Excerpt from “Connecting 101: Karen Molenaar Terrell’s Lab Class on Love” from the newest edition ofRenewal, published and edited by Constance Mears: “This consciousness of cosmic connection goes beyond basic friendliness. For Karen, it’s informed by her beliefs as a Christian Scientist.”
Every month my friend, Constance, brings us inspiration, beauty and wisdom in her online magazine, “Renewal.” She brings us magic.
This month “Renewal” prepares us for Thanksgiving – for sitting down around the table with family and friends and celebrating (or rebuilding) our connections with one another.
Author Shannon Willis speaks of the importance of putting down our devices and sharing our stories with each other.
Connie talks about the tradition of gratitude, and the healing that comes from building a shrine to what’s important to us.
And look! There’s me! Connie interviewed me to get my thoughts on connection.
You can read the magazine by clicking this link and then either downloading the magazine (this issue has happy ducks on the cover) or tapping on the little “full screen” box under the cover, and clicking the arrow to turn the page. (This works best on a full-sized computer.): https://www.constancemears.com/renewal/
It’s been 20 years since I published Blessings: Adventures of a Madcap Christian Scientist. I remember giving bound copies of my manuscript to my mom and my aunts for Mother’s Day. It was a way for me to honor them – to honor the lives they lived and the good they brought into my life by exemplifying what it means to live with kindness and integrity.
But I also wrote Blessings because I wanted to share with my friends what being a “Christian Scientist” meant for me. When a friend who had known me for years asked me, “If I was hit by a car and was bleeding in the street, would you just pray over me and let me bleed to death?!” I realized that she was burdened with a huge misconception about me, and about my beliefs. It shocked and saddened me. I assured her that I would do everything I needed to do for her humanly – I’d use my First Aid and CPR training; I’d call 9-1-1. And I would also be praying.
I felt the need to demystify this way of life for my friends.
Fittingly, Blessings has brought many blessings into my life! Through my book I’ve met new friends from a wide array of religions and non-religions – atheists and agnostics, Methodists, LDS, Lutherans, Muslims, Jews, Buddhists, Pagans, Catholics, Unitarian Universalists. It was through *Blessings* that I was first invited to speak at the local UU fellowship (I’ll be making my fifth trip there as a speaker next November.) And through my book I’ve met other CSists who share a similar “take” on this way of life.
Years ago an old boyfriend said to me, “I can’t see that Christian Science has made you any better than anyone else.”
“I know!” I said, nodding my head in complete and happy agreement, “But can you imagine what I’d be like without it?!”
He raised his eyebrows and laughed. What could he say? He was looking at a self-centered, moralistic, stubborn idealist who saw everything in terms of black and white. But I could have been worse. I believe without Christian Science I would have been worse.
Let’s get one thing clear from the start: I am not the best example of a Christian Scientist. I’m not as disciplined as I could be. I have fears and worries and doubts. I’m a little neurotic. I am the Lucy Ricardo of Christian Scientists.
I should probably put in a disclaimer here, too—the views expressed in these pages are not necessarily the views shared by other Christian Scientists. Christian Scientists are really a pretty diverse group of people—there are Democrat Christian Scientists and Republican Christian Scientists, “Green,” and “Red,” and “Blue” Christian Scientists, and Christian Scientists with no political affiliations at all. Frankly, I like that about us. We keep each other on our toes.
I should also tell you that this book is not an authorized piece of Christian Science literature. If you want to actually study Christian Science you should probably read the textbook for this way of life, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy.
My purpose for writing this epistle is really two-fold (I don’t think I’ve ever used the word “two-fold” in my life, and using it now is making me feel sort of professorial. I like the feeling.):
First-foldly, to introduce you to one Christian Scientist so that if you ever hear someone talking fearfully and ignorantly (feargnorantly?) about Christian Scientists you’ll be in a position to say, “I have a friend who’s a Christian Scientist, and, although it’s true she’s a bit of a nut, she’s also…” and you can go on and talk about how your friend has used her study of Christian Science to try to make the world a happier place.
