Wednesday Meeting Readings

First Church of Christ, Scientist, La Cañada Flintridge

Wednesday Meeting Readings

100310 (2)

Prayer about the rights of women and dminorities

Wednesday, March 10, 2010

Note: International Women's Day has been celebrated on March 8th since 1911. Following a weeklong event in 1981 within the Sonoma school district, interest grew and in 1987 Congress expanded the focus to a whole month. The 2010 theme is "Writing Women Back into History," recognizing erfforts to document women's accomplishments and experiences in textbooks and other educational materials.

Section I

The Bible:

Ps 45:6 (to :),13

6Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever:

13The king's daughter is all glorious within: her clothing is of wrought gold.

Num 27:1 (to ,),2-7

1Then came the daughters of Zelophehad,

2And they stood before Moses, and before Eleazar the priest, and before the princes and all the congregation, by the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, saying,

3Our father died in the wilderness, and he was not in the company of them that gathered themselves together against the Lord in the company of Korah; but died in his own sin, and had no sons.

4Why should the name of our father be done away from among his family, because he hath no son? Give unto us therefore a possession among the brethren of our father.

5And Moses brought their cause before the Lord.

6¶And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,

7The daughters of Zelophehad speak right: thou shalt surely give them a possession of an inheritance among their father's brethren; and thou shalt cause the inheritance of their father to pass unto them.

Judg 4:1,2 (to ;),3 twenty,4,10,14,15,23

1And the children of Israel again did evil in the sight of the Lord, when Ehud was dead.

2And the Lord sold them into the hand of Jabin king of Canaan, that reigned in Hazor;

3twenty years he mightily oppressed the children of Israel.

4¶And Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lapidoth, she judged Israel at that time.

10¶And Barak called Zebulun and Naphtali to Kedesh; and he went up with ten thousand men at his feet: and Deborah went up with him.

14And Deborah said unto Barak, Up; for this is the day in which the Lord hath delivered Sisera into thine hand: is not the Lord gone out before thee? So Barak went down from mount Tabor, and ten thousand men after him.

15And the Lord discomfited Sisera, and all his chariots, and all his host, with the edge of the sword before Barak; so that Sisera lighted down off his chariot, and fled away on his feet.

23So God subdued on that day Jabin the king of Canaan before the children of Israel.

Ruth 1:3,5,6,8 (to :),14 but,16,19 (to .)

3And Elimelech Naomi's husband died; and she was left, and her two sons.

5And Mahlon and Chilion died also both of them; and the woman was left of her two sons and her husband.

6¶Then she arose with her daughters in law, that she might return from the country of Moab: for she had heard in the country of Moab how that the Lord had visited his people in giving them bread.

8And Naomi said unto her two daughters in law, Go, return each to her mother's house:

14but Ruth clave unto her.

16And Ruth said, Entreat me not to leave thee, or to return from following after thee: for whither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge: thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God:

19¶So they two went until they came to Bethlehem.

Ruth 4:13,17 and

13¶So Boaz took Ruth, and she was his wife: and when he went in unto her, the Lord gave her conception, and she bare a son.

17and they called his name Obed: he is the father of Jesse, the father of David.

John 11:1,3-5,17,20,21,23,32-34,41-44

1Now a certain man was sick, named Lazarus, of Bethany, the town of Mary and her sister Martha.

3Therefore his sisters sent unto him, saying, Lord, behold, he whom thou lovest is sick.

4When Jesus heard that, he said, This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God might be glorified thereby.

5Now Jesus loved Martha, and her sister, and Lazarus.

17Then when Jesus came, he found that he had lain in the grave four days already.

20Then Martha, as soon as she heard that Jesus was coming, went and met him: but Mary sat still in the house.

21Then said Martha unto Jesus, Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died.

23Jesus saith unto her, Thy brother shall rise again.

32Then when Mary was come where Jesus was, and saw him, she fell down at his feet, saying unto him, Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died.

33When Jesus therefore saw her weeping, and the Jews also weeping which came with her, he groaned in the spirit, and was troubled,

34And said, Where have ye laid him? They said unto him, Lord, come and see.

41Then they took away the stone from the place where the dead was laid. And Jesus lifted up his eyes, and said, Father, I thank thee that thou hast heard me.

42And I knew that thou hearest me always: but because of the people which stand by I said it, that they may believe that thou hast sent me.

43And when he thus had spoken, he cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, come forth.

44And he that was dead came forth, bound hand and foot with graveclothes: and his face was bound about with a napkin. Jesus saith unto them, Loose him, and let him go.

Luke 8:19-21

19¶Then came to him his mother and his brethren, and could not come at him for the press.

20And it was told him by certain which said, Thy mother and thy brethren stand without, desiring to see thee.

21And he answered and said unto them, My mother and my brethren are these which hear the word of God, and do it.

Acts 9:36 (to :),37,39-41

36¶Now there was at Joppa a certain disciple named Tabitha, which by interpretation is called Dorcas:

37And it came to pass in those days, that she was sick, and died: whom when they had washed, they laid her in an upper chamber.

39Then Peter arose and went with them. When he was come, they brought him into the upper chamber: and all the widows stood by him weeping, and shewing the coats and garments which Dorcas made, while she was with them.

40But Peter put them all forth, and kneeled down, and prayed; and turning him to the body said, Tabitha, arise. And she opened her eyes: and when she saw Peter, she sat up.

41And he gave her his hand, and lifted her up, and when he had called the saints and widows, presented her alive.

Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures
by Mary Baker Eddy

515:21 Man

21Man is the family name
for all ideas, — the sons and daughters of God. All that
God imparts moves in accord with Him, reflecting good‐
24ness and power.

