Protective Work
In doing “Protective” work, one should take half an hour each day, and declare the truth about “malpractice.”
Mental malpractice may be defined as improper mental activity; it tries to make a Christian Scientist think there is a return of old beliefs.
When you give a Christian Science treatment, declare: “There is no law of malpractice that can make me forget anything that is essential to make this a perfect and complete treatment, and a successful one.”
A treatment is the work and word of God. It does not return unto Him void but it is final and complete in its effects and the results thereof. Sometimes when you feel that you cannot get results, declare the truth in this manner: “This treatment is the very essence, power, presence, and activity of infinite and perfect good. It does its work because it is ‘God with us,’ and it does wipe out, obliterate and destroy. It reduces to its native nothingness any mortal belief in a power apart from God. God is the only power. God is the only Life-there is no law of reversal.”
Never be afraid of fear; it is only mesmerism. Communion with God is the law which destroys the presence of evil at all times. These are facts; these are truths. Truth is infinite. It has no opposition. It has no competitor. Truth is omnipotent, omnipresent, so error of any name or nature has neither power nor presence. Truth is its own utterance, its own impulsion. It is irresistible. Nothing can withstand it. Nothing can delay, hinder or limit its activity, or affect its affirmations. Nothing can ever limit its capacity for expression. In fact, it is the word of God which …”shall not return unto me void, but, it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.” (Isaiah 55:11)
BICKNELL YOUNG
The Law of Success
Why is it that some businessmen never fail; or, if they fail, always come out on top? Because they become a law to the belief of their own success; because they put into the scale of being that which is efficacious. Take, for example, a man who is out of work and wants a situation. What is situation? Why, it is, first of all, the conviction on the part of somebody that he needs a worker and wants to employ someone; next, it is his conclusion that he will do so; and lastly, it is his decision that he will employ you, if you please. Now that is the situation – all mental. The whole matter of situation exists at the standpoint of supply and demand, which scientifically understood, are one and the same in the mind of the employer and employee. Now, suppose you spend all your time being afraid that you will not get the situation. Have you the slightest idea of what you are doing? Do you know what you do to your situation when you spend your time being afraid you will not get it? You scare it off; positively, you are doing that which will mesmerize it away from you. Now, take the man who is buoyant, expectant, whose very attitude is law. What does he do? He does not spend time being afraid. No; he knows he will get something, and that becomes a law of success both to the employer and employee.
EDWARD A. KIMBALL
Science & Health – Chapter 12
The twelfth chapter of Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures covers the subject of Christian Science healing. For those familiar with the chapter, this recording will provide fresh inspiration. From the very beginning, throughout, the emphasis is on the spirit, not the letter. Presentation is by a few pages at a time, for your convenience.
Pages 362-364:
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Testimony To Love
What I like most about Christian Science is that it is provable. It is not about reading and repeating a lot of theories; it is a demonstrable religion. The demonstration is actually simple. It does not require a higher education, but it requires an absolute reliance on God and His loving guidance, and of course, a pure state of mind. What I mean by a pure state of mind is letting nothing but Love fill my heart at all times and in every situation.
Among all the ways we have to express God, my experience has proved to me that love is the most powerful, and it defines God the most. As Mrs. Eddy said, “Love alone is Life,” and “Life is God.” When we love, we are expressing God; and when we stop loving, we have stopped living. It is as simple as that. Also, we cannot pick and choose whom to love. God did not give us that choice. We must love everyone equally as children of God, regardless of the picture error sometimes parades before us. When we love, we do not just help ourselves, but at the same time we help the other individuals to change in character and in thinking. Then they become better neighbors, friends, and relatives.
I have witnessed love in operation, and I can testify that it can make the worst person you’ve ever known into the most loving person you have dreamed of. On countless occasions, I have conquered the most severe hate and opposition with love. I know it is hard sometimes to do, but I strive every day to be more loving and compassionate in every encounter with people. I know my life will be nothing if I’m not using it to bless my fellow man, and there is no better way than expressing my love in thoughts and in deeds.
Benjamin Ndukwe
Consecration
Laid on Thy altar, my Lord divine,
Accept my gift this day for Jesus’ sake;
I have no jewels to adorn Thy shrine,
Nor any world-famed sacrifice to make.
But here I bring within my trembling hand
This will of mine — a thing that seemeth small,
And only Thou, dear Lord, canst understand
How, when I yield Thee this, I yield mine all.
Hidden therein Thy searching eyes can see
Struggles of passions, visions of delight,
All that I love or am, or fain would be –-
Deep loves, fond hopes, and longing infinite.
It hath been wet with tears and dimmed with sighs,
Clinched in my grasp ’til beauty it hath none,
Now, from Thy footstool, where it vanquished lies,
The prayer ascendeth, O may Thy will be done.
Take it, Oh Father, ere my courage fail;
And merge it so in Thine own will that e’en
If in some desperate hour my cries prevail
And Thou give back my gift, it may have been
So changed, so purified, so fair have grown,
So one with Thee, so filled with peace divine,
I may not know, or feel it as my own,
But gaining back my will, may find it Thine.
Anonymous – Eustace book p.427 (bottom numbering)
A Group of Wise Thinkers
Many people today are asking themselves important questions. “What can I do to make the world a better place? What good would my efforts do?” In finding this church, you have found the answer to these questions, an answer to a deep longing to be of valuable service to God.
In Miscellany Mrs. Eddy states, “A small group of wise thinkers is better than the might of empires.” God has brought together from the very far corners of the earth, a group of “wise thinkers.” A group dedicated to work day and night for the liberation of mankind from sin, disease, and death.
In the Biblical story of Sodom and Gomorrah, Abraham’s prayer was that if fifty or even ten righteous men could be found in Sodom, that city would be saved from destruction. In regard to this story Mrs. Eddy makes an interesting comment, “A life or nation is saved, in proportion to the predominance within of purity, patriotism, or other right motives; and this is the inner spiritual meaning of Abraham’s petition to God. If Sodom City had in it enough moral worth, it would be saved, not otherwise.” (C.S.J. #5)
The moral worth of this country is dependent on the right thinking of every individual. You are important! A small group of wise thinkers” can change the course of history, and you can help make that difference. Now, more than ever, dedicated workers are needed. Come join us in this most important work. Hear Mrs. Eddy’s stirring words, “Will you doff your lavender-kid zeal and become real and consecrated warriors? Will you give yourselves wholly and irrevocably to the great work of establishing the truth, the gospel, and the Science which are necessary to the salvation of the world from error, sin, disease, and death? Answer at once and practically, and answer aright!” (Misc Wr p. 177)
Mary Beth Singleterry
God With Us
Try to be conscious that God is with you every moment; and in the seemingly dark hours when error screams to be heard and would tempt you to your destruction, faint not, and know that man is governed alone by God, and Truth is the only voice to be heard.
The past is a lie; there is no truth in anything that is claiming to have happened. There is, and has been, and always will be, only the eternal now. Remember only the good, then you will be communing with God, and harmony will be the inevitable result.
Take courage from every experience, and power will be yours. Go on, dear friends, and prove that you are the children of Him who cares for His own. Be faithful to Principle in all you say and do, and success will be yours.
Christian Science brings to light immortality. When error appears, it appears to disappear. Mentally cling to God, Good, to the true idea about the false claim, and this will save you from error.
The law of God is the only law that exists. Declare against any power of evil being ordained for you. Release your own career, routine, and destiny from any and all entanglements of evil law. If pressed into the corner of adversity and you do not know which way to turn, go on. Utter God’s word; declare it faithfully, knowing it cannot turn unto itself void. The coming of deliverance is an inevitable event, even if it seems delayed, for right thought must manifest itself.
