Spiritual activist: Dorothy Maubane

Many of our readers will be familiar with the name Dorothy Maubane (1943-2004). Some may have heard her speak about Christian Science in her role as a member of The Christian Science Board of Lectureship. Some may have read about her in the pages of the Christian Science Sentinel and Journal.

Dorothy Maubane's story appears in the Women of History series on the Mary Baker Eddy Library website, where she is called a spiritual activist.  See: Women of History: Dorothy Maubane - Mary Baker Eddy Library 

Her story is truly inspiring. She faced enormous hardships and yet she kept on. (I am reminded of the story of Nien Cheng - see Life and Death in Shanghai - who kept on loving and living despite having lost her husband and child during China's Cultural Revolution and being imprisoned and subjected to thought-control.)

Maubane experienced a transformation of thought as she sought help for a physical healing from a Christian Science practitioner. She was healed as she "exchanged hatred for love".

When the time came for her to take Christian Science Class Instruction, she requested that the fee be waived. Her teacher refused! She later related what blessings resulted, especially in how she self-identified. She no longer regarded herself as "poor, disadvantaged, deprived."

The MBE Library shares how Dorothy chose not to "shut down" in the face of prejudice and hatred but to open up, reach out, and love her fellow man. When her husband was framed for a crime he did not commit and soon afterward passed on, friends expected her to spiral downward. She did not. Instead her spiritual activism buoyed her; her forgiveness touched the perpetrators. She went into the full-time practice of Christian Science healing.

An especially interesting encounter occurred in the early 1990s while Dorothy was lecturing in East Jerusalem. An advisor to Yasser Arafat (the then-leader of the PLO - Palestine Liberation Organization) attended her lecture and confronted her about her insistence on forgiveness. She was able to speak from her own experience.

There are 40 notes attached to the article from the MBE Library. Most reference Maubane's own writing for the Christian Science periodicals. I shall be digging into those very soon on jsh-online.com. Those who don't yet subscribe to jsh can always ask for articles to be emailed by the Librarian of your local Christian Science Reading Room. Or drop in and bring this blog post with you so they can help you with your research.

How wonderful it is that this library exists. How wonderful are each of our readers, shiny lights all.

Julie Swannell