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I find it useful to define “me” or “myself” (or oneself etc) as follows, rather than the small version of “me” which we seek to displace:
Question. — What are the demands of the Science of Soul? Answer. — The first demand of this Science is, “Thou shalt have no other gods before me.” This me is Spirit. Therefore the command means this: Thou shalt have no intelligence, no life, no substance, no truth, no love, but that which is spiritual.
S and h 467, 1-7
Yes because only a commitment can say “I will see this person or situation in a bigger way than the senses tell me”, it takes time and Love. This I suppose was the true meaning of marriage.
Im not sure about asking ourselves that question……To ask God the question would be more appropriate:
“Father what would you have me to do for you today?” And to wait prayerfully for the response, to ask only ourselves makes it sound like a burden….
As a mortal yes he was calling Joseph the man forward, but as an allegory based on Mrs Eddys Glossary, he was bringing forth the higher calling, the higher sense of truth and Love, the real and beautiful. We too can call”Joseph” forward in our hour of need. Whats interesting to me is that he called him forth from a dungeon, most likely because thats where his thoughts were, low. When the Christ message first appeared to humanity, it was in a stable. The Christ idea is not dropped from the sky like some christians believe, it starts with realising, its here now and ever present
“JOSEPH. A corporeal mortal; a higher sense of Truth rebuking mortal belief, or error, and showing the immortality and supremacy of Truth; pure affection blessing its enemies.”
how true!
I never trust myself to discern what is Godly/real and not Godly/ unreal, because most of the time my sense of I” gets me into trouble.
My favourite prayer which I Use is
“Father Mother, if you don’t want me to be thinking about this thing right now, then tell me what I should be thinking about” and then waiting expectedly for a call or a thought to come.
The self idea of whether something is good or bad or real or unreal means Im the starting point for decision and for me thats fatal. but as you say, we can recognise good things, not by material sensation but by their eternity and lack of material measurement.
I´m remembering the gates of Solomons Temple Jachin and Boaz as mentioned in Jeremiah 52:21–22) and 1 Kings (7:13–22, 41–42). It seems a wonderful allegory to what you are saying here.
I like the way Mrs Eddy Says it. Its our Desire which goes forth, not our words. So if my words in prayer are asking for more money, then the desire will be about provision. If Im praying for a new sofa, the desire will be for comfort. Seeing prayer this way always allows me to see Gods answers spiritually, never in the material world.
If God is always pouring out his wonderful blessings to me, then I need to get in line to receive them, not pray wishing they were somehow there. because there can never be a time they are apart from me
Mrs Eddy talks a lot about progress and growth, however she is not referring to material growth, she is referring to how well we demonstrate the reality of God with us.
The journey of CS cannot be measured in months or years and we should not look to material mechanisms to measure it. I believe progress is marked by how well we demonstrate faith, not how well we measure it.
This idea of a journey cannot be used as a declaration of healing having taken place or not. We cant rely on human measurement to tell us anything.
Mrs Eddy often said that she sensed healing long before it appeared on the body and her patients sometimes scorned her because they couldnt sense it.
The journey in cs is the journey through the wonderful chasms of Love, like a fish swimming in the deepest ocean.
Hi Susanne,
Yes its a lovely feeling.
One thing which I found hard to deal with when I first came to CS was that this isn´t a “journey”´. One thing which makes CS different fro Buddhism and the New age movement is they talk a lot about journeysand even people who have been healed talk about change using material time of “before” and “after”. This is good to mark our thought changes, however it can impede us. To think of a journey, is a bit like waiting for a destination to arrive and the beauty of our religion is that we have already reached our destination. Its here and now and its life in God. Right here, at this moment, and theres no necessary wait, second birth or evolution to reach it. We simply need to embrace our new identity in God, our All.
ITS NOW Isn´t it wonderful?
Before I came to CS I often said things like “I dont like that person or this person” and it was hard to remember that the person was fine, it was their quality of thinking or opinions I didnt like. I think by personfying evil I gave it power and it also it reduced the people down to an extremity of “good” or “bad” which enforced my belief in material living.
In the. Lesson p.326. Mrs Eddy talks about foresaking foundations and it reminds me that people arent the problem but my thinking about them isnt always healthy. So when I read this verse I often think it isnt the people I have to leave but it is that group mesmerism which tries to dictate the strongest opinion. I thinks its this which causes the problem….
I think thats beautiful´, its so easy to get lost in material things. With this simple statement we return to that childlike innocence of trust which is required of us.
Hi Bruce,
I agree with you completely and your description of it is indeed the way it should be.
Most denominations have a material version of “sacrament” involving bread and wine. I know from my background in the Catholic Church, the Priest says some words from the Bible which supposedly change the bread and wine “magically” (by his his appointed position in the Church) into the body and blood of the material Jesus. Which at best makes them seem like cannibals because they would be eating flesh if it were true, but no one thinks its strange. After its “creation” (or “transubstantiation” as it is officially called) Its kept in a special box behind the altar and they display a red light to show God is “in” or “present”. People bow to it, pray to it, worship it and then eat it because they believe it is mysteriously transformed into Jesus. It sounds strange but looking back I never knew any different. Its power is given by “mystery” because no one really understands why or how its done that way, its simply a ritual or tradition going back hundreds of years.
Sacrament is not a Biblical word, its something which appeared later in Christianity to describe certain ceremonies.
The other denominations in the Protestant traditions have a symbolic bread and wine where its a commandment to recreate the supper which Jesus had as a way of expressing sentiment towards God to remember the Life and personality of Jesus. Its like a shared meal but they don´t claim to turn it into Jesus. They see it like a commandment. An obligation based on the verse “do this in remembrance of me”
Im not aware of any other denomination which has a metaphysical interpretation of sacrament. Except for us.
The material sacrament holds a lot of power in Churches because you have to be a member of that particular church (like a club) before receiving it and in good standing morally before you can take it. Leaders can punish bad behaviour or immorality by with-holding it from the person. Currently divorced Catholics are barred from it completely.
Thank God for our clear and simple understanding given to us by Mrs Eddy, the Sacrament cannot be held from any of us.