Be happy at all times and in all places; for remember it is your right and a duty you owe yourself and to your God to retain that right, no matter how loudly the senses scream. Depression belongs not to the child of God neither is it real, nor can it affect one when his motives are right.
Be faithful to Principle in all you say and do, and success will be yours.
Edward A. Kimball
Dualism Impossible in Science
Dualism describes that state of thought that declares there is one Mind because there is one God, but insists there is also the human mind we must contend with; that spiritual man is made in God’s image, but material man is what we have to work out of. “Science”, however, is derived from the Latin verb “to know”. Is it possible to know the truth and its lie at the same time? Imagine using the principle of mathematics to solve a calculation, and at the same time holding to a contradiction to that principle. What is the likelihood of reaching a correct result? The same goes for Christian Science practice. But let us look to the Bible for confirmation that we are on the right track, for the Bible is our “chart of life.”
Jesus addressed dualism head-on: “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.” (Matt.) If we profess that God is all-powerful, all-knowing, omnipresent and yet pay more attention to the personal wants and physical demands of our day-to-day life, with God relegated to study time and church attendance, are we not trying to serve two masters? “In all thy ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct thy paths.” (Prov.) This does not mean we acknowledge God only in selected activities!
Later in the Bible we find another warning against dualism: “…ask [God] in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord.” (James) The sincere student of Christian Science knows that the faith referred to here is not a blind faith, but “trustworthiness”, as Mrs. Eddy points out in the textbook, a holding to what we know to be true in Science, in the face of contrary evidence. There is no room for wavering, for declaring for a loving, omnipotent God, and at the same time accepting that this same God “allows” evil for reasons unknown.
However, the unwise student of Christian Science will strive, above all, to avoid medical help in his effort to serve God and not mammon. This student would rather profess a blind faith than address the fear resident in thought, a fear that denies God’s allness. “For God hath not given us the spirit of fear, but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.” (II Timothy) There is no room for blind faith in Science.
Above all, the dualism that must be guarded against is the dualism that would infiltrate the heart, professing one thing and living another. To love God and to resent man is impossible. To trust God and to fear a medical doctor is impossible. To declare there is one Mind, and to indulge in bickering with your neighbor is not Science. Recognizing “the warfare with one’s self is grand; it gives one plenty of employment…” (Misc. Wr.) is true humility, and should be paramount in the heart of the student.
We pray for that day when students of Christian Science will be known, not as those who shun medical doctors, but as those who know the Bible, free of church dogma, true to original Christianity, where healing is a natural outgrowth of faith, a faith rock-solid, built on the Christ-message so perfectly articulated by Mrs. Eddy in her textbook, “Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures”.
Andrew Kidd
The Law of Recovery
There is a helpful story in the Bible which we can benefit from today. David and his men had returned from battle and found that their city had been invaded and burned. Their wives, sons and daughters had been taken captive. The Bible says that, “David was greatly distressed.” His men were distraught and weeping, but at this critical moment “David encouraged himself in the Lord.” David prayed to God and asked Him for guidance. “Shall I pursue after this troop? Shall I overtake them?” And God answered, “Pursue: for thou shalt surely overtake them, and without fail recover all.”
So David did as God commanded him. He pursued his enemies, and “David recovered all… And there was nothing lacking to them, neither small nor great, neither sons nor daughters, neither spoil, nor any thing that they had taken to them: David recovered all.”
What a wonderful story of encouragement for us. When there seems to be no light at the end of the tunnel, and the temptation comes to give up, and admit defeat, remember David and this story. Whether what you lost seems to be financial, physical, emotional, “Encourage yourself in the Lord.” Pray to your God. He is an ever-present help, and will surely show you the way out of any difficulty. God can and will recover all to you, as certainly as He did for David.
As Edward Kimball states in his book, “Lectures and Articles on Christian Science,” “Be not afraid. You can be a law unto yourself, a law of recovery from disease, a law to your business, a law of harmony to your welfare, and your own household, and all things in your life, because God gave man dominion, and you are entitled to it. In this very hour, you are entitled to be a law of recovery to your own self.”
Mary Beth Singleterry
Your Background
Does the argument come to you that you didn’t come from a good family, or have opportunities as someone else? Stand on the fact that you came forth from God; that your background is God Himself.
You came forth from the background of the infinite grandeur of Mind – from the capabilities and capacities of Principle itself; you came forth from the sound and stable foundation of Truth – sincerity, genuineness, fidelity are the very nature of your being.
“Thou art Truth’s honest child, Of pure and sinless heart;” (Hymn #382)
You came forth from, and are the substance of Spirit; you are the loved of God. Your whole background is the background of Love, and Love only; and there never has been, and can never be, a power that can change the status of Love’s child. You emerged from the background of radiance and beauty. You were made of the inspiration and stimulation of Soul; Life eternal is your life. You were not created delicate or weak or with a predisposition to take cold and have indigestion. You were created of Life-substance, and Life can never be less than vigorous and warm and energetic and spontaneous. You are Life expressing itself; then there is never anything less than life in your being. Your sense, faculties, and functions are operated by Life, Principle, Mind, Soul, Spirit, Truth, Love.
UNA WILLARD
Body
“Except the Lord build the house, they labor in vain that build it.” Just so long as you are trying to spiritualize body, or to heal the body through your own mental effort, just so long as you are trying to create health, you are laboring in vain, for you are trying to do God’s part, to do that which has already been done.
We live in a universe of perfect form. Not only our body but all that is formed is literally the body of God and is perfect now. To believe that the infinite substance has been malformed through the ignorant mental activity of the individual, and must be redeemed and perfected through the same activity is to see not one power, but two. There is no condition of the body. There is nothing to be rebuilt or straightened or healed. There is nothing to change. There is nothing needed but to see God. “Stand ye still and see the salvation of the Lord.”
All that we need to do – and it will keep us busy – is to train our thought faithfully and persistently in the acknowledgment of the truth of God’s presence, train it to judge righteous judgment, to see God and God only, to think God and God only. Having accepted the omnipresence, hold to it no matter what the apparent condition may seem to be. In treating yourself, never deal with appearances or symptoms. Do not center your thought on organs or functions. Infinite substance, power, intelligence and activity are in that place and do not need your suggestions.
Stop thinking about the body or trying to picture as perfect from your standpoint. Our highest perception of the body today is far short of what body really is. Stop tinkering with it mentally. Loose it and let it go. Just know that it is God’s body and that God this moment and every moment is bringing it forth according to His Word, His divine idea. Jesus recognized Lazarus as an undying manifestation of God. You are that undying and perfect manifestation of God.
MARY BAKER EDDY
(Excerpted from her article “Body”)
Only “Now”
Dear God, I prayed tell me what
I need to know,
My healing seems so slow—so slow.
Is there some old hidden fault in me?
That, blinded, I refuse to see—
Or perhaps some dim dark past,
That won’t let go?
–and then an answer came
Just this way:–
“My son, don’t you know—
You are perfect, and always
Have been.
Just rest in that,
There is not past.”
ART ANKER
Slow Healing
One who is seeking freedom, and finds it delayed, is often tempted to question, why am I so long in being healed? I read and study faithfully, do everything required of me, “pray without ceasing,” yet conditions do not change. Others are quickly healed, without any apparent understanding or knowledge of Science, and seemingly without any effort on their part.
This may be true; but the fact remains that each one must walk in his own pathway and learn the lessons to be gained therein.
My own healing in Christian Science was slow. The logic and theory of Christian Science was fairly clear to me within a month or two, but to trust it and make it practical took years. Looking back, I can see some reasons for delayed healing. In the first place, I believed absolutely in the reality and power of the error which I suffered. Then, too, I wanted to be healed above all else, and this is sometimes disastrous. I read the textbook with the thought in mind of being healed. I would read a powerful statement and think, “Maybe this will heal me.”
