God provides plenty of pillars

In the January 2022 issue of the Christian Science Journal, there’s a “Spiritual Short” by Lesley Gort titled, “Are you a pillar of the church?” At times I have felt like a church “pillar,” but not because I’m important relative to anyone else in my branch church. As the members of my branch church have dwindled over the years, there seem to be fewer and fewer of us who are available and willing to do the necessary jobs.

In the Manual section titled “Church Organizations Ample,” Mrs. Eddy advises us not to involve ourselves with things that might stand in the way of our progress, since God “supplies within the wide channels of The Mother Church dutiful and sufficient occupation for all its members” (Manual, Art. VIII, Sec. 15, p. 45:1–3). In light of this advice, it’s clear that many suggestions that come to mind don’t really hold water: that we need to go to an after-work get-together on a Wednesday night, that we can’t teach Sunday School because we don’t have time to prepare during the week, or that we’ve already served on all the committees and need a break. I felt this issue was also a theme in the readings that A.J. Kiser gave us to study. 

But as Lesley Gort pointed out in her article, a pillar supports a building, which simultaneously shelters the pillar. “So a church protects its pillars as much as they support the church.” I have felt the truth of that so vividly.

At the end of January, I completed a two-year term as First Reader in my branch church. Although I read twenty years ago, it was so fresh to me now, and I felt inspired each week in all my preparations for Wednesday and Sunday. Church was, in fact, a protection to me during this time. Although I had some physical challenges, I was always able to serve at the appointed time without reservation and with great freedom. Once I had a heavy cold that had me blowing my nose and coughing seemingly incessantly, but when I was ready to go on the platform, there was not a trace of the problem. I also had a long-term problem with one of my ankles that gave ongoing shooting pain; yet every time I was reading, I was without pain and could attend fully to the service or meeting unimpeded. I had the help of a practitioner off and on for about a year. Although this problem is not yet totally resolved, I am now free of pain.

To further demonstrate that nothing is forfeited by serving church, I was called upon to conduct the church meeting at which I was elected reader. At the time, I was also serving in several other capacities, including vice-chairman of the board, lecture chairman, usher, maintenance, flowers, and Sunday School teacher, which seemed especially important to me as I was teaching a good-sized group of students who were attending regularly and moving forward very nicely. I was really counting on others to read, so I had taken my name off the eligibility list. However, no one would accept the position. We had to re-vote.

Since I was running the meeting, after a moment of prayer, I said I would put my name back up and invited others to do the same. No one did. I was elected. And guess what? All the other positions I had were beautifully filled when I took the First Reader’s spot. It seemed like a complete healing of the situation, and a great demonstration of the fact that God provides plenty of pillars; no one pillar bears the burden because church is not a burden, and serving church will always bless and protect.