Brian's Blog - From the CEO

I recall a poster years ago with meerkats standing together, all but one looking in the same direction. I believe the poster was captioned BE A LERT. The Urban Dictionary defines “lert” as “a small furry woodland creature whose senses are always very intensely attuned to its surroundings.” In actuality, there is no “lert.” Therefore, be alert that you will be challenged if you play this word in the game Scrabble.

By-the-way, meerkats are found in southern Africa, living in large numbers in deserts and grasslands. Although keenly alert and comparatively cute, these small intelligent mongooses aren’t cuddly creatures. In fact, evidently, these pointy-faced, bushy ground dwellers are vicious little mammals, which surprisingly don’t drink water and are immune to venom. (www.natgeokids.com ) If you’re in the region, be alert – don’t play with them or adopt one for a pet!

The Merriam-Webster online dictionary includes these definitions of “alert” as an adjective: 1) watchful and prompt to meet danger or an emergency; 2) quick to perceive and act; 3) active, brisk. And, as a noun: 1) a state of careful watching and readiness especially for danger or opportunity; 2) an alarm or other signal of danger, an urgent notice; 3) the period during which an alert is in effect. Also, as a verb: 1) to call (someone) to a state of readiness, warn; 2) to make (someone) aware of something.

Recently, a longtime friend called me. We chatted about being alert, particularly related to email and social media, regarding people who are trolling, stalking and phishing. On a positive note, she also suggested that folks should leave comments (hopefully supportive ones) when reading the postings such as these blogs on Wide Horizon’s Facebook page or Instagram. When it comes to email and social media, or even blogs, be alert every day, every moment when you can.

Christian Science nurses must be alert in their work to do it effectively. To witness spiritual healing, they strive to see God’s perfect man – male and female made in Spirit’s image and likeness. Their thought must maintain an altitude of heavenly inspiration to behold true spiritual identity. They should be cheerful and orderly, and they must practice patience in order to minister unto patients. Most importantly, Christian Science nurses should be “full of faith, – receptive to Truth and Love.” (Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, p. 395)

For a member of The First Church of Christ, Scientist, in Boston, Massachusetts, being alert is essential to effectively practicing Christian Science. Mary Baker Eddy, the Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science, included an important by-law in the Church Manual, on page 42:

“Alertness to Duty. SECT. 6. It shall be the duty of every member of this Church to defend himself daily against aggressive mental suggestion, and not be made to forget nor to neglect his duty to God, to his Leader, and to mankind. By his works he shall be judged, — and justified or condemned.”

This by-law, this duty, means a great deal to the sincere student of Christian Science, as it’s one of many statements of guidance provided by Mrs. Eddy. It’s also a duty that is challenging to follow at times because forgetting and neglecting seem to be common to the human mind. Yet it’s essential to protect oneself as a practicing Christian Scientist. So, it’s imperative to have one Mind – to let that Mind be in you as was in Christ Jesus – and to see man as the reflection of this perfect Mind. Jesus knew God as the heavenly Father of all. It’s up to each of us to perform our duty to obey God, follow our Leader as she followed Christ, and to love mankind. This daily mental activity is truly being alert.

As an aside, although I’ve never played one, perhaps like many of you, I’ve had to learn to be more alert to the erroneous influences of shamefully violent video games – particularly those like Apex, Bulletstorm, Call of Duty, Counter Strike, Fortnite, Manhunt, Mortal Combat (the list via an online search is sadly a lot longer). Too many males are seemingly hypnotically obsessed and even addicted to these games – sitting hours on end, often in the dark, oftentimes connected to other gamers, totaling the highest number of body counts, in this mind-numbing anti-activity. Unfortunately, this is only one of many areas in modern society that require the active attention and alertness of sincere students of Christian Science.

Therefore, we need to be keenly alert! We need to be watchful. We need to pray. We need to see God’s spiritual man made in His image and likeness. We need to defend ourselves against aggressive mental suggestions so we can minister unto others from the holy basis of Christ, Truth. And, we can’t do this very effectively if we react, if we forget, or if we neglect our duty to God – to love God and love one another. To love another as Love’s true spiritual reflection of Spirit. Yet, the import of such alertness is to bless all mankind – male and female, children and adults – and injure no man, woman or child. So, let’s be more alert to the ministrations of divine Love which will positively influence and heal all mankind and the world. Let us join in this holy ministry of Love!

Scripture states from the book of Jeremiah (23:24), “Do not I fill heaven and earth? saith the Lord.” Do we believe God, Good, has filled all the heavens and is throughout all the earth? Are we alert to this truth? If we are, our prayerful work will be blessed. Our lives will bless those we love – family, friend and stranger. And, in the words of Habakkuk (2:14), we will alertly behold that indeed, “…the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea.”

So, don’t “be a lert”; instead, be spiritually watchful and actively alert!