I would earnestly warn others against such practice. I thought practitioners were wasting their time when they talked so much about God, because I was not seeking a religion. I wished only to be free from suffering.
Another hindrance was that I became desperately sorry for myself. Self-pity is like a poison. It seems some are quickly healed, but I was not one of these. I am deeply grateful for it all and for every step of the way, however rough it seemed.
It is absolutely necessary for some people to be driven to solitude, really to find and know themselves as children of Spirit; to become acquainted with a real self which they have never consciously met before.
This takes time, study, thought and consecration; a gradual laying aside of old beliefs and habits, a discarding of many faults, some that were once thought to be virtues; an overturning of false education, and a new kind of self-analysis from an entirely new basis.
At times one will say, “I don’t care how wearisome the way is, if I’m healed. But it seems as if I’m making no progress, despite the effort put forth.” This is never so for when freedom does come, one will be found farther along the road than he had ever dreamed he could be.
For the comfort of such wayfarers Mrs. Eddy writes, “If your endeavors are beset by fearful odds, and you receive no present reward, go not back to error, nor become a sluggard in the race. When the smoke of battle clears away, you will discern the good you have done, and receive according to your deserving. Love is not hasty to deliver us from temptation, for Love means that we shall be tried and purified.” (Science and Health, p. 22)
I know in my own experience it was not until one day I set the textbook down and said, “ Well, whether I am ever healed or not, I am certainly finding God as I never knew Him before.” Then better conditions began to be manifested. I turned to Christian Science with the thought of finding God. Then the suffering lessened and finally vanished. I thought less about the body and naturally it troubled me less.
Not unnaturally I always feel the deepest compassion toward those who seem slow in receiving their freedom, because I know the difficulties of hope deferred, but I must add that I also know much, very much of its triumphs.
Then let us persist; let us keep our confidence and faith in God, till the coming of that glad time when we can say, as did Paul, “I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course.”
More earnest seeking, striving, overcoming, day by day is still the one thing needful as we “press toward the mark;” but the pilgrim is not alone, for he has at last learned that our heavenly Father is with him every step of the way.
KATE BUCK
Jesus’ Impact, and Ours
We all want to make a difference in this world, and during the present political upheaval in our country and world, it helps to turn to the Gospel for guidance, and a healthy perspective. Christ Jesus came into the world during the height of the Roman Empire. When he was heralded as the Saviour of Israel, most assumed that he would lead a revolt against the Romans, who occupied the land. Because the chief priests and scribes (members of religious establishment of the time) felt threatened by Jesus’ revolutionary message, they tried to trap him into saying something incendiary towards Rome, and thereby get him into trouble with the authorities. They asked him, “Is it lawful for us to give tribute [pay taxes] unto Caesar, or not?” Jesus knew well what they were up to, and foiled them by showing them a penny with Caesar’ image and superscription. Then he made his now-famous proclamation, “Render unto Caesar the things that be Caesar’s, and unto God the things that be God’s.”
The mission of Jesus was far greater than freeing a nation from a tyrannical government for a moment in time. As Mrs. Eddy so perfectly described it: “In no other one thing seemed Jesus of Nazareth more divine than in his faith in the immortality of his words. He said, “Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away;” and they have not… They still live, and to-morrow speak louder than to-day… Jesus taught by the wayside, in humble homes. He spake of Truth and Love to artless and dull disciples. His immortal words were articulated in a decaying language, and then left to the providence of God. Christian Science was to interpret them; and woman, “last at the cross,” was to awaken the dull senses, intoxicated with pleasure or pain, to the infinite meaning of those words.” (Misc. Wr.)
If this message of Truth has touched us, we ought to follow our Master, the Way-shower, and see the bigger picture! He did not get entangled in political struggles or worldly achievement, and yet nobody has had greater impact on humanity. Jesus did not get sucked into the endless bickering of mortals, nor should we: “The despotic tendencies, inherent in mortal mind and always germinating in new forms of tyranny, must be rooted out through the action of the divine Mind.” (S&H) Should we not follow his example, as stated in the sixth Tenet of Christian Science? “And we solemnly promise to watch, and pray for that Mind to be in us which was also in Christ Jesus; to do unto others as we would have them do unto us; and to be merciful, just, and pure.” The impact of doing this we leave to “the providence of God.”
Andrew Kidd
Mary
Sacred history tells us that in the province of Galilee, among the common people, there was a little group of metaphysical thinkers. Right in the midst of this dense materialistic thinking of the upper class was this little group, this remnant of Israel who practiced pure and undefiled religion. They taught and practiced the most beautiful moral precepts. In fact, they were full of light in that black night of materialism. This little group knew from actual experience that spiritual law, set in motion by purified and spiritualized thought, was far more effective than the forcing of political issue through material aggression or human will.
Mary belonged to this group. Mary was deeply religious, a woman of strong character and super-intelligence. She was far from the “clinging vine” type to which so many have ignorantly assigned her. It is interesting and wonderful to learn how Mary, within herself, prepared for the coming of the Saviour. She was familiar with the Scriptures and knew that an immaculate conception would not just happen. She knew that an immaculate conception could take place only if the purity of the virgin’s thought was sufficiently demonstrated.
Mary was familiar with the miracles of the ancient patriarchs and prophets. She, no doubt, prayed and sang the songs of David. To her, the Psalms were the same source of comfort and consolation as they have been to both Christian and Jew alike, down through the ages. Mary knew that all things, circumstances, conditions, and events do not just happen. She clearly understood that any thought held in the mentality tends to express or eternalize itself in outward or visible form. Therefore, Mary firmly believed that the longing and the undaunted faith in the certain coming of Israel’s deliverer, would sometime become externalized. Mary knew that if she, a virgin, were to become the mother of the Saviour, this demonstration could only be made through her spiritual understanding of the Fatherhood of God. Her demonstration made, then, indeed, God would be the Father of her child, and her child would truly be the Son of God.
The annunciation, as recorded by Luke, was Mary’s announcement to herself, and to those who looked for Israel’s deliverer, that she was to be the mother of the Saviour, who would save not only Israel of that day, but all generations to come. This annunciation represents Mary’s own reasoning; her communion with the angel was her communion with her own inner self. In a larger sense, her annunciation was her communion with God, her own mind. This, indeed, was the power and operation of the divine idea in human consciousness.
In this annunciation, Mary said, “My soul doth magnify the Lord, and my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour. For He hath regarded the low estate of his handmaiden: for, behold, from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed. For He that is mighty hath done to me great things; and holy is His name. And His mercy is on them that fear Him from generation to generation.” (Luke) This annunciation by the Virgin Mary is the greatest poem in Hebrew literature. I will say it is the greatest poem that has ever been written.
When the angel, that mighty impression of good, appeared to Mary and said unto her, “The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God,” Mary answered this angel, saying, “Be it unto me according to Thy word.” (Luke)
False theology has made the world believe that this statement made by Mary to the angel was made in a spirit of mere pious resignation on her part, and that Mary had little to do with giving a Saviour to the world. But since “The Key to the Scriptures” has unlocked for us the “Science of Mind,” Mary’s statement, “Be it unto me according to Thy word,” reveals Mary’s thought as being on a lofty plane of spiritual power and realization. This statement was a confident assertion that nothing, not even the bringing forth of Israel’s deliverer, was impossible with God. Her words were the acknowledgement of spiritual law.
Martha Wilcox
Science & Health – Chapter 2
The second chapter of the Christian Science textbook, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, covers the subjects of atonement and eucharist. For those familiar with the chapter, this recording will provide fresh inspiration. For those new to the textbook, this will introduce you to basic Christian concepts of atonement and sacrament as viewed in the revelation of Christian Science.
