (TPF) is to provide inspired benevolence in accordance with the teachings of Christian Science. This benevolence can range from short-term grants that cover temporary needs, including practitioner bills, to disaster relief to assistance for inmates being released from prison. Any Christian Scientist may apply for financial assistance at www.principlefoundation.org.


2. The National Fund for Christian Science Nursing
   This benevolence fund assists Christian Scientists in the United States and its territories when they require the help of a Christian Science nurse, whether for home care or in a Christian Science care facility. The Principle Foundation administers this fund in collaboration with the AOCSN, CSNN, and CSNC/Philanthropy Forum.  www.NFCSN.org


3. Association of Organizations for Christian Science Nursing
   The AOCSN fosters communication and mutual support among Christian Science nursing organizations. Its members disseminate valuable information about Christian Science nursing standards, Christian Science nursing education, Christian Science nursing management, and organizational administration and governance. The Houston Visiting Christian Science Nurse Service, Inc. is a member of the AOCSN.  www.AOCSN.org


4. Christian Science Nursing Network, Inc.
   The CSNN is a not-for-profit corporation committed to supporting the healing ministry of Christian Science nursing worldwide by providing, to Christian Science nurses, opportunities for communication, inspiration and continuing education. Susie Petersen, our Journal-listed Christian Science nurse, is a member of CSNN.  www.csnnetwork.org


5. The Christian Science Nursing Collaborative
   The CSNC is a community comprised of Christian Science nurses, Christian Science nursing facilities, Christian Science visiting nurse services, Christian Science nurse professional associations, The Mother Church, and other supporting organizations (i.e., Philanthropy Forum). It is dedicated to the spiritually vital activity and ministry of Christian Science nursing (see Church Manual, p. 49, Sect. 31), and its purpose is to ensure that “Every Christian Scientist has access to Christian Science nursing if they need it.” 
   www.csncollaborative.org

Has this been sitting, unused, in your closet or garage?

Have you been storing but no longer need a mobility walker that’s in good-to-mint condition? If you are ready to part with it, please call our Journal-listed Christian Science nurse, Susie Petersen, at 713-304-8384 or susiepetersen3@gmail.com .

Meet the Board

Dave Daniels, President – Ninth Church
Sue Merrill, Vice President – Bellaire Church
Salomon Ngalamulume, Treasurer – Seventh Church
Linda Lindeman, Corresponding Secretary – Fourth Church
Susan Clay, Recording Secretary – Seventh Church
Lynne Clark – The Woodlands Church
Grace Duffy – The Mother Church

We would welcome a board presence from churches not currently represented.

Our office is your home – providing care in the comfort of your residence.

Thank you for your support.

Who is in Control?

The constant barrage of inflammatory media reports foments more heat than light, more fear than calm, and more opinion than wisdom. As Christian Scientists, our individual responsibility to God is to magnify the good, purify our thoughts, and love our global neighbors.

Mary Baker Eddy provides such guidance in the following article. 

---

Contagion. (Miscellaneous Writings, p. 228-229)

Whatever man sees, feels, or in any way takes cognizance of, must be caught through mind; inasmuch as perception, sensation, and consciousness belong to mind and not to matter. Floating with the popular current of mortal thought without questioning the reliability of its conclusions, we do what others say. Common consent is contagious, and it makes disease catching.

People believe in infectious and contagious diseases, and that any one is liable to have them under certain predisposing or exciting causes. This mental state prepares one to have any disease whenever there appear the circumstances which he believes produce it. If he believed as sincerely that health is catching when exposed to contact with healthy people, he would catch their state of feeling quite as surely and with better effect than he does the sick man’s.

If only the people would believe that good is more contagious than evil, since God is omnipresence, how much more certain would be the doctor’s success, and the clergyman’s conversion of sinners. And if only the pulpit would encourage faith in God in this direction, and faith in Mind over all other influences governing the receptivity of the body, theology would teach man as David taught: "Because thou hast made the Lord, which is my refuge, even the most High thy habitation; there shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling."

The confidence of mankind in contagious disease would thus become beautifully less; and in the same proportion would faith in the power of God to heal and to save mankind increase, until the whole human race would become healthier, holier, happier, and longer lived. A calm, Christian state of mind is a better preventative of contagion than a drug, or than any other possible sanative method; and the "perfect Love" that "casteth out fear" is a sure defense.