Second-foldly, I feel the need to acknowledge God’s blessings in my life. I don’t want to be like those nine lepers in the Bible who couldn’t take the time to thank Jesus for healing them. I want to be like that one leper who “fell down on his face at his feet” before Jesus and gave him thanks (Luke 17). Through my study of Christian Science I’ve witnessed some incredible proofs of our Father-Mother God’s love for Her creation in my life. God has filled my life with infinite blessings and it’s time for me to acknowledge these blessings to others.
-Karen Molenaar Terrell
Here’s the AI-generated summary of the reviews: “Customers find the book inspirational, particularly appreciating its prayerful approach to life. They describe it as heartwarming and an interesting memoir, with one customer noting how the author shares her life stories with joy. The writing style receives positive feedback for being beautifully written, and customers value the author’s honesty in sharing her experiences.” (AI-generated from the text of customer reviews.)
So. A couple years ago WordPress.com partnered up with Anchor (later taken over by Spotify) and bloggers could make audio podcasts to go with their blogs. Huh, I thought. Okay. So I started making podcast thingies for my madcapchristianscientist.com blog. It was kind of fun. At first.
And then a year ago WordPress and Spotify got a divorce, and for a while I couldn’t figure out how to get back into my Spotify account to record and manage the podcasts. I toodled around on my computer in the manner of Boomers (randomly clicked this thing and then that thing) and eventually found a backdoor into my Spotify account and recorded some more podcasts.
But… a few things: I rapidly got tired of listening to my chirpy voice pointificating on the state of the world – and I figured nobody ELSE needed to hear that, either; Spotify sent a message that things were changing again and I’d have to change my login information and get a bonafide Spotify account, rather than use my “Spotify for Podcasters” account; AND Spotify would no longer provide the recording tools – I’d have to go through some other app for that.
I got a message that I could download my recordings before things switched, but every time I tried to download the recordings my computer would crash. I tried to delete my recordings one by one – but there were pages of drafts I had to delete before I could get to the actual recordings and I started to get brain-drained.
I could envision finding myself locked out of my account and in a position where I no longer had control over my already-recorded podcasts (this is what happened with my first Youtube account).
So I just deleted my Spotify account. And I feel such a huge sense of relief about this! It feels good to simplify things for myself – to strip away some of the social trappings and focus my time and energies on more important things.
Alrighty. Just had to share. Carry on then…
(Should I make a podcast to go with this? Just kidding.) 😀
Karen Molenaar Terrell
***
Although I’ve deleted my Spotify account and no longer have any podcasts through my Madcap Christian Scientist blog, I do have some other podcasts out there, though.
“Karen Molenaar Terrell’s latest, Looking Forward, is another pretty darned inspiring and comforting book. It covers the period between 2014 and 2023 so, as she herself notes, an eventful period in every way: the death of both her parents, a world-wide pandemic, a certain President and his followers. The individual pieces were written as events happened so Karen doesn’t necessarily know how things are going to turn out any more than the reader does, but she generally manages to convey her expectation that things will be okay. More to the point, she acts in such a way as to somehow make things turn out okay. Without being preachy in any way, she shares her belief – no, models her belief—that Love is in ultimate control, while her own day-to-day actions make the world better: buying shoes for someone in need, teaching at an alternative high school, treating the other candidates with respect when running for her local school board, or just appreciating the beauty that exists everywhere.
“What I love about Karen’s writing is how genuine and truthful she always is; she isn’t some starry-eyed innocent who believes everything she is told nor is she ever full of herself for being so clever (but when you read about all the stuff she teaches at that alternative high school you recognize there’s not much she doesn’t know or can’t do). She acknowledges her own doubts and her own failings, but seemingly never lets that stop her from doing what she thinks is right. Her positive outlook, a result in part of her Christian Scientist beliefs, never feels forced and so she somehow manages to make me feel more positive and hopeful when I read her, though I don’t share her faith and, in general, tend towards pessimism.
“I wish I. could do the spirit of the book justice with this write-up, but I’m not the writer that Karen is.”
