METAPHYSICAL MEETING, June 20, 2011
Contents
Topic
Expectation
Call to the meeting
The topic of this meeting is “Expectation”:
“The discoverer of Christian Science finds the path less difficult when she has the high goal always before her thoughts, than when she counts her footsteps in endeavoring to reach it. When the destination is desirable, expectation speeds our progress. The struggle for Truth makes one strong instead of weak, resting instead of wearying one.” (Mary Baker Eddy, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, 426:5-11)
All members are encouraged to participate with metaphysical work ahead of time and by preparing comments for the meeting. If you cannot attend the meeting, you may send your comments to the meeting’s moderator, who will read them during the meeting.
Readings
Ps 62:508
S&H 496:9 Ask
Member contribution A
Yesterday after church, I had one of those “aha” moments when I realized that I’d been thinking entirely incorrectly about church attendance. Evidently, with about half our our members out-of-town, the service was sparsely attended. I was in Sunday School, so didn’t notice it myself. Although I hadn’t thought specifically about this particular Sunday, I’m sorry to admit that in the past I’ve thought along the lines of, “So-and-so is out of town, so attendance will be lower.” Why do we expect a smaller attendance when one of our members can’t come? Is our attendance dependent on our church members? No! As we’ve discussed in previous metaphysical meetings, our church is complete, full of all of the ideas of God. Its wholeness is not dependent on a particular human being present or not, but the presence of humans is a demonstration of the completeness of church. We wouldn’t say, “The church is that institution which affords proof of its utility, except when certain people don’t attend.” That’s absurd! Why would we expect our church to afford less proof of its utility just because somebody goes on vacation? Understanding that the entity we call “First Church of Christ, Scientist, in La Cañada Flintridge” is the complete expression of church will fill the pews and bless our members with the activity of church wherever they are, just as understanding that oneself is the full and complete reflection of God heals the body.
In many ways, erroneous expectation is like self-fulfilling prophecy. If we expect empty pews, they will be empty. If we expect a declining membership, it will decline. If we expect to be homeless or to have a difficult time developing a new church incarnation and all of the steps associated with it, we will have a difficult time. However, we learn through our study of Christian Science that true “expectation speeds our progress” (426:8-9).
The entire passage reads, “The discoverer of Christian Science finds the path less difficult when she has the high goal always before her thoughts, than when she counts her footsteps in endeavoring to reach it. When the destination is desirable, expectation speeds our progress. The struggle for Truth makes one strong instead of weak, resting instead of wearying one” (426:5-11). Mary Baker Eddy is not talking about wishful or positive thinking or human will, nor is she talking about outlining a particular outcome. She’s asking us to establish in thought the truth about the goal or destination and hold to it as a true fact of existence.
I looked up the word expect in my Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary. In the synonym section, it says , “expect implies a high degree of certainty and usually involves the idea of preparing or envisioning.” It wouldn’t be too much of a stretch, then, to say that “expect” in a metaphysical sense implies certainty of outcome. We need to do more than expect the outcome, though. It requires preparation, which would imply preparing our thoughts by eradicating doubts and fears, and holding in thought the Truth until we understand and demonstrate it.
So, what am I expecting about our church and its future? What has a high degree of certainty and what do I have to do to prepare for it, or I might say, bring it to fruition? Since our branch church is the reflection of the absolute idea of church, it is certain that we are the “structure of Truth and Love.” See the following table for the entire analysis.
