METAPHYSICAL MEETING, February 18, 2013
Contents
| - Topic | |
| - Call to the meeting | |
| - Readings | |
| - Participant contribution A | |
| - Participant contribution B | |
| - Participant contribution C | |
| - Participant contribution D |
Topic
Building spiritually — stewardship for our church
Call to the meeting
Please come to our next metaphysical meeting on Monday, February 18, 2013, at 7.30 p.m. in the Reading Room. Teleconferencing is available if that is more convenient. The topic this month is: “Building spiritually, — stewardship for our church”
Some form of organization and physical location is relevant and even necessary for a church. How do we deal with this metaphysically? Mary Baker Eddy defines Church as:
“The structure of Truth and Love; whatever rests upon and proceeds from divine Principle.
“The Church is that institution, which affords proof of its utility, and is found elevating the race, rousing the dormant understanding from material beliefs to the apprehension of spiritual ideas and the demonstration of divine Science, thereby casting out devils, or error, and healing the sick” (S&H 583:12-19)
In that definition, the first paragraph outlines a spiritual concept of church that is profound and all-embracing. The second paragraph relates to the humanly outward sense of the spiritual concept. When we nurture the spiritual concept, the outward manifestation is looked after.
At our meeting, let’s talk about how we go about this, sharing individual inspiration that constitutes stewardship for our church, the necessary building on a spiritual basis that must occur to foster the outward evidence of church, including our organization, our presence in the community, and our development.
You might like to address questions such as these:
What is the role of the spiritual concept of church in the institution?
In your own words, what is that spiritual concept?
How can we strengthen our church concept, and thereby the church institutionally?
Many articles in our periodicals are helpful in dealing with this topic. One such article is: “The Ideal Church”, by Geoffrey Barratt, in The Christian Science Journal, May 2006. To read the article, click here.
In Science and Health we read: “If you wish to know the spiritual fact, you can discover it by reversing the material fable.” (S&H 129:7-8)
Readings
The Bible:
Isa 41:10,15,18,19,22 (to 1st ,)
Eph 2:19-22 ye
II Cor 13:11
The writings of Mary Baker Eddy:
SH 583:12-19
My. 206:18
SH 473:8-10
My. 187:6-11
SH 468:9-15 There
Participant contribution A
Last month, January, our topic was “Walking as children of the earth,” which was a daily topic from 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?”
Thus when it comes to what God requires of us, it brings us to the subject of stewardship, which my dictionary defines in part: “the individual’s responsibility to manage his life and property.” This sense of stewardship, or individual responsibility, was clearly an important one, and so this month’s topic, which originally dealt with the simpler “building spiritually”, evolved into the specific question of how we go about providing for your church on a spiritual basis.
Why the concentration on the spiritual basis? It’s the fundamental spiritual nature of what church is, as the “structure of Truth and Love, whatever proceeds from divine Principle.” When we are dealing with a physicial problem, the physical symptoms can be such as to emphasis the material body, what is wrong physically. That’s understandable, and perfectly human, but it also can tempt us to treat the human body, when the key to progress and healing is realizing our continuous, unbreakable relation to God, as His spiritual offspring, pure, perfect, whole, possessing nothing of itself, but reflecting the full glow of Spirit and Soul.
So it is with Church. We have a major temptation perhaps to compare our congregation with other churches, to be overcome by the scale of work needed to maintain the property, to feel that the community does not know who or what we represent, etc. Those things are understandable, but not helpful of themselves, even if we set about addressing them humanly, such as becoming involved in interfaith work, or endeavoring to work off the major maintenance items. These things are commendable, and may be appropriate. But first we need to understand the spiritual concept of church, and to remain permanently at one with that spiritual idea.
That spiritual concept of church is what we regard church truly to be, from a spiritual basis. To me it is the evidence of divine Mind unfolding itself in all aspects of human endeavor. To the degree that we see God being ever operative in his idea man, we are seeing church manifest in human affairs. As we increasingly realize this, we can expect more of it in our church institution. Our church is the business of God expressing Himself/Herself in his community of spiritual ideas.
No other power is present but God, no other influence. Realizing this, we associate with our church to nurture individually the strength that is divine Principle manifest in the world. Knowing that Principle underlies the entire creation in Spirit, we take refuge in the sense of church as a divine idea. We strengthen the church institutionally as we see it’s spiritual perfection and permanence everywhere. We see this completeness in our fellow church members, and in all whom we associate with. This realization can only strengthen and protect our church and what it stands for.