Pages 18-28:
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Pages 28-37
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Pages 37-44:
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Radiation and Absorption
God, the source of all being — the atmosphere, so to speak, in which all living move and have being, — is Radiation, continual action. Man, as His idea, possessing His qualities, also radiates His thoughts, comprising all that is good, harmonious, and perfect. That constant radiation of Light is the Armor of Righteousness, which always protects man from his enemy, the devil (mortal mind).
All mortal mind is the counterfeit, or opposite, of this Life Principle, and is absorption, blackness, and stagnation, which strives, with apparent power, to set up its counter-current of material envy, malice, and selfishness, to render its victim an absorbent of all that is evil, erroneous, causing stagnation and death.
As man cannot at the same time radiate and absorb, by consistently sending forth thoughts of Love, Life, and Truth whenever a delusion of their opposites presents itself, he may have a veritable armor against fears of weakness of every description, and so keep prepared for, and guard against, attacks from every direction. This idea will bear much contemplation, growing and amplifying with application.
Thus, God, Light, Action, Life, Truth, or Love, is the invincible Power, which repels and conquers animal magnetism, blackness, stagnation, death, error, and hate. Christian Scientists will find the effect of the approach and attack of mesmerism to be a sort of paralysis, or inaction of mind, which will be reversed upon the recovery of the right condition of thought, by the vitality and Life that has conquered and destroyed the numbness and fear.
When an attack seems to approach, — by immediately reversing the condition of mind, and mentally enquiring of self, “Am I radiating good or am I absorbing evil?” — and putting that thought into action, by addressing the counteracting thought of Spirit to whatever seems to be attacking you from mortal mind, you will set yourself free from bondage, and render yourself the medium of demonstration for those blessings you so freely receive from the source of all Good.
A. Learner
From current Healing Thoughts magazine
This article appeared in an 1887 Journal, and it is thought to have been written by Mary Baker Eddy.
Lessons from Job
The book of Job is the oldest written book in the Bible. What could we possibly learn from something so old, when the world was so different — thousands of years ago, when there was no running water, no phones, no microwaves, nothing like we have today?
The book begins by presenting Job as a good man who was very successful, but his children did not share his work ethic, and were out drinking and partying all the time. Well now, that sounds familiar. Job was very worried about them, but never confronted them. Rather, he prayed to God that He would forgive them. What a perfect example of what not to do! Mary Baker Eddy states, “If prayer nourishes the belief that sin is cancelled, and that man is made better merely by praying, prayer is an evil. He grows worse who continues in sin because he fancies himself forgiven.” (S&H) Job, in fact, did grow worse and suffered immensely until he learned his lesson.
The writers of the book of Job, however, did not understand what was going on. They only saw a good man become a victim. They conjured up an interaction between two personalities, God and Satan, wagering on the goodness of Job! The God-personality invited the Satan-personality to rain down the worst calamities imaginable upon Job, to demonstrate Job’s faithfulness, that he would not curse God. We know that the writers conjured all this up, because God is not in a human form, and there is no such thing as a person called Satan! But before we dismiss this absurd explanation, let us consider what very often happens when a good man suffers a terrible experience. Somehow, the blame ends up at God’s doorstep! Let us never fall for that temptation, for it contradicts “perfect God and perfect man.” Let us, instead, remember the book of Job.
Job went through an agonizing time, trying to reconcile his experience with his own pride of life, his own personal sense of good. He got nowhere. His three “well-intentioned” friends tried to help him, but since they were full of pride of life themselves, they only ended up making him feel worse, essentially condemning him.
Finally, Elihu, a fourth friend, and the youngest, steps up. He has the Christ-spirit, and starts with the premise of perfect God, Principle, and works from there with conviction and dominion. It breaks the mesmerism, and now Job can hear God.
Job’s heart is reached, and in total humility, he says: “I have heard of Thee by the hearing of the ear: but now mine eye seeth Thee. Wherefore I abhor myself and repent in dust and ashes.” His pride of life became dust and ashes, and the image and likeness of God stepped forward. As the story goes, Job ended up with twice as much as he had before, and had a very happy and full life.
We have touched upon some of the many lessons in the book of Job, lessons that will help us to grow in our understanding of Christian Science, and help us take every untoward experience and turn it into a blessing, remembering always Jesus’ statement, “It is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.”
Andrew Kidd
From current Healing Thoughts magazine
Science & Health – Chapter 1 – Prayer
The first chapter of the Christian Science textbook, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, covers the subject of prayer. For those familiar with the chapter, this recording will provide fresh inspiration. For those new to the textbook, this will introduce you to the most important book since the Bible on the subject of man’s relationship to his Maker.
Pages 1-4:
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Pages 4-11
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Pages 11-17:
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No Excuses Necessary!
There is a song our church quartet once sang which
began with the line, “Excuses, excuses, you hear them every day . . .” The lyrics were actually quite humorous, as the song proceeded to list excuses everyone can identify with.
I could certainly relate to this song, as at that time in my life, I had an excuse for everything. There was a reason why I was late for appointments, why I forgot to do something, why I couldn’t finish something, why I couldn’t get the job, etc., etc., etc.! The excuses seemed quite reasonable to me, like old friends, really. Nothing was ever my fault; there was always some external situation which kept me the victim (and never the victor!). Yet, I was not quite sure why my life seemed to be going downhill and why I felt very discouraged most of the time.
One evening I began to study Martha Wilcox’s article, “Definition of Intelligence.” I came upon this paragraph which changed my life and my way of thinking forever: “The harmful effect of alibis and excuses on the individual is far more serious than we realize. Many persons are in hospitals, even in insane hospitals because they have hidden behind an alibi or an excuse until their so-called human intellect is enfeebled and impaired. They permitted their headaches, their indigestion, their nerves, their belief in persons and circumstance to be an alibi or excuse for something that was hard to do, or that they did not want to do, until they literally lost their power to decide things intelligently. An alibi or excuse is a form of deceit that is used to hide the facts in the case, and the results are most disastrous to the one who indulges in them.”
I could see myself in that statement, and knew I needed to do something radical to change my way of thinking! Initially, this article made me much more aware of when I was making an excuse. I could catch myself and stop the negative pattern of thought.
But real progress came as I prayed more earnestly and grew in my understanding of Christian Science; it then became very clear to me that excuses are totally unnecessary when we have God at the head of our procession. The question I began to ask myself was, “Is this something God would have me to do? If it is, He will give me all the capacity I need to do it. And if it is not something He would have me to do, I simply will not do it — no excuses necessary!”
What liberation, and it really was not at all difficult! I began to gratefully realize my life was becoming God-centered instead of self-centered, and believe me, that has made all the difference. I will always be grateful for the Martha Wilcox book and for the inspiration I received from it. She had been a worker in Mrs. Eddy’s home and had learned first-hand from Mrs. Eddy how to demonstrate the principles of Christian Science.
So, if you find excuses slowing down the good plan God has for your life, kick them out! Trust our dear loving Father with what He would have you to do. You’ll be so very glad you did!
Mary Beth Singleterry
God Proportions Man
The temple of the living God cannot be less than perfect in outline, can it? And you are the temple of the living God. Certainly the extra weight will fall away. It is mental, is it not?
Keep in thought, that active Principle operates throughout your being. This compels all the functions of your body to behave. Do not forget that the lines are fallen to you in undeviating comeliness. In other words, you are perfectly proportioned, and that right now.
It is your belief in matter that works the mischief! The unusual appetite will subside, when you recognize that the Almighty is in the midst, contolling all your desires, emotions, thoughts, and functions.
