Many people have a daily practice of some kind. It might be journaling or doing morning prayer, yoga, or meditation. Some may play an instrument or a sport. Typically, we practice something because it makes us feel good or because we want to improve our capacity to do it.
For Christian Scientists, daily practice is important. We value it as a way of life and of growing spiritually. But what exactly does it mean to have a Christian Science practice?
Ask any Christian Scientist about their daily practice, and they might point to a wide variety of things – studying the Bible Lesson from the “Christian Science Quarterly,” praying to better understand God, being active in their local branch Church of Christ, Scientist, in some capacity, etc. These are natural, even essential, aspects of a vibrant practice. But a truly scientific Christian practice requires something more. At the heart of it must be the desire to deeply live Christianity.
As we delve deeply into how we can follow today what the master Christian, Jesus, taught and lived so long ago, it will not only bring good into our lives but have a much more far-reaching effect.
Jesus’ example shows that as we practice living what we know of God, this naturally overflows to bless others. For instance, the Bible tells of a woman who was healed of a long-standing illness just by getting close enough to touch Jesus’ garment (see Matthew 9:20-22). The purity, innocence, and spiritual power that Jesus expressed attracted and healed others and encouraged them to find their own innocence, purity, and well-being. In her “Message to The Mother Church for 1901,” Mary Baker Eddy wrote of the Messiah, or Christ, “This spirit of God is made manifest in the flesh, healing and saving men, – it is the Christ, Comforter, ‘which taketh away the sin of the world.’” (p. 9).
This Christ is the power behind our daily practice, and when we live what we know, it gives us opportunities to bless others. This characterizes scientific Christian practice: that it is not primarily for self-improvement or only for a certain group. Whenever we turn to the same Mind that was in Christ Jesus, we find that there is a “divine law of loving our neighbor as ourselves” that is in action (Mary Baker Eddy, “Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures,” p. 205).
To deeply live Christianity as Christian Science teaches is to let divine Love, God, be the impulse for thought and action – to let our lives be the visible evidence of what it means to know God as ever-present good. This is not an intellectual exercise. It’s also not about striving to be humanly good but about defending good as an inherent aspect of our, and everyone’s, true, spiritual nature.
This requires yielding – surrendering self-will, fear, and human outlining – to the pure activity of Christ within consciousness. It means responding to life’s demands from the stillness of spiritual perception that goes beyond appearances and sees our brothers and sisters in their true, divine light. Then we find that we forgive before there’s been an apology; we love even when it seems undeserved; we see and prove the presence of health where the world sees only sickness. It is standing on the rock, Christ, and knowing the unbreakable continuity of good.
This practice is not abstract or removed from modern life. It is approaching any ordinary moment from the sanctity of spiritual perception. And doing so not only gives us a settled sense of peace but helps others feel and experience the touch of the Christ. We must feel alive and on fire with living God’s love in our own hearts if we hope to impart this inspiration and healing to others.
We can start simply. Everyday actions such as washing the dishes can become sacred opportunities to practice proving the presence of God. Divine Love becomes the center of identity and activity. We prove, then, that Christianity is being an unselfed transparency through which the light of Truth naturally shines and blesses everyone it touches.
I once got a call from a friend as I was preparing to conduct my branch church’s weekly service. Ideas I’d been inspired by all morning were naturally shared throughout the conversation. A week later, she wrote to say she’d been healed of something she hadn’t mentioned on the phone, something I didn’t even know she’d been dealing with.
As we daily commit to and practice what we understand of God, this brings us opportunities to give of our “heart’s rich overflow” (Minnie M. H. Ayers, “Christian Science Hymnal,” Hymn 139). The blessings we receive radiate outward to reach far beyond just helping ourselves – they give evidence of the divine Love that flows out to help and heal all.
Adapted from an editorial published in the Dec. 1, 2025, issue of the Christian Science Sentinel.