Caring for Christian Scientists — A Pilot Program from The Principle Foundation:

Endeavoring to serve the needs of Christian Scientist during the temporary government-ordered containment, The Principle Foundation is initiating the first phase of a pilot program, Caring for Christian Scientists. Prayerful guidance as to how to source information about forms of housing, care, and assistance consistent with the practice of Christian Science have been active since April 20, 2020. According to Bruce L. Jeffrey, Executive Director of The Principle Foundation, “Inquires to this service will be answered by experienced Christian Science nurses who can provide information to Christian Scientists, their families, and/or friends regarding care, assistance, and even possible housing options.”
 

Caring for Christian Scientists
Current National Hours
2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. Eastern Time (1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. Central Time)
7 days a week
Toll-free phone number:
800-930-3797
Caringforchristianscientists.org

“This service — being run by a contractor partnering with us — will be in a pilot phase to launch a more extensive informational website in just a few months, followed by a call center later in the year,” writes The Principle Foundation.

The Houstonvcsns.org Resource page will include updates from The Principle Foundation as they become finalized.

Photo by Pixabay on Pexels

Meet the Board

Dave Daniels, President – Ninth Church
Sue Merrill, Vice President – Bellaire Church
Linda Lindeman, Corresponding Secretary – Fourth Church
Susan Clay, Recording Secretary – Seventh Church
Salomon Ngalamulume, Treasurer – Seventh Church
Lynne Clark – The Woodlands Church
Grace Duffy – Eighth Church

We would welcome a board presence from churches not currently represented.

Our office is your home – providing care in the comfort of your residence.

Thank you for your support.

Eliminating Fear

Infodemic is a new word cropping up in health bulletins and news reports. It means “an excessive amount of information concerning a problem such that the solution is made more difficult” (yourdictionary.com). This is true now, and it was true in 1918 – 1919 when a global pandemic was marked by far more devastating effects. Does our environment inevitably shape our thought and our experience, or is our thought capable of transcending our mortal experience? The experiments (conducted near Niagara Falls, New York) detailed in the following article provide an answer to this question.
 

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From the April 12, 1919, Christian Science Sentinel:

The experiments made at Goat Island by Navy doctors in an effort to learn something about the influenza germ, carry a lesson that every person should study and understand. Fifty young sailors volunteered to become influenza victims, that the doctor might study the disease more carefully. These young men had no fear of the disease; they willingly offered themselves. They were placed with flu patients; they were given jars of flu germs, which they breathed into their lungs; they had flu germs injected into their bodies. Then the medical men prepared to study the cases as they developed. 

But no cases developed among these fifty sailors! These men had been inoculated; they had been exposed to the disease in every manner; they had breathed in the germs and eaten and slept with flu victims, and not one of them became infected! The medical men confessed themselves baffled. All their ideas of the disease were topsy-turvy. The bunk about the masks was again exposed; and it was shown that the disease was not communicable, not contagious. The doctors are still wondering. The explanation, however, is simplicity itself, for it was proved by each of these fifty young men.

These fifty young men volunteered to act as subjects upon which to be experimented. This showed clearly that they did not fear the disease. In other words, they could not acquire what they did not fear. Since their fear of the disease was gone, the disease was absolutely nonexistent, even though every effort was made to force it on them.

There can be no clearer nor better proof of the oft stated and rapidly being accepted fact that mind controls matter. Medical men are now acknowledging this condition. They are the first to tell patients to eliminate fear. When this is done, their work is done. There would be no cases of influenza if every person in the state would do as these fifty Goat Island sailors did; namely, eliminate fear of the disease.

Image by David Mark from Pixabay

God's Children

The other day from the woods behind our home there appeared six young deer calmly walking down the greenbelt. They stopped just outside our wrought iron fence as we breathlessly watched through the window. They serenely munched grass and nibbled low-hanging tree leaves. Once in a while, a deer stopped, stood perfectly still and vigilant, until seeing, sensing all was well, resumed eating. The other deer continued grazing, unafraid and unaffected. Then, a different deer repeated the same alert stance. Thus, these dear creatures calmly moved about their business. When they were finished, they one by one slowly and naturally disappeared into the heavy brush of the woods. They illustrated the equipoise of Love, and I thought how God is perfectly caring for them. The night before had brought a hard rain, surely drenching the deer, yet they appeared unfazed and beautiful − and dry! Their poise and grace and alertness stay with me. We, like those deer and the sailors of Goat Island, truly do remain untouched by false fears as we move alertly, serenely, confidently through our day.

