“. . .absent from the body. . .present with the Lord” (Bible citation #8: II Cor 5:8) – Some comments I found helpful from CS articles:
• Leaving our bodies behind; getting that despot, the body, out of the way
• Leaving all for Christ; taking no thought for material things; putting off the old man
• Spiritualizing thought; putting on the new man
• Giving up the false claims of the body, pain, distress, discomfort, mind in matter
• Losing the false material sense of body, man, earth, and heaven; gaining a true or spiritual sense of God and man; no longer looking into the empty tomb of matter
• Claiming victory over the corporeal senses, all forms of sensuality; destroying of fear, passion, anger, lust, and kindred errors; exercising man’s God-given dominion over the corporeal senses; living above corporeal sense, which is “from beneath”
• Thinking least about the body; “. . .the Christian Scientist takes the best care of his body when he leaves it most out of thought. . .” (S & H, p. 383).
• Being absent from the belief that bodily existence constitutes the life of man
• Realizing man’s true selfhood is the “building of God” – the “house not made with hands”
• Correcting the erroneous belief that a material structure constitutes man and is subject to pain, by becoming conscious of the perfection of man in the spiritual order of being
• Abandoning the untrue belief that man is physical; turning away from the body; “Become conscious for a single moment that Life and intelligence are purely spiritual, – neither in nor of matter, – and the body will utter no complaints” (S & H, p. 14); maintaining consciousness of the omnipotence of good
• Replacing thoughts of disease of the body with truths of man’s perfection as a child of God
• Reversing any thinking that is unlike God, good, and replacing with Godlike thoughts
• Becoming conscious of God’s presence; being in His living, loving, abiding presence
• Accepting glorious glimpses of our true self as the very image of radiant Love, embodying harmony and light; “. . .if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light” (Matt 6:22).
• Accepting all that is good, pure, true that belongs to God and to His man
• Acting on the inspiration to do right, be unselfish, loving, and kind
• Giving up control to an unseen higher intelligence or power, the one Mind
• Reaching the true and glorious sense of man as the divine idea of Spirit – heavenly illumination
• Tasting the beauty of holiness and the peace that passeth all understanding
• Praying unceasingly
As one “. . .thinketh in his heart, so is he:. . .” (Prov. 23:7).
“Improve your thinking and you improve your body, indeed your whole being. Put emphasis steadfastly on the salubrious [health-giving], the imperishable, the beautiful, the magnanimous [generous, forgiving]; in the same instant rejecting the sickly, the fearsome, the oppressive, the mean. In this mood you live in Spirit and Spirit lives in you. This looks toward the millennium” (“Leaves of Healing” – “The Substantiality of Spirit,” p. 199, by Peter V. Ross).
“The sacred privilege of being ‘absent from the body’ is a present day possibility. . .” (CSJ, Dec 1916, “Absent from the Body,” by Clarence W. Chadwick). We know this, and were recently reminded of it by Parthens’ 10/7/2014 article that was shared on the Forum over Christmas, regarding Handel’s writing of “The Messiah,” which explained that “. . .Handel sat for 3 days in an altered state of consciousness, without eating or drinking.” This was so inspiring to learn about and then share with several grateful recipients!!
OTHER SOURCES: (1) “Absent from the body, and present with the Lord” – CSJ, Feb. 1894, by E. A. Everett; (2) “Absent from the body” – CSJ, Dec. 1916, by Clarence W. Chadwick; (3) “To heal, let thought be absent from the body” – CSS, 11/29/1947, by Raymond G. Summers; (4) “Absent from the body” – CSS, 4/7/1951, by Elizabeth B. Brunn.