| Certainty about our branch church (the definition of “Church”) |
How I’m going to prepare for it or bring it to fruition |
|---|---|
| Structure of Truth and Love | This is an area where we’ve already made tremendous progress, but we can’t stop now. In the past few months, two different visitors have remarked about the love that we express. I’m not stopping here, though. I’m working to understand what pure, unconditional love, or agape, truly is and to express it toward everybody. It seems like this is a life-long project, but I know that as people see this agape in each of us as individuals, it is “church,” as the structure of Love, being expressed. |
| Whatever rests upon and proceeds from divine Principle | Principle, to me, is related to law. How does our church proceed from divine law and how do I prepare for it? An example might be the law of eternity. The eternal nature of God’s creation is a fixed fact. So, church is eternal. It cannot decline or fade into nothingness. It always has a presence, which is felt and recognized. It is always effective. If church is governed by the law of eternity, then I can have no doubt that it won’t continue, that it isn’t eternal. |
| Affords proof of its utility | I had to look up a few words. Affords = furnishes. Utility = fitness for some purpose. So, how is our church furnishing proof of its fitness to be the structure of Truth and Love, to rest on and proceed from divine Principle? And, what am I going to do to bring it to fruition? Yikes! This is kind of a tall order. OK. Start with the first steps. Affirm God’s power. God is in control and we are obedient to Him. Eradicate the fear. Know that God is providing for all of our needs. We lack nothing. “Let neither fear nor doubt overshadow your clear sense and calm trust...” (495:16-18). Know that we are fit to carry out the mission of church. We are endowed by God with all the spiritual resources we need. |
| Elevates the race | An instance of “church” that is “out there” in the public every day is The Christian Science Monitor. By extension it puts me in the public and reports to me the needs of the race. My duty, then, is to use the Monitor as a tool to know what to pray about, to use it to extend the healing mission of our church to the world, and someday the universe. (Maybe there’s enough astrophysics coverage in it to already give us a hint of what the universe away from the earth needs to help elevate it.) I try to use the Daily News Briefing as the “call for help” from the world and give treatments for each of the articles. I admit that I need to be more rigorous, and this is a way that I can prepare for the certainty of our church. It’s putting church into action where it’s needed. |
| Rouses the dormant understanding...to the demonstration of divine Science | As I write this, it occurs that there are three Manual-based activities of church that rouse the dormant understanding: Sunday School, Reading Room, and lectures. These can be treated in much same way that church attendance can be treated. Our Sunday School is full of joy, interest, activity, eagerness. It doesn’t lack any of the “spiritual thoughts and representatives of Life, Truth, and Love” (582:28). It never has. These ideas are continually expressed in abundance. Similar truths can be known about our Reading Room and lectures. One special role of the Reading Room might be to nurture new members, especially those who have not had a previous branch church experience. |
| Casts out devils, or error | This is a hard one. If it is a certainty that church casts out devils, or error, how am I going to prepare for it? First, I have to ask myself, how does church cast out devils? Actually, in the definition, casting out devils is a result of rousing the dormant understanding. My preparation includes the acknowledgment that this is a true role for church and that we can see the effects of it. |
| Heals the sick | This one I can’t excuse by saying, “I’m a practitioner. It’s my job.” I have the responsibility to improve my healing ability, especially through quicker healings. Mrs. Eddy stated to her workers repeatedly that her success in healing was through “Love, Love, Love”. I would add that after “Love, Love, Love,” it’s “practice, practice, practice”. It doesn’t mean you have to be in the public practice and have lots of people calling you everyday. It’s an attitude toward healing and an alertness to the need. We see situations every day which we can either accept as status quo, or we can adopt a healing thought toward. The rigor of adopting a healing thought is the “practice, practice, practice,” which is actually the “Love, Love, Love.” Watch out, though. As you do this, real people will call you for help. |
Member contribution B
“All forms of error support the false conclusions that there is more than one Life; that material history is as real and living as spiritual history; that mortal error is as conclusively mental as immortal Truth; and that there are two separate, antagonistic entities and beings, two powers, — namely, Spirit and matter, — resulting in a third person (mortal man) who carries out the delusions of sin, sickness, and death…Such theories are evidently erroneous.” (S & H 204:3, 18 only)
“The true theory of the universe, including man, is not in material history but in spiritual development.” (S & H 547:25-27)
The material history of this branch church and its buildings and land doesn’t signify who we are or what we represent. We can affirm that there is no past, no future, only the presence of God in our experience.
