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I grew up near Boston with parents who loved and lived Christian Science.  But it wasn’t until I struck out on my own and worked overseas that I realized Mrs. Eddy’s revelation was for me too.  On returning home, I joined a branch church and took Primary class instruction.

Having been raised in Christian Science I always expected to become a practitioner. While my path may not have been as quick and direct as it probably has been for others, there were always signposts that I was on the right track.

The healing practice of Christian Science was close to my heart early on, but it was 12 years into my legal career when I realized this was really my calling. As it happened, I was speaking with two clients about their case, and although a legal solution seemed clear, I felt compelled, instead, to pray.

Since childhood, I felt on a quest for understanding truth. I spent summers voraciously reading book after book to solve the mystery of the meaning of my life and the world.

As a young adult, I would have identified myself as Christian, spiritual and non-religious. I am not sure if I found Christian Science or Christian Science found me.

In Junior High School my girlfriend asked my religion. I finally “confessed” to being a Christian Scientist.

I live in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo, with my wife, two daughters, a son, and nine grandchildren. I ran across Christian Science at college at a time when I was starting to doubt the usefulness of religion in life, after having attended a Christian denomination since childhood.

I learned of Christian Science in my middle teens. Our family came to it through a “miraculous” healing of a relative. I tested it, and was amazed at the consistent results. The Science proved to be genuinely scientific. Its practice became the basis of my studies and early career. That career took some radically different zigs and zags. From research director at an international relations and mediation institute in Italy, to labor organizer in New England, to foundation director, to university professor, to peace and civil rights activist, to founding an anti-racism project which was the basis of the YWCA “Social Justice Award”. The focus, the common denominator of these careers, was solving problems.

My parents were Christian Scientists, and I had the great benefit of Sunday School teaching, and learning that God is always present to meet the need—always our “first aid.” When I married and had children, they were bought up in the same way, with my husband’s agreement, and I saw what a boon it was to be able to turn to God as the only Father/Mother. When I joined a branch church, I was asked to work in various positions and realised that if I were to be of help to the Church, I needed to progress in Christian Science, so I took class Instruction and was then appointed First Reader. To my surprise, people came to me for healing treatment. This impelled me to advertise as a full-time Journal -listed practitioner.

I live in the country in Salem, Oregon, where I teach my classes in a tree house environment. I think of my students as an extension of our large diverse family.