That’s the title of a talk to be given by Nicole Virgil, a practitioner of Christian Science healing, on Tuesday, March 20, at 6:30 p.m. at First Church of Christ, Scientist, at 501 South Washington Street.
Why that topic? Harley Gates, chair of the church board of trustees, says: “We know that despite the beauty of our surroundings and the many wonderful aspects of life here in Talbot County, lots of our friends and neighbors are feeling stressed, ill, or hampered in their efforts to maintain happy, productive lives. So we invited Nicole to share her helpful approach to these issues with the community.”
Based outside Chicago, Ms. Virgil travels widely to speak to audiences as a member of the Christian Science Board of Lectureship. “Circumstances,” says Nicole, “often present what appear to be significant obstacles to living freely, something that everyone wants to do. In this talk, we will examine liberty from a Biblical perspective and see how real people today find their freedom from all kinds of physical, emotional, and circumstantial restrictions that seem beyond their control.” She will focus on universal healing precepts found in the Holy Bible, especially in Christ Jesus’ life and teachings, showing how these principles are available for anyone to understand and experience.
Nicole has been a Christian Scientist all her life. Her father was a freelance church organist, and her parents attended services at many different Christian churches in New England. Her mom had been on a years-long search to find out how to practice Christian healing and found what she was looking for when she attended Christian Science church services. Nicole studied Christian Science with her mom and music with her dad and found that the two disciplines were complementary. Christian science healed performance anxiety (early in her career she toured in a one-woman show performing opera), and music employed skills like patience and diligence that she needed for her spiritual practice.
In this one-hour talk, Nicole will explain why Christian Science is both Christian and scientific, meaning that people can prove its effectiveness for themselves, as fully described in the book Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, by the founder of the Christian Science movement, Mary Baker Eddy.
“We host these free public talks to give folks who might be curious about our faith factual information, but not to proselytize,” explains Betsi Shays, who currently conducts services on Sunday and testimony meetings on Wednesday. “Nicole is a deep thinker, but her style is very warm and relatable. I think everyone will enjoy her spiritual perspective on the freedom we all cherish.”
The church is accessible from the parking area at the rear of the church (at Peachblossom and Washington). Additional parking is available at the park across the street.
