Welcome to the PlainfieldCS Bulletin Board. You will need to log in before you can post here. Click here to log in if you already have an account. If you do not have an account, please contact jeremy@plainfieldcs.com. Thank you!
The Bulletin Board is for gratitude for Christian Science and the Church, as well as timely excerpts from the Bible, the works of Mrs. Eddy, and the early workers that help and encourage. We are very grateful for all posts that conform to these guidelines, but will edit or remove anything that the Practitioners feel is not in complete accord with pure Christian Science or in any way disrespectful of it.
We also ask that you keep your postings as concise as possible. If you quote the Bible, please use The King James Version, as this is what Mrs. Eddy used. Thank you!
References from Mary Baker Eddy
Treatment:
On page 67 of Divinity Course and General Collectanea, the Blue Book, Mary Baker Eddy wrote, “I know that my treatments, and my affairs can never be reversed or interfered with. No family relations or human associates can dispossess me of the Truth or interfere with my success. I believe that my work is satisfactory. I know that my treatments are good, and fear cannot come and abide with me. A treatment is never afraid that it will not work, for the declaration of Truth brings with it a consciousness of its sure and immediate effect. I do have faith in God and know that spiritual facts are the only facts. Fear is nothing. It cannot rob a treatment of its effects or of its purpose. The Word of God cannot return unto us void.”
In Science and Health, p. 369, under the maginal note “The Christ treatment” Mary Baker Eddy wrote that Jesus “understood man, whose life is God, to be immortal, and knew that man has not two lives, one to be destroyed and the other to be made indestructible.”
In Watches, Prayers, and Arguments, p. 185, she wrote, “Treatment is knowing.”
See also the section “MENTAL TREATMENT ILLUSTRATED” in Science and Health, p. 410, for more.
Watching:
In Watches, Prayers, and Arguments, p. 27, Mary Baker Eddy wrote:
“WATCH — Learn what watching means.
I have watched all these years for you and the world.
Now you watch; be always on duty — on guard.
You must watch, as Jesus said, if you would not have the house broken open; you think you are watching, but are you, when the house is broken open? What would be thought of a watchman, who would let the place watched be burglarized? Would he be the right kind of a watchman? That is just why I named our paper, Sentinel, and on it, “Watch.” We must feel the danger and lift our thought to God; He will save us. If we do not feel the danger, and go right on, as though everything were all right, declaring you are all right, you cannot die, etc., when the seeming is all wrong, you will not be watching with God. When we feel the danger, then we earnestly turn to God.
Keep awake — watch; the right kind of watching.”
On page 67 of the Blue Book, she wrote, “Jesus taught and I teach that there is in mortal mind a perpetual force impelling wrongly. … Constant watching is required in order to see it and then be able to put it down.”
My own understanding on this:
Through the process of correctly learning Christian Science, the Christ becomes uplifted in our thought, which then draws our own thought up with it. Our ever-increasing understanding of Christian Science — and the confidence we have gained from applying and proving it — is what we will make use of to give treatments. Meanwhile, our spiritual sense becomes attuned to divine Mind, while simultaneously allowing us to be more discerning of the subtle ploys of animal magnetism which say that we and mankind are separate from God. This is how we begin to successfully “Stand porter at the door of thought.” (S&H, p. 392)
Then, as we look out to see the dangers which the Adam-dream seemingly presents to mankind (the watching), we then can apply the truth of Christian Science to nullify these supposed errors (the treatment). Mrs. Eddy has said, “The treatment is through God with us.” (Fragments, p. 163) As we are victorious in this, we will gain peace because we have in this moment proven our faithfulness to the one Mind, and the effectiveness of Christian Science (the demonstration).
However, as Christ Jesus taught us, not every heart is open to a Christian Science treatment at this time. He put some out of the room so he might heal others, and specifically taught us to never “cast ye your pearls before swine.” (Matthew 7:6) Because of this, the treatment must go forth from a thought filled with complete confidence that the Word of God will heal and bless and meet the need of those who are receptive. Just because a watch happened, and the entire world is not healed of all its ills, does not mean Christian Science does not work. Mrs. Eddy has said, “Either here or hereafter, suffering or Science must destroy all illusions regarding life and mind, and regenerate material sense and self.” (S&H, p. 296) Let us trust that the suffering has made some ready right now for the Science — just as it once made us ready — and know that the treatment will reach these people and it will “not return unto [God] void.” (Isaiah 55:11)
There has been a lot explained and clarified about this in the works of Mary Baker Eddy, the early workers, and also in the Roundtable discussions here in Plainfield (perhaps especially those that coincide with the “Mortals and Immortals” lessons) so I will just offer my thoughts here.
The mistaken view of ourselves is the mortal, brought on by the claim of animal magnetism, or the belief we are separate from God. With that false sense of our origin, we begin to accept human knowledge and its beliefs of heredity, lack, chance, mortality, etc., while personal sense creates divisions and hierarchies between every “mortal” in the form of family, nationality, race, food preferences, etc. It is essentially a fictional character we have been mesmerized to believe we are, existing inside of a mythological counterfeit of God’s creation, and that is why “A wicked mortal is not the idea of God.” (S&H, p. 289)
A child of God is the truth of who we are, and is the standpoint where we must demonstrate from. (see S&H, p. 322:3-7) One definition of Principle which I have found very helpful is “divine origin.” Mrs. Eddy wrote “Principle and its idea is one, and this one is God, omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent Being, and His reflection is man and the universe.” (S&H, pgs. 465-466) There is no separation between our divine origin and our true self, nor between any one of us and our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ.
Mary Baker Eddy wrote the following on page 18 of Miscellaneous Writings, which feels best to end this on: “…thou shalt recognize thyself as God’s spiritual child only, and the true man and true woman, the all-harmonious ‘male and female,’ as of spiritual origin, God’s reflection, — thus as children of one common Parent, — wherein and whereby Father, Mother, and child are the divine Principle and divine idea, even the divine ‘Us’ — one in good, and good in One.
“With this recognition man could never separate himself from good, God; and he would necessarily entertain habitual love for his fellow-man. Only by admitting evil as a reality, and entering into a state of evil thoughts, can we in belief separate one man’s interests from those of the whole human family, or thus attempt to separate Life from God. This is the mistake that causes much that must be repented of and overcome.”
Thank you!
Thank you very much for this post!
While praying about how to identify self-love this week, I remembered early in my time here how my practitioner defined animal magnetism as a belief in a self apart from God. Using that as a starting point, I see that self-love is actually loving that false belief we could even be a self apart from God. It becomes what is tempted by the serpent’s words in Genesis 3 : 5 — “For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.”
This puts Matthew 6 : 21 in a new perspective for me — “For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.” If what we truly treasure is oneness with God, then we will, as quoted above, “wrestle all day, all night, until the light comes and the victory is won” when we find any sinful thought within. If what we treasure is that self apart from God, then we will excuse and condone sin, and should expect sickness soon after and death eventually. How we deal with sin seems to point back to how much self-love we have.
This makes me so grateful for all that is done here to teach pure Christian Science, and to help each of us become “a terror to error” as Gilbert Carpenter says in Watching Point 496 of 500 Watching Points.
Thank you very much for this lesson!
Peter seemed to need three repetitions so he would see the importance of some things.
Even after Jesus warned him (Matthew 26:34), it wasn’t until Peter denied the Christ three times (Matthew 26:74) that he saw this failing within himself.
Later, in Acts 10, Peter was given a vision in which is said:
13 And there came a voice to him, Rise, Peter; kill, and eat.
14 But Peter said, Not so, Lord; for I have never eaten any thing that is common or unclean.
15 And the voice spake unto him again the second time, What God hath cleansed, that call not thou common.
16 This was done thrice: and the vessel was received up again into heaven.
Also, it is worth noting, after the three denials of Christ, Peter must have felt himself a failure and no longer worthy to be a disciple because the angel in Mark 16 told “Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome” to “tell his disciples and Peter that [Christ Jesus] goeth before you into Galilee:”
To me, then, it feels like mercy in John 21 that Christ Jesus gets all three repetitions out of the way so that Peter had no doubt what the Christ was calling him to do.
Thank you!
Here is my attempt at answering these questions:
What is the meaning of “set thine house in order”?
It means prepare to meet your maker, and have everything ready for your family (or kingdom, in this case) to move forward with as little difficulty as possible.
Did Isaiah already know that Hezekiah wasn’t going to die?
Isaiah fully trusted in God, and he didn’t need any advanced warning about God’s intentions. He simply listened with his spiritual sense, and acted as he was directed. Also, if Hezekiah’s reaction had been different, the verdict may have remained unchanged.
Did Isaiah tell him that he was going to die in order that Hezekiah would repent and pray to the Lord? Why on the third day?
Not too long ago in a Roundtable it was mentioned — in essence — that just because someone (prophet, doctor, anyone) tells you that you are going to die, it does not make it true. Divine Life is our only lawmaker. So I feel that Mrs. Eddy’s words on page 66 of Science and Health speak to why Hezekiah needed to be told he would die: “Trials teach mortals not to lean on a material staff, — a broken reed, which pierces the heart. We do not half remember this in the sunshine of joy and prosperity. Sorrow is salutary. Through great tribulation we enter the kingdom. Trials are proofs of God’s care.” Salutary is defined in part as “contributing to some beneficial purpose.” (1828 Webster’s Dictionary)
It seems that Hezekiah was very blessed and that his prayer blessed all his people.