There are four books in the Madcap Christian Scientist series now – and a fifth one that’s related. I have 64 reviews for the five “madcap” books. (51 five star ones!) 🙂
VoIP – Dragon User writes about the first book in the series, Blessings: Adventures of a Madcap Christian Scientist: “OK, after reading the reviews, I thought this might make a nice Christmas present for a friend. When it arrived I decided to ‘peek’ at a few pages, but couldn’t put it down. I finished reading it in one sitting. But how to review the book is a challenge. It leaves you with such a joyful uplifted feeling and one of appreciation and relevance. At first I found myself saying, ‘I want to know this woman’ and after I finished the book I felt I did.
“Karen brings very positive reinforcement into the reader’s experience and the easy flowing style just melts in your mouth like comfort food. I found dozens of instances where I saw a parallel in my own life, that were entertaining and inspirational in a down to earth sort of way.
“I’m wearing a smile having read this and can’t think of a better way to pass an evening than this quick roller-coaster ride through another’s eyes of refreshing gratitude.
“It touched my heart and soul. Highly recommended.”
In 2016 we moved Mom and Dad from the apartment in Tacoma to an assisted living place in the artsy little town of La Conner, about twenty minutes away from Scott and me. It had become clear that Mom was evolving into Dad’s caretaker – actually, maybe she had been his caretaker for years and we just hadn’t realized. We recognized that both Mom and Dad could use some support in this new, and last, adventure in their lives on this planet.
A couple weeks after Mom and Dad moved to La Conner, I had the great good privilege to return to the local Unitarian Universalist church as their guest speaker. Oh, but I love that little congregation!
My husband and I brought Mom and Dad with us this time – we wanted them to meet their new neighbors at the Skagit Unitarian Universalist Fellowship – I knew they’d be made to feel welcome and at home. And sure enough! – as soon as we entered the doors to the hall we were met by friendly hand-shaking people and surrounded by cheery laughter and smiles. In fact, one of the members was the widow of one of Dad’s old mountaineering friends and they immediately got in conversation about old times and mutual friends.
This was no hushed, sanctimonious, dignified fellowship. There was no one standing at the doors trying to usher people to seats, or bid them be quiet. There was no one trying to maintain any kind of decorum. Everywhere was laughter and old friends greeting each other, and new friends meeting for the first time, and love expressed. Everywhere was joy.
Mom and Dad sat in the front row of the church with Scott and me. There was a big smile on Mom’s face as she looked around the hall. In the front of the auditorium there are three beautiful, quilted panels of tapestry, depicting a scene in the Cascade Mountains – and I could see Mom’s eyes resting on the mountain scene, and appreciating its beauty. “My memorial service could be here,” she said. I smiled and told her that wasn’t something we needed to think about for a long time.
Dad, meantime, was perusing the agenda for the service and saw my name in it. He pointed to my name and asked me why my name was there. “Because I am a big deal,” I told him, grinning. He grinned, too, and nodded his head in acceptance – like, of course I am a big deal.
About ten minutes after the service was supposed to begin, the celebrant finally saw an opportunity to close the doors to the room and chime the service into being. Songs were sung, announcements were made, there was the sharing of griefs and joys – and laughter throughout. Attending a Skagit Unitarian Universalist Fellowship service is like being at a comedy club. I always feel at home there.
By the time it was my turn to speak, any nervousness I might have felt had disappeared in the laughter.
“The Healing Power of Love” was the subject of my talk. I talked a bit about my upbringing – raised by a non-religious father and a Christian Science mother – and how my parents had raised me to be a really happy skeptic: My dad taught me to question political and religious dogma; my mom taught me to question everything I saw, heard, and felt with the material senses. “My parents might not have shared the same religious beliefs, but they shared the same values,” I observed, “and they taught my brothers and me to keep an open mind, to not be hasty to judge others, to appreciate the beauty of nature, and to look for the good in people.” My UU friends nodded their heads at this – open mindedness and looking for the good in others is probably one of the cornerstones of the Unitarian Universalist church. Now and then I would bring my mom (who was sitting in the front row with my dad) into my talk – at those times I felt like George Burns feeding lines to Gracie Allen. Mom could have been a stand-up comedian.
I explained that I don’t speak for any other Christian Scientists when I speak about Christian Science – I’m only speaking for myself and my own experiences with this way of life.
