The impact of Science & Health on my life

If you are a member of The Mother Church, you may recall receiving a special invitation from the Clerk and the Treasurer early in 1993 to share how the Christian Science textbook, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy, has touched your life and the lives of those around you.
One writer responded by telling how the book was a support through his high-school years and as a young adult. He found God-derived inspiration and assurance that helped him to steer clear of self-destructive habits. Science and Health helped him to help his friends, too.

It’s hard to know where to start to tell about something that is and always has been such an important part of my life. I would need to write a book to come close to describing adequately what Science and Health has meant to me. It is impossible to imagine life without it.

I remember first using the book consistently in high school. There were a lot of parties on the weekends. At the parties nearly everyone took drugs and drank. Even before going to the parties, a lot of people took some drugs or drank to the point of being “high.” I knew they thought this would enable them to have more fun, but it was clear to me that it wasn’t a good thing to do, and it wasn’t really fun at all. As I prayed I realized that I, too, had a way of “preparing” for these parties, but it was a lot different.

I made a habit of taking some time before a party to read quietly from the textbook. I would just let it fall open and begin reading. I would read until I felt inspired. This gave me new strength, happiness, confidence, and a great feeling of love to go to the parties with, because I felt God’s presence.

The result was that I had a strong appreciation for who I was (and am) as a child of God, and I had a great deal of fun at parties. Something else I found happening was that the other kids would come to me during the week at school and ask me what it was I had that enabled me to have so much fun without drinking or taking drugs. I was never bashful about sharing Christian Science with them and gave out many copies of Science and Health during those years to fellow students. I recently went to a high-school reunion, and one woman told me she had never forgotten how I had helped her to see that she could have a good time at parties without drinking.

The textbook kept me on the straight and narrow and always kept me safe. Without it I’m sure I would have been more influenced by others as I grew up. It showed me that I could look past people’s opinions to God for my well-being and my joy and my identity.

After high school, a lot of my friends were bikers in motorcycle clubs. It was much like my experience in high school with the parties and sharing Science and Health. I remember a couple of individuals in particular with whom I shared the textbook; it wasn’t long before they quit taking drugs and drinking. I still remember the smiling face of one friend who had found freedom from the pressure to get high. He didn’t use the drugs anymore thanks to Science and Health. Eventually, I quit going to parties where all this drug-taking and drinking was going on. I made other friends and became involved in community activities where I could continue to give of myself and help others.

The textbook has done so much in making me want to read the Bible and helping me to understand it. Studying both the Bible and Science and Health blesses me so much, and continues to change my life.

Friends’ notes:
I do remember so clearly Mark talking to me about his beliefs, and, in a way, challenging me to not drink at a party we attended to see if I could have a good time. Not only did I enjoy myself without the alcohol, I saw how I could look or act under its influence, and it wasn’t that pretty a picture. I did a lot of soul-searching after that. —Diane Petty

I was one of the kids who queried Mark and received one of the copies of Science and Health. I still have that copy Mark gave me in high school. Although it is a little frayed, the content is still complete. I remember Mark at parties and other gatherings. He was, to me, an irresistible curiosity. Because of this, I asked what the secret was. He explained that it was no secret and freely answered, to the best of his ability, all of my many questions. —Roger Dike

Originally published in the Christian Science Sentinel, September 19, 1994.