Hezekiah’s blessing was remembering that he serves God alone, and that his complete trust must be in Truth, Life, and Love. And, since “whatever blesses one blesses all” (S&H, p. 206), Hezekiah’s blessing became his kindgom’s blessing.
Does the lump of figs has an special meaning?
I take using the lump of figs to simple mean ‘being obedient.’ Isaiah knew, as Mary Baker Eddy has taught us, that matter has no power to heal or do anything. Isaiah also knew that Hezekiah would still “lean on a material staff.” That is why Hezekiah needed spiritual sense to come through Isaiah, and why he needed signs and wonders from God. To truly trust God at times feels like this stanza from Hymn 169:
“Lead, kindly Light, amid the encircling gloom,
Lead Thou me on;
The night is dark, and I am far from home,
Lead Thou me on.
Keep Thou my feet; I do not ask to see
The distant scene; one step enough for me.”
Thank you!
Thank you for these posts!
The picture shown in Isaiah 11 : 6-9 feels like what it will be when every creature looks to God alone for all they need and therefore know no lack, fear, division, or hate. This must be why Christ Jesus told us to “preach the gospel to every creature.” (Mark 16 : 15) Until this picture — which Mrs. Eddy called “The Millennium” — is what we see in the world, the following quote, and similar, are what I have been working with while handling the unreal mortal mind images:
Watch that you do not lose your love from the attacks of hate. Better lose life in matter than love for God and man. This is why our dear departed are better blessed than those that remain if they are returning evil for evil.
Let our finite judgment never settle on who is troubling us, and never defend ourselves against a person. Rather ask what is troubling, and then meet the what.
from Fragments gathered from Unpublished Items ascribed to Mary Baker Eddy, page 189
Thank you for these posts!
Early on in my time at this Church, I read:
Every sexual emotion is a conspiracy against Science.
from Watches, Prayers, and Arguments, given by Mary Baker Eddy, page 130
It took a while to understand, but the following answered it pretty succinctly:
Did God at first create one man unaided, — that is, Adam, — but afterwards require the union of the two sexes in order to create the rest of the human family? No! God makes and governs all.
from Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, by Mary Baker Eddy, page 532
Therefore, any mortal mind counterfeit that tells us we are separate from God is a lie which must be exposed and destroyed, so we can get back to our conscious oneness with God.
But Mrs. Eddy married again after discovering Christian Science, and has the chapter on Marriage, so I wondered about that for a while. Is it a “suffer it to be so now” situation? Or can it be a good thing? Then I found these two quotes and feel more at peace with it.
The tendency of the desire for the sweet companionship of the opposite sex is divinely natural. Remember primarily the individual was equal and wholly satisfied. He was God’s image and reflection, Father-Mother. Learn not to condemn this longing, because it is about the only thing in a human being that indicates his divine entity. In the beginning man and woman were one, and mortal mind made the separation. Therefore the constant longing for completion.
from Fragments gathered from Unpublished Items ascribed to Mary Baker Eddy, page 181
What do you think of marriage?
That it is often convenient, sometimes pleasant, and occasionally a love affair. Marriage is susceptible of many definitions. It sometimes presents the most wretched condition of human existence. To be normal, it must be a union of the affections that tends to lift mortals higher.
from Miscellaneous Writing, by Mary Baker Eddy, page 52
Mrs. Eddy also wrote:
The sexual element is not natural, if nature is God, and it certainly is God, for matter is not God, and material sense has no law and no gospel on its side.
from Watches, Prayers, and Arguments, given by Mary Baker Eddy, page 170
To me it seems: Human “love” pulls us down to materiality; divine Love lifts us up spiritually.
Thank you for the above quotes: Mrs. Eddy answers all questions!
Miscellaneous Writings by Mary Baker Eddy, page 280:
There are not two, — Mind and matter. We must get rid of that notion.
Essays and Other Footprints, (the “Red Book”), by Mary Baker Eddy, page 74:
God’s dear love for His children is so deep and far-reaching that He does not afflict us. It is our mistaken sense of Life that brings pain and sorrow.
Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy, page 369:
[Jesus] understood man, whose life is God, to be immortal, and knew that man has not two lives, one to be destroyed and the other to be made indestructible.
Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy, page 591:
MAN. The compound idea of infinite Spirit; the spiritual image and likeness of God; the full representation of Mind.
Between old theology, intellectualism, and all the rest of the noise of the human mind, we sure seem to have a lot to handle. Thankfully the writings of Mary Baker Eddy show us how to handle all errors and prove them as nothingness. Combine that with all that Plainfield offers, and with practitioner support, I have learned not to stay in human imagination while trying to figure it out. As Gilbert Carpenter wrote in Watching Point 1 of 500 Watching Points, “If you should fall through the ice, you would become further imprisoned if you attempted to swim at once for the shore. The first thing to do is to rise.”
If we stay in the belief we are mortal (material) trying to become immortal (spiritual), it will never happen. That is looking up to Him from the wrong side of the ice. If, however, we rise out of that belief and work to express the qualities of God and truly live this Science, then we are on our way to shore on the right side. As we are faithful in expressing the good that God is giving us to do each moment of the day — always in practical, concrete ways which bless and heal — we gain confidence in Truth and Love, and lose all confidence in error because we will see it has no value and no substance in our lives.
Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy, page 253:
If you believe in and practise wrong knowingly, you can at once change your course and do right. Matter can make no opposition to right endeavors against sin or sickness, for matter is inert, mindless.
Thank you!
Unity of Good by Mary Baker Eddy, page 2 : 28-7:
Those who reach this transition, called death, without having rightly improved the lessons of this primary school of mortal existence, — and still believe in matter’s reality, pleasure, and pain, — are not ready to understand immortality. Hence they awake only to another sphere of experience, and must pass through another probationary state before it can be truly said of them: “Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord.”
I was praying about your questions, Pilar, and after reading a few things from Mrs. Eddy, including this last quote, I realized it does us no good to try to uncover what forms the illusion may take if we fail to learn what we need to learn here and now. Let’s all take this time we have to study and live Christian Science as fully as we are able, and hold no doubts that God is on our side and wants us to succeed!
Essays and Other Footprints, (the “Red Book”), by Mary Baker Eddy, page 70:
Keep the joy of Christian Science, and a well-grounded hope in your success. Remember as Truth progresses, error grows more subtle and aggressive, but it does not become something. It always remains an illusion, and is always met and destroyed with the understanding that divine Love is the only power. Stand guard against the effort of evil to cause things to happen that will fill you with grief, wrath, or fear, and thus shut out your sense of the allness of God.
Thank you!
At the beginning of the chapter “The Millennium” in Addresses by Martha Wilcox, she says:
The fulfillment of prophecy always seems remote, just as it did in the days of the coming of Jesus. But if we had eyes to see, we would perceive that the fulfillment of prophecy is but the appearing in consciousness of that which is already in existence.
I am very grateful that the pure Christian Science taught in Plainfield allows us to grow spiritually to the point where the true importance of Mary Baker Eddy and Christ Jesus become at first faintly visible, and then clearer and clearer all the time.
I am also quite thankful for Mrs Eddy’s explanation, as it is a stark contrast to some branches of Christianity feeling it is Jesus showing off his deific power. Even Matthew Henry wrote, in his Concise Commentary on Luke 9:28: “Christ’s transfiguration was a specimen of that glory in which he will come to judge the world; and was an encouragement to his disciples to suffer for him.”
How much better to know that Jesus’ teaching allowed at least some of his students to gain the spiritual sense to witness more of “that which is already in existence.” I find this very comforting. Thank you!
In contemplating this Watching Point and quote above more this week, I was thinking of everything I didn’t understand when I first arrived in Plainfield. (Practically everything!) But my practitioner let me know these things would become clear over time, and clearer still as we progress. And true to that, I am sure everyone can relate to reading or hearing something from a lesson or one of our books and eventually it finally clicks. To have these ideas open up and become something we rely on in our daily lives is such a great blessing.
Because of this, I’ve begun to see that “demanding the blessing” actually comes in two parts: The first is to know that all situations and interactions have good to impart and to pray and work and strive and be patient until it is revealed. The second — which I am not sure I was completely doing for a long while — is to not just be content with the uncovering of that good, but to actively work to accept that blessing within myself so that it becomes yet another tool I have proved and can use as needed.
In thinking of Mrs. Eddy teaching Adam Dickey, she uncovered this great good for him, yet it was if he demanded not to be blessed. How much better if he had said “I will quiet my doubt and trust your spiritual understanding over my own, and pray I understand this with time.”
I feel this is an important thing for me to be on the lookout for in myself. Just because and I am here in Plainfield — even as Adam Dickey worked for Mrs. Eddy at Chestnut Hill — it does not mean the entirety of my consciousness is good soil, or that I don’t have more to learn. There may (will?) be patches of thorns or rocky ground which I will need to contend with, so more advanced teachings of Christian Science will be able to take root in me and flourish.
This reminds me of Mary Baker Eddy’s words from page 118 from Miscellaneous Writing:
Be of good cheer; the warfare with one’s self is grand; it gives one plenty of employment, and the divine Principle worketh with you, — and obedience crowns persistent effort with everlasting victory.
I am so grateful for all that I am learning here each week. Thank you!
