Faith can be seen as a glimmer of hope or light in an ever-changing world. How we enlarge and trust our faith is a question asked by many. How we define and find God in our own life can be a joyous spiritual journey.

The Christian Science Society of Greenfield invites the community to a Christian Science lecture entitled “A Spiritual Revolution: The Quest to Experience God,” at the Greenfield Public Library on Thursday, May 1, at 3 p.m. The lecture will be given by Giulia Nesi Tetreau, a Christian Science practitioner, teacher, and lecturer from Fairfield, Connecticut. Early in her career, Ms. Tetreau was a licensed, practicing mental health professional who found great joy in helping others. After being introduced to Christian Science, she became convinced that she could do more to help people heal, through prayer, as a Christian Science practitioner.

Discovered by Mary Baker Eddy in 1866, Christian Science is a system of healing based on divine laws found in the Bible and taking, as its premise, that God (also known as Mind, Spirit, Soul) is all, made all, and made it good. Of course, we can look around us and point to a thousand things that are not good. Did God make all those bad things? No. Bad things, bad thoughts, bad actions are all based in matter and the human mind, but God is Spirit, and all that He/She made is spiritual. Simply put, Mary Baker Eddy discovered that aligning thought with spiritual reality, with spiritual Life, Truth, and Love (more names for God) would bring healing to the human mind and human body.

But religion is faith, and faith is transcendental. Why would we think of it as a science? Christian Science is a science because its system of healing is seen as provable and repeatable. Since 1866, hundreds of thousands of healings have occurred, many of them recorded in the church’s weekly and monthly publications. And many have never been published at all: ask any Christian Scientist about his or her own healings, and they will have plenty to tell you. But Christian Scientists don’t just tell themselves that God is All and leave it at that. They study the Bible and Mary Baker Eddy’s textbook, “Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures,” daily to keep spiritual reality top of mind and to understand God better. If health problems or other difficulties (regarding finances, marriage, housing, school, etc.) arise, an individual’s own prayers (often referred to as “metaphysical work”) may resolve these, but Christian Science practitioners are also available to help. These individuals work full-time as healers and are remunerated accordingly.

Sometimes Christian Science is confused with various wellness practices, holistic medicine or other alternative health programs, but it differs from these in that it is a Christian religion based on the Bible and on the idea that what is spiritual is real while what is material is illusory. Christian Science never seeks to make matter well but to put human thought in touch with spiritual reality, which in turn has the power to alter the human situation for the better. This profound difference was particularly apparent during the pandemic when many people, often those practicing alternative health regimens, felt that vaccinations would harm them. Christian Scientists do not look to vaccinations for protection, but neither do they fear them. If they can skip vaccinations lawfully, they generally do so, but if keeping the peace with family members or abiding by public health laws means getting vaccinated, Christian Scientists do not have a problem with that.

There is also the misconception that the church requires Scientists to use only spiritual means for healing, but, while in most instances this is the Scientist’s own preference, there is no such requirement. We are grateful for the dedicated service of doctors; however, generally speaking, Christian Scientists rely on Spirit, God, for health, protection and every kind of well being. Christian Scientists are free to choose whatever healing method seems best to them in a given circumstance.

Mary Baker Eddy states in “Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures,” that “The time for thinkers has come.” Please join us in exploring a new way of thinking about yourself, the community and the world at the Greenfield Library on May 1 at 3:00 p.m.

Kathe Geist and Susan Solomon are members of the Christian Science Society of Greenfield, a branch of the First Church of Christ, Scientist in Boston, a lay church without ordained clergy. The Society holds services on the first two Sundays of every month at 10:30 a.m., and the first two Wednesdays of every month at 12 p.m., at 110 Federal St.