Today a friend I met on the Amazon Discussion Forums years ago emailed me a copy of an exchange we’d had about Christian Science on the Religion Forum. What made this exchange so remarkable for me was that my friend – who went by the moniker “tokolosi” – wasn’t himself a Christian Scientist, but his questions were genuine and he actually listened to what I had to say. It meant a lot, to me, that he’d saved this exchange from long ago, and took the time to send it to me today. I hadn’t heard from my friend for maybe a year, so his email was unexpected. I needed hope for our world today, and “tokolosi” sent it to me.
(I love the summation our friend “Aardwizzz” gives to the whole exchange, too. It was fun to see his voice pop up there at the end.)
From an Amazon Religion Forum exchange:
Karen Wingoof (me) says:
There seems to be an assumption here that everyone who calls himself or herself a Christian is a creationist, in battle against logic, reason, education, and the science of evolution.
A few months ago—from sheer weariness at being constantly lumped in with the doings and beliefs of conservative Christians—and being expected to either defend them or change them—I decided I would no longer identify myself as a Christian, but as a “Karenian”—no longer responsible for anyone else’s foibles, flaws, beliefs, thoughts, and behaviors but my own. I’ve kind of enjoyed the freedom this has brought me. But, to be completely honest, although I’ve changed the label for myself, I still hold the same beliefs I held when I called myself a “Christian”—and I never held the belief that evolution and science were my enemies. In fact, most of my friends who still identify themselves as Christian believe in the workings of evolution—I can’t think of any friends who might believe humans and dinosaurs roamed the earth together like The Flintstones.
Regarding my thoughts on Christian Science: In my mind I’ve come to separate Christian Science into two separate parts—there’s CS the religion; and there’s CS as a way of perceiving the world and a way of living. The religion doesn’t really hold much interest for me these days. I’m just not a very religious person (Humoristianity excepted). I’m not into group-think, group-talk, or group-walk. I like having the freedom to follow my own path, and I will never be made to feel responsible for other people’s beliefs or actions—whether they call themselves Christian Scientists, Christians, theists, or Humoristians. I think any sane person recognizes that you’ll find crazies in pretty much every group—and I think any fair and just person would agree that whole groups of people shouldn’t be judged by the actions of the extremists within their membership.
CS as a way of life—as a way of perceiving life—has brought me a lot of good. The practice of CS has taught me how to bring my thoughts close to God—to Love and Truth—and how to experience healing by doing so. I’ve witnessed or experienced healings of (among other things) mastoiditis (the healing was instantaneous—one moment my little brother was screaming in pain, the next moment he was snoring and sleeping and completely healed), bronchitis; an inflamed hand (markers in a blood test indicated rheumatoid arthritis—but, after calling a CS practitioner for support the hand deflated within a couple days and I’ve never experienced a repeat of that condition in the three years since then); the natural delivery of my youngest son after I’d been wheeled down to the OR for a caesarean (one of the nurses was crying—she said she’d never been able to witness a natural delivery before and it was so beautiful); and what my eye doctor said was a melanoma on my eyelid. (I recently asked for a copy of my medical records from the family physician just to make sure I’d remembered all this stuff correctly and hadn’t inadvertently made any of it up—and the records substantiate my memory of events.) I’ve also experienced healings of clinical depression, and healings in relationships, supply, and employment. So. Yeah. I’ve been able to prove, for myself, the healing power found in Love and Truth.
Whew. That took some time and thought. How’d I do? 🙂
Shoot! My battery’s almost dead. I guess I better post this before my computer goes kapooey here.
tokolosi says:
Karen, I’m a bit confused. (OK, in addition to my normal state…) I don’t know much if anything about CS, but for instance, you said “after calling a CS practitioner for support” such and such occurred. What did calling this person accomplish (I mean besides the healing, or why did calling this person make it happen)? And, with the other miraculous healings, what was it that brought about the outcomes? I mean, did you or others “pray” or “lay on hands” or some such? Do you pray to “God” (or more specific, what you perceive is the Christian God)? No snark intended here. Genuinely curious. Thnx.
Karen Wingoof says:
No snark taken. 🙂
(Got my computer plugged-in now, so it should be good. I am starting to run out of energy, though, so… zzzzzzzzz)
For CSists prayer doesn’t mean pleading, cajoling, or begging some higher power to fix everything. What it really means—for me, anyway—is just filling my thoughts up with love, joy, forgiveness, hope, confidence, courage—and when I’m able to do this, I experience healing.
In the case of my puffed-up hand I’d gone to work and shown my hand to my colleagues who expressed a lot of concern for me and shared stories about allergic reactions and infections that had almost killed loved ones—they had me pretty scared—and so I went to the family physician to have it checked-out. He usually jokes around with me, but this time he did not joke. He said that it looked like I had either a serious infection or a serious reaction of some kind and wanted to take blood samples and put me on medications. I told him I didn’t want to take any drugs until I knew for sure what was going on, but I agreed to let them take blood samples. Then I went home and called a CS practitioner. What the practitioner did for me was—well, I remember just feeling this confidence coming from her. I remember laughing with her. The next morning my hand was even more puffed-up, but I wasn’t scared anymore. I knew I was healed even before my hand looked normal. And by the second morning after I’d called the practitioner it had deflated and I was fine.
I called the doctor’s office to get the results of the blood test, and the receptionist told me the blood test indicated markers for rheumatoid arthritis and they wanted me to get in touch with a rheumatoid specialist. I told her I was completely fine. She was shocked. She brought a nurse to the phone. I told the nurse I was fine, and she sort of paused—I could tell she was surprised—and told me that she guessed I didn’t have to do anything more right then, but to let them know if the condition returned—which it hasn’t.
When I was being wheeled to the OR for a C-section, I asked my mom to call a CS practitioner for support—my mom said the practitioner told her, with conviction, “God loves that baby!” The doctors hooked me up to a machine to monitor the baby. I could feel the love in the room—the love from the medical staff—and I had this sense that everything was moving in harmony with Love. Just before they were going to slice me open, the doctors got these surprised looks on their faces, and then they started yelling, “Push! Push!” And the baby was born naturally. Later, when I asked my midwife why I’d been able to have my son naturally, she said, “We don’t know.”
CSists don’t consider healings to be miracles, by the way. CSists see healings as natural and normal and to be expected—the natural outcome of a change of thought.
tokolosi says:
“CSists don’t consider healings to be miracles, by the way. CSists see healings as natural and normal and to be expected—the natural outcome of a change of thought.”
Excellent! (So is the rest.) Mirrors my own thoughts. (Though not associated with any formal/structured philosophy, i.e., “tokolosi 101.”)
Karen Wingoof says:
Ohmygosh, I’m so glad to hear that, tokolosi! I was really nervous about that post. To be honest, I was sorely tempted to just ignore your questions because I suspect that when I talk about this stuff I usually just end up looking like more of a nut than people already know I am. Thanks for asking, and thanks for being so gracious about the answer. 🙂
tokolosi says:
To me, the healings you describe are “miraculous” but not *miracles*. Way-cool s*** happens because we are human, and can happen for sometimes uncanny inexplicable reasons many times associated with focused intention. But nothing “supernatural” is necessary—it’s just part of the *Human* Experience. (Not-very-well articulated tokolosi 101.)
Aardwizzz says:
Well done, tokolosi, well done. Instead of trying to fit Karen’s experience into your worldview, you attempt to fit your experiences into her worldview. And she had done the same for you as she was relating her tale: telling it without expecting anyone to share the belief that goes behind it. I think that’s called “communication,” but I’m not sure, as I see so little of it these days.
Adventures of the Madcap Christian Scientist 