Thank you for this! I was reminded me of the following from Addresses by Martha Wilcox, page 362:
When rightly viewed, all natural things, from the sands on the seashore to the stars in the heavens, are formations of Spirit and are spiritual. So, also, is everything from a pin to a palace, including houses, and lands, and money, when these are correctly understood. Mrs. Eddy says (S&H 70:12), “The divine Mind maintains all identities, from a blade of grass to a star, as distinct and eternal.” Then a star, which to one state of human consciousness is inanimate matter, when rightly viewed, is an identity or is identical with Mind, Spirit, and must be spiritual. The whole point at issue is our individual viewpoint.
To the most of us, the sand on the seashore would seem very inanimate and material, but to Jesus it would not seem so. Mrs. Eddy says (Misc. Wr. 74:13), “Christ Jesus’ sense of matter was the opposite of that which mortals entertain.” Then what to us is material, must have been, to Jesus, spiritual.
My understanding of this is, even though God does not know the specifics of our Adam-dream, He does know when we are not listening to our spiritual sense and acting as directed. That lapse in our right thinking must be more obvious to God than when a parent asks their child to clean their room only to come back and the child spent the time playing and making more of a mess. We don’t know exactly what the child was thinking or doing, but we do know it wasn’t what they were supposed to be doing. A blank look and lame excuse won’t change that fact. Since our entire reason for being is to be His expression and manifestation, any deviation must be readily apparent to our Father-Mother God. Thank God for His mercy, and for Christian Science to help us learn to be who and what we were made to be!
Thank you for this post!
From the 1828 Webster’s Dictionary:
Exalt
3. To elevate with joy or confidence;
Ordeal
2. Severe trial; accurate scrutiny.
Scrutiny
1. Close search; minute inquiry; critical examination;
These definitions gave me new insight into this citation: I have been learning in Plainfield that the “severe trials” faced while striving to understand and demonstrate Christian Science come from the increasingly “accurate scrutiny” we have of our consciousness, and how that ongoing “critical examination” exposes error and attunes our spiritual sense so that we can be useful to God. As our prayer becomes “cleanse thou me from secret faults” (Psalm 19:12) we must then be ready to handle any error that is exposed with Science.
So many examples in the lives of Christ Jesus and Mary Baker Eddy show why longsuffering is a fruit of the Spirit. (Galatians 5:22) Other examples in the Bible show how the ingratitude of murmuring hardens the heart and stops us listening for the still, small voice. Since no one is forcing me to be here, and every step in this Science has brought only blessings, there is no reason for me to do anything but rejoice for the opportunities God has given me!
To have perspective on this, my time before coming to this Church had many severe trials that did not end in joy or confidence. Those ordeals were from being overcome by error, instead of overcoming it. Since “Error comes to you for life and you give it all the life it has” (Mary Baker Eddy, Christian Science Journal, 1912) it is clear that while at one time I ignorantly gave it life, it is now only through the understanding and application of Christian Science that I can begin to make it right.
I thank God for Christian Science, this Church, and practitioner support for helping me to gain the understanding necessary to get this far, and to keep moving forward. Thank you!
My interpretation of these events is that there were a group of people — likely relatives and close friends of Jairus and his daughter — who were waiting in the house when Christ Jesus arrived with Peter, James, John, Jairus and his daughter’s mother. It was not those who came with Jesus who laughed, but those within the house. When those mourning within the house refused the comfort of the Christ, “he put them all out.” (Luke 8:54) Despite saying “all,” I believe those that accompanied Jesus remained, as their belief and positive expectancy were not an impediment to the work he came to do.
I also think it is interesting that verse 56 says “he charged them that they should tell no man what was done.” Certainly people would see that Jairus’ daughter was alive, so I had wondered before why this command was given. Parthen’s post about the paralytic patients who were healed but then “remembered” that they were not supposed to be able to walk helped me to see that mortal mind — that “murderer from the beginning” (John 8:44) — would love to argue that Jairus’ daughter should be dead. One of the many things I have learned here is that we are not supposed to converse with error, we are to handle it.
Thank you Plainfield for all that is taught here!
Thank you so much for this post!
This reminded me of Bicknell Young stating the following on page 97 of The 1936 Primary Class:
There is something going on much more important than just the letter. After Class each day, you should take time to think over what we have done and make it your own. Surely I do not have to tell you that anything that is yours is yours? Take the statement, “Good is all.” We give Mrs. Eddy credit for saying it first, but you ought to say it in your own words and according to your own understanding. If you understand it, it is your understanding you are voicing, and you do not have to be always quoting somebody else. It is the same with anything you may learn in Class, or that you may learn in any other way. If you’ve got it, it’s yours, and it then ought to find natural expression.
I am grateful for the teaching here that has instilled in me the need to make sure this Science is not just being read, but really internalized and made my own so that I can use it in my daily life. I have found the model for that in the support of my practitioner, in Gilbert Carpenter’s analogies, in these Forum posts each week, and now in Captain J. Rogers example. Thank you!
Since coming to Plainfield I have begun to really appreciate knowing the real, unadulterated meanings of the words we use. With the 1828 Webster’s Dictionary, and other resources, it has slowly become clearer to me how this understanding affects our ability to handle error. Through the Forum, the Bible Studies, Roundtables, and all this Church offers — along with regular practitioner support — my toolbox has been expanded and refined in ways that I could never have done on my own. Your posts have been an important part of that, Parthens, and I am very grateful for them!
During my time here, I have seen how eliminating words such as luck, fortunate, chance, etc. from my vocabulary have forced me to see where those concepts had a hold in my thought so I could handle them. I have also found that gaining a real understanding of Love has uncovered all the times its counterfeit showed its head before. Without a right understanding, I was as unprepared as though I was bringing a flower to a gun fight: I never stood a chance, which is exactly what error wants.
I am so grateful for this Science, and for all that is done here. Thank you!
Thank you for this question. Here is what I was able to find on this that felt helpful.
According to uslegal.com “The saying ‘possession is nine points of the law’ is an old common law precept that means one who has physical control or possession over the property is clearly at an advantage or is in a better possession than a person who has no possession over the property.”
The following is from the November 1890 Christian Science Journal:
Our Master taught his students to deny self, sense, and take up the cross, … Is sense “denied” by fleeing from it? or by overcoming its claims? Realization, reflection of Principle as idea, is the “closed door” of the senses, and the only “denial” of the senses. Will not every one bear witness that the claims of sense are often loudest when the eyes are closed? Is the Cross “taken up” when the claim of illusion is acknowledged as true, and the admission is “signed, sealed, and delivered,” the witnesses to it being the senses themselves? … “He that hath ears to hear, let him hear!” is always the word of Principle.
“Turn away mine eyes from beholding vanity.” (Heb. emptiness, nothingness.) The basis of this supplication is recognition of sight as spiritual, now. Is not shutting the eyes to pray, or to realize the Truth of Being, to start on the opposite supposition — that it is material? Does not this concede possession — the nine points of the law of mortal mind — to the enemy of Good?
… Our enemy has been slain ; we are not in bonds; we are freedmen of Principle; “wherefore, brethren, we are not a bondmaid’s children, but the freewoman’s.” With her freedom Christ made us free; “Stand ye, then, and not again with a yoke of servitude be held fast.”
We do see and hear spiritually, and we do not see or hear materially. This is the standpoint from which to encounter and destroy the illusion. Science and Health is full of this.
Then from the January 30, 1904 Christian Science Sentinel:
The old condition may seem worse under the light than when it lurked in thought unexposed, but in all reason it is not. Mrs. Eddy says in the book “No and Yes,” p. 33, “Exposure is nine points of destruction.” To see clearly how evil has entangled one’s career, opens the way of escape from the unhappy condition; and that which throws light upon the unrighteous complications, is in every case a blessing.
From all this, I feel that the “nine points of destruction” come from exposing each point of the error that is claiming possession of us using what we learn in Christian Science.
Thank you very much for this post!
That verse from the Responsive Reading, and the following one from John 15:13 (Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.) has given me a lot to think on this week. The greater love that Christ Jesus demonstrated certainly lasted longer than his final moment on the cross, but to human thought, laying down our lives is treated like a momentary thing. Yet how many decades did Mary Baker Eddy lay down her life for the world? How many in this church right now – and those who have come before – have laid down their lives in a similar manner?
The lesson includes Science and Health, page 454: Wait patiently for divine Love to move upon the waters of mortal mind, and form the perfect concept. Patience must “have her perfect work.” This reminded me of Mrs. Eddy’s words from page 248: We must form perfect models in thought and look at them continually, or we shall never carve them out in grand and noble lives.
It seems clear that the perfect concept or model is the one which has put aside all personal sense to patiently wait on God. Expressing that greater love is the work of a lifetime, not a moment. I am so grateful we have those models to look to, and for the importance placed here on living Christian Science.
I also found the Christ Jesus’ use of the word friends very comforting, and was happy to be led to the three verses (John 15:14-16) after the last line of the Responsive Reading:
Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you. Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you. Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you.
Thank you!
Thank you for these posts.
I just found this in Mary Baker Eddy, Her Spiritual Precepts by Gilbert Carpenter, and it seems a pertinent addition here:
The practice of Christian Science is a highly dangerous profession, since the practitioner is daily confronted by sick folks who have such a conviction of the seriousness of their afflictions, which are supported by the evidence of the senses, that, if the healer becomes careless or too mentally lazy to reject and challenge every illusion that attempts to fasten itself upon him, so that he acknowledges its existence, he may find himself partaking of the same error! It is plain, therefore, why Mrs. Eddy did not want the students to fall a victim to the error…by looking at it, “talking about it, thinking it over, and how to meet it,” as we read on page 130 of Miscellaneous Writings, since she says that this “has the same power to make you a sinner that acting thus regarding disease has to make a man sick.”
