I’ve been thinking about what the parts of the Responsive Reading from Colossians 1: 9-11 mean, and how Christian Science has unmistakably brought all of these into my life.
9. For this cause we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to desire that ye might be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding;
Learning about spiritual sense has changed the way I live. The way this Science demands that we pray and use what we feel God is telling us to act upon is unparalleled in my previous experience. And, to have practitioner support showing me how to calibrate my spiritual sense, or to see times when it was actually error I was listening to, has been invaluable.
10. That ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing…
What is taught here, coming straight from the Bible and Mrs. Eddy’s works, has allowed me to be free of the intense feeling of worthlessness I used to feel. I also now longer feel I am being pulled in two or more directions from the loyalty to people I once had. Without these impediments, I can devote so much more time to God.
…being fruitful in every good work…
Having the purpose that this church has brought into my life is amazing! I am so grateful that everything I had the impulse to study along the way has now come together and is useful to others. That guidance could have come from nowhere but God!
…increasing in the knowledge of God;
Being given these tools to think and act rightly, to be at least beginning to understand God’s reality, is my dream come true. I always wished for the world to make sense, and it does when viewed spiritually with what this Science and church are teaching me.
11. Strengthened with all might, according to his glorious power, unto all patience and longsuffering with joyfulness;
As long as I remain in the midst of this “human experience” it is definitely going to take strength, patience, and longsuffering to deal with it. To varying degrees, I was able to use human will to approximate those three qualities before, but never with joyfulness. While “leaning on the sustaining infinite” (S&H), however, I don’t need willpower to get through the day. Having this mission and this work brings a smile to my face many times a day. I love the life God has blessed me with!
I am so grateful to God for bringing me here, for Christian Science, this church, practitioner support, and these lessons. Thank you!