METAPHYSICAL MEETING, January 21, 2013
Contents
| - Topic | |
| - Call to the meeting | |
| - Readings | |
| - Participant contribution A | |
| - Participant contribution B | |
| - Participant contribution C | |
| - Participant contribution D |
Topic
Walking as children of the earth (Day 4 of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, sponsored by the World Council of Churches, for which the overall theme this year is: What does God require of us?)
Call to the meeting
Our metaphysical meeting on Monday, January 21, will be supportive of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, sponsored by the World Council of Churches. The prayer topic for January 21 is “Walking as children of the earth,” which concerns stewardship of the earth. Here are questions for you to consider:
How does maintaining a strong branch Church of Christ, Scientist, contribute to Christian unity and stewardship of the earth?
What are some of the aspects of spiritual stewardship for our church? For the earth? What makes the connection?
What is the place of our branch church in God’s creation?
How do we exercise our God-given dominion (Gen. 1:26) with respect to our branch church?
These are just some of the kinds of questions that can be asked. You may find others that are relevant to our branch church’s continuity in God’s creation.
“Thou, even thou, art Lord alone; thou hast made heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their host, the earth, and all things that are therein, the seas, and all that is therein, and thou preservest them all; and the host of heaven worshippeth thee” (Neh. 9:6).
If you cannot attend in person or by phone/Skype, please send your written contribution to her so it may be shared at the meeting. The meeting will be held in the Church Reading Room beginning at 7:30 pm.
Readings
Isa 61:1-4, 6 ye (to 2nd :), 10, 11
Isa 62:4, 6, 7, 10-12
Eph 4:1-7, 11-13
599:6-7
575:22
Mis 131:9
Pul 21:18-27
Pul 22:3, 16
My 200:11-19 The
My 133:4
My 270:24-31
Hymns: 266, 440, 356
Participant contribution A
For me, this topic is asking about “stewardship” of the earth. Our metaphysical meetings focus on the strength of our branch Church of Christ, Scientist, and its continuity in our community. It’s not unrealistic to understand that a strong branch church is part of the equation for proper stewardship of the earth.
“Stewardship” has a meaning that is more relevant to this topic than I thought: “the individual’s responsibility especially in certain religious groups for sharing systematically and proportionately his time, talent, and material possessions in the service of God and for the benefit of all mankind.” For completeness, the definition of “steward” is “one called to exercise responsible care over possessions entrusted to him.”
It is proven that strong Christian Science churches have a beneficial influence in their community and in the world at large. The association of a friend of mine agreed to pray about a particular violent crime that her country was experiencing. Over the course of the year, the crime rate fell by 20%. Our prayers make a difference.
What is the talent that each of us has that will benefit all mankind? Each of us knows how to pray effectively. So, to me, we are stewards of the mental realm, of our thoughts. Polluted thoughts result in polluted atmosphere. Thoughts of limitation result in species becoming extinct, not enough food for people, economic disparity. It’s pretty easy to examine one’s own thoughts and decide which are reflections of God’s thoughts and which are materially based. As we are stewards of our thinking and guard each thought, we will see progressive results in our experience.
Thoughts of limitation can result not only in the extinction of species, but also in the extinction of our church. We have been working at this project long enough that I think we’re all committed to a strong, progressive manifestation of Church in La Cañada. I’m trying to treat the situation just as I would treat a patient who calls for help. We have nothing to fear because divine Love is our Shepherd guiding us in each step. We hear and obey Love’s messages. We dwell in the consciousness of divine Love and can never fall out of it. We don’t stop in the valley of the shadow of death. We keep moving out of it. Our church is strong, full of the ideas of God, wealthy in the needed resources, inspired, maintained by divine Mind and divine Love. Our church is supportive, loving, complete, perfect, friendly, wise, active, energetic, joyous, alive, harmonious, complete.
This quote from Miscellany applies as much to our church as it does to individuals:
“Divine Love will also rebuke and destroy disease, and destroy the belief of life in matter. It will waken the dreamer — the sinner, dreaming of pleasure in sin; the sick, reaming of suffering matter; the slothful, satisfied to sleep and dream. Divine Love is our only physician, and never loses a case. It binds up the broken-hearted; heals the poor body, whose whole head is sick and whose whole heart is faint; comforts such as mourn, wipes away the unavailing, tired tear, brings back the wanderer to the Father’s house in which are many mansions, many welcomes, many pardons for the penitent.
“Ofttimes I think of this in the great light of the present, the might and light of the present fulfilment. So shall all earth’s children at last come to acknowledge God, and be one; inhabit His holy hill, the God-crowned summit of divine Science; the church militant rise to the church triumphant, and Zion be glorified” (My. 132:24-8).
