Expressing more love in my present experience with family members

My Dad passed on a week before last year’s Association meeting. Although I didn’t cry from grief per se, I did cry when I thought about how loved he had always made me feel. I started crying about Mom for the same reason (she’d passed on many years before). One day it came to me that I could think about them any time I wanted to—it was as if they were right there with me. I have the idea of them all the time. Hasn’t that always been the reality—more real than my so-called human history with them? Now I am appreciating the unconditional love of my Mom and Dad, but without the tears.

This experience led me to ask, How can I bring more of that reality to my present experience with family members? I have begun to appreciate the idea of my family more and feel I’m expressing a truer sense of love towards them.

Recently my husband sliced the skin off the tip of his finger while preparing a special meal for the family. The flow of blood was profuse and unyielding. I got his permission to call a practitioner. I explained that as a Christian Science nurse, I wanted to put my “demonstrable knowledge of Christian Science” first, but thought kept jumping to the “practical wisdom” instead. (See the by-law for the Christian Science Nurse in the Manual of The Mother Church, p. 49.) My husband wanted to continue preparing the meal, so I quickly washed his finger, wrapped it in a paper towel, and covered it with a vinyl glove. The food was kept clean, the meal was wonderful, and by the time we had eaten the bleeding had slowed considerably. Cleansing and bandaging went smoothly—a good idea came to me about how to bandage it. The next morning I assisted him as he got ready for work. We were able to use a regular band-aid designed for a finger tip. After the next day no band-aid was necessary.

My older son has had long periods of joblessness this past year. One night he prayed about finding work. The next day I was able to let go of the feeling that I needed to convince him to take holiday work. That afternoon he received a call for holiday work.

My son had also been applying to the county corrections facility to get back his old job as a corrections officer. Last week he was hired as a security host at a local art museum, but had to call the jail on Monday. We figured there were only two possible answers, but trusted that God’s plan was in operation. 

On Monday the corrections administration told my son that they require officers to have completed at least 60 credit-hours of college work, and that they would be happy to send out an appropriate form for him to fill out. This was a third answer that we couldn’t have outlined. It was obviously a God-given opportunity to value the roughly 60 credit-hours of college my son has already achieved. And he is willing to take one more course if need be, rather than being all philosophical about how unjust it is that a “stupid piece of paper” is required for almost every job.

Today my son told me how much he is appreciating working at the art museum. He recognizes that God provided the opportunity for work at exactly the right time, just as He answered his prayer and opened up holiday employment.