When I reflect on the weekly lesson, I like to take one thought from the Bible or Mrs. Eddy and expand on it. This week I cannot do this. I read and re-read the Responsive Reading selections several times this morning. Every single passage brings memories and joys to my life. You see, three times in my life, I have been on the threshold of something greater. I was at a doorway seeing a world so magnificent that mortal words cannot describe it. What I can say is that I shared a feeling of calm that I never felt before or after standing there; but a voice told me to not enter this world. So, I turned around and rejoined my mortal life.
Over 50 years ago, I left Christian Science (much to the disappointment of my father) after my experiences in the Marine Corps in the 1960s. God saved me from facing combat by using my natural superior clumsiness. I fell into a ravine and damaged my back so severely that I had and still have great difficulty walking. Although I felt that Christian Science was not for me, I served my fellow man in other churches, bringing them the healing power of prayer and Gode’s love for us.
After my third time at the holy threshold, I realized what God was trying to tell me all along; I must return to the study of Christian Science. The responsive reading this week struck home. Every word reassured me that the feeling that I feel inside of me is God inviting me to bring His prayer to all I meet. This presence within me must be visible to others because in the three service organizations that I volunteer for, I have been selected by my peers to be their lay chaplain, caring for the sick and dying. I sit by bedsides bringing the comfort of God’s love with me.
In several of my meditations, I mention that I have been in pain for over 40 years. I post these on the Christian Science Facebook page, receiving criticisms for not truly understand and believing in Christian Science. I have also been blessed with a few great conversations on faith and God’s desires for us, His creation. What is very difficult to understand and accept, even by enlightened Scientists is that I have grown so much in my acceptance and understanding of God within me, that I do not care about the nature of my physical body. It is not important. Spiritually I am a perfect son of God. God has returned me to our mortal world imperfect in ways that people can see, but also perfect in the ways that truly count. God has not given me the power to heal as Jesus did, but He has given me the power to bring His words, through prayer, into the lives of those suffering, as we all do.
The Golden Text this week is beautiful, “. . . behold, the kingdom of God is within you (Luke 17:21).”
©Russell Kendall Carter
Meditating to Heal 
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