Because each one of us individually is an idea of God, a perfect reflection, we are each individually cared for and protected by God, by divine Love. Collectively as a church community, we are care for and protected. God, good, is governing us and our branch church.
To human sense we have had a material structure on a prominent corner in an affluent community for a so-called number of years. These material buildings do not define us. “The structure of Truth and Love” is not in a material building. A building doesn’t elevate “the race” or rouse “the dormant understanding” – the Christ, Truth does that.
Member contribution C
I had been giving some thought to what constitutes the resistance to the demands of church in so far as our day to day participation and pertaining to its fulfillment in the community and world. The passage provided for our consideration, Science and Health, p. 426, I found to be an instructive framework for viewing progress in church.
We may all define the “destination” for our church in a similar fashion, i.e. to forward the demonstration of Christ in our own lives and in the wider community. But, is this destination really desirable? When we think of serving church and, in particular, dealing with the challenges that such service entails, it may not seem at times all that desirable. Add to this our impending transition to a new facility and the pressure to fulfill our mission to the world, and we may entertain serious doubts about our commitment and our ability to do so. We know that such recalcitrance is not our own thought. It is, simply stated, the carnal mind opposing Truth. An aid in overcoming this resistance is to identify the “high goal.”
It is worthwhile to consider the result of not struggling to defend Truth and not striving to grow in our understanding, but instead doing what is merely conciliatory in church and society. Would not this be a retreat to ease in matter with all of its accompanying beliefs in limitation and mortality? Contemplating this should awaken us to cherish ultimate reality. Why would anyone choose to live in a dream when they discover that they are dreaming? Is not the “high goal” the promise of eternal life and the possibility of knowing who we really are in the spiritual universe? Eternal life doesn’t sound too shabby, right? Freedom from sin, sickness, and death, glimpses of our own spirituality and that of others, and a truer sense of creation - that all sounds like something we wouldn’t mind striving for.
When we contemplate, then, our transition to a new location or the routines associated with church, should not we behold that “high goal” of eternal life, sublime goodness, and man’s perfectibility? This vision strengthens our present walk, gives us joy and courage, and impels us forward with new hope.
We must, however, preserve this high goal unstained. Like a desert wind carrying corrosive sand, worldly thought would attempt to wear down our childlike sensibilities with vain promises of material comfort and salvation. In turn, once we begin to entertain that there is something more to life than God, we begin to question the need for church with its accompanying calls to duty.
Member contribution D
A relevant article in the Christian Science Journal: Volume 18, May 1900, page 82, “Expansion”, by Kate Swope.
Member contribution E
In some notes from the MyBibleLesson for April 25, 2010, is a suggestion of several steps for improving in Earth's Preparatory School.
1. Achieve balance in all ways
2. Always be kind and loving
3. Overcome negativity
4. Heal all sin
5. Reject fear of disease and death
Member contribution F
We can only have an expectation of good because God is governing every situation, just as we sing our beloved C.S. hymn, “Only God can bring us gladness, only God can give us peace.” (Hymn 263)
There are many healings utilizing the expectancy of good in the Bible:
- Moses was expectant of being guided by God in writing down the spiritual rules of the Ten Commandments.
- In the story of Daniel and the lions’ den, God shut the lions mouths and Daniel’s spiritual prayers were filled with expectancy and trust in God’s protective care.
- Each one of Jesus’ healings was a prayer of expectancy as he knew the Truth, which would heal sin, sickness, and death.
