4. John 11 : 47, 48 (to :), 52 (he), 53
47 Then gathered the chief priests and the Pharisees a council, and said, What do we? for this man doeth many miracles.
48 If we let him thus alone, all men will believe on him:
52 …he should gather together in one the children of God that were scattered abroad.
53 Then from that day forth they took counsel together for to put him to death.
At first, I was thinking how awful this was, that they would see the good Christ Jesus was doing and want to end it.
But then today I realized I have some small parallel to this in my past:
In the years before coming to Plainfield, I was not living rightly. I was in a situation I knew was not healthy, and I stayed because I thought it was good and honorable to be loyal. That loyalty was to person and to the establishment I was a part of, and I did all I could to ignore the signs it was wrong. I used some very convoluted logic each day to make everything seem that all was well. I became an expert in lying to myself and in shutting down that still, small voice that kept saying, “This is not the right place for you.” I thought that voice was the problem, and wanted it gone. What an horrible time that was!
11. 593 : 9-11
Resurrection. Spiritualization of thought; a new and higher idea of immortality, or spiritual existence; material belief yielding to spiritual understanding.
I thank God that situation ended, and that I was brought here. Only with Christian Science am I able to look back on all that with any clarity. I can now see how the human mind works to get us invested in the unreal, and at war with Truth. In that state, there appears to be no upper limit to stupidity, self-loathing, and excuse-making. Because of that, it feels like the suffering is endless, too.
What a blessing this church is! The understanding gained from the weekly lessons and discussions, and practitioner support, is indispensable to have “material belief yielding to spiritual understanding.” I am very grateful to be here. Thank you!