I was taught from an early age that God is love and spirit, and fills all space and has all power and intelligence; that He's always communicating with us all, so was encouraged to depend on Him. I was told countless times that we were going to "know the truth," that is the truth according to God. Sometimes I wondered what that truth was, but remembered that Jesus told us that we had to be like little children to enter into the Kingdom, so I figured that it couldn't be too difficult to understand. I was also taught that our experience in earth is preparing us for what's coming later and that we need to pass each class, accepting the requirements at each new "grade level". That means that the courses would be getting more detailed and require more study, even as grade school progresses each year, but that if we apply ourselves to where we are at the time, then we should be ready to move on to the next step without the work being too difficult for us. I've hesitated along the path many times, afraid to grow on, because I didn't want to do harder work. I had a first grade student like that once; she had learned the alphabet and letter sounds but didn't want to go on to writing sentences, begging instead to just practice the alphabet-but that was not allowed. Jesus told us to "Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers and cast out demons." Would he have told us this if it were not possible? Everything I've learned about God, man, and Christ Jesus, I've learned from my upbringing in Christian Science, discovered in 1866, by Mary Baker Eddy. Christian Science explains how God's Laws lift the mist and dust out of our thinking- repentance- so that we can see our reflection as His image and likeness.
About the Author: Marsha Cunningham is a retired teacher of grades pre-k through 3rd. She developed a phonics- based method of teaching beginning reading and writing which developed into a textbook over the years. It is now a free download at her website: www.artsimprovingacademics.org. In the first week of school however, she taught her students to draw using the blind contour method and to paint neatly with watercolors; and they loved being neat. She also taught them how to work 60 piece jigsaw puzzles with many strategies, all of which is explained in her book, In the Beginning. She couldn't have done any of it without constant prayer, depending on God to show her what to do. She explains many of those experiences with her students in her new book, Proof of God in My Life.