You know, God is so very close to you, and He and you are one, which ensures that you can be as sensible and well-disciplined as He is. You can no more lose your form divinely fair than He can.
The master Architect who built you, insured His work–guaranteed that it would not swell or warp, or in any way get out of line. So, the undeniable fact is, you are perfect now, uniform and balanced, not too heavy, and not too thin.
You may be sure that God not only gave you a perfect form, but protected it against subsequent encroachment. You see, there is an undeviating law, which not only fashions you in perfection, but forever holds you there. There is no power anywhere to interfere with that fine structure of yours by adding a single unnecessary pound.
Now get busy on your own behalf. Think the above truths and dwell on them. Talk them to yourself, hour by hour, day by day. Expect results.
As your thought becomes clarified, consciousness will form a perfect body. It is a case of, “O Life that maketh all things new.”
Peter V. Ross
The Trial in Science and Health
Beginning on p. 430 in Science and Health, Mary Baker Eddy presents an allegory, a trial that is both intriguing and instructive, both humorous and scathing, assigning characters to the different kind of thoughts and beliefs that one may entertain when feeling ill, and demonstrating the operation of Christian Science treatment in bringing about healing. The fact that this portion of the textbook was introduced in the first edition, and remains in the final edition, unchanged, where the rest of the book underwent many changes, ought to encourage us to take notice. The Trial is a masterpiece and gives us plenty to think about!
Listen to it here:
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Place
The place you seek is seeking you: the place you need, needs you. Divine Principle brings need and supply together for mutual good. God wisely, intelligently and lovingly controls, guides, protects, prospers and blesses this union of his idea (man) and his normal activity (work).
It does not take time to build up your place or your work, for it is impossible for there to be an idea without its place, and the place is fully developed as is the idea that fills it. The place must meet all the needs of the idea if it is provided by Principle. All you need to do is to see to it that your consciousness is fully prepared, enlarged, purified, uplifted, joyous, expectant of infinite good so that no sense of limitation may hinder the full manifestation of God’s will for His idea, and you know that God’s will for His idea is perfection, nothing less. All we need to change is our sense of discord to the consciousness of harmony, divine government.
Who says “I have finished my work here and must seek another place?” God alone outlines and directs. You do not know whether it is right to stay here or go, excepting as the steps are put before you day by day. Even if our desires are in line with progress, we must surrender all human will and planning before we can take steps aright. There is no human will and planning, no material planning in divine Mind; therefore, you have not the power or the inclination to express such falsehoods. All is patient, calm obedience, because God is All-in-all, and everywhere. All is quiet, loving, scientific harmony. God is right where you live. Stand still and lift up your vision.
There is no human tyrant, no cruelty, no tempter, lust, greed, injustice, self-righteousness anywhere to personify themselves; there is no expression of them in your environment. There are no such claims to distress, oppress, to hold you down. “God’s being is infinity, freedom, harmony, and boundless bliss” (S&H), and you reflect God. So work for consciousness of harmonious activity and clear all sense of person, either good or bad person, and know that you serve the Lord Christ, and know that nothing can hinder, delay or limit God-directed and God-protected and God-placed activity.
You cannot change environment. We can only change our sense of environment, and we can never do this in any way but through elevation of our own thoughts about things. God is the only environment. We have to clear our vision, sweep away the rubbish of fear, impatience, and false estimates of our fellow man, and know that the One Mind shines through all and governs all. You do not have to plan, to think how or when or where; that is God’s business — your business is to carefully reflect, listen to, and obey when this call comes. The divine will is clearly and always calling to us all the time and telling us of the will of the Father, but we are so bent on having our own way of doing things instead of knowing they are already done, that half the time we do not hear what God is saying. God’s will is intelligently expressed and will intelligently meet your need by destroying your sense of fear.
You really have no need, for you are already complete in God. God is thinking, and you reflect God’s thoughts. God is working and nothing else can. God is outlining, directing, and no one can stay His hand or say unto Him, “What doest thou?” God will tell you what to do about your work. He will unfold each step, so don’t get worried, or anxious, or impatient. He has infinite good in store for you. Just work to know that you are receptive to it. We need to know that malpractice cannot argue disintegration of church, families, or friendships. We need to know that divine Mind builds up and holds together and prospers.
The divine and perfect law of adjustment operating through the ever-present law of attraction is bringing to you all that belongs to you. Realize for yourself daily, more than once, that the fields are already white for harvest, that “Divine Love always has met and always will meet every human need.” (S&H) The need of work as well as any other need is met. Mind is active and you reflect the divine activity; that there is plenty of work for all; and that yours belongs to you and no one else can do it and it comes to you direct and the supply is abundant. AND KNOW ALL THE TIME THAT THIS IS SO. Never let a sense of lack of anything for a moment stay with you. It is rank error and breeds all sorts of disease and difficulties. God is abundance and supplies only abundance. The demonstration of this is an abundance of Light, Love, Truth, and intelligence for all our material needs. Keep your aim, stick to your text and have faith in your understanding of Christian Science.
Place: First of all we must know that Principle and no one else does the placing. Paul says, “For in Him we live, move and have our being.” This knowing that man, God’s idea, is already in his right place, does the healing work, for that place is in Mind right now and therefore his need is already supplied by divine Mind, Love. So dwelling in this consciousness will bring into human experience that which we need, whether it be home or any other good thing, because this state of consciousness excludes every wrong thought, such as mortal verdicts, or overcrowded conditions, no good place, fear, indecision, lack, etc., and renders them null and void, and then the facts of being come to light and are manifested in more harmonious experiences. Having cast your net on the right side, you find your need supplied. Just refuse to accept any man-made verdict as your own opinion, or thinking.
Know that all thoughts come from divine Mind, and the true thoughts dispel all evil beliefs about place, etc., and their seeming effects go with them. It is right for you to be with your own kind of people, and trusting Him with all your heart will open the way. Remember “Mind has infinite resources,” so do not limit yourself in any way. There is no law of malicious malpractice acting through any condition or circumstance that can hinder or obstruct for an instant the perfect and complete manifestation of God’s plan for you here and now.
Mary Baker Eddy
Unceasing Spiritual Rise and Progress
A recent newspaper article stated that one of the main reasons why a person is not promoted in business is their inability to take correction. When we indulge in pride, hurt feelings, and stubbornness, important lessons are not learned — and the promotion goes to someone else.
Everyone certainly wants to progress in life and to become better in every way. Mary Baker Eddy gives a clear and penetrating statement that would help even the most difficult case to learn and appreciate the value of taking correction: “If the Christian Scientist recognize the mingled sternness and gentleness which permeate justice and Love, he will not scorn the timely reproof, but will so absorb it that this warning will be within him a spring, welling up into unceasing spiritual rise and progress.” (Ret.)
If we truly want to make progress, wouldn’t we want to know what stumbling blocks might be preventing spiritual growth? And unless there is someone loving enough to give a much needed correction, how very easy it is to continue in a bad habit. Are we grateful for the one who unselfishly points out the way, or do we instead “scorn the timely reproof”?
Many come to Christian Science demanding that their problems be healed, but they refuse to make the necessary changes in their lives that will bring them closer to God. They are also the ones who complain of no improvement. But those who are humbly willing to purify their thoughts and deeds and gratefully accept corrections, receive blessings and healing beyond measure.
As Mrs. Eddy says, “Willingness to become as a little child and to leave the old for the new, renders thought receptive of the advanced idea. Gladness to leave the false landmarks and joy to see them disappear, — this disposition helps to precipitate the ultimate harmony. The purification of sense and self is proof of progress. ‘Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.’” (S&H)
Let us humbly pray for this disposition which allows us to appreciate and benefit from a needed correction, and in so doing, gives way to a life blessed with “unceasing spiritual rise and progress.”