I talked about how “God” is defined in the Christian Science church and gave the seven synonyms the discoverer of Christian Science, Mary Baker Eddy, gives for God: Principle, Mind, Soul, Spirit, Life, Truth, and Love. Lately I’ve been practicing substituting the word “Love” for “God” in my favorite Bible verses, and I shared some of those verses with the UU congregation: “Fear not, for Love is with thee… Be still, and know that God is Love… All things work together for good to those who love…” and here the congregation filled in the blank with me, “Love.”
I’ve come to a place in my life, I told the congregants, that if something doesn’t come from love or lead to love, I don’t want to waste my time with it. And they nodded their heads in agreement. I love these people.
Then I shared a healing I had experienced by drawing my thoughts close to Love: When I was in labor with my second son, I was told I would need to be given a cesarean – my son was in distress. As I was being wheeled down to the operating room, I asked my mom to call a Christian Science practitioner for prayerful support. When I got to the OR they hooked me up to a machine to monitor the baby. I prayed – and in Christian Science prayer doesn’t mean to plead with some anthropomorphic god to come down from the clouds and help us – praying, for me, just means to draw my thoughts close to the presence and power of Love.
I could feel the love from the doctors and nurses – I knew they wanted to help my baby and me. I knew that everything was unfolding as it should – under the direction of Mind. I found a place of peace. And suddenly the medical staff was looking at the monitor, looking at me, looking back at the monitor – and then they were all yelling, “Push! Push!” and my baby was born the old-fashioned way. One of the nurses was crying – she said she’d never been able to witness a vaginal birth before, and it was so beautiful. When I asked the midwife what had happened to allow my baby to be born naturally, she said, “We don’t know.” And when I asked my mom what the practitioner had told her when she called her, Mom said the practitioner had said, “Life loves that baby!”
It tells you something about the UU congregants that I felt completely comfortable sharing that healing with them. I knew they would understand the feeling of love that lay behind it. (After the service one of the congregants whose father was in the hospital thanked me and told me how helpful my thoughts had been to her – that meant so much to me.)
Maybe the thing I enjoy most about the Skagit Unitarian Universalist Fellowship is that they let me have fun with them. They know how to laugh. They are natural Humoristians.
And they know how to love.
It brought me such joy to have Mom and Dad with me at that service.
Quilt panels at the Skagit Unitarian Universalist Fellowship Hall
It would be a spectacular understatement to say that there have been some new developments since my last Madcap Christian Scientist book, The Madcap Christian Scientist: All Things New, published in 2014. Since that book, my parents moved from their home of 48 years; my mom died; my dad died; friends died; pets died; I retired; the world experienced a pandemic; my country survived an insurrection; new pets arrived; the sons found life-partners and had pandemic weddings; and we have a new grandchild on the way. For example.
And through all the “new developments” I have felt Love with me – guiding and directing me, comforting me, and connecting me to my fellow passengers on this boat of life as we forge our way through high waves.
Someone wrote a new review on Goodreads for one of the books in my Madcap Christian Scientist series, The Madcap Christian Scientist: All Things New. I so appreciate it when folks take the time to do this for authors. Thank you to Katherine A.
Katherine wrote:
“Loved the familiar writing. I settled into book 3 after devouring books 1 and 2. The author’s humor was spontaneous and contagious, and dare I say that word again I’ve used way too much….familiar. As someone who often finds herself at the intersection of the human and the divine scratching my head,, The series gave me encouragement and permission to look at things a little differently.”
Something happened that really touched me today. It was Scott’s last day of the quarter at WWU and, unbeknownst to me, he brought in one of my books – Are You Taking Me Home Now?: Adventures with Dad – as a prize for whichever student was the first to find out who’d painted the highest painting in the world. “Dee Molenaar?” one of his students asked, after a quick search. And she got my book! Scott explained to the class that Dee Molenaar was his father-in-law and that his wife had written the book. It just really warmed my heart that Scotty thought my book was worthy of being a prize.
Connie interviewed me to get my thoughts on connection.
Adventures of the Madcap Christian Scientist 