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Wednesday Meeting Readings

October 1, 2008

Topic: Fearlessness is natural to man

  

The Bible:

(1)   Ps 27:1,3,5   

1  The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? the Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?

3  Though an host should encamp against me, my heart shall not fear: though war should rise against me, in this will I be confident.

5  For in the time of trouble he shall hide me in his pavilion: in the secret of his tabernacle shall he hide me; he shall set me up upon a rock.

 

(2)   Josh 10:1,2,5,7,8 (to ;),11,21 (to :)   

1  Now it came to pass, when Adonizedec king of Jerusalem had heard how Joshua had taken Ai, and had utterly destroyed it; as he had done to Jericho and her king, so he had done to Ai and her king; and how the inhabitants of Gibeon had made peace with Israel, and were among them;

2  That they feared greatly, because Gibeon was a great city, as one of the royal cities, and because it was greater than Ai, and all the men thereof were mighty.

5  Therefore the five kings of the Amorites, the king of Jerusalem, the king of Hebron, the king of Jarmuth, the king of Lachish, the king of Eglon, gathered themselves together, and went up, they and all their hosts, and encamped before Gibeon, and made war against it.

7  So Joshua ascended from Gilgal, he, and all the people of war with him, and all the mighty men of valour.

8  ¶ And the Lord said unto Joshua, Fear them not: for I have delivered them into thine hand;

11  And it came to pass, as they fled from before Israel, and were in the going down to Bethhoron, that the Lord cast down great stones from heaven upon them unto Azekah, and they died: they were more which died with hailstones than they whom the children of Israel slew with the sword.

21  And all the people returned to the camp to Joshua at Makkedah in peace:

 

(3)   Jer 30:10 fear   

10  fear thou not, O my servant Jacob, saith the Lord; neither be dismayed, O Israel: for, lo, I will save thee from afar, and thy seed from the land of their captivity; and Jacob shall return, and shall be in rest, and be quiet, and none shall make him afraid.

 

(4)   Matt 10:16,19,25 If,26,28-31   

16  ¶ Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves.

19  But when they deliver you up, take no thought how or what ye shall speak: for it shall be given you in that same hour what ye shall speak.

25  If they have called the master of the house Beelzebub, how much more shall they call them of his household?

26  Fear them not therefore: for there is nothing covered, that shall not be revealed; and hid, that shall not be known.

28  And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.

29  Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father.

30  But the very hairs of your head are all numbered.

31  Fear ye not therefore, ye are of more value than many sparrows.

 

(5)   Luke 8:41,42 (to .),49-52,54,55   

41  ¶ And, behold, there came a man named Jairus, and he was a ruler of the synagogue: and he fell down at Jesus' feet, and besought him that he would come into his house:

42  For he had one only daughter, about twelve years of age, and she lay a-dying.

49  ¶ While he yet spake, there cometh one from the ruler of the synagogue's house, saying to him, Thy daughter is dead; trouble not the Master.

50  But when Jesus heard it, he answered him, saying, Fear not: believe only, and she shall be made whole.

51  And when he came into the house, he suffered no man to go in, save Peter, and James, and John, and the father and the mother of the maiden.

52  And all wept, and bewailed her: but he said, Weep not; she is not dead, but sleepeth.

54  And he put them all out, and took her by the hand, and called, saying, Maid, arise.

55  And her spirit came again, and she arose straightway: and he commanded to give her meat.

 

(6)   Matt 14:22,25-32      

22  ¶ And straightway Jesus constrained his disciples to get into a ship, and to go before him unto the other side, while he sent the multitudes away.

25  And in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went unto them, walking on the sea.

26  And when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, It is a spirit; and they cried out for fear.

27  But straightway Jesus spake unto them, saying, Be of good cheer; it is I; be not afraid.

28  And Peter answered him and said, Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the water.

29  And he said, Come.  And when Peter was come down out of the ship, he walked on the water, to go to Jesus.

30  But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me.

31  And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and caught him, and said unto him, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?

32  And when they were come into the ship, the wind ceased.

 

(7)   Ps 56:3,4,13   

3  What time I am afraid, I will trust in thee.

4  In God I will praise his word, in God I have put my trust; I will not fear what flesh can do unto me.

13  For thou hast delivered my soul from death: wilt not thou deliver my feet from falling, that I may walk before God in the light of the living?

 

(8)   I John 4:18 (to :)   

18  There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear:

 

 

Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures

by Mary Baker Eddy:

(1)   586:11   

       FEAR.  Heat; inflammation; anxiety; ignorance; error;

12   desire; caution.

 

(2)   410:29-30   

                                            Christian scientific practice be-

30   gins with Christ's keynote of harmony, "Be not afraid!"

 

(3)   411:20-21,27   

           The procuring cause and foundation of all sickness is

21   fear, ignorance, or sin.

 

27       Always begin your treatment by allaying the fear

       of patients. Silently reassure them as to their exemp-

       tion from disease and danger. Watch the re-                           Unspoken

30   sult of this simple rule of Christian Science,                              pleading

       and you will find that it alleviates the symptoms of every

       disease. If you succeed in wholly removing the fear,

 1    your patient is healed. The great fact that God lovingly

       governs all, never punishing aught but sin, is your stand-

 3    point, from which to advance and destroy the human fear

       of sickness. Mentally and silently plead the case scien-

       tifically for Truth. You may vary the arguments to meet

 6    the peculiar or general symptoms of the case you treat,

       but be thoroughly persuaded in your own mind concern-

       ing the truth which you think or speak, and you will be

 9    the victor.