It has become increasingly clear to me that if I fail to meet a claim at first, it will come to me aggressively soon after. Where but here would I be learning about this, and how to properly handle it? What a blessing to be a member of this church! Thank you!
Thank you for these posts.
Starting on page 64 of Bicknell Young’s book 1937 College, he writes about Soul. This paragraph from page 65 has helped, and continues to help me:
Soul is the spontaneous nature of man, the epitome of natural knowing. Soul is true inspiration. As you advance in the Science of Soul, you will see beauty where you never saw it before. A Christian Scientist attains his dominion in the proportion that he seeks not the image and likeness, but the original. In that original, which is in Principle, Spirit, Soul, resides and shines in full effulgence, all comeliness, originality, receptivity, beauty, and joy.
I am so grateful to be able to see that beauty and feel that joy, at least in small degrees. Studying this Science here, combined with all the church offers and regular practitioner support, has opened my eyes, my heart, and my thought to the wonder of God’s great creation! What a blessing it is to be a member of this church. Thank you!
Thank you for these posts!
While reading all this today, I was reminded of the order of operations in mathematics. Basically, if you have 2 + 4 x 3 and you add the initial two numbers first, you are already going to get the wrong answer. If this is the beginning of a larger problem, who knows how wrong it will all be.
In Christian Science, I am sure we have many such examples, but Alertness to Duty from the Daily Duties feels a good start:
It shall be the duty of every member of this Church to defend himself daily against aggressive mental suggestion, and not be made to forget nor to neglect his duty to God, to his Leader, and to mankind. By his works he shall be judged, — and justified or condemned.
First, I must work to subtract any aggressive mental suggestion, which – as I’ve been learning here – is: belief in a self apart from God; personal sense of family or responsibility; pride; discouragement; or anything else that would have me veer off the path.
Then in that humble state, I must go to God. If and when I need help going to God, I need to look to what our Leader says – working, watching, praying, obedience … Mrs. Eddy covered it all! Only after all this am I ready to meet the needs of mankind, in general or specifically. At this point, if God directs, I am ready to work for the church or give my kids and others what they need.
It’s easy to see in the course of this how the addition of human desires or self would throw the whole equation off, and get my work condemned. Any error at all would be not good, but compounded while working out the whole problem would be disastrous! To do that would be a truly hateful thing to do to those we profess to love.
How much better to begin rightly by starting with God, since, as Mrs. Eddy says, “To begin rightly is to end rightly.” (S&H, p. 262)
I am so grateful to the church and my practitioner for teaching how to understand and live Christian Science. Learning to see the inherent spiritual logic that God built right into the universe is an amazing and wonderful experience, and shows me why we need to go to Him first, and always! Thank you!
Thank you very much for this post!
There is much in our books about revelation, so I am including a few excerpts here that gave me further clarity on this.
—
Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures was a revelation from God. Hence as one reads it, he is led back into the Mind of God.
From Mary Baker Eddy, Her Spiritual Precepts, by Gilbert Carpenter
—
Christian Science comes to establish in human thought the divine facts which then assert themselves there, transforming the human consciousness and giving it more of a divine aspect. A human being touched by Science is already going through something that Jesus the Christ went through. That is, he is changing, or redeeming, his consciousness. As the basis of that redemption and the foundation of all activity by which such redemption shall be accomplished, we have that one, infinite, divine Principle, Life, Truth, Love, the one God, Spirit. This is no theoretical personality, or some kind of distant Deity, but the infinite Mind revealing itself here. Where? Wherever thought permits revelation to take place.
Wherever a human being opens the door of consciousness and says, “I would know God,” there Christian Science begins at once to instruct, inform, enlighten, and gradually to redeem consciousness. As this takes place, the revelation of what God is, is seen to be man in His image and likeness. There is a satisfaction that is more than individual in this, for it has a universal meaning. As one awakens sufficiently to discern his own selfhood and to demonstrate it, he discovers that the divine Ego is finding expression in everything he thinks or says, in all that he knows and does, in all that he desires or wishes or has ambition to achieve. It is the divine Ego which is the only I AM, providing the basis for all right action and true achievement. “I shall be satisfied when I awake in thy likeness.”
From The 1936 Primary Class, by Bicknell Young, page 49
—
Instruction that is Truth is a divine message to man. Truth is God or Mind in self-revelation. Truth is God Himself. Truth is the “I AM” of every individual.
From Addresses by Martha Wilcox, page 134
—
Instead of creation, you could say revelation, because “creation” means that God reveals Himself. It is as though God says I AM. And that is man. In Science and Health, it says Spirit constitutes man. There is nothing else to him but Spirit. God and man are the same substance. There you have your oneness. When you say he is made of Spirit, his being is Spirit, his intelligence is Spirit, all that constitutes him is Spirit, then you get some idea of what reflection means. We know we exist, and the object of our study is to find out what we are. Find out what God is and really demonstrate it. We demonstrate what we are.
From The 1936 Primary Class, by Bicknell Young, page 55
Here are a few other quotes which helped me to find peace with this question:
The above from Miscellany, page 233, has this as the very next sentence:
Ignorance of self is the most stubborn belief to overcome, for apathy, dishonesty, sin, follow in its train.
“The Ego”, from Unity of Good, by Mary Baker Eddy, page 27:
…we shall find that evil is egotistic, — boastful, but fleeing like a shadow at daybreak; while God is egoistic, knowing only His own all-presence, all-knowledge, all-power.
Parthens’ Forum Post from February 21st, 2019 on the subtraction of self.
From Mary Baker Eddy, Her Spiritual Precepts by Gilbert Carpenter:
Once Mrs. Eddy told Laura Sargent and Clara Shannon, that she thought she had discovered the way to eternal Life, and that was, whenever she wanted to do something for herself, to put self aside, and do something for others; just to learn to be unselfed.
From page 304 of Addresses by Martha Wilcox:
Within our individual self is the battlefield, and there, too, is found the victory. We need to watch our thought that it does not become confused with the issues of the day. We need to be spiritually keen and alert in our thinking. We need to be “undisturbed amid the jarring testimony of the material senses” and prove that “Science (is) still enthroned.” (S&H 306:25, 26)
Finally, Mrs. Eddy’s words from page 77 of Collectanea:
If you but knew the infinite capacities of your being, the sublimity of your hope, the grandeur of your outlook, you would let error kill itself. It comes to you to give it life and you give it all the life it has.
Matthew Henry wrote the following:
Mountains and hills are, before God, but like rams and lambs; even the bulkiest and the most rocky are as manageable by him as they are by the shepherd. The trembling of the mountains before the Lord may shame the stupidity and obduracy of the children of men, who are not moved at the discoveries of his glory.
From the 1828 Webster’s:
Obduracy
Invincible hardness of heart; impenitence that cannot be subdued; inflexible persistency in sin; obstinacy in wickedness.
Christ Jesus from Mark 11:23:
For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith.
I feel all this points to the reminder that God’s creation – the only creation – is spiritual, and not material. There is no one-hundred-million-ton, eight-thousand-foot-tall obstacle between me and the path God set before me, whether it is a mountain or my own issues I have struggled with. Christian Science provides the God-given means forward. With all I have been learning here, and practitioner support, I’ve already been proving that to myself with a few “hills” in my consciousness, so the larger mountains of my former obduracy are feeling more movable each day.
Thank you!
Thank you for this post!
During the Saturday, March 16th, 2019 Bible Study, while the discussion turned to the topic of first fruits, I began to think of Galatians 5:22-23: “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.”
The thought then came, the first of each of those fruits that I am blessed with should also go to God and out to His creation. His abundance goes far beyond money, and the more I have started understanding that, the more each of those fruits of the Spirit have come into my experience. Learning to share freely of the love, joy, and peace I have gained, starts this cascade of love, joy and peace. This then strengthens my faith, and allows me to be express those other qualities more consistently.
This reminded me of 2 Corinthians 9:7: “Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver.”
I am very grateful for this church, the Bible Studies, and this wonderful Science! Thank you!
Thank you for this post!
On page 36 of the Addenda in Collectanea, there is an article called, “The Symbol Called a Quarter” which, in part, states the following:
If it dwells in Mind, as every idea must, then Mind fills it with limitless, infinite value, and, humanly speaking, I cannot grasp or conceive of its possibilities to meet every need, neither can I set any value – finite value – on it, for counting money in so many dollars and cents is simply one of the attempts of human thought to control a quality of Mind and circumscribe it into the finiteness of human reason. This literally takes the quarter out of the realm of reality – it ceases to be an idea of substance and naturally becomes a form of nothingness that fails in usefulness and disappears. On the other hand, to “multiply” it, all human estimation and value must be set aside, and the substance, universal substance of limitless Spirit that the tiniest symbol represents, must be recognized, and then you have connected up mentally with the limitless idea and need do no more.
This helps me to see that both Elijah and Elisha knew they had all they could ever want or need, because they knew God to be the infinite source. Perhaps humanly they looked poor, yet spiritually, they were “heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ” (Romans 8:17) and therefore were ready to bless everyone they encountered.
It seems once Gehazi felt he needed “more” than God provided, he opened himself to the multiplication of things considered humanly good and also humanly bad. This reminds me of Romans 6:16 “Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?”
The article above ends with this:
Lack is not a curse, for there is a blessing in it when we see that it actually teaches us to turn away from the finite symbol, and grasp the endless possibilities, capabilities, and riches contained in the idea typified by the symbol when it is rightfully understood. So lack in that way is a blessing in disguise, for Love reverses it and Spirit brings its ever-present substance into manifestation to meet the human need.
