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This is a personal essay. The Pilot welcomes letters to the editor, personal essays, and opinion articles from the whole community. Please submit to pilot@principia.edu.
By Vivian de Castro
When Principia closed because of the COVID-19 crisis, I went from attending CSO services, EMC time, hymn sings, and quiet time on a campus with 448 students and 2,600 acres of land, to a 1,000-square-foot apartment in New York City with no CSO, no quiet time, and not even a branch church service to attend.
After losing so many metaphysical resources from campus, I was struggling to maintain my metaphysical drive at home. I knew if I was feeling like this, then there had to have been a few others feeling the same way.
Louise Kingsbery, a Principia Upper School alum and former RCE at the college, had a group message with a few of us from the college and upper school. Everyday she would send us some kind of metaphysical inspiration, so I thought, why not continue this inspiration with Bible Lesson study every day through Zoom. Louise and I started our daily lesson study sessions on March 19, and it has grown a friendly group of five to as many as 12 participants seeking inspiration each day.
“My favorite part is being able to ask questions and what insights and topics they bring up that I overlook,” says freshman participant Stevie Keys.
Lesson study starts at 11 a.m. CDT, which is when quiet time would be at the college. We figured that if we chose this time, then more people would be able to join, most likely.
Kingsbery sends out an email with the Zoom link to everyone she has gotten texts from that are interested in joining. Each day we read one section of the lesson. And usually along the way people stop to ask questions.
“Everyday there are some of the same people, and everyday there are different people too,” says Louise. “It helps you remember you are a part of a community.”
My favorite part about this lesson study is the diversity of people who join. We have had upper schoolers, college students, and even non-Principians. I wanted to create a way that we could keep the metaphysical connection between us all, and extend an invite to any Christian Scientist that’s interested.
Camille Tish is one of the non-Principian students who join our call. She heard about it from camp friends. And she says, “I’m the only Christian Scientist at Vanderbilt [University], and I love greater Christian Science communities. So when I heard about this I was so excited to join.”
Anyone is welcome to join our metaphysical Zoom connection! We will be continuing these Zoom calls until June. Contact me at Viviane.decastro@principia.edu if you are interested in joining our meetings. It brings inspiration and healing, and I hope everyone has been able to do things that bring inspiration during these tough times.
•Featured photo at top courtesy of Louise Kingsbery.