SUNDAY MARCH 14, 2010
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SUBJECT—SUBSTANCE
GOLDEN TEXT: Hosea 10 : 12
“Sow to yourselves in righteousness, reap in mercy; break up your falloiw ground:
for it is time to seek the Lord, till He come and rain righteousness upon you.”
RESPONSIVE READING: Proverbs 10 : 22, Proverbs 11 : 23-28
22. The blessing of the Lord, it maketh rich, and He addeth no sorrow with it.
23. The desire of the righteous is only good.
24. There is that scattereth, and yet increaseth; and there is that withholdeth more than is meet, but it tendeth to poverty.
25. The liberal soul shall be made fat: and he that watereth shall be watereth also himself.
26. He that withholdeth corn, the people shall curse him: but blessing shall be upon the head of him that selleth it.
27. He that diligently seeketh good procureth favor:
28. He that trusteth in his riches shall fall: but the righteous shall flourish as a branch.
The Bible
1. Psalms 132 : 13 (the)-16
2. Proverbs 3 : 9, 10, 27-29/p>
3. Ezekiel 34 : 2 (Thus)-5 (to :), 9-11, 23-27
4. John 1 : 14 (the Word), 16,17
5. John 10 : 7 (to Jesus), 7 (Verily)-14
6. Colossians 3 : 1, 2, 12-15
Science and Health
1. 301 : 17-20
2. 258 : 31-5
3. 301 : 5-12
4. 17 : 7 (Love) (to ;)
5. 91 : 16-21
6. 252 : 15-8
7. 583 : 10-11
8. 133 : 24-28
9. 51 : 28-32
10. 365 : 7-14
11. 366 : 12-21
12. 367 : 3-23
13. 428 : 8-14
“The real church is the gathering of members to work in the one Mind, to help Christianize the thoughts of all mankind. The membership of the church is only a small group composed of those who perceive the inspirational intent of Christian Science and work along such lines. The rank and file are decoys for the few consecrated ones who are doing the work, the real mental work, for the world.” – Gilbert Carpenter
Our church members are doing a “Watch” as in Mrs. Eddy’s household, every evening from 10:30 – 10:45 EST.
Unite with us in our prayers to help uplift the thought of all mankind. As Mrs. Eddy said in one of her classes, “We, today, in this class-room, are enough to convert the world if we are of one Mind: for then the whole world will feel the influence of this Mind: as when the earth was without form, and Mind spake and it was done.” (Misc. Wr. p.279-280)
- Andrew: "To divest thought of false trusts and material evidences in order that the spiritual facts of being may appear.."SH13 Instead of trying to gain stuff to have substance, we need to let go of stuff so that we can see what is already there. Elsewhere, MBE says CS is not accretion, but unfoldment. To the rich man who wanted access to the kingdom of heaven Jesus told him to sell all his riches and give to the poor. If we trust in our financial assets, fearfully clasp them to ourselves because the economy is "failing", we cannot see the spiritual facts of being, that God is unchanging good, that love alone is life, etc. The latter brings joy and security, the former does not!
- Bruce: One of the basics in Christian Science, is to have pure and unselfish motives. Each of us is working to let God motivate and lead our lives, knowing of course that this leads to that perfect good that cannot be manipulated or mocked by human efforts. Unselfish motives are one of the keys that open the way. It is God's good plan that we have His blessings.
- Angie: “This is my rest for ever: here will I dwell; for I have desired it.” (Citation 1, Bible) To me, this rest is being / dwelling in the presence of God and longing to be there. It is the thing that gives the most satisfaction, that feels and is the most substantial; and in that place there is no selfishness – there’s the feeling, desire of being one with everyone and everything rather than separated. What a great lesson, and it seemed over and again it stresses the importance of thinking and acting in a caring way (rather than in a “me” way: me first, I’m smarter, more beautiful, have a better body, or I know what “they’ should be doing, I’m better than somebody in some way, etc., which is like the bursting lava in the lesson – having one gala day). But rather, more substantial and lasting: Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. 12 Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering; 13 Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye. 14 And above all these things put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness. To me, this sums up substance pretty well, and in living this way, we find that everything we need is taken care of.
- Mary: Someone asked me recently, “What the heck is substance?!” One definition in the 1828 Webster dictionary is “that which is real, not imaginary.” Mrs. Eddy defines it as “Spirit, the synonym of Mind, Soul, or God…” What we know to be real, as a Christian Scientist, is the direct opposite of what the world calls real. And by understanding the “realness” of Spirit – we are subject to all good, and only good – a true sense of health, joy, supply, intelligence… Mrs. Eddy also warns us, “Absorbed in material selfhood we discern and reflect but faintly the substance of Life or Mind.” That is the challenge – to stay out of that material selfhood which would attempt to deprive us of our Divine right as a child of God.
- Gary: “Break up your fallow ground” (Hosea 10: 12) is a command for each of us to break up the old, comfortable, but barren ways of thinking that are basically selfish and materialistic. It seems that the theme of the Substance lesson is that the thought that is righteous, always giving, is open to receive even more of whatever is good (“There is that scattereth, and yet increaseth”); whereas the thought that is selfish, withholds, or is otherwise fearful of giving, ends up with even less (“there is that withholdeth more than is meet, but it tendeth to poverty”). This is all indicative of the fact that substance is spiritual, not material; therefore it can only be given by God. I think that is why, in Ezekiel, God is quoted as saying He will take the sheep from the shepherds who feed themselves instead of feeding the flocks. If we don’t feed one another, healing the sick and binding up the broken, God will remove them from our care and our lives will become barren. However, if we do care for those in our experience, God’s abundance can’t help but rain down on us and provide us with everything we could ever need to be a good shepherd. It’s a law. It seems pretty simple, but it does require that we break up the fallow ground - shake ourselves regularly from the selfish and materialistic tendencies which would render our lives barren of anything good. Great lesson!
- Peter: I noticed in the "monolog" of material sense vs. Spirit in S&H that material sense knows it is doomed - "I expand but to my own destruction," and Spirit knows only eternal Life. What power we have to know that whatever is wrong has within itself certain destruction, and material sense knows it! Also, that material sense does not create or impart anything. It "lies, robs, cheats, steals ... is wholly dishonest," etc. Compared to Spirit, which imparts all bliss and is Life. And Man is the likeness of Spirit. There is nothing said about material sense having a likeness.
- Andrew: When we talk about someone "of substance", we refer to that person's depth of character, his /her goodness - a very satisfying quality. Too often, however, people are striving for substance/material assets in the hope of finding security and satisfaction. This lesson points us to the former. “Sow to yourselves in righteousness, reap in mercy; break up your fallow ground: for it is time to seek the LORD, till He come and rain righteousness upon you.” GT It is a safe investment, a satisfying path to take!