What a powerful lesson! I am so grateful for all this church offers! Thank you!
Thank you for this post!
The phrase “more than conquerors” has stood out to me this week, as well, and I felt the need to look closer.
From the 1828 Webster’s:
Conqueror
One who conquers; one who gains a victory; one who subdues and brings into subjection or possession, by force or by influence.
Reading that, it becomes obvious we are not conquerors, as nothing in Christian Science would have us subject, force, or influence mortal mind to work for us.
This reminded me of two quotes:
First: “the battle is the Lord’s” (1 Samuel 17:47)
Second: Mrs. Eddy’s words to a student, which brought immediate healing. (From page 19 in the Addenda of Collectanea)
“God gave you an abiding sense of Life that needs not to be fought for. Remember this and you will live forever.”
This has still had me asking: How can we be more than conquerors?
The calendar statement for Wednesday, March 6th, 2019 seemed to address this weill:
As God’s children, we are heirs to His kingdom, entitled to, and free to enjoy all the good there is. — Dorothy Escombe
So, what could possibly need conquering when we are created perfect and good by Truth, Life, and Love, and there is no other power? Only the claims of separation need to be handled in that instance (Thank God for Christian Science and this church!). With that realization, I find it easy to second Paul’s words from Romans 8: 31: “If God be for us, who can be against us?”
I am so grateful to learn that God is here for me, and everyone! Thank you for this lesson!
From the 1828 Webster’s Dictionary:
Enlist
1. To engage in public service, by entering the name in a register; as, an officer enlists men.
Enlistment
The act of enlisting; the writing by which a soldier is bound.
Felt I should include these definitions, as they were helpful to me. Also it is easy to see that the writing that we are bound to in our “duty to God, to [our] Leader, and to mankind” (from the Daily Duties) is the Bible and Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy.
This explanation has helped me see past some questions and concerns I have had for myself.
Am I lacking in my demonstration of Christian Science because I don’t have the body of an Olympic athlete? Or is it more important that I am suited to do the work for this church that God has given me? I may not be able to run a 4 minute mile, but I can sit at my computer and stay focused for hours with great joy and no discomfort.
Should I be concerned that I don’t have the vision of an eagle? Or is it more important that I can read the lesson and sort through a bunch of code each day? Finding that missing end bracket is much more useful to me than seeing a mouse 200 yards away.
Perhaps because I read a lot of comics as a kid I have always felt lacking because I am no superhero. That human sense was imagining “what the divine effect might be” as I learned more of Christian Science, but the reality has taken a different route that I am honestly much more grateful for.
I am no longer at war with myself inside. That awful voice which berated me constantly only rarely shows and is instantly told to get behind me, and it does! Each day I am useful, and my contribution is a blessing. I love doing the kind of work I am doing, and it makes me smile all the time, even when alone. The “Jeremy” of now may look the same, but where it counts I am unrecognizable.
These are the changes that I thought were too much to ask for, and yet Christian Science has provided the way to them.
Thank you!
Thank you, Rae!
This is on our website under the title “Genesis 1 or Genesis 2?” at this link: https://articles.plainfieldcs.com/poetry/genesis-1-or-genesis-2/
Thank you for this question: It prompted me to look closer at this verse.
In the midst of the BibleHub commentary (https://biblehub.com/commentaries/galatians/3-13.htm) on this, the following verses are mentioned:
Deuteronomy 21:22-23
22 And if a man have committed a sin worthy of death, and he be to be put to death, and thou hang him on a tree:
23 His body shall not remain all night upon the tree, but thou shalt in any wise bury him that day; (for he that is hanged is accursed of God;) that thy land be not defiled, which the Lord thy God giveth thee for an inheritance.
Taking this, and applying what I have learned of Christian Science here in Plainfield, it seems that we need to recognize that error (the “sin worthy of death”), expose it (“hang him on a tree”), and then move forward with God (“bury him that day”). As Mrs. Eddy wrote on page 355 of Miscellaneous Writings:
First, self-knowledge. … Error found out is two-thirds destroyed, and the last third pierces itself, for the remainder only stimulates and gives scope to higher demonstration.
And then going back to Galatians 3:13:
13 Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree:
I feel that since “Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law” we don’t need to live in shame from the error, or condemn ourselves for it. Each overcoming should be seen as a victory. Each obstacle an opportunity “that the works of God should be made manifest in [us].” (John 9:3)
A final word on this point, from Mrs. Eddy in the lesson:
13. 91
…the sooner error is reduced to its native nothingness, the sooner man’s great reality will appear and his genuine being will be understood.
I am very grateful that being a member of this church has given me the resources to find meaning in the Bible. What a blessing Plainfield is! Thank you!
Thank you for your posts!
Right after what is in the lesson from Matthew 27, comes three verses that deal with the returned silver pieces:
6 And the chief priests took the silver pieces, and said, It is not lawful for to put them into the treasury, because it is the price of blood.
7 And they took counsel, and bought with them the potter’s field, to bury strangers in.
8 Wherefore that field was called, The field of blood, unto this day.
It seems Judas was, for a time, willing to risk his spirituality with a quest for materiality, while the chief priests were not willing to risk their materiality under any circumstances. The only fear of consequence they have is superstitious. They thought their materiality could be tainted, yet had no concern about their spirituality at all.
To me, this goes back to the week’s daily watch, Watching Point 27. While trying to perfect himself, Judas thought money would help, only to realize his error. The chief priests thought themselves perfect, and thought any means to protect their position was acceptable. Only Christ Jesus was busy expressing “the perfect idea of man” and teaching and sharing freely how to “have the light [of God] shine through perfectly.”
I am grateful for Judas’ story, as it is full of lessons. Of course, without Christian Science, and this church, none of these lessons would have been revealed to me. What a blessing to be here, learning! Thank you!
I, myself, came from the north to Plainfield after giving up. (Felt pertinent to mention that here, because of those verses.)
During the preceding decade, however, I had gravitated toward atheism after being disillusioned with the “Christianity” of my youth, and yet had begun to realized atheism was not helping me either. So I began to formulate what I thought God might be, but decided to call Him something different, to keep a distance from that old theological viewpoint. I decided to refer to Him as “The North Star” or “my North Star.”
I sincerely feel that these steps helped me to be receptive to what I found in Plainfield, as my ideal of God – while not anywhere near as comprehensive as what Mrs. Eddy’s revelation shows us – was at least in line with what I have found in Christian Science. Basically, a good God, who is logical and loving.
It took me a while to realize this, but obviously the divine Mind was working in me to get rid of all that junk I was taught and get me ready to be here. I am so grateful for how God works, and that He found a use for me in Plainfield. Thank you!
Thank you for this post!
The word “bloodguiltiness” struck me as well this week, and because of what I am learning in Plainfield, it made me think of all the warnings to handle heredity and family issues. “Deliver me from bloodguiltiness…” feels like something I prayed before, even when I didn’t realize it.
What a blessing Christian Science is, as nothing else shows us the real meaning of Father, Mother, brother, sister, family, blood, etc.
A few excerpts from what this church has made available shows that the real idea of blood is nothing to be guilty about, but rather joyous and grateful for.
From Watches, Prayers, and Arguments, given by Mary Baker Eddy, page 51:
WATCH — Blood is thought, and your blood is pure thought, a health-giving, life-giving thought, and nothing impure can enter into that thought; it is perfectly pure.
From 1936 Primary Class, by Bicknell Young, page 111:
Question (by student): Is blood an idea?
Answer: Blood is the idea of Life. The claim that blood is a thing, is a false claim. Life is the only thing. The idea, then, is that Life is and is perfect.
Acts 17: 24,26:
24 God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands;
26 And hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation;
Thank you!
Royce in TX asked me to submit this for her:
She found the word “detach” in Science and Health twice, and wanted to share the verses.
On page 463, with the heading “Scientific Obstetrics”:
To attend properly the birth of the new child, or divine idea, you should so detach mortal thought from its material conceptions, that the birth will be natural and safe.
Then on page 261:
Detach sense from the body, or matter, which is only a form of human belief, and you may learn the meaning of God, or good, and the nature of the immutable and immortal.
Thank you for this clarification!
Thank you for this post!
When I read the story of Babel this week, my first thought was: God doesn’t create division, that is a tactic of the human mind. (A thought only made possible by what I have learned here.) I certainly know that every human system I tried before coming to Plainfield only left me feeling more alone, more separate from joy, purpose, and fulfillment. The material view of things now seems to have a new division popping up every day, constantly trying to confound not only the language, but all facets of daily life.
These divisions were intensely distressing before this church showed me how to watch. Now, I am knowing more and more that these divisions are proof that error is destroying itself. As Christ Jesus said, “Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation;” (Matthew 12: 25) What a blessing it is to have that material view upended!
And, because of all this, the following verse jumped out today as the law it is:
3. Matthew 12
30 He that is not with me is against me; and he that gathereth not with me scattereth abroad.
Thank you for these lessons, and for the constant instruction that shows me how to live increasingly “un-confounded” and filled with the joy, purpose, and fulfillment that only comes from God.
This is beautiful! Thank you very much!
Thank you very much for this post!
Growing up, we went to many different churches in California, each with their own brand of “Christianity.” The one constant theme was the teaching that basically amounted to ‘do whatever you want, and then ask God to forgive your sins and you’ll be all set.’ Then we moved to a very Catholic town in Massachusetts, and suddenly there was this sense of ‘no matter what you do you will be a sinner, but if you give us money and perform these rituals you might just make it to heaven.’ Both options seemed just wrong to me. What kind of deity would set up a system like that? This is why I ended up going toward atheism for a time.
