First Church of Christ, Scientist, La Cañada Flintridge
Wednesday Meeting Readings
Section I
11I, even I, will both search my sheep, and seek them out.
12As a shepherd seeketh out his flock in the day that he is among his sheep that are scattered; so will I seek out my sheep, and will deliver them out of all places where they have been scattered in the cloudy and dark day.
13And I will bring them out from the people, and gather them from the countries, and will bring them to their own land, and feed them upon the mountains of Israel by the rivers, and in all the inhabited places of the country.
1And Elijah the Tishbite, who was of the inhabitants of Gilead, said unto Ahab, As the Lord God of Israel liveth, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, but according to my word.
2And the word of the Lord came unto him, saying,
3Get thee hence, and turn thee eastward, and hide thyself by the brook Cherith, that is before Jordan.
4And it shall be, that thou shalt drink of the brook; and I have commanded the ravens to feed thee there.
6And the ravens brought him bread and flesh in the morning, and bread and flesh in the evening; and he drank of the brook.
7And it came to pass after a while, that the brook dried up, because there had been no rain in the land.
8¶And the word of the Lord came unto him, saying,
9Arise, get thee to Zarephath, which belongeth to Zidon, and dwell there: behold, I have commanded a widow woman there to sustain thee.
10So he arose and went to Zarephath. And when he came to the gate of the city, behold, the widow woman was there gathering of sticks: and he called to her, and said, Fetch me, I pray thee, a little water in a vessel, that I may drink.
11And as she was going to fetch it, he called to her, and said, Bring me, I pray thee, a morsel of bread in thine hand.
12And she said, As the Lord thy God liveth, I have not a cake, but an handful of meal in a barrel, and a little oil in a cruse: and, behold, I am gathering two sticks, that I may go in and dress it for me and my son, that we may eat it, and die.
13And Elijah said unto her, Fear not; go and do as thou hast said: but make me thereof a little cake first, and bring it unto me, and after make for thee and for thy son.
14For thus saith the Lord God of Israel, The barrel of meal shall not waste, neither shall the cruse of oil fail, until the day that the Lord sendeth rain upon the earth.
15And she went and did according to the saying of Elijah: and she, and he, and her house, did eat many days.
16And the barrel of meal wasted not, neither did the cruse of oil fail, according to the word of the Lord, which he spake by Elijah.
11¶And it came to pass the day after, that he went into a city called Nain; and many of his disciples went with him, and much people.
12Now when he came nigh to the gate of the city, behold, there was a dead man carried out, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow: and much people of the city was with her.
13And when the Lord saw her, he had compassion on her, and said unto her, Weep not.
14And he came and touched the bier: and they that bare him stood still. And he said, Young man, I say unto thee, Arise.
15And he that was dead sat up, and began to speak. And he delivered him to his mother.
24Of the Jews five times received I forty stripes save one.
25Thrice was I beaten with rods, once was I stoned, thrice I suffered shipwreck, a night and a day I have been in the deep;
26In journeyings often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils by mine own countrymen, in perils by the heathen, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren;
27In weariness and painfulness, in watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness.
by Mary Baker Eddy
3The suppositional warfare between truth and error is
only the mental conflict between the evidence of the spir‐
The great
conflict itual senses and the testimony of the material
6senses, and this warfare between the Spirit and
flesh will settle all questions through faith in and the un‐
derstanding of divine Love.
Divine Love always has met and always will meet every
human need. It is not well to imagine that Jesus demon‐
12strated the divine power to heal only for a select number
or for a limited period of time, since to all mankind and
in every hour, divine Love supplies all good.
15The miracle of grace is no miracle to Love. Jesus
demonstrated the inability of corporeality, as well as the
Reason
and Science infinite ability of Spirit, thus helping erring
18human sense to flee from its own convictions
and seek safety in divine Science. Reason, rightly di‐
rected, serves to correct the errors of corporeal sense; but
21sin, sickness, and death will seem real (even as the ex‐
periences of the sleeping dream seem real) until the Sci‐
ence of man's eternal harmony breaks their illusion with
24the unbroken reality of scientific being.
The everlasting I AM is not bounded nor compressed
within the narrow limits of physical humanity, nor can
No divine
corporeality 15He be understood aright through mortal con‐
cepts. The precise form of God must be of
small importance in comparison with the sublime ques‐
18tion, What is infinite Mind or divine Love?
Who is it that demands our obedience? He who, in
the language of Scripture, "doeth according to His will
21in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the
earth; and none can stay His hand, or say unto Him,
What doest Thou?"
15At all times and under all circumstances, overcome
evil with good. Know thyself, and God will supply
The armor
of divinity the wisdom and the occasion for a victory
18over evil. Clad in the panoply of Love,
human hatred cannot reach you. The cement of a
higher humanity will unite all interests in the one
21divinity.
For true happiness,
man must harmonize with his Principle, divine Love; the
9Son must be in accord with the Father, in conformity with
Christ. According to divine Science, man is in a degree
as perfect as the Mind that forms him. The truth of be‐
12ing makes man harmonious and immortal, while error is
mortal and discordant.
Abuse of the motives and religion of St. Paul hid from
view the apostle's character, which made him equal to
Persecution
harmful 24his great mission. Persecution of all who have
spoken something new and better of God has
not only obscured the light of the ages, but has been fatal
27to the persecutors. Why? Because it has hid from
them the true idea which has been presented. To mis‐
understand Paul, was to be ignorant of the divine idea he
30taught. Ignorance of the divine idea betrays at once a
greater ignorance of the divine Principle of the idea — igno‐
561:1rance of Truth and Love. The understanding of Truth
and Love, the Principle which works out the ends of eternal
3good and destroys both faith in evil and the practice of
evil, leads to the discernment of the divine idea.
One infinite God, good, unifies men and nations; con‐
24stitutes the brotherhood of man; ends wars; fulfils the
Scripture, "Love thy neighbor as thyself;" annihilates
pagan and Christian idolatry, — whatever is wrong in
27social, civil, criminal, political, and religious codes;
equalizes the sexes; annuls the curse on man, and leaves
nothing that can sin, suffer, be punished or destroyed.
3It is ignorance and false belief, based on a material
sense of things, which hide spiritual beauty and good‐
Man
inseparable
from Love ness. Understanding this, Paul said: "Nei‐
6ther death, nor life, . . . nor things present,
nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor
any other creature, shall be able to separate us from
9the 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
12sorrow, 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
15by God, his perfect Principle — is sinless and eternal.
This text in the book of Ecclesiastes conveys the
Christian Science thought, especially when the word
6duty, which is not in the original, is omitted: "Let
us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God,
and keep His commandments: for this is the whole
9duty of man." In other words: Let us hear the con‐
clusion of the whole matter: love God and keep His
commandments: for this is the whole of man in His
12image and likeness. Divine Love is infinite. Therefore
all that really exists is in and of God, and manifests His
love.
Hymn 228: “O Love divine, that dwells serene, WHose light of life has no eclipse”
Hymn 426: “In Love divine all earth-born fear and sorrow Fade as the Dark when dawn pours forth her light”
Hymn 371: “…We lift our hearts in praise, O God of Love, to Thee”