Mrs. Eddy posed this question when she wrote in April 1910:

“When will mankind awake to know their present ownership of all good, and praise and love the spot where God dwells most conspicuously in His reflection of love and leadership?” (The First Church of Christ, Scientist, and Miscellany, p. 356).

Photo by John Royle on Unsplash

Meet the Board

Dave Daniels, President – Ninth Church
Sue Merrill, Vice President – Bellaire Church
Linda Lindeman, Corresponding Secretary – Fourth Church
Susan Clay, Recording Secretary – Seventh Church
Salomon Ngalamulume, Treasurer – Seventh Church
Lynne Clark – The Woodlands Church
Grace Duffy – Eighth Church

We would welcome a board presence from churches not currently represented.

Our office is your home – providing care in the comfort of your residence.

Thank you for your support.

Welcome to Spring!

For many, springtime means spring cleaning. In neighborhoods across the country, people are cultivating gardens and holding garage sales. It’s a time when dead leaves and clutter are swept away in the spirit of new beginnings.

We understand that the joy of undertaking these projects − and doing them well − comes only when we are willing to purge whatever is finally deemed undesirable in our lives. This purging process clears the way for growth, and not just for the growth of bright flowers, but for our inner growth as well − our spiritual growth. And doesn’t such growth, whether we experience it or witness it in others, always give us a more profound feeling of the transforming character of grace?

As Christian Scientists, we think of grace as a quiet listening to God. It’s a patient waiting on Love with the expectation of seeing more and more evidence of Love’s transformative power. Such transforming Love assures each of us, and our fellow man, that there can be no separation from the good God bestows.

Growth and grace, patience and power are the qualities embodied in the theme we’ve chosen this year for the Houston Visiting Christian Science Nurse Service. Our theme isn’t a single sentence. Rather, it is expressed by two New Testament verses and by a line from the spiritual interpretation of the Lord’s Prayer:

• “For our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ:” (Philippians 3:20)
• “Which things also we speak, not in the words which man’s wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual” (I Corinthians 2:13)
• “Love is reflected in love” (Science and Health 17:7)

These passages are reminders that all of our daily conversations are in heaven. That we can expect spiritual things − spiritual reality − to spring forth, bud, and blossom in the good soil of our consciousness, like springtime flowers smile out from the earth. That letting in the light of Love, and naturally reflecting it, will warm, brighten the hopes of, and heal all mankind.

Photo: iStock

Advance Healthcare Directive Cards

Every Christian Scientist is entitled to have proof of their declared and protected status as a Christian Scientist. This proof is now available in the form of an Advance Healthcare Directive (AHD) card. The AHD card is a loving provision that informs and guides non-Christian Scientists about your wishes regarding healthcare. It is your legal voice to instruct family, medical providers, and/or first responders of your rights and your expressed desire to rely upon Christian Science for healing. The front of the AHD card shows two places for designation:

• The line MPOA is for your Medical Power of Attorney. This is the individual you designate to represent your wishes to medical authorities should circumstances demand, i.e., temporary incapacitation.
• The opposite line is for your HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) contact. This may be your Christian Science nurse or practitioner. Designating a HIPAA contact allows that individual to access and visit you at a hospital or other medical facility. The medical authorities, bound by confidentiality laws, may not even acknowledge to a Christian Science nurse or practitioner that an individual is a patient, much less allow a visit.

These AHD cards will soon be distributed to area churches. In addition, they will always be available at all HVCSNS functions and events. You can even ask our Journal-listed visiting Christian Science nurse, Susie Petersen, who carries the cards with her at all times. For more information about Advance Directive and Medical Power of Attorney forms, please visit our website: Houstonvcsns.org/Resources .

Volunteering: A Servant’s Heart

There are Christian Scientists who, confined to their home, may be yearning for the caring, compassionate touch of Christly love. Their need is often met by something as simple as reading aloud the weekly Bible Lesson at their bedside or just by sitting with them silently for a little while. When we serve others in this way, we are serving God by following His servant-like Son, Christ Jesus. If you feel called to make a Christian Visit, as we call it, please contact our Journal-listed visiting Christian Science nurse, Susie Petersen. For Susie’s contact information, please visit our website: Houstonvcsns.org/Contact .

