Roof Fall Demonstration

In the summer of 1997, I was roofing the home of a friend of mine, Jen Froehlich Sengpiel. Her parents hired me to tear off the roof of their steeply pitched, three-story home. The bundles of shingles were stacked in nine piles of eights around the pinacle. It was a hot day, but my co-worker, Benjamin Gandhi-Shepard, and I were doing fine until a pile of eight bundles began to slowly slide down the roof, over the gutter and onto the front yard below. My supply company had anchored the bundles with 16-penny nails instead of 2x4's on the slope, and the weight of the shingles bent the nails back over the course of the day, releasing them. I checked the other piles, and they seemed to be fine.

By the end of the day, we had nearly finished, when I heard another pile of eight starting to slide. Frustrated at the thought of having to haul eight more bundles up the ladder, I ran across the roof and slid into the pile attempting to stop them. Upon my arrival I did quick math: eight bundles x eighty pounds a bundle = 640 pounds...then SHOOOOOOM! Suddenly, I'm sliding with the bundle about halfway down the steep slope.

It hit me immediately: I'm going over the edge, and I can't stop. Instead of be afraid, my next vivid thought was, "alright God, this is up to you. I trust you'll take care of me," and I began to watch. I slid fast over the last half of the roof and my feet shot past the gutter. I reached back and grabbed it, and heard the pins pop out against my weight, "ping, ping, PING!" I looked down and had the strobe light/camera shutter effect of the ground getting closer and closer. I landed on my feet and compressed harshly with my forehead hitting my knees (which I can't do normally). The bundles exploded next to me, landing on top of each other in a massive heap.

I stood up amidst the largest adrenaline rush I had ever experienced, thanked God and proceeded to pick up the shingles. Mrs. Froehlich came out asking, "what the hell just happened?" I was a bit embarrassed, and suggested it was the shingles that made the ruckus...but then she asked how I got off the roof so fast. I admitted what happened, and being a Christian Scientist herself, she understood and was quite excited that I was unhurt and had a CS "demonstration" (as opposed to a healing) to share.

Benjamin about had a heart attack running down the ladder to find out what happened, but he too being raised a Christian Scientist, laughed when he found me unhurt.

Any Christian Churches Who Don't Practice Fear Mongering Out There?

I grew up in Christian Science (which differs pretty significantly from all Christian sects) and one of the main premises is "Fear is an illusion". Another is "matter is unreal and temporal". When asked, "what is all this stuff then?" Mary Baker Eddy (founder of CS) considered it to be what she called "aggressive mental suggestion" or "animal magnetism" meaning, every thinking being plays with light and dark, but what really matters? Light (or Love or life) is something. Dark (or death, or fear) is the absence of something.



Have you ever known people that excuse themselves from doing things or experimenting or living their dreams because of "what if's?" What if I die? What if I get sick? What if I fail? What if I embarrass myself? Fear looks really real then, even though it is and always will be speculation.



Fear mongering is used to control. In all the CS church services I attended, fear was not sensationalized, it was outed as an illusion. Love was always promoted and pontificated upon in as many ways as possible, to get us to realize that's also how healing happens. Love of self, love of others and love of God culminates into a transcending of this material world, and all it takes is a moment of clarity to see thru it...that is, if you have a moment, and no doubt.