METAPHYSICAL MEETING, December 17, 2012
Contents
| - Topic | |
| - Call to the meeting | |
| - Readings | |
| - Participant contribution A | |
| - Participant contribution B | |
| - Participant contribution C | |
| - Participant contribution D | |
| - Participant contribution E |
Topic
New birth and church
Call to the meeting
As we enter this Christmas season, pondering its true meaning, we can include the spiritual birth of new ideas pertaining to church progress. “New Birth and Church” is the focus for the next metaphysical meeting on December 17 at 7:30 p.m. In the well-known article, “The New Birth” (Misc. Writings p. 15), there is this statement: “The new birth is not the work of a moment. It begins with moments, and goes on with years; moments of surrender to God, of childlike trust and joyful adoption of good: moments of self- consecration, heaven-born hope and spiritual love.” As a church, we will continue to work as a church with a “new-born spiritual altitude” (Misc. Writings p. 16).
During our church spiritual study, one could develop spiritual ideas on this theme from the above citation. For example, one could focus on childlike trust, joyful adoption of good, self-consecration, heaven-born hope, or spiritual love. Let’s see how these concepts unfold as we consider their relevance to our church.
This “New Birth” must be about individual and collective renewal for each one in our church family, the Christian Science field, and our community at large. Like a pebble thrown into the pond ripples out to its edges, the growth we experience as individuals expands to a wider view of God’s creation and its healing effect to everything our lives embrace.
We look forward to seeing you on December 17 at 7:30 p.m.
Suggested preparation:
| The Bible | Science & Health | Prose Works | |
| Matt 1:18-25 | 589:16 | Mis. 15:4-20:5 | |
| 583:10 | Rud. 1:1-4 | ||
| 333:16-9 | My 256:2-263:9 | ||
| 587:19 | |||
| 582:1-3 |
Readings
The Bible:
Matthew 1: 23
Matthew 3: 1 - 3; 13 - 17
Matthew 16: 13 - 18
l John 4: 7 - 8
Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, by Mary Baker Eddy:
289:31 - 2
288:31-2
582:28-29
583:12-19
591:22-23
35:19-25 Our church
Miscellaneous Writings 1883-1896, by Mary Baker Eddy
15:13
The First Church of Christ, Scientist, and Miscellany,by Mary Baker Eddy
257:4-16
260:9-13,17-21
Participant contribution A
In pondering the spiritual theme of this month’s Metaphysical Meeting, I have reviewed some very special metaphysical ideas shared with me periodically through the years.
Each day:
Start with God and God’s Allness and perfection.
Demonstrate spiritual dominion in knowing the Truth that heals.
“And ye shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free.” (John 8:32)
Moment by moment:
Cherish the spiritual babe within each one of us: the true Christmas thought and message.
(a C.S. Monitor Metaphysical article)
Outward manifestation of this would be to share in the joy and giving of the Christmas season.
Cherish the spiritual idea:
Human and the divine coincidence evidenced in the virgin Mary’s birth of Jesus.
Mrs. Eddy states in our Christian Science textbook that “A spiritual idea has not a single element of error and this Truth removes properly whatever is offensive.” S&H p. 463: 12
In my quest to understand and unfold a better understanding of “The New Birth” by Mary Baker Eddy (Miscellaneous Writings p. 15), the following ideas are some relevant spiritual qualities that relate to some spiritual themes in this article. (Many of these spiritual qualities have been shared in my Sunday School class as we have prayed to express these spiritual qualities and attributes in our daily lives and activities.)
“The new birth is not the work of a moment. It begins with moments, and goes on with years; moments of surrender to God, of childlike trust and joyful adoption of good; moments of self-abnegation, self-consecration, heaven-born hope and spiritual love.” (Mis. 15:13-17)
Child like trust:
Quietness, kindness, love, purity, receptiveness, goodness, and innocence.
Definition of “Children” and “Angels” – see S&H 583:28-4, 581:4-7
Joyful adoption of good:
Perfection, joy, peace, wisdom, gratitude, and purity.
Surrender to God:
Spiritual receptivity & listening, handle fear & silence error’s false claims, and walking with God each step of the way. Hymn 139 – “I walk with Love along the way”)
Self Abnegation:
Correcting wrong thoughts, “Crucify the wrong thoughts, resurrect the right thoughts, and ascend into our absolute atonement with God.” (C.S. practitioner shared this with me.)
Heaven Born Hope:
Maintain spiritual facts of Being. Keep a strong trust in God’s ways and means.
Spiritual Expectancy of God’s goodness only.
Spiritual Love:
Become wholly Christlike in all your ways.
Divine revelation of Christian Science = Highest form of Christianity.
Man awakes to His true self. (Like the prodigal son – See The Bible.)
True church is seeing one another in his/her true light, as God’s perfect image and likeness. Maintain the spiritual facts of Being. Our reward is Heaven – Harmony – Rejoice.
“Turn on the light, and there is no darkness.” (A Sunday School lesson idea)
“Truth destroys falsity and error, for light and darkness cannot dwell together.”
(S&H 474:31-32)
Spiritual Renewal:
God’s perfect reflection, “And Love is reflected in Love.” S&H, p. 17: 7, and
Spiritual Healing and Progress.
