Nichole’s Personal Mission Statement:
To continually grow and learn, not just spiritually but in every way. To find my niche of service within the Center for Spiritual Living Sarasota community and beyond. To support my Sr. Minister as well as my fellow practitioners in any way I can and to be an uplifting presence to all around through prayer and in other ways.
As a very young child I remember going to Sunday school while my parents attended services at the local Presbyterian Church. My parents became disenchanted with the “old school traditional” teachings. They learned of a Religious Science minister, Dr. Raymond Charles Barker. So, in 1956 at the age of eight, I began attending Sunday School at a Religious Science church where I was introduced to the Science of Mind teaching.
As a result, the two things that have stuck with me since those early years are:
- God is everywhere
- The Golden Rule, “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”
Despite not attending services for over 40 years, faith remained within me. Here are some examples. My husband’s passing in 2010 hit me hard. I went into a deep dark place for some time. But in the fall of 2014, I realized that I could finally return to Religious Science. That was the day that started me on the path to where I am today. That day, I re-discovered Science of Mind at the Center for Spiritual Living Sarasota (a Religious Science center) and have been a part of the community since then. To better understand the teaching, I started classes that following spring. The more I learned the more I wanted to learn until I realized I wanted to go all the way to becoming a practitioner and to use my faith to help others as I had experienced.
In the beginning I served as a Sunday greeter so I could meet as many people as possible. I got involved with providing healthy foods so that people with allergies or other sensitivities could share in the social time after services. That grew into my decorating the fellowship tables with holiday and festive themes. I even presided for several Sunday services.
Here are ways that faith got me through. I knew that when my nine-week premature 2lb.6oz. baby boy was born he would not only survive but would thrive and he did. More recently, three years ago at the end of my first semester of practitioner training, I was diagnosed with breast cancer. Every day as I was placed under the radiation machine, I did an affirmative prayer. To my doctor’s amazement I healed much faster than any of his other patients and today my scars are nearly invisible. Even the law of circulation presented itself to me. My new neighbors asked if they could replace my ten-year-old fence and my gate area with a new better one – at no cost to me. How awesome is that!
This is how Science of Mind has affected my life and I look forward to helping others find the same peace of mind as I have found.