Health at the Crossroads

Christian Science Committee on Publication for Indiana - Media and Legislative Liaison

  • Home
  • ABOUT
  • CONTACT ME
  • FAQs
  • NEWSLETTERS
  • HELPFUL LINKS

How prayer defuses violence by Eric Nelson for Communities Digital News

November 2, 2017 By Sharon Vincz Andrews Leave a Comment

Do news reports of violence and terrorism leave you in a perpetual state of shock and despair? Perhaps those who do violence to others are open to change and redemption. We’d like to think so, wouldn’t we? Could the simple statement “You are a child of God?” prevent a man from killing? My colleague, Eric Nelson, writing for the October 6, 2017 edition of Communities Digital News, shares a hopeful story of an prison inmate who heard that message and it set him on a new path.  This same message helped a man whose family was being threatened by a gang member. Here’s Eric to fill in the details: 

Roger (not his real name) was an inmate in a Pennsylvania jail when my friend Dave met him. Dave, a Christian Science practitioner and teacher from California, was there to give a ministerial talk as a representative of the local Christian Science Church.

“After my talk, Roger, a great big guy, came up to me and said, ’Man, you really messed me up,’ said Dave as we were having lunch one afternoon. “He said, ‘You were talking about what it means to be a child of God. That’s who I am.’ Then he said, ‘I want to tell you, before this talk, they brought a guy into the jail, and he and I have had this thing going on out on the street back and forth, and I said to myself, I’m going to kill him. Today’s the day. I don’t care what happens to me, we’re going to end this thing, right here, right now.’”

All Dave could do was keep listening.

“He said, ’And then for some reason, I decided to come hear this stupid talk. And now I’ve got to go back to my cell, and I’ve got to think about myself as a child of God and what that means, and I’ve got to think about him that way too, don’t I?’ And I said, ‘Yeah, you do.’ By this time, tears were streaming down his face. He gave me a big bear hug and he says, ‘Thanks for messing me up, man.’”

Would that more people could be “messed up” like this.

The truth is, there are probably a lot more people open to this sort of transformation than we think….

Please Click Here To Read The Entire Article

Share this:

  • Email
  • Print
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Pinterest
  • LinkedIn
  • Reddit
  • Tumblr
  • Pocket

Filed Under: violence Tagged With: Christian Science Church, Christian Science teacher, Communities Digital News, Eric Nelson, Prayer, prison, violence

Subscribe to Blog via Email

Enter your email. Hit submit. Please check your email SOON for a confirmation and CONFIRM your subscription. If the confirmation email does not appear in your inbox within five minutes, check your junk mail / spam folder to make sure it did not get sent there instead. To make sure you'll receive our confirmation email, add donotreply@wordpress.com to your email address book. Thank you!

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Welcome to Indiana!

head shot bio

I'm Sharon Andrews. I look forward to conversations with you about the connection between health and consciousness. How does thinking affect the body? What makes us healthy? I am a Christian Science practitioner and the media and legislative liaison for Christian Science in the state of Indiana. I like travel, bicycling, organic gardening, and basketball!

Subscribe via Email

Enter your email. Hit submit. Please check your email SOON for a confirmation and CONFIRM your subscription. If the confirmation email does not appear in your inbox within five minutes, check your junk mail / spam folder in case it went there. To make sure you'll receive our confirmation email, add donotreply@wordpress.com to your email address book. Thank you!

Search this Site

Categories

  • Addiction
  • afterlife
  • aging
  • allergies
  • autism
  • balance
  • belief
  • Bible
  • Bridge to understanding Christian Science
  • bullying
  • business
  • cancer
  • cataracts
  • change
  • character
  • Christian Science
  • Christian Science Reading Room
  • Christmas
  • Church
  • compassion
  • Dave Horn Guest Blog
  • David Bowie
  • dentistry
  • depression
  • diagnosis
  • diet
  • diversity
  • drug abuse
  • drug reactions
  • drugs
  • Easter
  • eating disorders
  • Economy
  • education
  • environment
  • exercise
  • Father's Day
  • fear
  • fear and health
  • football
  • Forgiveness
  • freedom
  • gender identity
  • genetics
  • government
  • gratitude
  • grieving
  • Guest Blogs
  • happiness
  • hate speech
  • healing
  • Healing thoughts for better lives
  • healing through prayer
  • health
  • health and fitness
  • healthcare
  • hell
  • home
  • homelessness
  • honesty
  • humor and healing
  • immortality
  • In the news
  • infertility
  • inspiraton
  • intuition
  • Jesus
  • joy
  • kindness
  • Legislative update
  • limitations
  • love your neighbor
  • Mary Baker Eddy
  • medical myths
  • memory
  • mental health
  • mindfulness
  • miracles
  • Misconceptions
  • mothers
  • nature
  • near death experience
  • negativity
  • New Year
  • Pain
  • placebos
  • politics
  • power of suggestion
  • prayer
  • prayer and healing
  • prayer for pets
  • purpose
  • refugees
  • regret
  • relationships
  • resolutions
  • safety
  • science
  • self-control
  • self-esteem
  • spirituality
  • sports and spirituality
  • stress
  • suicide prevention
  • terrorism
  • testimony meetings
  • The Force
  • The Reformation
  • thriving
  • tragedy
  • Uncategorized
  • Valentine's Day
  • violence
  • volunteering
  • wholeness

My Colleagues' Sites

  • A Garden State of Mind
  • A Healthy Africa
  • A Look at Spirituality and Health
  • A Peachy Outlook on Health (Georgia)
  • Above the Noise…Spirituality and Health
  • Authentic Health New Mexico
  • Changing Tides of Health
  • Christian Science Committee on Publication for Arizona
  • Christian Science Committee on Publication for Maryland
  • Christian Science Committee on Publication for NY
  • Christian Science in Canada
  • Christian Science in Illinois
  • Christian Science in Iowa
  • Christian Science in Mississippi
  • Christian Science in Nebraska
  • Christian Science in New Hampshire
  • Christian Science in Oklahoma
  • Christian Science in Tennessee
  • Consciousness and Health
  • Fit Virginia
  • Forward Wisconsin Health
  • Health Connection
  • Health for Thinkers
  • Health Thoughts
  • Health, Thought and Spirituality (Texas)
  • HEALTHink (Ohio)
  • Keystone Health Connections (Pennsylvania)
  • Mind Healing? Neither Myth nor Miracle
  • Northern Reflections on Health (Canada)
  • Pacific Health Perspectives
  • Rocky Mountain State of Mind
  • Show Me Well-Being
  • Simply Healthy (Florida)
  • Spirituality and Health Connect (Australia)
  • Spotlight on Spiritual and Health (Washington state)
  • Wholly Healthy (N.Carolina)

Recent Posts

  • Easter: Promises recalled by Van Driessen for thedailystar.com
  • Timeless Christmas? Hearts without borders by Van Driessen for The Daily Star.com
  • Failed Business? Practical results from The Lord’s Prayer by Wendy Margolese for The Christian Science Monitor
  • Relationships: Yield and open the way to healing by Ingrid Peschke for The Christian Science Monitor
  • How prayer defuses violence by Eric Nelson for Communities Digital News
Copyright © 2016 ComPub Indiana / Privacy Policy / Terms of Service
loading Cancel
Post was not sent - check your email addresses!
Email check failed, please try again
Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email.