Participant contribution B
Thank you for this month’s metaphysical topic. It was a learning point for me to understand my placement in “stewardship”. I considered the dictionary’s reference to one who acts as a surrogate of another or others, especially by managing property, financial affairs, etc. I know what a dedicated executive board we have at our church, carefully taking care of the church’s affairs and events. But I continued to pray to see my purpose as a member and actually as an individual steward of the earth. The second half of the dictionary definition clearly showed me what I needed to do: “2. The responsibility, overseeing, and protecting of something considered worth caring for and preserving” (Dictionary.com). Bingo!
Church, the unfoldment of light through understanding the word of God. Reading room, the outreach to our neighbors and worldwide to embrace the love of God’s word. We are so blessed to have this responsibility and opportunity to share our spiritual understanding of God with others, whether they are Christians or non-believers. We are al treading this earth in search for good, in search of purpose and proof that we are worthy and the ideas are worth caring for.
Caring for our beloved Christian Science Church or caring for our fellow man, we are upholding the same enlightened principle of good. We are loving our fellow man and giving of our heart’s overflow. The Bible states what we are required to do, to do justice, to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God.
God has given us an easy task to live a principled life of being law-abiding, to love our fellow man, and be grateful for the love in return, even if it isn’t what you have given. We are all blessed to walk humbly with our Father-Mother God freely and inseparably. One might add always, as well. Being Christian Scientists, we can adhere to Mrs. Eddy’s statement in Science and Health 322:3: “When understanding changes the standpoints of life and intelligence from a material to a spiritual basis, we shall gain the reality of Life. . . to turn our thoughts towards divine Principle, that finite belief may be prepared to relinquish its error.”
Then we can walk this earth and live in perfect peace, harmony, joy, and be God’s steward in His Kingdom. Our church is here to embrace us, enlighten our understanding, free the mortal thought, and guide us into the path of Christ’s guiding, healing Truth and living Love.
Participant contribution C
Here on planet Earth, people so often become absorbed in their own sphere of activity. Their careers, their families, their houses, their income, their ability to do the things that mean most to them in their individual interests. It’s all too easy to lose sight of the bigger picture, and yet there really is only one picture, that of Spirit, the divine Life. The second line of Lord’s Prayer, “Hallowed by Thy name,” is interpreted in Science and Health with the words, “Adorable one”. And as God, Spirit is infinite, omnipresent, and omnipotent, there isn’t any other presence or power.
Thus it’s counterproductive to think that we can pray about our personal situation, or the progress of our church, while at the same time ignoring the issues of planet Earth, or even of the universe. In Science, we appreciate that “Man is idea, the image of Love’ (Science and Health, page 475), and therefore many is not subject to cycles of boom and bust, to diminishing resources, to unthinking fate. The same is equally true of Earth, that “compound idea” that constitutes “a type of eternity and immortality, which are likewise without beginning or end” (Science and Health page 585).
To the degree that we realize this, we support and facilitate stewardship of the Earth, a specific compound manifestation of Principle and Life.
Church fits into this because it relates to the manifestation of the Christ in the community. It’s an impersonal and nonsectarian emanation of divine Mind nurturing its idea, man. This Christ-presence goes beyond boundaries and borders, it embraces all mankind, including all of the churches and denominations. Therefore, we need never fear that one church or one religion will outshine another, or that disbelief in God will consume society.
As we listen for the Christ guiding in our church, we provide a spiritual foundation for our community, and that helps all in the best utilization of the earth, its environment, and its resources. The stronger our branch churches, the better we collectively guide mankind’s direction with Earth.
The best way to exercise this dominion, individually and in our church organization, is through persistent prayerful attention to Life. This embrace of divine Love and Principle brings us closer to the reality of Spirit, and the better we see this, the greater we can expect to know what is needed to further the manifestation of the Christ in the earthly realm. And we do this primarily by realizing the spiritual purity, infinitude, and balance of Spirit, the divine nature.
This does require persistent prayerful work. I was impressed by a recent audio chat on sentinel.christianscience.com that quoted a reference to the Interpreter’s Bible, which stated that in the parable of the Ten Virgins, those five who did not bring oil for their lamps, who were unable to attend the feast, are equivalent to enthusiasm without perseverance.
This indicates that it pays to be attentive to our environment, the Earth, things beyond our immediate individual circumstance, and not just think nice things about it. The Earth deserves quality consideration as the idea of infinite Mind, and that in turn provides the environment and resources that feed us, the individual ideas of divine consciousness
Participant contribution D
TBA.