Meet the Board

Dave Daniels, President – Ninth Church
Sue Merrill, Vice President – Bellaire Church
Linda Lindeman, Corresponding Secretary – Fourth Church
Susan Clay, Recording Secretary – Seventh Church
Salomon Ngalamulume, Treasurer – Seventh Church
Grace Duffy – Eighth, Church

We would welcome a board presence from churches not currently represented.

Our office is your home – providing care in the comfort of your residence.

Thank you for your support.

What’s in a Day?

Every day the United States’ calendar commemorates something. This month is no different. While the global community of Christian Scientists come together in prayer for the Bible Lesson on “Love,” the sports world celebrates watching Super Bowl LIV. February 2nd is also Groundhog Day. Let’s not forget National Kite-Flying Day (8th) and Abraham Lincoln’s Birthday (12th), or Valentine’s Day (14th). There are other specially designated dates worth a look: Did you know that President’s Day is also Random Acts of Kindness Day (17th)? Or that February 11th is National Make a Friend Day? Perhaps you didn’t know that February 7th is Give Kids a Smile Day ( nationaltoday.com ). Makes you feel good all over just knowing that, doesn’t it?

The dictionary that Mary Baker Eddy consulted most often defines “love” in part this way: “In short, we love whatever gives us pleasure and delight, whether animal or intellectual; and if our hearts are right, we love God above all things, as the sum of all excellence and all the attributes which can communicate happiness to intelligent beings” (Webster’s 1828 edition – onelook.com ).

Our beloved Discoverer, Founder, and Leader amplified this definition by expounding upon the Master’s love for little children (Matthew 18:1-6) — recognizing, as he did, that God cherishes each of us as an innocent child. She wrote: “Beloved children, the world has need of you, — and more as children than as men and women: it needs your innocence, unselfishness, faithful affection, uncontaminated lives. You need also to watch, and pray that you preserve these virtues unstained, and lose them not through contact with the world. What grander ambition is there than to maintain in yourselves what Jesus loved, and to know that your example, more than words, makes morals for mankind!” (Miscellaneous Writings 110:4). Let us watch and pray to preserve these unstained divine virtues for the glory of God and the healing of all mankind.

Photo by Debby Hudson on Unsplash

Print This Newsletter for a Friend

Electronic newsletters are convenient for computer users, but not all of us communicate via computers. If you have friends who prefer reading our newsletters from a printed page, please go to our website at www.Houstonvcsns.org , click on the “Newsletters” tab, and print out as many paper copies as you wish. We thank the technical wizards who recently set up the newsletter’s print option, enabling HVCSNS to more widely embrace and include all Christian Scientists. Hallelujah!

Financial Assistance Available

Any Christian Scientist relying upon the services of a Christian Science practitioner and/or a Journal-listed Christian Science nurse may obtain financial support by applying to the National Fund for Christian Science Nursing (NFCSN). You may contact The Principle Foundation, which manages this fund, by emailing info@nfcsn.org or by calling (800) 873-2843.

Meet the Board

Dave Daniels, President – Ninth Church
Sue Merrill, Vice President – Bellaire Church
Linda Lindeman, Corresponding Secretary – Fourth Church
Susan Clay, Recording Secretary – Seventh Church
Salomon Ngalamulume, Treasurer – Seventh Church
Grace Duffy – Eighth, Church

We would welcome a board presence from churches not currently represented.

Our office is your home – providing care in the comfort of your residence.

Thank you for your support.

New Year’s Resolutions

Psychology Today reports that 80% of New Year’s resolutions fail by February Upon what hope may yearning humanity then rely? The Apostle Paul’s wise and loving counsel lifts mankind with these words, “And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God” (Romans 12:2). Paul’s words essentially say that thought is transformed when the heart is renewed by the illuminating light of God, Love. His light ever shines. There’s no need for resolutions; our job is to let that light brighten our path:
 

An Aspiration
Others may be art glass
Of rainbow hue;
I choose to be a windowpane
For the sun to shine through.
A clear pane,
A clean pane —
Is what I would be —
Unconcerned with temperament
And personality.
I would have Love shine through me,
So that my friends would say,
Not, “What a lovely pane of glass!”
But “What a lovely day!”