 

(4)   203:27-1   

27                                       The foam and fury of illegiti-

       mate living and of fearful and doleful dying should

       disappear on the shore of time; then the waves of sin,

30   sorrow, and death beat in vain.

           God, divine good, does not kill a man in order to give

       him eternal Life, for God alone is man's life. God is at

 1    once the centre and circumference of being.

 

(5)   373:19   

           The fear occasioned by ignorance can be cured; but

       to remove the effects of fear produced by sin, you must

21   rise above both fear and sin. Disease is expressed not

       so much by the lips as in the functions of the body. Es-

       tablish the scientific sense of health, and you relieve the

24   oppressed organ. The inflammation, decomposition, or

       deposit will abate, and the disabled organ will resume its

       healthy functions.

 

(6)   375:26   

           Consumptive patients always show great hopeful-

27   ness and courage, even when they are supposed to be in

       hopeless danger. This state of mind seems                               Latent fear

       anomalous except to the expert in Christian                             diagnosed

30   Science. This mental state is not understood, simply

       because it is a stage of fear so excessive that it amounts

       to fortitude. The belief in consumption presents to mor-

 1    tal thought a hopeless state, an image more terrifying than

       that of most other diseases. The patient turns involun-

 3    tarily from the contemplation of it, but though unacknowl-

       edged, the latent fear and the despair of recovery remain

       in thought.

 

(7)   384:24   

24                                                                  When the fear

       subsides and the conviction abides that you have broken

       no law, neither rheumatism, consumption, nor any other

27   disease will ever result from exposure to the weather. In

       Science this is an established fact which all the evidence

       before the senses can never overrule.

 

(8)   392:7   

                                                    Casting out evil and fear

       enables truth to outweigh error. The only course is to

 9    take antagonistic grounds against all that is opposed to

       the health, holiness, and harmony of man, God's image.

 

(9)   563:4-7 (to ?)   

                                                                                                    The dragon

                    We may well be perplexed at human                          as a type

       fear; and still more astounded at hatred, which lifts

 6    its hydra head, showing its horns in the many inventions

       of evil. But why should we stand aghast at nothingness?

 

(10)   414:32-9   

           Matter cannot be inflamed. Inflammation is fear, an

 1    excited state of mortals which is not normal. Immor-

       tal Mind is the only cause; therefore disease is neither a

 3    cause nor an effect. Mind in every case is the                          Matter is

       eternal God, good. Sin, disease, and death                              not inflamed

       have no foundations in Truth. Inflammation as a mor-

 6    tal belief quickens or impedes the action of the system,

       because thought moves quickly or slowly, leaps or halts

       when it contemplates unpleasant things, or when the in-

 9    dividual looks upon some object which he dreads.

 

(11)   421:11-18 (to .),18-21 When   

           If a crisis occurs in your treatment, you must treat

12   the patient less for the disease and more for the mental

       disturbance or fermentation, and subdue the                            How to

       symptoms by removing the belief that this                                treat a crisis

15   chemicalization produces pain or disease. Insist vehe-

       mently on the great fact which covers the whole ground,

       that God, Spirit, is all, and that there is none beside

18   Him.

 

18                                         When the supposed suffer-

       ing is gone from mortal mind, there can be no pain; and

       when the fear is destroyed, the inflammation will sub-

21   side.

 

(12)   151:17-18 (to 2nd .),20-21,26-28   

           Mortal belief says that death has been occasioned by

18   fright. Fear never stopped being and its action.

 

                                                                                                    Man governed

                                        Every function of the                              by Mind

21   real man is governed by the divine Mind.

 

                        All that really exists is the divine Mind and

27   its idea, and in this Mind the entire being is found har-

       monious and eternal.

 

(13)   406:16-20 (to .),20-25 We   

                                                                               The moral

       man has no fear that he will commit a murder, and he

18   should be as fearless on the question of disease.

           Resist evil — error of every sort — and it will flee from

       you.

 

                                                    We can, and ultimately

21   shall, so rise as to avail ourselves in every direc-                      Resist to

       tion of the supremacy of Truth over error, Life                        the end

       over death, and good over evil, and this growth will go

24   on until we arrive at the fulness of God's idea, and no

       more fear that we shall be sick and die.

 

(14)   231:30   

30       Man, governed by his Maker, having no other Mind, —

       planted on the Evangelist's statement that "all things

       were made by Him [the Word of God]; and without

 1    Him was not anything made that was made," — can

       triumph over sin, sickness, and death.

 

(15)   304:3   

 3        It is ignorance and false belief, based on a material

       sense of things, which hide spiritual beauty and good-

       ness. Understanding this, Paul said: "Nei-                                Man

 6    ther death, nor life, . . . nor things present,                               inseparable

       nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor                          from Love

       any other creature, shall be able to separate us from

 9    the love of God." This is the doctrine of Christian

       Science:  that divine Love cannot be deprived of its

       manifestation, or object; that joy cannot be turned into

12   sorrow, for sorrow is not the master of joy; that good can

       never produce evil; that matter can never produce mind

       nor life result in death. The perfect man — governed

15   by God, his perfect Principle — is sinless and eternal.

 

 

From the Christian Science Hymnal:

Hymns 44, 268, 77

 

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