I am participating in a Get Wise* pilot program, to keep myself somewhat accountable, I will sometimes be sharing some of the journal prompts and my responses.
Semester 2 focuses on exploring how our intrapersonal and interpersonal wounds from Christian Science affect our sense of self. Understanding how we are personally wired (personality), our attachment styles, and how to develop healthy boundaries is essential for creating interdependent relationships where we feel connected and valued.
Questions to Ponder:
- How did the concept of being “God’s Perfect Child” offer power? Control? Pain-free gain?
In Sunday School we learned that we were like mirrors reflecting God. God was perfect, and we were reflections of that perfection. If there was a problem, we had to correct our thought and clean the erroneous dirt off our mirrors to reveal our true, perfect selves. As a child, it never offered me power or control, beyond a sense of superiority over my peers — I was in the One True Religion, and did not need to worry about lesser Christian rituals (Baptism, Communion, Lent, the fear of Hell, etc.). It did not give me any control, or pain-free gain, if anything it was used a control method to keep me in line.
- What was the cost of thinking you are “God’s Perfect Child” on your life? In your family?Currently?
We had to hold ourselves to this impossible standard of perfection, and view others as Perfect as well. If we failed to see someone as anything less than Perfect, it was our job to correct our thought about the person. The most extreme examples of this were often in relationships with others. Your roommate is being awful? You need to see them as God’s Perfect Child, it does not matter what they did, you need to correct your thought about them. Your boyfriend is abusive? You need to know the Truth about him. He’s God’s Perfect Child. His behavior is fine, your perception of it is the problem. The world is on fire and everything is a mess? Everything is Always Perfect, Just Like God is Perfect. You’re the one with a problem. “God’s Perfect Child” takes self-gaslighting to a new level.
If we were unable to manifest a healing (of an impossible to heal problem) it was clear that we were at fault. If you had a physical ailment, you clearly hadn’t done your mental housekeeping. Your body was an extension of your thoughts.
- Can you think of other ways Christian Science exhibited “sacred science” and “loading the language?” Describe your experience of “Sacred Science” and “Loading the Language” in Christian Science.
ExChristianScience.com has a Glossary of CS Terms inspired by MBE’s Glossary* in the back of Science and Health. It explains some of the CS-vaguenesses belief, challenge, and demonstration. Words that have meaning outside of CS, but when in a CS context, mean something completely different. This jargon is most commonly used in Wednesday Testimony meetings, and it appears extensively in the Fruitage section of S&H.
The question of MBE’s dictionary choices has intrigued people to the point the MBE Library for the Betterment of Humanity has two articles addressing the subject: Did Eddy use Webster’s 1828 dictionary? and What dictionaries did Mary Baker Eddy own?**
For CS, knowing with dictionary is “right” is important above all else, because how else would we know what MBE really meant. How else are we going to be able to achieve healing, and the ultimate goal of ascension? How else are you supposed to stay so wrapped up in deciphering the layers and uncovering the “Truth” of what “MBE REALLY MEANT?” to the point you come across as a conspiracy theorist. *insert “the truth is out there” meme here* and don’t go further down that rabbit hole.
* This links to Project Gutenberg, not a CS-affiliated site.
** Links to MBE Library site
Previous post on this topic: kindism.org/2024/11/11/trauma-the-brain-week-4/
Get Wise is organized by the Fellowship of Former Christian Scientists, which is, a Christian Ministry. They connect people with a background in Christian Science and those who walk alongside them with Christ-centered resources, care and community. The content for the Get Wise support groups is safe for both Christian and secular participants. If you’d like to learn more, you can reach them directly at https://ffcsministry.org/
Want to participate? Sign up for the FFCS Conference: An Invitation to Hope on June 27-29 in St. Louis, MO. You can participate in-person or virtually.
kind-ism 
Wow. That’s too bad.
I wish you were brought up in my neighborhood. CS was a lot more human-friendly.
Ah yes, the true cost of being “God’s Perfect Child”. As a human, you will never be perfect, and therefore always a failure. This is how Christian Science so deeply screws people up. Whenever I didn’t “measure up” (which was all of the time), I somehow felt the deepest regret that I was missing out on some sort of salvation. The anxiety it brought on, as I look back now, was so toxic.