METHODISM AND CHRISTIAN SCIENCE
One of the best definitions of Unity was overheard by May Rowland; in the cafeteria line of the old Unity Inn.
One businessman said to another, "What is this Unity anyway?"
.He replied, "Well, I think It's a little like· Christian Science, only they have a heck of a lot more fun!"
There are parallels between my parents' background and that of Unity, in that my father was a Christian Scientist
and my mother was a Methodist. The Fillmores had been Methodists, yet their emphasis on spiritual healing was
similar to Christian Science. They communicated In the language of liberal Protestantism, such as the Methodist
church.
My parents did not agree about religion, but when my sister was born with serious birth defects that would have
prevented her from walking, someone gave them the phone number of Unity's prayer ministry, Silent Unity. Unity's is
the original and oldest mail-in and phone-in prayer ministry . From Silent Unity, they received an affirmation (a
positive prayer statement) that they recited for the next year: "You are God's whole and perfect child. You are
aglow with God's life, light and wisdom." Through a remarkable set of circumstances, they were led to a new
hospital, which had a doctor who had heard of an experimental new treatment. He offered to try it out on my sister;
promising nothing. After spending a year in a full body cast, my-sister emerged completely healed. At its best,
this treatment was only supposed to improve, not heal, her. The doctor called it a miracle-and it was! Needless to
say, when I was born some months later, my parents were confirmed Unity students.
Copyright Rev. Gregory Barrettte 1993
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