In Plainfield, with Mrs. Eddy’s Science, I’ve found something that makes sense. Finally! We are taught all our life – in school, at work, and in our “real life” – that we need to take responsibility for our own actions. We reap what we sow. Why wouldn’t that also apply to spiritual matters and health? I am so grateful that Christian Science never asks us to act like we are victims in an unfair process. Quite the opposite!
For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. – Isaiah 9:6
Something I’ve been feeling is that the names that Isaiah gives are not interchangeable, but actually prophecy the process that people go through as they learn about the Christ and then have that knowledge tempered with the understanding gained from Christian Science.
Wonderful: When we first hear his healings, we are amazed: What power! What compassion!
Counsellor: Then we read deeper into his message, such as the Sermon on the Mount; it feels right and we take that counsel, but only superficially.
The mighty God, The everlasting Father: Then – because we fail to live this Science – we see his demonstrations as unrepeatable, and then deify Jesus to justify our failings.
The Prince of Peace: But then the revelation of Christian Science comes along, and we are shown the truth of his works, and how to put off that old thought and follow him. We learn how to “go and sin no more.” At last, we see how to be “joint-heirs with Christ.” (Romans 8: 17)
What a constant joy and blessing it is to be here, learning. None of this would have been gained without this Science! Thank you for these lessons!
Thank you for this post!
Since the lesson for December 3rd, 2017, and the Roundtable from that week, I’ve been thinking of how God “can only be reflected, not transmitted.” (S&H, p. 517) This means, as discussed then, His power cannot be stored and redirected as we see fit.
Then I was thinking about how Mrs. Eddy says that “error comes to us for life, and we give it all the life it has.” If we cannot store power from the only power, or life from the only Life, then we are in no position to give error anything. God’s reflection certainly won’t empower error.
So all that can be left to error is the belief it can be given power, or that it has already been given life. Knowing through Science the impossibility of either of these things, there is no reason to even allow that delusion a toehold. I am very grateful that Christian Science is showing me how to put wrong thinking and living behind me. Thank you!
Thank you for this post!
Romans 13: 12 struck me this week as well, and after reading your question, “Who wants to go about their day undressed?” I remembered the November 5th, 2017 lesson included this:
Genesis 3
9 And the Lord God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou?
10 And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself.
11 And he said, Who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat?
It got me thinking that, as our work is in our consciousness, this nakedness may well have been a metaphor for being susceptible to malicious mind, more than anything else. Adam found himself naked, and instead of getting dressed in the “Armor of Righteousness” he hid himself. (A sure indication of how far his thought dropped.) Why did he hide? He was afraid! If he only needed to cover himself materially, why would he be afraid? It’s a simple enough process. No need to be fearful of that.
To cover yourself spiritually, however, is a much different task. Definitely not as easy as putting on pants! At least in my case, I have needed time to acquire the understanding to learn to think rightly, and to recognize the various methods that error attempts to infiltrate. And, I am not even close to being done.
I knew that in past lessons there were other references to nakedness, so I found a few and added them below without interpretation. These verses took on a new light for me, thinking in this way. I am so grateful for how Plainfield’s lessons build upon each other and bring new understanding and inspiration continually. Thank you!
——————
From the October 29th, 2017 lesson:
6. Romans 8
35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?
37 Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.
——————
From the July 16th, 2017 lesson:
6. James 2
15 If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food,
16 And one of you say unto them, Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled; notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body; what doth it profit?
17 Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone.
——————
Finally, in the additional readings from the April 15th, 2017 Bible Study, there was John 21: 7 (which seemed like a strange reference to nakedness at the time, but makes more sense to me now):
7 Therefore that disciple whom Jesus loved saith unto Peter, It is the Lord. Now when Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he girt his fisher’s coat unto him, (for he was naked,) and did cast himself into the sea.
It is also fascinating that this parable ends with the following verse, which is nearly identical to what Christ Jesus told his disciples when they asked why he spoke in parables, in Matthew 13: 12. (Which I wrote about on the August 13th, 2017 Forum.)
Matthew 25: 29
29 For unto every one that hath shall be given, and he shall have abundance: but from him that hath not shall be taken away even that which he hath.
Matthew 13: 12
12 For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath.
This seems a promise from God and a law to follow, if I truly want the joy that comes from God.
It is such a blessing how each lesson builds upon the previous. Thank you!
The following is found on pages 110-111 of Watches, Prayers, and Arguments, given by Mary Baker Eddy:
Materia medica
There is no power, intelligence or principle, mesmeric or hypnotic, in materia medica, as individual or collective mind. Therefore, it cannot blind nor hypnotize mortals, through human beliefs or will-power, from seeking the true healing, as it is in Christ Jesus and Christian Science.
There is but one Physician, because there is but one Mind; whose medicine is Truth; which destroys all error; whose attraction is Love, which casteth out all fear. This is the one Mind, which was also in Christ Jesus, and this Mind alone can draw all men unto Him — divine Love.
Materia medica cannot hide under the guise of hygiene, witchcraft, magic, spiritualism, mind-cure, faith-cure, or any other subtle form of carnality, for to be carnally-minded is death. Man (I) cannot be bewitched or mesmerized by alluring or high sounding phrases or methods, nor by any personality, individual or collective, which substitutes matter and materia medica for the healing power of Truth, Christ. The nothingness and impotence of materia medica is demonstrated through divine Science by its loyal students, who reflect divine intelligence, which destroys any claim of intelligence not in God, good, divine Mind. To enmity’s own hell of ignorance, superstition, hypocrisy and hatred, justice consigns the lie, which would slay man in order to satisfy its own beliefs in materia medica and false theology. God made man immortal and in His image, the image of His own eternity, and to this end gave him dominion over all the earth, over all the works of His hands. This is the Truth of being, and nothing can change the Truth into a lie. Nothing can wrest man out of the Father’s hand, for “It is He who hath made us, and not we ourselves,” and hath given us life everlasting. Therefore, health, harmony and immortality are the everlasting facts of being. It is so.
Thank you for this post!
In regards to “…the sacrament that opens my mortal mind…” is it not more correct to say “…the sacrament that opens my thought…” as mortal mind is not ours, nor do we want it to be.
Mary Baker Eddy wrote on page 399 of Science and Health:
Scientifically speaking, there is no mortal mind out of which to make material beliefs, springing from illusion. This misnamed mind is not an entity. It is only a false sense of matter, since matter is not sensible. The one Mind, God, contains no mortal opinions. All that is real is included in this immortal Mind.
Thank you!
Thank you for this post! I have been thinking on this a lot as well.
Their murmuring seemed to come from taking a personal view of Moses as the only man that God worked through. If they had seen that it was God working, impersonally, then they would have seen that murmuring was worse than a waste of time, it was entertaining devils unawares, and therefore an affront to God. Imagine how different history would have been if they all embraced their place as God’s expression and manifestation!
It’s fascinating how this mirrors what we’ve been discussing at recent Roundtables, regarding supposed Christian Scientist’s treatment of Mrs. Eddy’s place and importance. Imagine how different the present would be if the organization would have refrained from entertaining those devils, and instead advanced the Cause by standing on her shoulders*, being lifted up as she was lifted up by God.
I have such gratitude that the practitioners here are always working to have us stand on our own feet, and never seeking to have us dependent on them personally. I wouldn’t have been able to feel comfortable coming into another situation where I was loyal to person. Loyalty to Truth and Love, however, makes so much sense!
I am grateful that Christian Science teaches us God’s impersonal nature and how to hone our spiritual sense so we know whether it is an angel (right thinking) or a devil (wrong thinking) seeking to be entertained. I am grateful to this church and its practitioners for the unity and support we experience here, for reinforcing right thinking and rebuking wrong thinking, and for keeping us on the path God has set before us so the future won’t have to imagine the blessings that could have been. Thank you!
—
* Isaac Newton once wrote “If I have seen a little further it is by standing on the shoulders of Giants.” Certainly a better thought than trying to knock everyone down to ground level.
Thank you for this post. Excellent points to contemplate and work toward!
In “Taking Offense” from page 224 of Miscellaneous Writings, Mary Baker Eddy wrote, “…we should go forth into life with the smallest expectations, but with the largest patience;” With having just studied this article, it was fresh on my thought and the Shunammite woman’s words showed that she demonstrated this constantly.
I also feel that this story shows that her living all of the other traits that Mrs. Eddy listed in the remainder of that paragraph (her words in bold): “…with a keen relish for and appreciation of everything beautiful, great, and good, [It was her own spiritual sense that recognized and appreciated this “holy man of God”] but with a temper so genial that the friction of the world shall not wear upon our sensibilities; [Telling her husband “It shall be well” when she left to find Elisha, despite the human mind screaming otherwise] with an equanimity so settled that no passing breath nor accidental disturbance shall agitate or ruffle it; [Saying “It is well” to Gehazi, Elisha’s servant, instead of lashing out in anger and frustration at him] with a charity broad enough to cover the whole world’s evil, and sweet enough to neutralize what is bitter in it, [She offered bread and place to stay for Elisha without seeking reward, this must have been such a different thought for him to encounter.] — determined not to be offended when no wrong is meant, nor even when it is, unless the offense be against God.” [She knew it must have been an offense against God, against Life, that her son was in such a state, and so went to Elisha demanding that this blessing remain a blessing. As we learn to work with in our watches, there is no reversal of good! Then, once her son was healed, she held no negative thought toward Elisha, but “fell at his feet, and bowed herself to the ground.” Her “smallest expectations” were that God would provide what was right and good, and, of course, He always does.]