Mary Beth Singleterry
From current Healing Thoughts magazine
Lesson of History
The Old Testament is a history of the Children of Israel, a history that presents a repetitive pattern: as they turned to the one God, they prospered; but as they turned away to the idols of the people around them, they fell into bad times. Even with warning after warning, they never seemed to learn. They continued to turn away from God and suffer the consequences.
What was it with those Israelites? But isn’t it an example of the human condition that still exists today? The Bible, then, is not so much a history of an ancient people, but rather a history of the human condition. It shows us what works, and what does not.
The first tenet of Christian Science reads: “We take the inspired word of the Bible as our sufficient guide to eternal life.” The inspired word of the Bible does not refer to certain passages of the book. If that were the case, we could simply cut out the uninspired stuff and be left with a small, easy-to-read book that would guarantee our salvation. No, Mrs. Eddy was referring to the word received by the inspired thought, the thought that is receptive to the message that God has for us today, to meet the need of today. In this light, let us consider the history of the Children of Israel and see how we can learn from their experience.
Why did the children of Israel leave their trust in the one God, even after they experienced the most wonderful demonstrations of God’s care — the escape from terrible slavery, the parting of the Red Sea, being fed with manna for forty years, etc.?
Preoccupied with the wants of each day, they forgot the tremendous displays of power of God from yesterday.
Idols were very attractive and you could see them, while trusting in an invisible God was unnerving. Everybody else was trusting in idols. Why buck the trend?
The idols of biblical times are not prevalent today, but you cannot watch TV for more than a few minutes without being introduced to the idols of today — exercise programs, diets, medicine and drugs that promise to solve all your problems. They cast a spell on the lazy thought, and soak up his/her time and energy, leaving God practically out of the picture. But the question to ask now is: “Do they encourage a greater trust in God as our hope and salvation?”
The Children of Israel were always in the minority as the single nation worshipping the one God. Today, those who take Christian Science seriously are, of course, in the minority. The world is not sympathetic with the Scientific Statement of Being! So, unless one is active in the Truth, striving to walk with God and use the Truth consistently, that one is likely to slip away into the mainstream of blind belief. It is astounding how quickly a patient forgets, having been at death’s door, pronounced incurable by the doctors, healed completely by Christian Science, and later remembers only after being reminded, and in some cases denies that it ever really happened! Cultivated gratitude is the protection against this appalling and dangerous condition. Gratitude is a spiritual quality that nurtures our relationship with God and keeps us safe, safer than any other insurance policy.
As the fortunes of the Children of Israel went up and down depending on their greater or lesser adherence to the one God, so do ours, and those of our community and nation. The Bible tells us so.
Andrew Kidd
From Healing Thoughts magazine section on Bible Relevance
Discouragement Outlawed
Are you doubtful or discouraged because you are not healed quickly? That is the devil’s device to keep you in an inharmonious state of mind, so that, in belief, your food will not assimilate, your bodily organs will not act properly, and poisons will continue to be secreted in your system. Do not be caught by the snare of the devil. Know that God made man, that all God’s works are perfect; that health and harmony are eternal laws of God, and are present facts. Resting in this assurance, be hopeful, cheerful, patient, and persistent. Maintain the joy of the Lord. Rule out all inharmonious and ungodlike emotions and sentiments. Keep them out by relying on God and by meditating on His law. If you do this persistently, the mortal-mind so-called causes of your trouble will be removed; your food will assimilate better; malnutrition will gradually cease; poisons will cease to be formed; the poisons in your system, in belief, will be gradually eliminated; new and healthy tissues will be built up. It often takes time to accomplish this, but what of it? You entertained wrong mental states for weeks and months before the resulting disease developed. Is it any wonder that you should be required to entertain right and God-like habits of thoughts for weeks before the disease disappears? And do you not see that if you allow yourself to vacillate between hope and fear, between confidence and doubt, between trust in God and anxiety, and do not trust God with your whole heart, you are delaying your healing just so much? It is practically certain that if you maintain a confident, hopeful, cheerful frame of mind, without interruption, for a number of weeks consecutively, beneficial physical results will be in evidence. “Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted within me? Hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise Him, who is the health of my countenance, and my God.” The summation of the matter is: If you want to be well, believe in God, and the all-power and all-presence of good; in the essential nothingness and impermanency of evil in its every manifestation; cultivate and maintain God-like qualities of mind; cast out and refuse to entertain all ungodlike qualities of mind, however much excuse there may seem to be for entertaining them; keep your confidence in God, and keep on doing it; and, meanwhile, place your sole reliance for healing upon Spirit, and withdraw your reliance absolutely from matter, whether in the form of drugs, or in any other form, thus honoring the Lord your God with your whole trust and with your whole reliance. Follow this program faithfully and without cessation; and your reward is sure; and it will come in such time as is really for your best good. To carry out this program, do not hesitate at any amount of effort, nor at any reasonable expense, not at any sacrifice of worldly plans and pleasures; for that which you will attain as the result of this program will be the salvation of your soul, the being made whole and God-like in your consciousness.
Rev. G. A. Kratzer
Excerpt from “Dominion Within”
The Final Depression
We are today at the standpoint of experience where all Bible prophecy is culminating. The present financial depression is only the so-called human mind swinging backward and forward like a pendulum, as it has constantly done in the past. It is simply the often recurring “states of mortal mind which act, react, and then come to a stop.”
The struggle foretold in the Apocalypse is the fearful depression of doubt which asks, “Is there a God?” It is expressed in “Men’s hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth.”
You have doubtless felt this depression and may have thought it was caused by the financial disturbances, but in this you were mistaken. It is the deep heartsickness of the world that is being felt. It is the malicious mind in its final supposition, operating as your mind. In destroying the claim impersonally as having nothing whatever to do with any person or condition, but as pure hypnotic suggestion having no reality, you will find it is gone.
If you think you are depressed because some person does not treat you kindly, or something is not going well, your hands are immediately tied. It is not some person or some thing that is the trouble. It is always the one malicious mind acting as hypnotic suggestion and appearing under the guise of some person or some thing.
Evil can never be handled as person, as one’s self or as some one else. “Let thine eyes look right on, and let thine eyelids look straight before thee. Ponder the path of thy feet, and let all the ways be established. Turn not to the right hand nor to the left: remove thy foot from evil.”
Herbert Eustace
A Prayer
Inasmuch as I am God’s child, spiritual and not material, I must be perfect. I am whole; I am free; I have all I need every hour; I am without fear, without anxiety; I live in Spirit, not in matter (error); I am not in danger; no one can harm me or deprive me of any good.
I know no such thing as pain, suffering, or disease for I am a reflection of Life, Truth and Love. I am never disappointed or grieved. The harmony of my being is never broken, because I live in the infinite. No condition of the body or the presence of anyone’s personality is essential to my happiness, for God, good, only is the spring of all my jobs. My life is hid with Christ in God. Therefore, I am immortal, for nothing can be lost or die in God.
Mary Baker Eddy
Sight
This letter was written by a Christian Science practitioner to a patient born totally blind. It brought complete healing to the patient.
My Dear:
I want you to see what must take place in your consciousness. With the utmost clarity you must see that material eyes do not need healing, for matter does not see, and nothing we can say or do about it can ever give it that which it never had, namely, sight. What must be cast out is the lie about the Truth, namely, that sight is material, not spiritual.
You may rejoice that you have come to the point in your journey from sense to Soul, where divine Love is forcing you to lay hold on what Mrs. Eddy says in Science and Health, “Metaphysics resolves things into thoughts, and exchanges the objects of sense for the ideas of Soul.”