The Christian Science Monitor, April 26, 1940

Photo by freestocks.org from Pexels

Gratitude and Love Lead

This new year heralds a new decade, bringing with it untold blessings to all of us who are “leaning on the sustaining infinite” (Science and Health vii:1).

The Board of the Houston Visiting Christian Science Nurse Service unites with the grateful hearts of all Christian Scientists who cherish the Church Manual provision “Christian Science Nurse,” found on page 49 of the Manual of The Mother Church.

We are profoundly grateful to God for His holy work sustaining power, and loving guidance. Fittingly, we also dearly appreciate all the precious financial gifts entrusted to our care, not just because they represent the oil of gladness that makes the HVCSNS engine run, so to speak, but because such kindnesses mirror the pure, grateful hearts of the givers. It is with joy and humility that HVCSNS gives thanks for the beneficence expressed to our organization in the past year!

May we take this opportunity to mention a few of the many treasures for which we are thankful:

• Your Journal-listed Christian Science nurse, Susie Petersen, who continues to serve with selfless love and conscientious, cheerful vigilance.
• A glorious gift presented to the Houston Christian Science community last fall: An interactive workshop titled Christian Science Nurse: A Manual By-Law for Every Member and facilitated by Tina Bilhorn, a director of the School of Christian Science Nursing at Tenacre Foundation, Princeton, NJ.
• The integrity and helpfulness of our newest communication tool: https://HoustonVCSNS.org.
• The transformation of HVCSNS financial policies to bring them into full conformity with the Christianly scientific principles of transparency, immediacy, and utility.
• The addition of a professional bookkeeper who is a Class-taught Christian Scientist, who provides help to our volunteer treasurer, and who expedites our compliance with federal and state statutes.

In 2019, HVCSNS announced its intention to submit to the requisite audit/review process to become eligible for listing in The Christian Science Journal. The prayerful and practical preparation for this important step is ongoing. The Board regards Journal listing as both a protection to Christian Science nursing in Houston and a proclamation to all Journal readers who are seeking a vibrant, holy service that cares for all Houston area students of Christian Scientists needing Christian Science nursing.

The year ahead requires our constant prayer, coupled with the unction to move when and where God leads us.

For example, we are currently cherishing the anticipated Christian training of a certain class-taught member of our local Christian Science community who has a deep desire to make Christian Science nursing her career.

Another idea we hope will come to fruition in 2020 is the expansion of our five-member Board. We would love to hear from fellow Scientists who sincerely desire to join our ranks.

These and many other blessings will be revealed to us as we continue to pray to God with meekness and firm resolve. As we go forward, we are reminded of this description of "The New Woman" spoken of by our Leader in Pulpit and Press: “Her hand is tender — but steel tempered with holy resolve, and as one whom her love had glorified once said — she is soft and gentle, but you could no more turn her from her course than winter could stop the coming of spring” (82:5-9).

Photo by Freshh Connection on Unsplash

Spiritual Dimension of Care

“Spiritual Dimension of Care” will be coming to Houston! This interactive workshop is a result of months of prayer that has led HVCSNS to stand in defiance of the subtle errors of apathy and resistance to Christian Science nursing. It represents, as well, a leavening of thought, as we seek to embrace all Christian Scientists in the pure metaphysical aspects of Christian Science nursing. Please be on the lookout for an upcoming date and location.

Meet Our Newest Board Member, Salomon Ngalamulume

Salomon is an accounting graduate of the University of Houston and a member of Seventh Church, Houston. He is employed at The Branch School in the accounting department and will be transitioning in coming months into the role of HVCSNS treasurer. Salomon speaks four languages; his native tongue is French, which he spoke in the Democratic Republic of Congo before immigrating with his family to the United States and settling in Houston. He is married to his lovely wife Sarah. Welcome, Salomon!

Meet the Board

Dave Daniels, President – Ninth Church
Sue Merrill, Vice President – Bellaire Church
Linda Lindeman, Corresponding Secretary – Fourth Church
Susan Clay, Recording Secretary – Seventh Church
Salomon Ngalamulume, Treasurer – Seventh Church
Grace Duffy – Eighth Church

We would welcome a board presence from churches not currently represented.

Our office is your home – providing care in the comfort of your residence.

Thank you for your support.