D. Brian Boettiger

In 1987, The Christian Science Publishing Society published a booklet titled, The Christian Science Monitor Owner’s Manual. The first section thereof was titled “Over 79 Years of Journalistic Excellence.” Now it’s been 113 years! The Christian Science Monitor has gone through many changes as may a chameleon on a colorful summer day! I still love reading and holding actual newsprint newspapers, yet I’ve gotten used to the printed magazine format and other electronic options. I also truly enjoy the insight, content and photographs of the Monitor.

This Owner’s Manual begins, “Yellow journalism was at its height when the first issue of The Christian Science Monitor was published on November 25, 1908. Its Founder, Mary Baker Eddy, saw the paper as an answer to the sensationalized reporting of the times.” (Have the times changed that much given the degree of bias, vitriol and purported “false news” of these past years?) It continues, “And with her mandate, ‘to injure no man, but to bless all mankind,’ she set the tone and established a goal of integrity that remain the Monitor’s hallmarks to this day.”

I truly love this foundational basis – “to injure no man, but to bless all mankind.” The world needs The Christian Science Monitor, which continues to stand out as a beacon to a lot of journalism and reporting. I feel confident in saying that this professional news source has never injured man and has blessed mankind beyond measure in its 113 years (though I’ve not been around quite that long). In many ways by uplifting the perspective and thought of readers, this publication has spiritually and practically nursed the nation and the world. In fact, “the analytical style of reporting, an accepted standard in current American journalism, was pioneered by the Monitor.” And, “then, as now, the Monitor reported national and international news squarely and sanely, with remarkable insight and honesty.” (The Christian Science Publishing Society)

At the time in 1987, the Monitor was among the top 10 newspapers in the U.S. and one of the most respected newspapers in the world. The Christian Science Monitor has been awarded seven Pulitzer Prizes for excellence in journalism (in the years of 2002, 1996, 1978, 1969, 1968, 1967, 1950). And, it has won more than a dozen Overseas Press Club awards. The Pulitzer for 1969 was awarded to Robert Cahn for his “path-breaking series [that] charted the future of America’s national parks and ways to help preserve them.” (See https://www.csmonitor.com/Specials/Monitor-Centennial/Pulitzer-Prizes)

This specific series was introduced to me when Bob Cahn and I met and became close friends years ago. Bob and his wife, Pat, also lived in Boulder, Colorado, and were members of the same Christian Science branch church. This was later in his full life. I greatly appreciated our rich conversations and friendship founded on mutual love of the environment and our faith. I believe Bob would write, argue, and appeal that America’s National Parks continue to need our collective support and preservation, maybe even more so than 52 years ago. Each national park is an amazing treasure for all.

I think it’s interesting to note that historical figures of great stature appreciated the Monitor as shown by these quotes:

“The Christian Science Monitor was well known to me during my 27 years in prison. It continues to give me hope and confidence for the world’s future.” – Nelson Mandela

“The Christian Science Monitor has helped set the standard for journalistic integrity. The Monitor’s fair and balanced coverage continues to be an important source of information and I look forward to reading it every day.” – John McCain

“With freedom, fairness and sensitivity, it [the Monitor] has recorded the events of our day and written with clarity of its judgment for the morrow. In its pages are found the facts and opinions upon which intelligent decisions can be firmly based.” – Dwight D. Eisenhower

“The constructive service which The Christian Science Monitor has consistently rendered to better understanding between nations is widely appreciated in all parts of the world.” – Franklin D. Roosevelt

(See https://www.csmonitor.com/Specials/Monitor-Centennial/Pulitzer-Prizes)

Back to the Owner’s Manual, which included that the Monitor was read in 147 countries, from Argentina to Zambia, and by thousands of university professors and people in governments, including world leaders. What if all world leaders now would read it? I believe injury to men, women and children would greatly diminish and blessings to all mankind would significantly increase. This paper has been praised for its clarity, fairness, and sensitivity.

Years ago, when I began my work as a Christian Science practitioner, opening a public office in a plaza on a proverbial shoestring income, I often turned to the Monitor, especially in that first year, to be alert and informed, and to pray about national and international events. It was a welcome source in my public healing ministry.

Also, whether as a daily or weekly, The Christian Science Monitor has included only one religious or Christian Science perspective article in each edition. Two of these this year were: “Grace to go forward” and “Tune in to God’s messages!” (June 7 and May 11, 2021, respectively.)

Working at Wide Horizon, on the spiritual avenue of Christian Science nursing, requires continually tuning in to God’s messages, listening for Love’s guidance, and heeding divine Mind’s direction. It also demands grace to go forward, particularly when presented with obstacles that attempt to knock one off course. I can honestly say that The Christian Science Monitor and the other publications founded by Mary Baker Eddy, and especially her own writings, have been sources of information, inspiration and healing for me to continue in and fulfill the requirements often presented to me in my role as a steward of or service leader at Wide Horizon.