The first thing that we see in this healing is that the object of sense, a frail belief called the material eye, which, in turn, is preyed upon by other beliefs called age, accident, disease, etc. has nothing, in reality, to do with the harmonious, everpresent, everactive spiritual quality called sight.
So you take your first step when you realize that eyes as matter never see, and have nothing to do with sight. “Neither age nor accident can interfere with the senses of Soul, and there are no other real senses. Spirit’s senses are without pain, and they are forever at peace. Nothing can hide from them the might and permanence of Truth.” (S&H)
All that needs to be done is to replace the false sense of sight with the true God-given one. Sight is no more dependent on matter than is honesty, kindness, love – mental qualities which we are free to express at will, and to use as much and as often as we wish. The more we use these qualities, the more strength and vigor they gain in our thinking, and they are never weakened, impaired or strained by constant use, but grow stronger thereby. So will it ever be with sight, when we see that it, too, is purely mental. Mrs. Eddy says, “If it were possible for the real senses of man to be injured, Soul could reproduce them in all their perfection; but they cannot be disturbed nor destroyed, since they exist in immortal Mind, not in matter.” (S&H)
The cause of all loss and suffering is not because matter is diseased, but because of the breaking of the commandment, “Thou shalt have no other gods before me.” (Spirit) Keep the first commandment, separate sight from matter, restore it to Mind, where it belongs, and all fear and suffering depart.
Evil is nothing, it is neither a quality, a quantity, a person, a place, or a thing. It is always it – and it is nothing. In belief it is the seeming absence of good, just as hate is the seeming absence of Love. When we bring a positive love into our thinking, negative hate disappears, for hate is only the seeming absence of Love.
One of the definitions of “blind” in the dictionary: “Without light morally and intellectually; indiscriminating; something to mislead the eye or understanding.” Blindness was given as “want of discernment; heedlessness.”
Blindness is the expression of blind belief. Sight is spiritual perception, understanding, revelation. Hate and fear are darkness. “Love, redolent with unselfishness, bathes all in beauty and light.” (S&H)
The psalmist prayed, “Open thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of Thy law.” So must we pray constantly that our eyes be opened to light and love, and to be obedient thereto. Mrs. Eddy says that, “There is no place where the light of the revelation of Truth and of spiritual ideas is not seen. Man, in the likeness of his Maker, reflects the central light of being, the invisible God.” (S&H)
In our textbook are words mighty in power to break this dream of sightlessness. “The indestructible faculities of Spirit exist without the conditions of matter and also without the false beliefs of a so-called material existence.”
A. Kroeger
Genesis I or Genesis 2?
Age
Disinclination to go out among people finally produces physical disability to do so. Limbs stiffen and your body refuses to do your will without the suffering you dislike to impose upon it. All routine tends to produce atrophy of mental activities, and again has habit robbed you of your youthfulness. Instead of dreading changes and fighting off the opportunities for making them, welcome them eagerly as you would a glass of water to quench your thirst—they are youth preservers for you. But don’t make the mistake of holding fast to that youth which belonged to your twenties. The charm and poise of your assimilated experiences have far greater value as an asset for your attractiveness than anything of the distant past. You are fitted to meet the world from any source whatever, if you have lived and lived deeply.
A sense of humor is a divine gift. It is the very stronghold of abiding youth. It slays care, sustains hope, and has the world with it from the start to the finish. If it is not yours by right of heart, then cultivate it as a fine art. It is too valuable to be ignored.
And don’t look on life from any viewpoint with a protest. Cultivate a love for people-exclusive of yourself—and let it be that divine love that sends out joy to everyone and so happiness to self.”
Illusion of Animal Magnetism
She did this through her love for mankind, and by going to the bottom of all mental action, and revealing to us the rightness of all mental action.
She showed us how to make this appearance of matter into a no-thing, and keep it as a no-thing. Mrs. Eddy says, “Sleep and mesmerism explain the mythical nature of material sense.” So, let’s think about it for a moment, because if we can once see the mythical nature of what appears to be matter, we are never going to stand so aghast at it again.
It means that when you walk down the street and see a tree, or a bird, you can stop and think, “That’s a thought of a tree, or thought of a bird. It all exists in thought.” I find myself practicing this, because the first step of what Mrs. Eddy says “to resolve things into thought” is the difficult one.
Let’s take a dream, for instance. In a dream we see, we feel, we hear—we have physical sense reports. Sometimes even more vividly than in the waking experience, and yet we know that everything we beheld, everything we experienced, was entirely in thought. Not one single aspect of a dream was ever anything but a thought. But when we wake up we think, “Oh, now I am awake and what I’m seeing has reality outside of me, outside of my thinking.”
It is just as mythical, just as much a dream, as that sleeping experience.
And when we realize that we are only dealing with thought in the waking experience, just as much as we are in the sleeping, we begin to deal with thought—and not with matter. Because, when we are dealing with it as matter, we don’t get into the ball game!
You’ve got to resolve things into thought before you can begin to make the exchange.
And the exchange takes place only after you have it in the area of thought.
That’s why the practice of seeing things as thought—recognizing it as thought—puts it in an area where you can say, “Well, big deal, I can handle that.”
But if you’ve got it as something where cell structure has to be changed, an organ has to be restored . . . all of a sudden, you’ve got a different ball game.
And that’s what the world is holding before your view constantly. An understanding of the mythical nature of it enables you not to stand aghast.
Now let’s look at it through hypnotism. You’re going to see that ultimately that’s all you are ever dealing with.
It’s no accident that Mrs. Eddy says, “Animal magnetism, alias hypnotism.” She refers to this constantly. Because that really explains what it is.
Most of us have the concept that, in order for somebody to be hypnotized, you’ve got to have someone with glassy eyes that hold your concentration, thereby bringing you under his control. Believe me, this is not true. This thing of voluntary hypnotism doesn’t even require a spoken word today.
A man at Fifth Church I knew had a very good friend who was an expert hypnotist. This was in San Francisco. They used to talk metaphysics from time to time, and he used to say to the Scientist once in a while, “One of these days I’m going to hypnotize you, and then you’re going to understand what we’re talking about.”
Well, the Scientist used to rather good-naturedly scoff at this. One night they went to dinner in the Persian Room of the St. Francis Hotel in San Francisco, and the Scientist ordered lamb chops. Presently, the waitress served him. And he looked down at his plate and he said, “Just a minute, Miss. You’ve made a mistake in my order. I ordered lamb chops—not watermelon.” “Well!” she said, “What watermelon?”
And he said, “This watermelon!” and he held up a big slab of watermelon right there in front of him.
She said, “Are you trying to put me on?”
“No,” he said, “I’m talking about this. I know I ordered lamb chops.”
She said, “Well, I served you lamb chops—and that’s what you’ve got.”
And they got into quite an argument.
Finally he caught a glimpse of his friend’s face across from him, which had a smirk on it, and he stopped, looked right at him, and said, “You finally did it, didn’t you? !”
And that broke the spell.
He looked back at his plate, and where an instant before had been a big slab of watermelon, were the lamb chops. He rather shamefully excused himself to the girl, and the two men went on with their meal.
The next day he and his mother went to visit an invalid aunt who was suffering from a belief of cancer of the face. It had reached the stage where she could no longer go out in public. And so the family took turns visiting. As they walked into the room, he saw his aunt’s face, all covered with this growth. He turned to his mother, and almost with a chuckle, said, “Why, Auntie has watermelon all over her face!”
You see, he saw so clearly that it was no different than the watermelon had been the night before. It was hypnotic. It was not actual. There was no reality in it.
And he saw that.
And his mother saw that.
And they talked to the aunt about it, and about what body really is.