Mary Baker Eddy writes in her textbook, Science and Health, regarding another significant point in Biblical history: “As the children of Israel were guided triumphantly through the Red Sea, the dark ebbing and flowing tides of human fear, - as they were led through the wilderness, walking wearily through the great desert of human hopes, and anticipating the promised joy, - so shall the spiritual idea guide all right desires in their passage from sense to Soul, from a material sense of existence to the spiritual, up to the glory prepared for them who love God. Stately Science pauses not, but moves before them, a pillar of cloud by day and of fire by night, leading to divine heights.” (S&H, p. 566: 1) (“Spiritual guidance” – marginal heading)
Another loved C.S. hymn:
“Through the night of doubt and sorrow
Onward goes the pilgrim band,
Singing songs of expectation,
Marching to the promised land.” (Hymn 351)
As we continue to expect good, seeing only as God sees us and others, perfect, complete and whole, we will experience the divine unfoldment of God’s harmonious plan.
When we “hold steadfastly” to this perfect view, all error will fade away into its native nothingness. We can handle any fear or negative suggestion with a clearer view: the perfect divine idea that God is adjusting and ordering all of our paths aright. (A favorite C.S. pamphlet: “God’s Law of Adjustment” by Adam Dickey)
We can include ourselves, our families, our church families, our communities, our nation, and our world in this healing work as we move forward as a church, letting Love guide, govern, and lead us. “In the scientific relation of God to man, we find that whatever blesses one, blesses all, as Jesus showed with the loaves and the fishes, — Spirit, not matter, being the source of supply.” (S&H, p. 206: 15)
As we continue to spiritually grow and build,
- We are building on the superstructure of Truth and our spiritual foundation is established in Principle.
- We are governed by the one Mind and divine Love is meeting our every need.
- We are expressing Life and the fulfillment of Soul’s infinite goodness and grace.
- Spirit is providing and blessing each step of the way.
We are on a spiritual journey and we are “expectant, joyful, and ready for God’s right commands.” (Hymn 58)
Member contribution G
1) What is church and how is it expressed?
Your church is the divine activity of good in your experience, and as your experience. That is God’s business, and it applies to all of your community. Mind made all, and that allness includes all individuality, and the compound goodness of human thought collectively.
The community is a compound spiritual idea that can never be enticed from its divine purpose to express the working of Principle.
The church is an expression of the infinite. All active individuality is therefore an expression of church. The auditoriums of this church are always filled with spiritual ideas. That’s the way they always were and always are. We can expect increasing manifestation of this Soul-filled church as we become increasingly cognizant of the ever-present Mind manifesting itself.
2) What is expectation and what influences it?
Expectation is therefore a realization of what is, of what is eternally present. It cannot include unfair gain or lost opportunities. It cannot be ignored, remain unnoticed, or become irrelevant because it pertains to the natural being of the entire family of man.
Expectation relates to what is, not what could be or might be. No concept of chance can influence spiritual facts. There can be evolutionary changes in concept and manifestations, but they remain for ever in the infinite realm of ever-expanding Mind. Progress is the for-ever advancing of Mind and its inevitable ideas. Truth is already infinite, is already in place, with all of its ideas known now, and in place.
The advances of Truth, revealed in the ongoing Christ presence, are always progressive. No stumbling blocks can dampen the inspired enthusiasm of divine expectation. Expectation itself is a property of Mind, of Life, and Love. Expectation deals with a revealing to human consciousness of what already is. Soul is never absent, never hesitant to be expressed. Consequently, it reveals its own spiritual working as a natural outpouring of Love, and the infinite can never be less than infinite. As adherents of the divine law, we have no obstacles to our realization of Truth, no absence of divine activity.
3) Can we expect progress and a future?
The wholeness of Soul ensures no false expectations, no unrealistic goals. Soul’s wholeness is all-encompassing and all good. The Christ is ever active in revealing the plan of Soul for our church. Inevitably as we progress in understanding the ever-presence of Spirit and the ever-active Life of All, we rejoice in the realization of the natural expectations for our church, with participation, selfless donations of effort, spontaneous outflows of interest, love within and by our community, and a future place guaranteed in the infinitude of Spirit.