First Church of Christ, Scientist, La Cañada Flintridge
Wednesday Meeting Readings
Section I
12¶Now when Jesus had heard that John was cast into prison, he departed into Galilee;
13And leaving Nazareth, he came and dwelt in Capernaum, which is upon the sea coast, in the borders of Zabulon and Nephthalim:
14That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying,
15The land of Zabulon, and the land of Nephthalim, by the way of the sea, beyond Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles;
16The people which sat in darkness saw great light; and to them which sat in the region and shadow of death light is sprung up.
17¶From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.
5¶And when Jesus was entered into Capernaum, there came unto him a centurion, beseeching him,
6And saying, Lord, my servant lieth at home sick of the palsy, grievously tormented.
7And Jesus saith unto him, I will come and heal him.
8The centurion answered and said, Lord, I am not worthy that thou shouldest come under my roof: but speak the word only, and my servant shall be healed.
9For I am a man under authority, having soldiers under me: and I say to this man, Go, and he goeth; and to another, Come, and he cometh; and to my servant, Do this, and he doeth it.
10When Jesus heard it, he marvelled, and said to them that followed, Verily I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel.
11And I say unto you, That many shall come from the east and west, and shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven.
12But the children of the kingdom shall be cast out into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
13And Jesus said unto the centurion, Go thy way; and as thou hast believed, so be it done unto thee. And his servant was healed in the selfsame hour.
1I will extol thee, my God, O king; and I will bless thy name for ever and ever.
2Every day will I bless thee; and I will praise thy name for ever and ever.
3Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised; and his greatness is unsearchable.
4One generation shall praise thy works to another, and shall declare thy mighty acts.
5I will speak of the glorious honour of thy majesty, and of thy wondrous works.
9The Lord is good to all: and his tender mercies are over all his works.
10All thy works shall praise thee, O Lord; and thy saints shall bless thee.
11They shall speak of the glory of thy kingdom, and talk of thy power;
12To make known to the sons of men his mighty acts, and the glorious majesty of his kingdom.
13Thy kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and thy dominion endureth throughout all generations.
5The Lord is exalted; for he dwelleth on high: he hath filled Zion with judgment and righteousness.
6And wisdom and knowledge shall be the stability of thy times, and strength of salvation: the fear of the Lord is his treasure.
7Behold, their valiant ones shall cry without: the ambassadors of peace shall weep bitterly.
8The highways lie waste, the wayfaring man ceaseth: he hath broken the covenant, he hath despised the cities, he regardeth no man.
9The earth mourneth and languisheth: Lebanon is ashamed and hewn down: Sharon is like a wilderness; and Bashan and Carmel shake off their fruits.
10Now will I rise, saith the Lord; now will I be exalted; now will I lift up myself.
22¶Then Paul stood in the midst of Mars' hill, and said, Ye men of Athens, I perceive that in all things ye are too superstitious.
23For as I passed by, and beheld your devotions, I found an altar with this inscription, TO THE UNKNOWN GOD. Whom therefore ye ignorantly worship, him declare I unto you.
24God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands;
25Neither is worshipped with men's hands, as though he needed any thing, seeing he giveth to all life, and breath, and all things;
26And hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation;
27That they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him, and find him, though he be not far from every one of us:
11And we desire that every one of you do shew the same diligence to the full assurance of hope unto the end:
12That ye be not slothful, but followers of them who through faith and patience inherit the promises.
13For when God made promise to Abraham, because he could swear by no greater, he sware by himself,
14Saying, Surely blessing I will bless thee, and multiplying I will multiply thee.
15And so, after he had patiently endured, he obtained the promise.
16For men verily swear by the greater: and an oath for confirmation is to them an end of all strife.
17Wherein God, willing more abundantly to shew unto the heirs of promise the immutability of his counsel, confirmed it by an oath:
18That by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us:
19Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and stedfast, and which entereth into that within the veil;
by Mary Baker Eddy
The nature of Christianity is peaceful and blessed,
but in order to enter into the kingdom, the anchor of
41:1hope must be cast beyond the veil of matter into the
Shekinah into which Jesus has passed before us; and
Within
the veil 3this advance beyond matter must come
through the joys and triumphs of the right‐
eous as well as through their sorrows and afflictions.
