Letter to a friend

Dear Merideth,
Thanks for being in touch. I miss getting together for Association. Hope all is well with you.

Here's a little update on me. I pulled my membership from the Mother Church shortly after they dissolved our association. Mario and I have continued our discussions about everything under the sun as we always have. TMC's unjust action gave Mario (and now me) an opportunity to rethink the whole Christian Science issue, even to the existence of God.

I've come to the conclusion that the atheists are right. There is no God and never was. Starting back when everybody bowed down to gods of the old testament, the enlightened ones found they could reject gods when they got better informed. Now I find I can reject the present day one called God, on the same basis.

CS was such a family thing for me my whole life. During class I became aware that much of what I "knew" of CS was really a cultural thing based on the ways my family practiced CS. And much of what I "knew" was wrong. Thankfully Mario's CS teaching was good teaching based on CS premises. It cleared things up considerably. But like the old testament learners, eventually, better information makes us rethink what we "knew" to be the truth.

It just never occurred to me to question if the CS premises themselves were correct. Mrs. Eddy was very logical, but her basis of CS, her God premises were wrong. (Of course, if she'd discovered atheism instead of CS, in her day and in New England, she would have been burned as a witch and we'd never have heard of her, but that's beside the point.)

It occurs to me that the CS periodicals don't ask for enough scientific proof of healing (or even the nature of our physical problems to begin with.) CS is certainly head and shoulders above medicine previously available, that's for sure. But medicine has come a long way since the 1870's.

A sad state of affairs for Christian Scientists is that most CStists don't know themselves; they don't know what their conditions are (or even if they have conditions) and unwittingly make themselves worse off than necessary by not knowing themselves. Look at the little boy Mario's trial was all about. All of them prayed honestly and with every fiber of their beings, but had they actually known what the condition was in the early stages, he might have been saved by a little medical intervention. No one involved voiced a willingness to look into the medical possibilities at the time. Sadly they all learned that lesson too late.

It makes me wonder how many members of "spiritual healing" churches have died needlessly through the years due to their pious refusal for medical intervention.

There is nothing wrong with a little medical intervention from time to time. Look at the number of older CStists who have had hip replacements. And why shouldn't they? It prolongs their useful lives. Many are managing their diabetes with insulin too. And they should.

In other cases, much of what is "spiritually healed" might well get better on its own. I didn't get a professional opinion ever. What if what I thought was a stroke, wasn't? I know it was bad, but what was it? If it wasn't a stroke, I shouldn't have called it one. So how do I "know" I was healed of a stroke? And how do I know CS or God was what made it get better? Maybe it was just that in the act of praying, I stopped being fearful about it, relaxed, and the natural bodily recuperative abilities took over.

Would I have come to God conclusions if I had to discover these things for myself today? Don't think so. I started believing in God because my family had believed it and I thought they must be right. Now that I'm an adult, I think it will be better for me to do my own discovering and reading. Also, I couldn't help noticing that everyone in my family has now had surgeries of various kinds and is on medication of one sort or another. Every one of them! It makes no sense to staunchly believe what they taught me 50 plus years ago in light of new evidence.

I think we are too quick to accredit God with all the things that happen. We need to give ourselves more credit or blame for what goes on in our lives; take responsibility for ourselves, and get on with working on the fixes that are needed. Medical, emotional, psychological and moral.

The still small voice in our heads turns out to be our own. That's not such a bad thing. For me, that discovery has been quite liberating. I've stopped waiting endlessly for "God" to tell me what to do. I feel a little stronger now. More able to think things through and find good solutions for myself.

So glad to hear from you, Merideth. Keep in touch.

Love,
Susan