I've been thinking about the word "Christian" and what it means to be an effective Christian. Is there more to it than just doing good deeds? I realised that because the basis of Christian Science is the fact that man is spiritual and perfect made in God's image and likeness one has to have a deeper and more lasting view of man - and that is what it is to be a true Christian.
I soon had an opportunity to put this into practise. I was swimming in our local pool and a woman was swimming way too fast for the lane we were in. Getting fussed about this I started looking for an attendant to ask her to move into another lane. I suddenly stopped myself and said "there is only perfect spiritual man right there." It was that simple! My irritation stopped and suddenly I found we were pausing at the same end of the pool and started chatting. I said how quickly she was swimming and how good she was. She replied that she was afraid when she got to the deep end which was why she swam so quickly. As we chatted I was able to share some thoughts with her which calmed her fears.
Thinking about it afterwards it occurred that helping to calm her fear was actually a good Christian deed but by first knowing there was only perfect spiritual man right there, was a more effective and permanent way to be a Christian.