One candlestick lit and all the candlesticks lit together bring out one big source of light. “True Church” idea shared. (Richard Strain, C.S. lecturer)
Current - Praying about the Newton, Conn., shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary School
Mary Baker Eddy shares with us in “Origin of Evil” article in Mis. 346:16, “The mortal admission of the reality of evil perpetuates faith in evil; and the Scriptures declare that “to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are.” This leading, self-evident proposition of Christian Science, that, good being real, its opposite is necessarily unreal, needs to be grasped in all its divine requirements.” God’s law is always in operation. The divine law of good is the only reality.
As we unfold with the divine idea of church, only God’s perfect law of good and harmony can reign supreme. “God’s Law of Adjustment” is always in complete operation. We can stand firmly on the spiritual rock of the Christ Truth. (“God’s Law of Adjustment,” C.S. pamphlet article by Adam H. Dickey)
Every Christian Science church plays an essential role and purpose in providing spiritual healing and progress within the church, the community, and the world. “The New Birth and Church” idea represents this spiritual vestibule of goodness which is holy, spiritually protected, and blessed. Our beloved Leader, Mary Baker Eddy, states in her writings:
“Beloved brethren, the love of our loving Lord was never more manifest than in its stern condemnation of all error, wherever found. I counsel thee, rebuke and exhort one another. Love all Christian churches for the gospel’s sake; and be exceedingly glad that the churches are united in purpose, if not in method, to close the war between flesh and Spirit, and to fight the good fight till God’s will be witnessed and done on earth as in heaven.” (Pan. 13:10)
Participant contribution B
Our branch church is as strong today as when we started what I might call our “church renewal project,” perhaps stronger, because we have grown spiritually. I’ve been thinking about our journey as having certain parallels with the Nativity and early childhood of Jesus.
Had we pursued earlier ideas, we would not exist today, because we would have had no place to meet. We, therefore, retrenched and prayed for another direction. To me, this is akin to Joseph and Mary fleeing to Egypt with baby Jesus to escape Herod’s wrath. He was determined to wipe out Christianity in its infancy. Mortal mind certainly tried to lure us into situations that would have guaranteed our demise or to get us to agree to consolidation with a neighboring church. As we worked through the various issues and options that have arisen, we have grown spiritually and in our love and concern for each other. Now, we hear members of other branches comment about how “with it” we are.
It reminds me of Hymn 361:
Through the night of doubt and sorrow
Onward goes the pilgrim band,
Singing songs of expectation,
Marching to the promised land.
Clear before us through the darkness
Gleams and burns the guiding light;
Brother clasps the hand of brother,
Stepping fearless through the night.
In her article, “The Cry of Christmas-Tide,” on p. 369 of The First Church of Christ, Scientist, and Miscellany, Eddy writes that Christian healing is “the babe we are to cherish.” That’s the purpose of our church, to “reinstate primitive Christianity and its lost element of healing” (Man. 17:12). By cherishing the babe of Christian healing we guarantee our continuing presence in La Cañada.
I am very grateful to each member of this church for sticking with our project. We don’t know what the right answer is, but we are moving forward. We have been transformed from a group of people that is waiting for something to happen before doing anything to a group of people that is doing things regardless of what is happening with our building. We are acting alive, which is our only true state. We have been reborn and are living it.
Participant contribution C
In looking over the readings in the call letter for this meeting, I was struck by a few particular things:
- The virgin birth, “that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost.” While this pointed me to the element of purity, I also found myself thinking about the Holy Ghost, which Mrs. Eddy defines as “Divine Science; the development of eternal Life, Truth, and Love.” Our church is obviously in a developmental state, and to be effective it reflects eternal Life, Truth, and Love, and this is achieved as we take a spiritual approach to knowing that our church is an active manifestation of divine activity. Without a purely spiritual approach, Jesus could not have been what he was or done what he did. This is the newness that is resident in our church.
- The “new birth”, as described in Mrs. Eddy’s article in Miscellaneous Writings, is a “newly awakened consciousness” and is “wholly spiritual”. This is a recognition of the laws of Spirit as supreme. Matter is no element of these laws. Thus spiritual laws govern our church, which itself is a spiritual idea. Working in this light, we see progress. Already the light of spiritual progress is so evident in our membership as we listen and advance.
- The good that is God pervades our Christmas season, and is evident in the spiritual activity that is church. There can be no other outcome than progress in the laws of Spirit.
- In her article “The significance of Christmas”, Mrs. Eddy writes: “Christmas stands for the real, the absolute and eternal, — for the things of Spirit, not of matter. Science is divine; it hath no partnership with human means and ends, no half-way stations.” The is no human reason or emotion associated with this. The same goes for our church, of course, the structure and activity of the Christ in our community. Our church is driven solely by the Love that is God’s good expressed.
I am grateful to see the Christmas feast of Love, Soul, and good so persistent in our church membership. This is the new birth in action. We can expect it to be externalized with our church property, too. The solution already exists in Spirit, and it inevitable unfolds to human view as we see ever clearly the constancy of the Christ at work in our affairs.
Participant contribution D
See the Wednesday readings of last week (click this link), which were on the subject of The New Birth.
We're in such good company — Jacob, Paul, and thousands of people in early Christianity who were as familiar with the concept of New Birth and the idea that we are spiritual beings. It's comforting to know we are in that good company. It's fun to think of it in that context.
Participant contribution E
Divine Science itself can never change or be reborn.