“Just get down to the business of being obedient"
/I am reading We Knew Mary Baker Eddy, vol. II for the second time. I read it this summer when it first came out. Here are a few answers to your assignment questions.
1. The thing I would most pass along is Mrs. Eddy’s incredible love for one and all. She exemplified loving your enemies. When she did get firm with her workers, it was because she loved them so much that she was not willing to see them fail.
2. Sometimes when I read about these amazing workers whom I admire so much, I have a little struggle with guilt and/or jealousy. Guilt because I am not doing nearly what they did for the cause of Christian Science, and jealousy of their healing power. The willingness to give their all was probably a big source of their healing power. Perhaps the main question is, what can I learn from them and begin to apply to my life? I am just starting on my second read-through so some of the specifics will come back to me as I read. But the general theme I remember is a childlike trust in God and a willingness to learn from being chided. I remember a funny story about Calvin Frye already knowing who would be rejected for service as soon as he met them at the station, because if he detected any pride whatsoever, he knew Mrs. Eddy would not have it. Meekness and humility was what she was after.
The question that arises for me is: Why is healing so simple for some people? Why are they so able to heal immediately after reading Science and Health or even before finishing it? Maybe it’s like a school subject where some people are just naturally really good at it from the start and others can learn but it takes a lot more steps. I think your question is about how we can speed this up for everyone? It’s a little hard to see someone as an example for me when they seem so far ahead of me. In the end, I have to get out of a feeling of mere “awe” (as one would feel about Mrs. Eddy or Jesus) and just get down to the business of being obedient in the best way I know how at this moment.