Thank you for this lesson!
Thank you for these posts.
When I first heard the phrase “demand the blessing,” it felt like a brazen thing to do. Yet now, after learning more about Christian Science, I see how it is a natural part of living in obedience to God. His goodness permeates all creation; permeates me! So…why would I have to demand it? Because the human mind is constantly claiming I don’t deserve good, or that there is no good to be had. If I am awake, however, it is plain to see all the good and all the blessings that God is imparting.
I am grateful to this church, and Christian Science, because, like Jacob, I would have continued to “demand the blessing” from people, instead of God. How much good can a human father’s blessing give us, whether we gain it honestly or through trickery? Only our Father’s blessing counts! Only that brings healing, gives purpose, and makes “the day breaketh.”
Thank you, Plainfield, for teaching me where to look for good and for blessings, and to keep wrestling until I gain it.
Thank you for these posts.
For many years, it felt like there was this external push for me to bury any traits that were feminine, vulnerable, and loving in myself. Because I didn’t have Christian Science, I kept being hurt and saw that the only way to stop being hurt was by shutting down the “weak” spots. I became very cynical of people and life in general, and of course, increasingly godless.
Now I see that this external push was animal magnetism doing its best to shut me off from recognizing the Christ and listening to God. It is so clear now that these feminine qualities are what make me strong, and receptive, and useful to God. Shutting them down was actually becoming weak, useless, and as close to nothing as someone could be.
I am so grateful to Christian Science and this church for teaching me about my true nature and how to handle malicious mind. Thank you!
Thank you for this post!
As I read that verse, it struck me how part of what he was saying was that he is not God. So many have been misled to believe that he is God, and yet the teachings at this church have shown me that to believe that is to undermine the importance of his mission. How can he be our wayshower if he is beyond our ability to follow?
It is so comforting to me that his love for God and mankind led him to such demonstrations. And beyond that, and despite all Christ Jesus did, he still spoke in a way that let us know we are all in this together. He showed us the way, and also gave every reason to feel we could follow him.
If that doesn’t prove that Christ’s Christianity is scientific, and not supernatural, I don’t know what would. I thank God that Christian Science is practical and provable! I am so grateful for all Christ Jesus, Mary Baker Eddy, and this church have done to bring this Science to this world in need, and to show our oneness with God. Thank you!
Thank you for this post!
The words “a new heaven and a new earth” have been in my thought a lot this week. Upon first coming to Plainfield, and it was like nothing I had ever experienced! This wonderful place with people who were legitimately seeking to be and do as God directed. To me, this church literally was “inhabited by beings under the control of supreme wisdom.” Yet surprisingly, they admitted they were still striving. Even more shocking, the Christian Science they showed me freely gave the tools to get myself on that same path.
In Revelation 21: 5, God says, “Behold, I make all things new.” How many times this has happened these past few years! An idea from the week’s lesson gets assimilated, and my consciousness gets upended and I wonder what I knew before. In these moments — once again! — He makes for me “a new heaven and a new earth” where everything takes on a more vibrant color.
I am so grateful for this Science, and for all the ways that this church has enabled me to incrementally find the meaning in Life and my place in Mind so that I can step-by-step become one of the “beings under the control of supreme wisdom.” Thank you!
Thank you for this post: His words are a wonderful promise and a compelling call to action!
The following on page 196 of Miscellaneous Writings by Mary Baker Eddy speaks to this:
The sweet, sacred sense and permanence of man’s unity with his Maker, in Science, illumines our present existence with the ever-presence and power of God, good. It opens wide the portals of salvation from sin, sickness, and death. When the Life that is God, good, shall appear, “we shall be like Him;” we shall do the works of Christ, and, in the words of David, “the stone which the builders refused is become the head stone of the corner,” because the “I” does go unto the Father, the ego does arise to spiritual recognition of being, and is exalted, — not through death, but Life, God understood.
What a blessing Christian Science, this church, and these lessons are. Thank you!
Thank you for this post!
I sincerely appreciate how Christian Science is practical, right down to how there are these checks and balances that we can apply to our thoughts and actions. Knowing “good as being natural and evil as being unnatural” is an excellent one to keep close, as is what you mentioned in your testimony from the Wednesday meeting this week, which is, does this thought or action take me closer to God, or further away.
For some time I have been asking myself, when faced with a choice, is it more loving to do this, or less. I am sure that this had its seed in something I learned at this church, because I never did this before. Now I will be able to additionally refine this by asking myself “Does this thought or action show the naturalness of good?” and “Does this bring me closer to God?”
At this point I was reminded of the “What Would Jesus Do?” bumper stickers that were popular at one time. It is easy to see that when you don’t have any understanding of Christ Jesus’ teachings or the Science he lived, by asking that question you are left to answer with the highest sense of human good you possess.
This makes me so grateful for Christian Science, as it is giving me the proper basis to both ask and answer these questions so that I can start living rightly. What a wonderful blessing! Thank you!
Thank you for this post.
Sennacherib’s trust in his army, in his own strategic ability, and even in the love of his children, proved to be entirely misguided.
This reminds me of my life before coming here: I always felt I was one bad day away from it all unravelling. That turned out to be true, as it was for Sennacherib, and as it will be for anyone placing their trust in anything but God.
I am grateful for that “bad” day, because it turned out to be a great day…the day I began listening and learning to be receptive to “His comfort, care and direction.” It is now so clear that God absolutely is always at hand. Thank you!
Thank you for this post! This reply is just me working this out.
I know before coming to Plainfield, I would have read “The LORD hath made all things for Himself” and thought it was a selfish thing. Learning here the impersonal nature of God, and also that He constitutes all of reality, I can see now that there was no one else for Him to make anything for. Also, the fact that God made it show how unselfish He is!
From this new understanding, it is easy to see why I should look to Him alone for guidance: What else can help me live rightly? Certainly not my own limited understanding (I already proved what a disaster that is!). Only God has the perspective and the right to guide all of us, as we are all His ideas, expressing Him, in His creation. It gives me great joy to know that I don’t need to work out the variables and the pros and cons of each imagined possibility, because God is the only determiner of what is truly possible, and in Him there “is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.” (James 1: 17)
Therefore, since God is all (All-in-all), and God is impersonal, then the only way for me to live unselfishly is to express Him as He directs. Go where He has me go; do as He has me do; say what He has me say; work on the projects He has me work on, etc. (Also, to do it all with joy and gratitude, because even the difficult tasks end up a great blessing!)
Since God made all for Himself, then each of God’s ideas the world over are already worthy of Love, Truth, Life, goodness, and perfection. To think otherwise is to say that God’s work is flawed! This helps me see that much more why Christ Jesus had such compassion on all who seemed set upon by error, while having no patience for the error itself. As Mary wrote, he certainly didn’t “accept anything less” than God’s goodness and perfection.
And there is no reason I should either.
What a blessing this church has been, and continues to be! Thank you!
Thank you so much! This is incredibly helpful in my daily work.
Quite a while ago, in contemplating why the Bible is called “The Chart of Life,” I began to see that I need to move beyond reading the Bible as just stories about people in history, and on to actually seeing how they are teachings and examples for me to live up to. From there, it became clear I was to read Science and Health not as Mrs. Eddy’s words, but as God’s direct guidance for me.
During that process, I needed to work through the thoughts of “I don’t deserve this,” “I am not worthy of this,” and all the other excuses I had to not be what God made me to be. Each day I feel I see a bit more about how to “Walk worthy of the vocation wherewith [I am] called” (Ephesians 4: 1) and it is because of the understanding I am gaining forum posts like this, as well as the lessons, Bible Studies, Roundtables, etc.
I am so grateful to learn these truths, and grateful that Plainfield provides the place to learn how to demonstrate them in a practical way. I feel that I NEVER would have understood any of this without the teaching at this church together with practitioner support! Thank you!
This is wonderful!
Working with the synonyms has helped me so much, and this is making it even more clear how God works in my, and our, lives.
The following came to me after reading your post:
The Father is Spirit.
What does Spirit do? It is the “Divine substance; Mind; divine Principle; all that is good; God; that only which is perfect, everlasting, omnipresent, omnipotent, infinite.” (S&H, p. 594) Therefore, “…in him we live, and move, and have our being;” (Acts 17:28)
And what does Spirit NOT do? It does not concern itself with the unreal; with false beliefs; or, with material so-called laws. Why? There is no life, no movement, and no being in matter, as it is outside of God’s good reality. The unreal must be uncovered and destroyed.
Jesus knew that anything that claimed circumstances outside of Spirit was being viewed through the lens of materiality and personal sense. He knew it was impossible for the daughter to be dead (Matthew 9:18) because death is not a part of “all that is good.” Spirit certainly never showed death to Jesus.
I am so grateful to this church for showing me the authentic Christian Science that allows for this understanding. It is wonderful to begin to know these truths and to be able to put aside the fear that I used to have. Thank you!
Thank you so much for this post!
From the Webster’s 1828 Dictionary:
Infuse
1. To pour in, as a liquid.
2. To instill, as principles or qualities.
3. To introduce; …
4. To inspire with; …
This got me thinking about Florence Roberts’ article “Meekness and Restoration,” where she wrote, “Meekness is a quality to attain if we are to be made whole! …the original meaning of the word is “liquid.” Thus the ability of all liquids to conform naturally and perfectly to the form they are poured into.”
