METAPHYSICAL MEETING, June 18, 2012
Contents
| - Topic | |
| - Call to the meeting | |
| - Readings | |
| - Participcant contribution A | |
| - Participant contribution B | |
| - Participant contribution C | |
| - Participant contribution D |
Topic
Nurturing the role of church membership and Christian Scientists in our community
Call to the meeting
You are invited to participate in our church’s next metaphysical meeting, on Monday evening, June 18, at 7:30 p.m. in our Reading Room. You are welcome either in person or via teleconference. We hope you will enjoy exploring, “Nurturing the role of church membership and Christian Scientists in our community.”
Mary Baker Eddy lived through a time of great change. Established religious practices were challenged and many new church ideas were taking place. She organized her church in a manner different from anything done previously, on two levels: the Mother Church and the branch churches.
The Mother Church provides a universal outreach in a way that can for ever reach out to the world. It even has a worldwide membership.
On the other hand, the branch churches are organized to be responsible to their own members, and they have flexibility for working within their own communities. Church members and individual Christian Scientists work to address what is most needed locally, at the same time meeting their own needs; this is the focus of our meeting this month.
Let’s consider this important role of our branch church, especially the spiritual aspects central to the healing outreach, the presence of the Christ that guides us and our community.
1. How do we work scientifically for and with our community/communities?
2. What are some subtle assaults of malicious mental suggestion, and how do we handle them?
3. Why is our church organization on good grounds for permanency?
These are just some of the many questions that might be asked, to which we can provide spiritually powerful answers. You are welcome to consider both these and any other questions that you feel are relevant for our meeting. They all relate so well to the vitality of our branch church. We are on a grand path for spiritual realization.
“God will bless this dear church, and I am sure that He will if it is ready for the blessing.” (My 203:19-21)
With sincere love to you all.
Readings
See definition of CHurcdh, Science and Health 583:12.
Participant contribution A
I am thinking about our wonderful church membership and nurturing our community of La Canada as I sit under a shady tree in the high desert in Victorville. Thousands of families are dotted in this huge campground in 90-degree heat. I’m listening to country and bluegrass and gospel music. The songs are written about people who have changed our history including care and dedications to our veterans from all wars, Jesus’s love of his children, about eternity, about love and heartaches; the story telling is heart felt and thought provoking. As I listen, my prayers include all of those who have leaned on God, the one Spirit who has protected us, saved us, loved us. I am amazed with the respect these singers have for all mankind not only in the humor of their songs but the faith they have in Jesus. They profess it over and over. Actually it is fun to hear people talking outright about Jesus. We think it but don’t reveal it verbally to others. Yet how often do we quietly thank God for the simplest gift of finding something we thought was misplaced, a thank you for an angel thought for a near miss on the highway, a sense of supply that was badly needed? My Mom thanked God each time the dishwasher completed it’s cycle and provided us with clean glasses and dishes. Or was able to write a check to cover an expense. We do praise the Lord. It is actually fun to say it out loud and sing it loudly in the old familiar songs from childhood family singing. I love to sing out with the songs in our hymnals that we all know and raise the roof with praise. What I was pondering is, am I cherishing and demonstration my love of God by loving my church members and my community?
We attended the outdoor church service where we were all nestled around a wooden stage surrounded by many God-loving children sitting on hay bales under a shady oak grove. We were all listening and praying together. We were gathering to cherish our one infinite God, good. We each were from different backgrounds and held different religious beliefs; but we all wanted to praise God and thank him for this beautiful Sunday morning. Even my husband was belting out some wonderful gospel songs. I was appreciating the families all about, several generations, cherishing family and one another as well as church and expressing the Christlike quality of respect, joy, friendliness, thoughtfulness, love. As the preacher began his story of Abraham and told of Abram’s early civilization and ancestry, leading up to his listening and trusting God as the father of Christianity, I was thinking of my church family in La Cañada and how each member was expressing their spiritual love of the divine law. This healing activity is being expressed all over the world, all day long by all mankind and every minute of each day. Prayer and healing is going on and each of us can realize this and bring it into our consciousness, We are never alone in prayer for doing good. Just as these singing/playing groups are on a team working together to accomplish harmony, so are we. This is so evident in our church, each one supporting each other, helping in so many ways, gently guiding, cheering with kindness, expressing spiritual Truths and meeting needs of Soul and church.
