Dear Reader,
There are moments in life when the heart holds two languages of truth at once.
Recently, I found myself reading the Gospel of Mary—an early Christian text where Jesus tells Mary Magdalene that the “mind between the soul and the spirit” is where divine vision is found. The phrase stirred something ancient in me, a memory from my childhood in Christian Science, where I was taught that “Eternal Mind always has met and always will meet every human need.”
Two traditions, centuries apart, speaking to the same mysterious center: the mind illumined by divine presence.
The Meeting Place Between Worlds
In Christian Science, I learned early that as we attune ourselves to Eternal Mind, healing occurs—not by human power, but through spiritual understanding that lifts us above the illusions of matter. The world of pain and limitation begins to fade as truth takes shape within us.
Later in life, as I came to faith in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, I met another truth: that God is not only Mind, but also a living, embodied Father, and that Jesus Christ’s resurrection sanctified matter rather than denying it. The mortal world is not an error to be escaped, but a creation to be redeemed.
At times, those two visions seem to stand in tension.
One says: Transcend the material.
The other says: Transform it.
And yet, between them lies that sacred “mind” of which Jesus spoke to Mary—a space where thought and spirit meet, where we learn to see through both the eyes of heaven and the eyes of compassion.
Mary’s Vision and My Own
In Mary’s gospel, the Savior praises her for perceiving the divine not through body or intellect alone, but through the mind awakened to light. Her revelation becomes a mirror for anyone who has glimpsed God inwardly and struggled to speak of it outwardly.
When Peter questions her, she does not argue—she simply holds to what she has seen.
That quiet courage resonates with me. I, too, have known seasons when faith could not be explained but only lived. Recovery taught me something similar: to trust the still voice within even when the louder voices doubt.
Perhaps that is what both traditions—Christian Science and the restored gospel—invite us toward: a healed consciousness that lives in the light of divine Mind while walking the path of embodied grace.
Mind, Light, and Healing
Christian Science taught me that thought aligned with God can heal.
The Latter-day Saint faith teaches me that grace aligned with Christ can sanctify.
Different words, same current of love.
When I pray now, I no longer try to decide which language is right. I simply listen.
Sometimes the words are “Eternal Mind,” sometimes “Heavenly Father,” sometimes only silence and light. All point to the same Source that meets every human need.
Mary saw that light. She was told she would become “an image of the eternal, incorruptible light.” I believe we all can—through faith, humility, and that daily turning of the mind toward God.
Reflection
If there is conflict in my understanding, it is the creative tension of growth.
I do not need to erase what formed me to live truthfully today.
Each tradition—Christian Science, AA, the restored gospel—has brought me nearer to the same eternal Presence that heals, guides, and loves beyond all boundaries.
And so, like Mary, I will keep seeking that light within and around me, trusting that in God’s eternal Mind, all contradictions resolve into harmony.
“The light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.” — John 1:5
“Eternal Mind always has met and always will meet every human need.” — Mary Baker Eddy
Amen.
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