The idea that God infuses us with the qualities and properties necessary to fill and fit the form we are poured into makes a lot of sense to me. That this process leaves us “refreshed and rejuvenated” to go about our work for God brought me to another word from the lesson: Quickened.
Ephesians 2 : 1 (to ,)
1 And you hath he quickened,
Looking that up in the Webster’s 1828 Dictionary:
Quicken
1. Primarily, to make alive; to vivify; to revive or resuscitate, as from death or an inanimate state. Romans 4:17.
2. To make alive in a spiritual sense; to communicate a principle of grace to.
You hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins. Ephesians 2:1.
3. To hasten; to accelerate; as, to quicken motion, speed or flight.
4. To sharpen; to give keener perception to; to stimulate; to incite; as, to quicken the appetite or taste; to quicken desires.
5. To revive; to cheer; to reinvigorate; to refresh by new supplies of comfort or grace. Psalms 119:25.
What a wonderful God we have, that supplies us with the ability to be useful, to be made whole, to be refreshed and rejuvenated, to be made “alive in a spiritual sense,” and to filled with joy and inspiration and every good quality so we fit the work He has given us. What a blessing it is to be here, learning to be receptive to God’s voice, and to be growing in Christian Science. Thank you!
This stood out to me this week as well. Before Plainfield, I tried many avenues attempting to understand why I was here and what I needed to do to move forward. No matter what I tried, or what I read, life seemed a solution-less equation.
Then, God brought me here to learn Christian Science. Everything has begun to open up and make sense! I am so grateful for this, because past experience did a wonderful job proving that the “human concept of life” cannot change without this understanding of Science. Now I know the path forward, and — with the support offered at this church — this needed change will happen, and that spiritual and scientific knowledge will be realized so I can finally be what God created me to be.
What a blessing Christian Science and this church is to me every single day! Thank you!
Not long after arriving to Plainfield, there was a lesson which included Christ Jesus saying, in Matthew 6:24, “No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.”
At the time, I came to see that I need to make sure I am not loyal to person, but to God. Since then, however, I’ve thought and prayed on that a lot, wondering if there was more to it. And then this week, we have the following citation from Science and Health:
8. 457 : 19-24
Christian Science is not an exception to the general rule, that there is no excellence without labor in a direct line. One cannot scatter his fire, and at the same time hit the mark. To pursue other vocations and advance rapidly in the demonstration of this Science, is not possible.
This had me look up the Webster’s 1828 Dictionary definition:
VOCA’TION, noun [Latin vocatio, from voco, to call. See Voice.]
1. Among divines, a calling by the will of God; or the bestowment of God’s distinguishing grace upon a person or nation, by which that person or nation is put in the way of salvation; as the vocation of the Jews under the old dispensation, and of the Gentiles under the gospel.
2. Summons; call; inducement.
3. Designation or destination to a particular state or profession.
4. Employment; calling; occupation; trade; a word that includes professions as well as mechanical occupations. Let every divine, every physician, every lawyer, and every mechanic, be faithful and diligent in his vocation.
Then it became clear: Mrs. Eddy isn’t saying I need to not have a trade, but that my activities must be directed by God alone. I’ve been able to prove this to myself, as I know that in playing guitar, I cannot heed the calling of music theory and inspiration simultaneously. While working on the church website, I cannot worry about industry trends and what spiritual sense is telling me is right. I cannot even write this post by both being honest to my own understanding and what I think someone else might want to hear.
I am grateful to know that Christian Science is crucial in all areas of Life, not just in part. Knowing that living and working rightly gain the promise of “the bestowment of God’s distinguishing grace upon” us is such a blessing. Thank you for this lesson!
Last week (May 15th, 2016), the Responsive Reading had the following verses from II Corinthians 5:
1. For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.
2. For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven:
3. If so be that being clothed we shall not be found naked.
4. For we that are in this tabernacle do groan, being burdened: not for that we would be unclothed, but clothed upon, that mortality might be swallowed up of life.
I wondered about the concept of clothed and naked, and what it meant spiritually. Now, the very next week, it is made so clear. Thank you for these posts.
How wonderful it is that divine Mind guides these lessons so they all build upon each other. The fact that this continually happens is proof of the continual demonstration of the lesson committee! Thank you so much!
Thank you, both!
In studying the lessons, I have started taking time to restate parts of the lesson each week, to make sure I am really getting it. Often after reading the Forum posts, or taking part in the Bible Study or Roundtable, I find I need to reword some of them.
So for my restatement of “For we walk by faith, not by sight” I had written, “The path forward is lit by Truth, Life, and Love; not by material means.” But now, with your comments, I have added, “It is discerned by spiritual sense alone; and not our eyes.” An important addition, to be sure!
I am so grateful for all I am learning here. So wonderful to start understanding the difference between the real and unreal, the mortal and immortal, and the human and divine. Thank you!
Thank you!
In the mid-90’s I worked construction for a time around Boston. There were parts of that job I loved, but one part that was not good was the tendency of all the guys to talk about truly awful things. At first it really disturbed me, but then I realized I could “catch” the words coming in and decide whether I wanted to picture it or just let them go. What a wonderful change this brought, and only all these years later do I see that it was God looking out for me then, and also preparing me to be able to understand now Mrs. Eddy words, “Stand porter at the door of thought.” (S&H, p. 392)
In computer programming, whenever there is a place for people to enter text, there is a need to “sanitize” that input so that no malicious code can be entered. Failure to do so could take whole websites down or even ruin the computers they reside on. A synonym of “sanitize” is “purify” which, to me, seems like a really good way to think about intercepting these malicious messages, as this purification process destroys the problem before it can even do anything.
I am so grateful for Christian Science, but also grateful that God has been with me my whole life, showing me what I need and proving constantly that He is Love. I can see now that I was brought so low because I failed to purify those false suggestions, and what is worse, God had already given me tools to do it! Yet another reason to be grateful for God’s mercy, and for the support and teaching that is offered at this church! Thank you!
We ended up having a full testimony meeting, but it didn’t feel right to leave this unsaid:
My whole life, I have been prone to feeling easily discouraged and to never feeling like I know if I am making right decisions. I see now that I was raised to seek the end result without having a clue what the process was that actually creates it. To know that God is the source of all, and that He supplies me each day with the means to achieve His purpose is a wonderful revelation to me. I was always discouraged because I didn’t go to God for everything, and perpetually demoralized because I had no idea how to even understand what constituted a good result.
This church has taught me that good results only come from obedience to God, because only God knows what the result should be in the first place! Christian Science is teaching me that we cannot expect the result to be good — in other words, from God – if the recipe we are following is all wrong. I need to live this.
I am so grateful for this church, these lessons, for Christian Science, for practitioner support, and for God giving me a place and purpose at all times. What a blessing this is, that even a single word in a lesson can bring so much healing! Thank you!
I was certainly afflicted with wrong thinking and overthinking before coming here, and it ran me right into the ground. In Plainfield, I have learned that Christian Science brings a peaceful thought, which leaves me more able to hear God’s voice. As an aside, a lot of that peacefulness seems to have come from simplifying my many loyalties down to just being loyal to God.
Something I found a while ago that has helped me is this (from Association Address by Bicknell Young, page 20 of the 1936 address):
“Looking for something esoteric, or mystical, or hidden, is not Christian Science. Anything hidden or mystical is error, or unreality. The temptation to become complicated in thought and explanation, if yielded to, obscures Christian Science and prolongs or perhaps prevents demonstration.
Christian Science is intellectual in the highest sense, but that sense is Love, and lacking the simplicity of interpretation which the demonstration of Love alone can give, Christian Science is not correctly explained.”
It’s a good reminder to me that we are not in a secret club. The is only one creator and one creation, and thus nothing good and real is secret or obscure. Truth, Love, Life, and the right thinking of Mind are for all!
What a wonderful realization this was, and is, to me. Thank you!
Thank you for this: I find great comfort in how Christian Science allows us to prove that Spirit is guiding all!
With all that the children of Israel had been through, their arrival in the promised land apparently did not give them the sense that they had “arrived.” For a time, they listened to God and worked in unity. Each of them had to be “Leaning on the sustaining Infinite with loving trust…” individually for that to happen, which means they all were doing their own work.
It seems like only after they wanted others to take care of the work — such as judges, prophets, and kings — that they started getting into serious trouble. Contemplating this has helped me see why the unity at this church is so important: The only true unity happens when we are all guided by Spirit. Such a blessing and responsibility to be a member of this church!
Thank you so much for this post and replies!
Not long after I first came to the church, I read in Science and Health, “Desire is prayer.” and that struck me. I figured that meant if my desire was pure, then my prayer was to God. However, if my prayer was selfish, then my prayer was not to God. The thought that I used to actually pray to anyone or anything but God is disturbing. Because of what I have learned these last few years, I now often pray for the right desire, to know my place in His plan, and to learn any lessons I need to learn quickly. It is wonderful to be here, gaining the understanding of how to be useful to God. What a blessing! Thank you!
Thank you for this. I certainly have found that it is not a path of drudgery. Drudgery was, for me, when I had spent years unknowingly allowing mortal mind to make thorny ground of me. There is no joy in that! I am so grateful that Truth is consistent, persistent, and unchanging — no matter how AM would resist, there is no lie that can overcome Truth. What a wonderful God we have! Thank you for this lesson.