6Like our Master, we must depart from material sense
into the spiritual sense of being.
122:1The evidence of the physical senses often reverses the
real Science of being, and so creates a reign of discord, —
Opposing
testimony 3assigning seeming power to sin, sickness, and
death; but the great facts of Life, rightly un‐
derstood, defeat this triad of errors, contradict their false
6witnesses, and reveal the kingdom of heaven, — the actual
reign of harmony on earth.
The Scriptures say, "In Him we live, and move, and
6have our being." What then is this seeming power, in‐
Seemingly
independent
authority dependent of God, which causes disease and
cures it? What is it but an error of belief, —
9a law of mortal mind, wrong in every sense,
embracing sin, sickness, and death? It is the very anti‐
pode of immortal Mind, of Truth, and of spiritual law.
12It is not in accordance with the goodness of God's char‐
acter that He should make man sick, then leave man to
heal himself; it is absurd to suppose that matter can both
15cause and cure disease, or that Spirit, God, produces
disease and leaves the remedy to matter.
John Young of Edinburgh writes: "God is the father
18of mind, and of nothing else." Such an utterance is
"the voice of one crying in the wilderness" of human
beliefs and preparing the way of Science. Let us learn
21of the real and eternal, and prepare for the reign of
Spirit, the kingdom of heaven, — the reign and rule of
universal harmony, which cannot be lost nor remain
24forever unseen.
If we concede the same reality to
discord as to harmony, discord has as lasting a claim upon
24us as has harmony. If evil is as real as good, evil is also as
immortal. If death is as real as Life, immortality is a myth.
If pain is as real as the absence of pain, both must be im‐
27mortal; and if so, harmony cannot be the law of being.
The conceptions of mortal, erring thought must give
way to the ideal of all that is perfect and eternal. Through
Spiritual
discovery 9many generations human beliefs will be attain‐
ing diviner conceptions, and the immortal and
perfect model of God's creation will finally be seen as
12the only true conception of being.
9 Man and his Maker
are correlated in divine Science, and real consciousness
is cognizant only of the things of God.
12The realization that all inharmony is unreal brings
objects and thoughts into human view in their true light,
and presents them as beautiful and immortal. Harmony
15in man is as real and immortal as in music. Discord is
unreal and mortal.
If God is admitted to be the only Mind and Life,
18there ceases to be any opportunity for sin and death.
Perfection
requisite When we learn in Science how to be perfect
even as our Father in heaven is perfect,
21thought is turned into new and healthy channels, —
towards the contemplation of things immortal and away
from materiality to the Principle of the universe, includ‐
24ing harmonious man.
Reasoning from cause to effect in the Science of Mind,
Sinlessness of
Mind, Soul 30we begin with Mind, which must be under‐
stood through the idea which expresses it and
cannot be learned from its opposite, matter. Thus we
468:1arrive at Truth, or intelligence, which evolves its own
unerring idea and never can be coordinate with human
3illusions.
The Christian Scien‐
tist's argument rests on the Christianly scientific basis of
21being. The Scripture declares, "The Lord He is God
[good]; there is none else beside Him." Even so, harmony
is universal, and discord is unreal. Christian Science de‐
24clares that Mind is substance, also that matter neither
feels, suffers, nor enjoys. Hold these points strongly in
view. Keep in mind the verity of being, — that man is
27the image and likeness of God, in whom all being is
painless and permanent. Remember that man's perfec‐
tion is real and unimpeachable, whereas imperfection is
30blameworthy, unreal, and is not brought about by divine
Love.
12The harmony and immortality of man are intact. We
should look away from the opposite supposition that man
is created materially, and turn our gaze to the spiritual
15record of creation, to that which should be engraved on
the understanding and heart "with the point of a diamond"
and the pen of an angel.
Christian Science reveals incontrovertibly that Mind
is All-in-all, that the only realities are the divine Mind
Scientific
evidence 6and idea. This great fact is not, however, seen
to be supported by sensible evidence, until its
divine Principle is demonstrated by healing the sick and
9thus proved absolute and divine. This proof once seen,
no other conclusion can be reached.
Hymn 204: "O Father, Thy kingdom is come up earth"
Hymn 297: "Science, the angel with the flaming sword"
Hymn 99: "He that hath God his guardian made"
