Ideas for CSO Activities

She thought she had it all. But when a friend asked about the meaning of life, this author was brought up short. A return to Christian Science unlocked the answers and proved to be a turning point on her own path.

What do you do when your thoughts seem stuck on repeat? One writer shares the inspiration that snapped her out of unproductive thought patterns.

What do you do when you’re praying and a healing doesn’t come immediately? Criticize yourself? Give up? This author offers a different approach: Get a different perspective on the “work” of healing.

She thought getting high was the answer to her shyness, and a way to deepen her spirituality. But when the Bible and the Christian Science textbook came into her life, she finally found real answers to those issues—and everything else.

This writer really wanted a girlfriend, but nothing he was doing was working. How about praying about it? suggested a friend.

Drinking was a big part of her social life, but when this writer discovered a deeper form of happiness than she’d ever found while drinking, she decided she might even be willing to give up alcohol. But how would her friends react?

Severe depression, beginning in his teen years, prompted this author to doubt God’s existence. But Christian Science rescued him from his doubt—and from the overwhelming feelings of sadness and loneliness.

Right at the moment when she was about to sleep with her new crush, something even better happened—something that’s continued to help and bless her even years later.

This writer longed to experience God more tangibly, and she shares what happened to make that possible.

She was desparate to help a friend who wanted to take his own life. But her friend wasn't interested in God or Christian Science.

She thought a college class was going to be fun. Instead, it turned out to be completely overwhelming.

It's hard to get job experience when you haven't had a job before. This writer solved that problem by turning to God.

A high-school senior shares some of the spiritual ideas that have helped him pray his way through the college application and admissions process.

Instead of feeling excited to move forward with her life, this graduate kept wishing for the past and everything she’d left behind. How could she embrace change? A spiritual insight helped shift her perspective.

Self-conscious about her body, she began starving herself. But support from her Sunday School class helped her break the cycle of disordered eating and find a secure, spiritual sense of her identity.

During a study abroad, this author was enjoying an evening of practicing her new language with the locals when she was caught off-guard by one man's inappropriate advances. Prayer not only healed her of the aftereffects of the incident, but it also gave her a deeper understanding of each individual's spiritual innocence.

Women are struggling for freedom around the world. In many countries sex trafficking continues unabated. Here are some thoughts the author found helpful as they prayed about these issues.

If you feel like you haven’t had a healing—or that you don’t know how to have one—this author has some good news for you: Healing is simply a change in thought. How can you make that thought-shift? Read on.

Understanding that God doesn't send trials, but rather God supports us through trials, was pivotal in this author's healing of depression and suicidal thoughts.

Feeling in a rut with prayer, or maybe like you don’t even know how to pray? Check out this article for a variety of practical ideas to get you going. After all, says this author, “Prayer is the most wonderful adventure ever.” You won’t want to miss out.

Rebecca had a successful business and a family with small children. She was  busy.

One woman had never met a gay person - until she became a step-mother. When asked how she responded to the news about her daughter-to-be, her answer was simple:  Well, I just loved her.

Interested in class, but haven't found a teacher yet? Read Richard's story of finding his teacher. There's no need to stress - God will lead you to yours.

All about the healing practice of Christian Science: how healing happens, lessons learned, and ideas from Christian Scientists, including those in the public practice.

This author thought he was ready for primary class instruction, and was surprised when the opportunity didn't come until several years later. But as he trusted God, every detail unfolded perfectly.

A Christian Science perspective: Healing thoughts on overcoming racially-based thinking. .

Seeking what she thought would be greater freedom, Katie Mack challenged her religious beliefs when she was in her teens. She dropped out of high school, moved away from home, and tried to make a life of her own, putting the relationship with her family to a hard test.

Homework and tests were looming. Stress was building.

This author had a self-diagnosed "insatiable libido." But Love would never subject its child to an insatiable need. .

Depression is a lie...a lie about who you are and your worth. But it has no power to keep you from the spiritual joy that is yours to experience. .

This author learned through healing that God's reflection is the only image that really matters.

This writer felt constantly stressed, overwhelmed, and frustrated with her parents. Read how she found the connection between purifying her thought and health. .

