Nurse: a noun, or a verb?

Like many words, nurse can be interpreted in many ways. Looking up the term made me think more deeply about how I viewed my practice of Christian Science nursing. Webster’s defines nurse in several ways:

Noun: “a person who cares for the sick or infirm.” (That’s not how we think of nursing in Christian Science!)

Verb: “to promote the progress or development of.” (That sounds more like it!)

I like to think of the word nurse in terms of a verb. The idea becomes active, broader, more expansive—less about a trained person doing a skilled job and more about the natural spiritual activity of nursing. Nursing is natural to each one of us because we are the expression of divine Love, the source of all nursing qualities. Watching for moments of care, tenderness, and healing each day has helped me understand more fully Mary Baker Eddy’s beloved statement: “Divine Love always has met and always will meet every human need” (Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, p. 494).

Christian Science nursing is very much about a spiritual response. I understand Christian Science nursing to be just one element of our Christian Science practice. It is worthwhile to note that the first requirement made of Christian Science nurses in the Church Manual, after Mother Church membership, is “a demonstrable knowledge of Christian Science practice” (Mary Baker Eddy, p. 49). Herein is its foundation.

Love for God and man is the true incentive in both healing and teaching Science and Health, p. 454

Christian Science nursing is more than just practical care for those in need; it is a spiritual activity that flows from our prayerful consciousness and communion with God. The desire to serve in this way is a natural outcome of understanding more about God and our fellow man.

In Science and Health we read, “Love for God and man is the true incentive in both healing and teaching” (p. 454). I would add that this love is also the “true incentive” in Christian Science nursing, for nursing is very much about healing (and sometimes about teaching, too). It is an outgrowth of the nurturing divine Love that we all reflect. Everyone may not be a Christian Science nurse, but all who strive to follow the healing example and teachings of Christ Jesus are nursing. How often we read in the Bible that Jesus had compassion on those he healed! His ministry is our highest example of nursing—with love for God and for humanity as the main ingredient.

Another of my favorite passages that I feel relates to Christian Science nursing is found on page 366 of Science and Health: “If we would open their prison doors for the sick, we must first learn to bind up the broken-hearted. If we would heal by the Spirit, we must not hide the talent of spiritual healing under the napkin of its form, nor bury the morale of Christian Science in the grave-clothes of its letter. The tender word and Christian encouragement of an invalid, pitiful patience with his fears and the removal of them, are better than hecatombs of gushing theories, stereotyped borrowed speeches, and the doling of arguments, which are but so many parodies on legitimate Christian Science, aflame with divine Love.”

I love this passage because of the freedom it allows for each of us to express nurturing, nursing qualities, which have their roots in God. If our motive is pure, the outcome can only be healing. We have all been brokenhearted, or felt imprisoned by sickness or lack. In those times, I have so often been nursed along by others by way of a kind word or deed. I have been repeatedly lifted to higher, more spiritual views because of someone’s alertness and caring, nurturing love.

We are all workers for God and man—this is our primary purpose. As we learn to better express the compassion, love, and forgiveness that was so evident in Christ Jesus’ ministry, we nurse others—even if we don’t formally represent ourselves as Christian Science nurses. It really is just a matter of learning to love unconditionally, isn’t it? As we reflect the love of God, we practice true Christianity—we nurse.

—Barb Waite, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

This article was originally published June 27, 2014 in the Christian Science Journal.