Robin Hoagland, CSB
A member of the Christian Science Board of Lectureship
A spiritual commitment hasn’t always been easy. In college, I developed a raised-eyebrow reputation as the only rugby player who didn’t drink. What’s more, I treated my injuries and illnesses through prayer, which definitely set me apart. But I couldn’t turn away from the ideas in Christian Science that were healing me. I had to keep exploring them.
It was well worth it. I was permanently cured of recurrent depression, overcame an eating disorder, gained confidence academically, and developed many rewarding relationships. And while I had stints working in public radio, publishing, and as a freelance writer, I realized my true love was helping others through this spiritual system of healing.
Being a part of the larger community has always been important to me. So I’ve coached youth soccer, visited shut-ins, and helped with outdoor worship services for the homeless. I participated in a national ecumenical initiative to engage younger women in working together on issues of social and economic justice. After Hurricane Katrina, my family took our hand tools and work clothes down to a hard-hit area and rolled up our sleeves for brush-clearing and salvage work. A few months later and a continent away, I sang hymns and prayed with a thriving congregation in the volatile Democratic Republic of Congo.
Especially in such moments of spiritual connection, I’ve seen the outward circumstances that would separate us from each other—misfortune, disaster, poverty, or war—disappear as we recognize the presence of God’s love binding us together.
My husband and I live on Cape Cod, Massachusetts, where I practice and teach Christian Science.
Titles
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General audience:
- Supporting spiritual thinkers (and doers!)
- Rise Up! – Prayer, protest, and healing [General Audience]
- Prayer in a postmodern world
- Wanted: a God I can believe in
- Go greener with God
- Real relationships in a Facebook world
- Let prayer unleash your best performance
- Chalk Talk
[A talk on mentoring youth]
Tough decisions. Choices with consequences. How do we best support the upcoming generations as they strengthen their innate spiritual sense to think through and do the right thing? This talk explores how the two human models of learning — by the rules or by experience — have never been enough. It’s only by recognizing how divine Love bestows unending and uninterrupted inspiration, wisdom, and grace that we find the guidance we need as parents, mentors, and friends.
As protest movements continue to spring up all around the world, the question is: will they make a lasting difference? Can things really change for us in our own lives and in our communities? By delving deeper into the nature of God’s unbounded love, each of us can draw upon spiritual resources to protest injustice in any form – from crime and cruel attacks to chronic illnesses and hereditary conditions — and find both resolution and healing.
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(alternate title: How prayer meets our needs today)
This talk is an inclusive exploration of how prayer today (as in Biblical times) is able to bring needed changes to our lives, including the healing of incurable conditions and difficult relationships, as well as rebuilding communities. The healing role of The Christian Science Monitor is also woven through the discussion.
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Youth-focused audience:
This youth-focused, intergenerational-inclusive talk addresses contemporary skepticism about God. It asks and explores the questions: what is God, what about evil, what does prayer do, and why does this matter. The presentation lasts about 40 – 45 minutes.
press release
This youth-focused, intergenerational-inclusive talk looks at a spiritual foundation for our environment, and how the prayer and actions of young people have brought significant changes for the better in their immediate situations and communities.
This youth-focused, intergenerational-inclusive talk takes up from a spiritual perspective the two basic questions in a Facebook profile: who are you and what are you looking for. The thrust is towards a deeper understanding of spiritual identity that brings truly satisfying relationships. This presentation ranges between 45 – 55 minutes.
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This is an interactive talk designed for Christian Science camp audiences.
This interactive youth talk engages the audience in doing their own self-portraits. We look at the distorted representations we may think define us – popularity, cultural attitudes, body image obsessions – and how a spiritual sense corrects those and reveals each of us as the children of God: worthy, healthy, and truly happy.
