“Since Christian Science is weird…”
By
A few weeks ago, I had the opportunity to discuss Christian Science with a newspaper editor. After hearing about the religious organization and the system of spiritual health care, she said, “Since Christian Science is weird, it –.” The editor stopped mid-sentence, looked at me, and said, “Oh, I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to call Christian Science weird. I’m so sorry.”
After the editor apologized several more times, I said, “Forget about it. It’s okay,” and we went back to our pleasant discussion.
The editor’s “Weird” comment reminded me of ’73. In 1973, I was in Brad Shearer‘s kitchen. Brad and I attended high school together. He was a star football player who went on to play for the Texas Longhorns and the Chicago Bears.
While in Brad’s kitchen, I watched as he took a large glass measuring cup and cracked 8 eggs into it. After whipping the eggs, he opened the door of a small machine, placed the measuring cup inside, closed the door, and turned a dial. A minute later, he opened the door, took out the cup, and began eating the eggs with a fork. Weird!
Weird, because in ’73 I had never heard of, much less, seen a microwave oven. How did those eggs cook in just a minute?
Just as the microwave seemed weird to me in ’73, Christian Science can seem the same to those when they first encounter it. However, both are effective. Both utilize laws. The microwave transforms food. Christian Science transforms people. Both accomplish this from the inside out.
The microwave oven cooks by a completely different method than a conventional oven. It uses radio waves. The waves are absorbed by the food’s water, fats and sugars. As they are absorbed, the waves convert into atomic motion — heat. This heat cooks the food.
Just so, Christian Science heals by a completely different system than does the traditional medical approach. It uses spiritual/prayerful treatment. This treatment transforms thought. Heats it up, so to speak. The cold/dark fears of materialistic thinking yield to the light and love of Christ. As radical as it sounds, we live in a mental world and the body is our thought manifest. Once thought is spiritually transformed by prayer, the body expresses greater health.
Following Jesus’ example, Christian Science shows life to be spiritually based and health to be governed by spiritual laws. Weird to some. Wonderful to many.
I use a microwave daily. I rely on Christian Science hourly. Each has become the natural thing to do.
Do you think spiritual healing is weird or normal?
(Repost from January 2011)
Find Keith on Twitter: @TexasCS
Related post: Prayer’s Great Healing Promise
This is a funny blog and I like it. Can my answer be “normal weird”? Christian Science for me offers the most natural explanation for how Life is and operates. The “science” of it for me means that it is demonstrable with repeatedly consistent results. The “Christian” part of it means that it’s a science completely based on divine laws as taught and proven/demonstrated by Jesus. So, voila, this gives us Christian Science. Nothing weird about it.
I like the analogy of a microwave oven to Christian Science – they both work from the inside out. I don’t generally care how someone labels me or what I believe. If “weird” fits, I’ll own it. The important thing is to do your own thinking rather than follow the conventional simply to fit in. You can’t really argue with the results of Christian Science treatment – over 100 years of documented healings. If Christian Science is weird than I guess what Jesus did in his healing work was weird too. Three cheers for being weird!
Keith,
I get a kick out of the slogan for one of your own fair cities: Keep Austin Weird! Obviously, the residents there love their “weirdness” and all the individuality and creative thinking that connotes. As well, they’ve convinced many others that “weird” is good, so much so that folks are moving there in droves last time I checked. They love the quality of life they find in Austin.
I too am content to be a “weird” Christian Scientist. People are more likely to stop and take a second look, and we hope they do. For sure, the quality of my life as a Christian Scientist is wonderful.
Thank you for the inspirational thoughts you wrote here. It is good to know that there are some people that can connect to this issue. For everyone else, I suggest that they take the time to read this.