The uses of His rod

[MaryBeth]

“Behold, happy is the man whom God correcteth: therefore, despise not thou the chastening of the Almighty.” (Job) I was never one who much liked to be corrected. It would be hard not to want to roll into a little ball and hide out for a while! I can see now how important it is to have the humility to take correction and to change. It really does make one happy! Mrs. Eddy says quite a bit about this quality. In Miscellaneous Writings, she states, “The Hebrew law with its ‘Thou shalt not,’ its demand and sentence, can only be fulfilled through the gospel’s benediction. Then, ‘Blessed are ye,’ insomuch as the consciousness of good, grace, and peace, comes through afflictions rightly understood, as sanctified by the purification it brings to the flesh, – to pride, self-ignorance, self-will, self-love, self-justification. Sweet indeed, are these uses of His rod! Well is it that the Shepherd of Israel passes all His flock under His rod into His fold; thereby numbering them, and giving them refuge at last from the elements of earth.”

[Michael Pupko]

As with all things motive and demonstration is the key; when the correction is Scientific and results in a better understanding of God and then demonstration becomes ‘normal’ it is easier to accept correction because it is based upon a Principal of God rather than a materialistic fable. I’m so grateful to have received possibly the most important piece of the Holy Ghost; even though I couldn’t Scientifically demonstrate I received such a conviction that what Mary Baker Eddy wrote down was Truth that I didn’t give up on Christian Science through years of no one correcting my lack of understanding. Thanks for your humility in admitting to the path you’ve traveled because it makes others (me) realize that they too can attain this through persistence and correct teaching given at Plainfield!

[Fairlie]

Yes, I have been grateful for your testimony ever since coming to Plainfield. It has encouraged me and made me know I am not alone. Mrs. Eddy says in Science and Health:”It is easier to desire Truth than to rid one’s self of error. Mortals may seek the understanding of Christian Science, but they will not be able to glean from Christian Science the facts of being without striving for them.”

[Sharon]

I never liked being corrected either. I wanted everything to be “nice.” But without the corrections I never would have changed my ways and would have continued to suffer because of it.

In the Moffat Translation of the Bible, in Hebrews 12:11 it says, “Discipline always seems for the time to be a thing of pain, not of joy; but those who are trained by it reap the fruit of it afterwards in the peace of an upright life.”

Thank God for everyone who loves enough to give a correction and get us on the path of right thinking. It requires love for God and man and the teaching in the Plainfield Church shows us how to give corrections with love. I am very grateful.

[jacob45]

In my understanding is a God who rewards and punishes scholastic theology. Error brings its own punishment, every lie agains Truth will reap what it sows. But yes, I have experienced this shepherding and the rod and the staff, but on the other hand, Mind knows not about our mortal dream. Sin, or missing the mark, is experiencing the mortal nightmare, darkness, and the light beckones and attracts, and pulls us.

But I would like to hear other understandings about this.

[Gary]

“It is believed by many that a certain magistrate, who lived in the time of Jesus, left this record: ‘His rebuke is fearful.’” (S&H)

This reminds me of our late practitioner and teacher, Doris Evans. Whenever she detected the human mind trying to interfere with God’s government (and that was often), she would rebuke it, and her rebuke was fearful. It wasn’t always easy, but I quickly learned that the “fearful” part of her rebuke was the error, latent in my thought, that was fearing the rebuke, because that rebuke was the beginning of the destruction of the error. It is always an erroneous belief that fears the rebuke of Truth, and causing me and others to feel uncomfortable.

I didn’t always understand what needed to be corrected, but when I asked God to show me, I eventually learned a good lesson and changed with each rebuke. It took a little training, but I also learned to accept the discomfort as a necessary part of my spiritual growth. This was not easy for Mrs. Evans, as it was not easy for Mrs. Eddy or for Christ Jesus to give stern rebukes. But it was a sign of their great love for God and man that they were willing to make people feel uncomfortable in order to help them out of the mortal dream into a higher vision of the truth. We should all, as Scientists, be willing to take, and give, sharp rebukes to error.

“Through the wholesome chastisements of Love, we are helped onward in the march towards righteousness, peace, and purity, which are the landmarks of Science.” (S&H)

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