I’m forever grateful to Mrs. Eddy for her courageous obedience to God’s guidance in founding The Christian Science Monitor – a publication that injures no man, and blesses all mankind.

D. Brian Boettiger

Mary Baker Eddy, the Discoverer of Christian Science, wrote, “Pure Mind gives out an atmosphere that heals and saves” (Miscellaneous Writings, p. 260).

The beauty of this statement is that Mind generously gives this atmosphere of healing and saving to its creation. What does each of us accept as truth? What is necessary for us to demonstrate this pure Mind in our experience? What does it take for us to do this more consistently, as Christ Jesus evidently did so well? How do we prove that “Mind is Love” (Miscellaneous Writings, p. 332) and that “Love is Mind” (Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, p. 330), particularly when it seems that so many independent minds exist? Isn’t this the atmosphere most everyone would desire? Don’t we all desire healing in our lives and communities? Don’t most people who are sick or are sinning wish to be saved?

Mrs. Eddy believed God’s man – made spiritually as His image and likeness – reflects this pure Mind, as did Jesus Christ so perfectly. (See Genesis 1) She wrote that this man is “the full representation of Mind” (Science and Health, p. 591). And, she defined MIND as: “The only I, or Us; the only Spirit, Soul, divine Principle, substance, Life, Truth, Love; the one God; not that which is in man, but the divine Principle, or God, of whom man is the full and perfect expression; Deity, which outlines but is not outlined” (ibid., p. 591).

I believe we must be attuned to divine Love. Know this Love. Feel the impulse of this perfect Love. I believe we must deny the world belief that there are many minds and affirm that all God’s children can and do reflect one Mind. And, we need to do this as often as necessary to feel and see harmony in divine Love, which reigns supreme. Doesn’t this begin within individual consciousness? The consciousness which reflects the only Spirit, Mind.

What do we cherish in thought? The healing atmosphere at Wide Horizon and in our communities must be nurtured by us all. Nurturing is a form of nursing one another through the expression of Love. Christ Jesus said that to love him, we must love God first and love our neighbor as he truly is – the image and likeness of Love, God.

So, we must love who we are as God’s man, His child or idea, His image and likeness. It is therefore up to us to love one another, without fail, in order to love God with all of our heart. It is so vital that we watch, work and pray together, having one God, expressing a higher spiritual sense of Mind, seeing God’s image and likeness in each individual expression of man. If we do this consistently, there will be more receptivity to the healing presence of Christ that is always at work within us. Scripture states, the “Christ in you, the hope of glory.” (Colossians 1:27) Could this hope be the expectation of healing and saving, the glory of God’s perfect man expressed?

Mrs. Eddy also wrote, “The medicine of Science is divine Mind; and dishonesty, sensuality, falsehood, revenge, malice, are animal propensities and by no means the mental qualities which heal the sick” (Science and Health, p.104). She also stated God made medicine and that Mind was the first medicine. (See Science and Health, p. 142). Doesn’t mankind need this medicine? Isn’t it our duty and privilege to love one another by sharing this medicine? Aren’t each of us better off by taking and trusting in this medicine every day? Indeed, because this divine medicine saves and heals!

We can be knowing that there is only one divine Mind – one that all creation and mankind reflects. This “pure Mind gives out the atmosphere that saves and heals.” Each of us can do our best, knowing that “with God all things all possible.” (Mark 10:27) We can help to maintain this healing atmosphere by having one pure Mind. May you be blessed in all that you do in Christ’s name!

D. Brian Boettiger

“Then God saw everything that He had made, and indeed it was very good.” (Genesis 1:31, NKJV)

The spiritual fact is that all is truly good – no matter what the material senses may claim at times as reality. The healing and comforting presence of Spirit, God, is always with us.

There is so much good to behold taking place at Wide Horizon each day. The good works of Christian Science nurses and support staff are evident in the halls, rooms, offices and on the grounds. Christian Science nursing continually blesses lives and families of our dear guests and residents.

We’ve added a new fountain at the pond. The guests and staff love it. The pond water is cleaner, so wildlife and pond lilies are abundant. The sound is soothing. The grounds are appealing – well-kept by Wide’s maintenance staff. Also, the lighting on campus has improved visibility and safety on the driveway and exterior of the buildings. Custom skylights add natural lighting in the hallways, brightening lives and illuminating smiles. Energy efficient lighting helps toward the electricity costs. Newly applied stucco has protected the buildings from percussion playing flickers or woodpeckers. Colorfully painted birdhouses are placed throughout the campus. The tall grass and alfalfa sway in the summer breezes. Flowers, symbolically speak of God’s goodness, share their hues and perfection. Yes, the sun shines brightly as do bright smiles shining daily.