516:24,28-3 God

24Genesis i. 27. So God created man in His own image,
in the image of God created He him; male and female
created He them.

God made man in His own image, to reflect the
Ideal man
and woman divine Spirit. It follows that man is a generic
30term. Masculine, feminine, and neuter gen‐
ders are human concepts. In one of the ancient lan‐
517:1guages the word for man is used also as the synonym of
mind. This definition has been weakened by anthropo‐
3morphism, or a humanization of Deity.

517:7,18-19,30

The life-giving
quality of Mind is Spirit, not matter. The ideal man
9corresponds to creation, to intelligence, and to Truth.
The ideal woman corresponds to Life and to Love. In
divine Science, we have not as much authority for con‐
12sidering God masculine, as we have for considering
Him feminine, for Love imparts the clearest idea of
Deity.

18 God has countless ideas, and
they all have one Principle and parentage.

30Divine Love blesses its own ideas, and causes them to
multiply, — to manifest His power. Man is not made
518:1to till the soil. His birthright is dominion, not sub‐
Birthright
of man jection. He is lord of the belief in earth
3and heaven, — himself subordinate alone to
his Maker. This is the Science of being.

508:23

The intelligent individual idea, be it male
24or female, rising from the lesser to the greater, unfolds
the infinitude of Love.

509:29

Knowing the Science of creation, in which all is Mind
30and its ideas, Jesus rebuked the material thought of his
fellow-countrymen: "Ye can discern the face of the
510:1sky; but can ye not discern the signs of the times?"
How much more should we seek to apprehend the spirit‐
Spiritual ideas
apprehended 3ual ideas of God, than to dwell on the objects
of sense! To discern the rhythm of Spirit
and to be holy, thought must be purely spiritual.

531:32

Did
532:1God at first create one man unaided, — that is, Adam, —
but afterwards require the union of the two sexes in order
3to create the rest of the human family? No! God makes
and governs all.

532:10

Adam and his progeny were cursed, not blessed;
and this indicates that the divine Spirit, or Father, con‐
12demns material man and remands him to dust.

57:4-10

Union of the masculine and feminine qualities consti‐
tutes completeness. The masculine mind reaches a
Mental
elements 6higher tone through certain elements of the
feminine, while the feminine mind gains cour‐
age and strength through masculine qualities. These
9different elements conjoin naturally with each other, and
their true harmony is in spiritual oneness.

63:12-27

12Civil law establishes very unfair differences between the
rights of the two sexes. Christian Science furnishes no
The rights
of woman precedent for such injustice, and civilization
15mitigates it in some measure. Still, it is a
marvel why usage should accord woman less rights than
does either Christian Science or civilization.

18Our laws are not impartial, to say the least, in their
discrimination as to the person, property, and parental
Unfair
discrimination claims of the two sexes. If the elective fran‐
21chise for women will remedy the evil with‐
out encouraging difficulties of greater magnitude, let us
hope it will be granted. A feasible as well as rational
24means of improvement at present is the elevation of
society in general and the achievement of a nobler
race for legislation, — a race having higher aims and
27motives.

64:30

30 Spirit will ultimately claim its
own, — all that really is, — and the voices of physical
sense will be forever hushed.

68:2

At present mortals progress slowly for
Basis of true
religion 3fear of being thought ridiculous. They are
slaves to fashion, pride, and sense. Some‐
time we shall learn how Spirit, the great architect, has
6created men and women in Science. We ought to weary
of the fleeting and false and to cherish nothing which
hinders our highest selfhood.

225:29

Men and women of all climes and races are still in
30bondage to material sense, ignorant how to obtain their
freedom. The rights of man were vindicated in a single
section and on the lowest plane of human life, when Afri‐
226:1can slavery was abolished in our land. That was only
prophetic of further steps towards the banishment of a
3world-wide slavery, found on higher planes of existence
and under more subtle and depraving forms.

380:32

Every law of matter or the body, supposed to govern
381:1man, is rendered null and void by the law of Life, God.
Ignorant of our God-given rights, we submit to unjust
Ignorance
of our rights 3decrees, and the bias of education enforces
this slavery. Be no more willing to suffer the
illusion that you are sick or that some disease is develop‐
6ing in the system, than you are to yield to a sinful temp‐
tation on the ground that sin has its necessities.

184:27

27A woman, whom I cured of consumption, always
breathed with great difficulty when the wind was from
the east. I sat silently by her side a few moments. Her
30breath came gently. The inspirations were deep and nat‐
ural. I then requested her to look at the weather-vane.
She looked and saw that it pointed due east. The wind
185:1had not changed, but her thought of it had and so her diffi‐
culty in breathing had gone. The wind had not produced
3the difficulty. My metaphysical treatment changed the
action of her belief on the lungs, and she never suffered
again from east winds, but was restored to health.

534:12 The,30

12The Son of the Virgin‐
mother unfolded the remedy for Adam, or error; and the
Spirit and
flesh Apostle Paul explains this warfare between the
15idea of divine power, which Jesus presented,
and mythological material intelligence called energy and
opposed to Spirit.

30 The spiritual idea has given the understanding
535:1a foothold in Christian Science. The seed of Truth and
the seed of error, of belief and of understanding, — yea,
3the seed of Spirit and the seed of matter, — are the wheat
and tares which time will separate, the one to be burned,
the other to be garnered into heavenly places.

340:23

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.

From the Christian Science Hymnal:
Hymn 71: “… Well supply thy sons and daughters, And all fear of want remove”
Hymn 200: “O daughter of Zion, awake from thy sadness; Awake, for thy foes shall oppess thee no more”
Hymn 459: “To God compose a song of joy; To God make melody … Whose hand brings victory!”