Participant contribution B
When I started thinking about this topic, I asked myself the question, “How are we (or ‘how am I’) stewards for our church?” I reminded myself that “stewardship” is “the careful and responsible management of something entrusted to one’s care.” Our branch church is entrusted to our care, but God is the Steward (capital “S”) and we reflect stewardship. It’s analogous to saying that we are honest, but we aren’t honesty; or (better) we are truthful, but we aren’t Truth. Trying to be mortal stewards and getting all wound up in the daily details of caring for a physical structure, a physical membership, and even a physical community, before attending to our own spiritual growth, doesn’t forward our Cause any more than emphasizing care of the physical body forwards our spiritual growth. Don’t get me wrong. I don’t think we should withdraw and become ascetics.
I realized that our entire experience is in thought. So, to better reflect stewardship for my Church and realize results, maybe I’d better be a better steward of my own thinking about church. I have to say that I’m grateful that I’m improving in that department. For me, it means being even more alert to the suggestions that try to convince me that our membership is too small, our building needs too much repair, we don’t have enough money, and so on.
Let me give a specific example and how I’m praying about it. In a couple of months, there is a Sunday when at least five of our members – two readers, two Sunday School teachers, and one substitute reader/Sunday School teacher – will be out of town. I’ve been praying specifically about the Sunday School. I’m knowing that “Church” is a complete idea. It isn’t dependent upon specific mortals or a specific number of mortals. All of the qualities of church are present right now. They don’t ebb and flow. They are always present, in abundance. I don’t need to know right now how we will “cover” the Sunday School classes. I only need to know that God is providing for our need and our students’ needs. He won’t let any of us down. I affirm that the proving, elevating, and rousing aspects of “church” operate continuously. They are eternal activities, which we all reflect. As I was thinking about these ideas this afternoon, I realized that the definition of “church” includes nothing about quantity. Therefore, counting members present/members absent and members active/members inactive is not reflecting spiritual stewardship. One man, Christ Jesus, revolutionized the world. One woman, Mary Baker Eddy, revolutionized Christianity. Why am I letting numbers get in the way of the demonstration of “church”?
In thinking about this topic, I also considered how I can be a better steward of my own thoughts and how I might demonstrate it. The Bible Lesson provides everything we need for demonstration every day. So, I’ve resolved to be a better studier and less of a reader of it. Plus, if as Eddy wrote in the Church Manual that the prosperity of Christian Science largely depends on this lesson, then being a good steward (or reflector of stewardship) involves really mining the lesson and proving its truths. It’s proving to be a very useful part of my daily study.
Finally, I’ve been thinking about the Christ. It’s the Christ that makes the connection between the spiritual reality and human need. It’s the Christ that’s working in me to show me what I need to be doing on the human scene. It’s the Christ that’s making the structure of Truth and Love accessible to everybody. In many ways, we could say that it’s the Christ that’s the steward of our church.
Participant contribution C
I believe our church has gone full circle with our prayers for our Spiritual Building of church, the true church of Truth and Love. During the past six years we have overcome the fear, lack, separation and many mortal thoughts through the collective change in our thinking of what our pure purpose of church is in our community. Our church members have become our church family. All seeking the same good. All supporting each other in their progress for this understanding in Christian Science. Church has come to be a haven, not a structure. It envelopes the love and harmony, mercy, grace and kindness that all are expressing to one another.
We have learned to turn over our mortal concerns to our loving Father Mother God and She is gently guiding us in Divine thought to our spiritual understand of the Christ Truth. Mrs. Eddy states that God knows our past, present and future (Science and Health, page 84).
Each subject we have chosen to study these past few years in our metaphysical meetings has yielded unfoldment and valuable wisdom, leading us closer to our Master's higher thoughts of church and its utility. I'm so grateful for these continuing monthly metaphysical meetings as they have placed us on the same pages of understanding Christian Science. Our Spiritual Building of church has cemented us to our Pastor, our Bibles and Science and Health for answers and solutions.
Participant contribution D
Will spiritually see that our spiritual fortress of church is perfect and intact.
I like the idea of continuing to know that we are in the structure of divine Truth, Life, and Love.
It's important to stay with the Truth about our church and maintain the spiritual facts only about this holy place: the Kingdom of Heaven.