Mary Baker Eddy, the discoverer of Christian Science, wrote in Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, “Nature voices natural, spiritual law and divine Love, but human beliefs misinterprets nature. Artic regions, sunny tropics, giant hills, winged winds, mighty billows, verdant vales, festive flowers, and glorious heavens, – all point to Mind, the spiritual intelligence they reflect. The floral apostles are hieroglyphs of Deity. Suns and planets teach grand lessons. The stars make night beautiful, and the leaflet turns naturally towards the light” (p.240).

Among many references to God and Good in Science and Health, Mrs. Eddy defined “GOOD. God; Spirit; omnipotence; omnipresence; omniscience; omni-action” (p. 587). This holy divine Good is ever-evident and felt at Wide Horizon.

So, even though Wide Horizon still must maintain certain restrictions and follow specific guidelines pertinent to state-licensed nursing care facilities, we invite you to come to our campus – to see the grounds, visit for a tour, to enjoy some quiet moments for spiritual renewal in Horizon House, to rejoice with grateful hearts in singing. You’ll feel and witness spiritual healing and progress that is evident every day. Simply call ahead to inquire what the protocols may be to follow.

Mrs. Eddy also wrote, “God gives you His spiritual ideas, and in turn, they give you daily supplies.  Never ask for to-morrow: it is enough that divine Love is an ever-present help; and if you wait, never doubting, you will have all you need every moment” (Miscellaneous Writings, p. 307).

Join with us in our gratitude for these “daily supplies” as we affirm that “divine Love is an ever-present help.” We believe Wide Horizon is one of God’s “spiritual ideas” – an idea that we cherish, an idea that is sustainable. So, we hold steadfastly to know that divine Love provides all that Wide Horizon needs very moment. Therefore, we thank God, Good, – and thank you too!

“And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.” (Romans 8:28, NKJV)

D. Brian Boettiger

Recently a dear friend and colleague to many in the Christian Science nursing field passed on. She was certainly a friend to many of us at Wide Horizon. I’d like to share a tribute that was written and published by The Commission for Accreditation of Christian Science Nursing Organizations/Facilities, Inc. (first shared in its e-newsletter of June 2021).

The Commission Board members join with each of you in remembering our dear friend, Bonnie Castroman. Everyone who knows her has been blessed by her friendship. Everyone who had the opportunity to work with her has been inspired by her example—her devotion, her focus, her perceptivity, her joy. She has been a ray of sunshine wherever she has gone, and we know she continues to bless all in her presence.

Most of us know Bonnie through the loving, humble, tireless service she gave as Manager of Christian Science Nursing Activities at The Mother Church. Christian Science nurses around the world have been touched, blessed, and helped by her, and each of our Christian Science nursing organizations has felt her daily, ongoing support for maintaining the highest standards of our work.

We would like to take this opportunity to pause and express our deep and heartfelt gratitude for all Bonnie did on behalf of The Commission. She served for years as its Executive Director. Then, when there was a need for a different organization model, she met frequently with representatives from The Mother Church and the Partnership for Christian Science nursing. The foundation and initial framework of The Commission as it is today grew from ideas that emerged in these meetings. All of us will continue to learn from Bonnie’s humble, gracious example. What a precious gift she will always be!

Bonnie was a shining light. She embodied Christly qualities. She loved life, was adventurous and shared her joy freely. I am privileged to have known her for 18 plus years. Recently before her passing, we had a wonderful conversation and learned our dads served in government roles which required being stationed and traveling overseas. Our paths crisscrossed without knowing it growing up – in countries and cities such as Japan, Hong Kong, Thailand, Taiwan, Vietnam, Germany. I think we both also lived in California and Virginia too. We were world travelers without having to do the planning! During our conversation, we laughed and shared our respective stories, which included being inoculated as dependents within military or government families. And, perhaps most importantly, we appreciated our lifelong journeys in Christian Science practice.

As Christ Jesus taught and showed us, I believe life is eternal. Ultimately, therefore, I believe Scripture which states Christ will give us the victory over death. I also believe Mary Baker Eddy, the discoverer of Christian Science, when she wrote: “To-day my soul can only sing and soar. An increasing sense of God’s love, omnipresence, and omnipotence enfolds me. Each day I know Him nearer, love Him more, and humbly pray to serve Him better. Thus seeking and finding (though feebly), finally may we not together rejoice in the church triumphant?” (The First Church of Christ, Scientist and Miscellany, p. 174)

I’ve held to and shared this statement often during the years I’ve served Spirit, God, in my work at Wide Horizon. I think dear Bonnie is singing and soaring, knowing and loving God, Love, more – as she continues to rejoice together in selfless service to Spirit, Soul, even better.

Bonnie was most certainly blessed in her experience on earth to be a blessing! And, I am blessed by our friendship!

D. Brian Boettiger