A Christian Science perspective on The Christian Monitor about anxiety and depression.

God is the only power. Evil, no matter how aggressive it seems, can’t trick us into believing that it is more powerful than good.

After a few problems with friends, this author was dreading going back to school. But one simple message from God changed her perspective—and her friendships.

Healing isn't complicated, and it doesn't have to be a struggle. The nature of Love is to be present and accessible to us.

A friend’s tragedy got this author questioning whether grief just fades, or whether it can actually be healed. The Sermon on the Mount had the answer.

Recently a chorus of women around the world lifted their voices on social media to raise public awareness of sexual harassment and assault. .

Ever wanted to talk to your friends about Christian Science but felt like you didn’t have the “right” words?

In response to a question about acne, one writer shares how she was able to stop focusing on an ugly blemish and instead turn her thoughts toward God.

Ability to demonstrate Christian Science comes with study and practice of the truth taught by Christ Jesus and revealed in  Science and Health.  This series touches upon some ways in which this truth can be applied.

We’ve all felt the shock that comes from an abrupt ending. It can be personal—like a divorce, a layoff, or the death of a loved one. Here are a few things the other found helpful in responding prayerfully to “sudden endings” of any kind.

A Christian Science Sunday School student shares some highlights from what she’s learned in Sunday School, and the way this “practical truth” has helped and healed her many, many times.

Every day we are confronted with choices. This author digs into how choosing not to take part in certain activities doesn't alter our true identity as the image and likeness of God.

That Sunday, this author didn’t feel like going to church. Too much homework to do before Monday.

You may be a pro at standing up to peer pressure at school. But what about in your thoughts? Learn how to be alert to the pressuring suggestions that come on a daily basis and would seem to have an effect on our lives—until we wise up and recognize their powerlessness.

The family is a valuable training ground for living and working in the wider world. Once you have sorted out relationship difficulties in the home, you will be better equipped for getting along with your neighbors.

Think church is just that building you visit once or twice a week, or the group of people who keep it running? Think again. The true meaning and power of what church is and what it can do is a wow—and we’d love for you to participate.

How can we be more prepared as pray-ers when tragic events occur? One young man’s experience, following a terror incident in New York City, offers helpful guidance.

After the death of their dad, this author explores a deeper sense of inspiration, gratitude, and the real meaning of omnipresent Life.

Several individuals share their experience taking primary class instruction, and answer questions about when they took class, finding a teacher, and more.

How do you find a teacher? Why is there secrecy around class instruction? Who can take class instruction? Check out these class instruction FAQs.

The aim of class instruction is simple: to help students of Christian Science become better healers. It prepares us for the public practice of Christian Science, and gives us the tools to heal our neighbor, too.

A counselors experience at camp. .

Prayer, whether from the highest pinnacle or from the deepest pit, is our connecting point with God. .

Ever feel far from God? Even when we don't consciously feel it, God is always present. .

During his first few weeks at college, this writer found himself in a situation he’d never encountered before: having to live with someone who was pretending he didn’t exist because of the color of his skin.

In the middle of the night, sitting on the floor of her dorm room, this author felt engulfed by a fear of terrorism. But as she prayed, she woke up to the power of spiritually protesting against any evil that would claim to have power, and to standing with God, good.

Faced with an “impossible” test question, this author turned to this spiritual fact: that man is “the compound idea of God, including all right ideas.” What happened next didn’t just help him with that exam, but with the tests he had to take going forward, too.

Think you’re not missing anything by not going to church? Think again.

She felt as though all the love in her life came from one person: her boyfriend. So when he broke up with her, she thought she’d lost something she could never get back.

Every time she looked in the mirror, this teen author felt self critical and obsessed with all the things she felt she needed to change. That’s when she knew she needed a change of thought—and a spiritual beauty treatment.

This author discusses how she began to see more and more clearly the purely spiritual identity of themselves and others—as Jesus saw men and women.

This author thought suicide was the only answer. Reading Science and Health for the first time, she realized that only the light of divine Life, instead of ending her life, would bring resolution to her problems.

A young woman was embarrassed to call a Christian Science teacher. She trusted the intuition to call, and not only was healed, but also found she was more ready for class instruction than she realized.