So, as I see my role as a Christian Scientist in my church and in my community, I must let God’s light shine within me. I must glorify the highest sense of right I know because it is His Divine Law in operation. I’m never separated from the good he gives, o I must give good. I must love because that is God’s healing work in action. Jesus told us to love one another and to love our neighbor as ourselves. Thus I must love my neighbor and see them as they really are: the precious, cherished ideas of God’s creation. It is easy when we see with God’s seeing.
Participant contribution B
The previous week’s lesson on “Is the Universe Including Man Evolved By Atomic Force?” contained an idea for working for our community. It brought out the necessity of translating material sense testimony “back into Spirit.” I like to think of this process, in prayer and treatment, as mending the cloth of thinking, correcting misperceptions of reality with scientific statements. In working with our community we can share, silently and demonstratively, this universal, flawless tapestry of Christianly scientific thought which heals.
Participant contribution C
When I think about our branch church, I think of it as the light that is beaming the Christ into every aspect of our community. It is the structure built on the rock, solidly and firmly established to keep the Christ always before the community. One of the things I like about the Sermon on the Mount is that the parable of the houses built on the rock and on the sand are examples of what happens when you do or don’t put into practice the lessons of the Sermon.
In the Sermon, Jesus says that the city on the hill cannot be hid (Matt. 5:14). He goes on to say that we need to let our light shine so that people will see our good works, which will result in the people glorifying God (v. 16). The role of our church is to perform these good works, but what are they? What are the best works that we can do? How do we best help our community?
It’s pretty easy to answer that the good works are healing, but we must make it practical. Too often we say that we must heal and then our church will be overflowing, but we don’t actually put it into practice. So, I’ve been thinking about how we might get started. It occurs to me that one way might be to include our community and various community issues in our daily defensive work. We are instructed by Mrs. Eddy to defend ourselves daily, and that Manual bylaw tells us not to neglect our duty mankind (Man. 42:4). So, how about defending our community against aggressive mental suggestion?
Let’s take the skateboarders as an example. We wouldn’t be defending against the skateboarders. We would be defending against the suggestions of lawlessness, disrespect, and idleness with respect to the young people. We would be defending against fear of lawsuits on the part of the city. We would be defending against indifference on the part of parents. We would be defending against frustration and anger on the part of our church members. We would be knowing that divine Principle is the only power and attraction, that God’s children are respectful and fully engaged in reflecting Him at all times, that God’s government provides abundant recreation and stimulation for all residents of the Kingdom, that God’s children are immune from injury, that God’s man loves so much that he sees the Christliness of God’s entire creation.
Each of these statements is only the starting point for prayer about the skateboarders. Our full treatment of every aspect of the situation would be a blessing to the entire city. Prayer like this is attractive. Citizens wouldn’t have to even know that we were praying about this situation. The entire community would feel the results of our prayer. We would be affording “proof of our utility” (583:14) and people would know it. We would be living the Sermon on the Mount and demonstrating that we are the light of the world, built on the rock.
Participant contribution D
We can know that there is only one Mind governing our community and that everyone is guided by this one Mind as we all work together. Everyone can be a good listener to one another and we can support the unfoldment of right activities in our communities.
Any aggressive mental suggestion that presents itself can be handled by seeing that it is just that — a suggestion. We can see the unreality of any claim of error and we do not need to accept a lie. We pray with our daily duty, “It shall be the duty of every member of this Church to defend himself daily against aggressive mental suggestion, and not be made to forget nor to neglect his duty to God, to his Leader, and to mankind. By his works he shall be judged, — and justified or condemned” (Church Manual, Article VIII, Sect. 6, Alertness to Duty.) Mrs. Eddy also tells us, “God's law is in three words, ‘I am All’ and this perfect law is ever present to rebuke any claim of another law” (No & Yes 30: 11-13.)
It is important that we continue to reach out and share this healing Truth with others. “Whatever blesses one, blesses all...” (Science & Health 206:15.)