The next morning, the niece, who was taking care of the aunt, called-so excited she could scarcely speak. She said, “The most wonderful thing just happened! That entire cancerous growth just fell off of Auntie’s face. And she’s well!”
Now let’s look for a moment at what happened.
The breaking of a hypnotic spell requires two steps. The first step is recognizing it to be an illusion. Even when you are still standing knee-deep in it. The second step that is required is to know what the fact is.
With his aunt, when he recognized what true body was, what the fact was-that she was spiritual, every whit spiritual-not one iota matter-it had to break the spell.
We’ve got to see things as thoughts . . . then we can make the exchange. The growth had to be seen as nothing but a thought . . . an hypnotic thought . . . in order for the exchange of the objects of sense for the ideas of Soul.
And when that happens we cannot avoid healing.
I’d like to share with you another thing about hypnotism, because I think that this is the most excellent example of the necessity for continuity.
It explains something of what is demanded of us in our work.
During Mrs. Eddy’s time, one of her students, anxious to know more about the handling of animal magnetism, booked passage for India—to go and learn more about the defenses of mesmerism. He took his things aboard ship, put them away in his room, and then went up on deck.
He was standing on the deck, watching the stevedores load the boat. There were great stacks of boxes sitting all over the docks in big, orderly piles. And everyone was happily going about his business.
Among the passengers, he met a Hindu, and they began to talk. Pretty soon he asked the Hindu, “Do you believe in mesmerism?”
Well, it was a beautiful, sunshiny day. But all of a sudden, the most terrible storm came in from the Atlantic. Great waves smashed into the boat, and threw it like a toy against the docks. The wind knocked the big piles of boxes around . . ., knocked some of the stevedores into the water . . . tore the roofs off some of the buildings. They had to hold on for dear life to the boat railing to keep from being thrown overboard. It was a frightening experience. And this went on for some time.
Then, just as quickly, it stopped. Absolutely stopped. And the fellow looked down at the dock. And there were the stevedores going about their business—just as quietly as before.
All the crates were standing there in perfect order. No roofs were torn off. And the water was as calm as a lake.
And the Hindu turned to him and said. “I have just answered your question.”
The man continued his trip, and arrived in India. He kept his appointment with the adept, who was to teach him about this.
He was shown to his quarters. They were very sparsely furnished, just a table and chair. And he was left alone there. Presently, the door opened and a man came in carrying a magnificent, big Indian vase. He had never seen anything so beautiful.
The man walked in front of him, and suddenly lifted that vase over his head, and slammed it onto the floor with all of his strength. And it broke into a thousand pieces. This beautiful vase.
Well, it was a rather startling experience, but the Scientist was a bit prepared because of the experience on the boat. And he remembered what the Hindu had told him. He said, “The only defense against mesmerism is to hold to a fact . . . no matter how simple it is—hold to a fact.”
And so he did it right then. And the only fact that came to him at that moment was: 2×2 are 4. And he held to that.
And to his amazement, the vase and all its pieces disappeared from view. Absolutely disappeared. And he was alone in the room again.
Well, he sat back, rather proud of himself at what he had been able to accomplish, and he allowed his thought to drift away, and when he did, instantly the whole mess was back-all over the floor again.
He stopped, and went back to that fact again. Everything disappeared. He sat there a little while, and pretty soon his thoughts started wandering . . . and back it all came again.
Finally, he saw that he had to maintain that fact. And he did. And with that, the vase disappeared permanently.
The door opened. The mesmerist came in, and he said, “You need never fear mesmerism again. You know the secret of dealing with it.”
The continuity of the fact must be maintained, or the illusion will slip back.
Never lose sight of the fact that you are dealing with hypnotism. Never forget you are dealing with illusion.
We are breaking the mental state.
When you are tempted to believe what you see, we can think, “Father, You were there. What did You see?” When we see it through God’s eyes, the dreadfulness of the appearance . . . the helplessness . . . the hopelessness . . . the world belief of incurability . . . utterly fade away.
Now, to sum up.
Know there is no matter. Really know it. Feel it. Think it. Remember, it’s the feel of it that counts.
That is not only the axiom of true Christian Science. It is the only basis upon which this Science can be demonstrated.
Author – This article was given to us by a friend
Sermon on the Mount
Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount contains the purest, most practical metaphysics in the Bible. It begins with the Beatitudes, which lay down the laws of Love. Each beatitude blesses a certain state of thought, the poor in spirit, the mourning, the meek, the pure in heart, etc. These magnificent statements of Truth show us, in the most loving, encouraging terms possible, what God requires of us, in order for us to be blessed.
It is difficult to understand how a high-ranking official in the Christian Science headquarters could state: “If we consider the Sermon on the Mount, how much metaphysics is really in that sermon? Not so much.” This statement is evidence of spiritual emptiness, a total lack of understanding of the practical metaphysics given to us by Mary Baker Eddy, which are based upon the life and teaching of Christ Jesus, and which enable us to heal and uplift humanity.
United States of America
Love
All that we need to do, and it will keep us busy, is to train our thought faithfully and persistently in the acknowledgment of the truth of God’s presence, train it to judge righteous judgment, to see God and God only, to think God and God only. Having accepted the omnipresence, hold to it no matter what the apparent condition may seem to be.
In treating yourself, never deal with appearances or symptoms. Do not center your thought upon organs or functions. Infinite substance, power, intelligence and activity are in that place and do not need your suggestions. Do not try to formulate in thought the perfect body. Stop thinking about the body or trying to picture it as perfect from your standpoint. Stop tinkering with it mentally. Loose it and let it go. Just know that it is God’s body and that God is this moment and every moment forming it or bringing it forth according to His Word, His divine idea.
Paul tells us, that our sufficiency is of God. Our sufficiency to think is of God. That is why the body seems to change as man’s thinking changes. We do see a change, but it is not the body that changes. It is simply as beliefs of disease and imperfections fall away, and our thinking is corrected and held true to Truth, so that mental chaos and confusion no longer cloud our vision, we see the body as God sees it, as it eternally is. Then it stands revealed to us in its beauty and its glory, the temple not made with hands. It makes no difference how deeply seated may be the trouble, how hopeless the outlook, how muddled the tangle, how great the mistake. A sufficient realization of love will dissolve it all. If only you could love enough, you would be the happiest and most powerful being in the world.
The Presence of God
One of the most wonderful revelations in Christian Science is that you don’t have to go through life with this deep desire unfulfilled. The actual fact about this matter is that you do indeed have a best friend, and this friend is your Maker, God.
Now you may ask, this sounds all well and good, but how do I know this to be true? How do I know God to be my best friend when I can’t even see Him? One way is to sit down quietly, and actually feel His presence. His dear love and care surround you each and every moment. The Bible says, “Be still, and know that I am God.” Very often in our busy days we don’t take the time to do this. If we are very still and quiet, we can practice feeling the presence of God.
Another way, is to talk to Him as you would talk to a best friend. Tell Him of your concerns and problems, ask Him for help and guidance. And then, with your whole heart and attention, listen for His answers. At first the voice may seem faint, but the more you do this, the more you will be able to hear His loving counsel.
One other wonderful way to feel God’s presence is to see Him in the beauty of a sunset, in the kindly smile of a neighbor, in the warmth of a fireside on a winter’s night. God is the giver of all good and we should acknowledge His care for us in all the love and beauty we see expressed around us.
Having God as a best friend, brings with it a tremendous sense of security and poise. This is a friend who will never leave you, whose wise counsel is never wrong, whose love for you is unfailing and constant. As Hymn #224 states, “O Lord, I would delight in Thee, And on Thy care depend; To Thee in every trouble flee, My best, my ever Friend.” Feel the presence of God in your life, and you will be blessed beyond measure.