METAPHYSICAL MEETING, January 19, 2015
Contents
| - Topic | |
| - Call to the meeting | |
| - Readings | |
| - Participant contribution A | |
| - Participant contribution B | |
| - Participant contribution C | |
| - Participant contribution D | |
| - Participant contribution E |
Topic
How we made Christian Science our own
Call to the meeting
The next Metaphysical meeting is focused on “How have you made Christian Science
your own?” What significant healings have you experienced in your life? What spiritual
qualities were evident during this healing process? The healings shared may even
include how your family has been blessed with the study of Christian Science.
We will meet on Monday, January 19, 2015 at 7:30 p.m. It may be helpful to review
some healings in the chapter on “Fruitage” in Science and Health or work with healings
shared in the Christian Science periodicals as part of your inspirational study and
preparation for the meeting.
We look forward to seeing you and sharing in this healing effort to bless one another as a
church family.
Help us to build each other up,
Our little stock improve;
Increase our faith, confirm our hope,
And perfect us in love.
C.S. Hhymnal, Hymn 105, verse 2
Readings
The Bible
Col. 2: 6,7
Eph. 3: 14-21
Isaiah 58: 8
The writings of Mary Baker eddy:
S&H 259: 11
S&H 15: 14-32
S&H 469: 30-5
S&H viii: 12-16
Hea. 19: 22 let
Participant contribution A
There is an absolute and a relative answer to the question as to, “How have you made Christian Science your own?” In Truth, we have never known anything but the Science of Being since "before the world was" as ideas of Truth. From this perspective, we can acknowledge that none of us is ever less than the full representation of the Infinite. There has never been a time of obscuration or lapse in reflection. There are no variant levels of understanding within the divine Mind or among His ideas. This is the only acceptable perspective for viewing our fellow members and indeed all mankind.
We can also appreciate the activity of the Christ as it dawns in human consciousness, the relative aspect of making Christian Science one's own. We can value the story of every individual in waking to the Christ as a kind of miracle of grace, defined in the Glossary of Science and Health as "that which is divinely natural." We can impersonalize whatever would work against this revelation and defeat it as illegitimate, powerless, and unreal.
As I review my own acceptance of Christian Science, it has all been about discovering for myself that what is recorded in Science and Health is true. For me, every adverse experience is about learning some aspect of the laws of Spirit which nullify false belief.
So, when did I make Christian Science my own? As long as I can remember, I have been a “child of the Church,” to borrow a phrase. There was something about attending Sunday School and being active in church that transcended egotism and human convention. Here, I learned where to turn for answers to pain of every sort and I have always found comfort and answers. I would say that significant healings have underpinned my faith because they are undeniable evidence to any suggestion that Christian Science is merely a form of "mind cure."
Making Christian Science one's own also involves defending it. Capitulating to the general current of thought in order to be comfortable in materialism or becoming a slave to merely human ways and means militates against the divine demand to “take up the cross” and work for humanity’s advancement out of bondage to material sense. Devotion to Jesus two commandments will ensure that we keep Christian Science as our own.
Participant contribution B
Healing has been a lifelong adventure for me in Christian science. Turning to God with all my heart and soul and trusting his constant care in lieu of whatever the mortal thought is trying to make real has been a huge comfort. The Bible makes it clear in the beginning chapter Genesis 1: 26,27 that man is made in the image and likeness of God. We are pure and perfect, we are spiritual, the pure reflection of Love itself.
Mrs. Eddy has stated that man is spiritual, not material, which is the basis of all healing. How comforting to know that man — that’s me — is a spiritual idea, loved, cared for, and protected at all times. That applies also to all those whom my thoughts rest upon.
In Science and Health page 470 line 21 through 24 Mrs. Eddy states, “God is the creator of man, and, the divine Principle of man remaining perfect, the divine idea or reflection, man, remains perfect. Man is the expression of God's being.” She continues on line 32: “The relations of God and man , divine Principle and idea, are indestructible in Science; and Science knows no relapse from nor return to harmony, but holds the divine order or spiritual law, in which God and all that he creates are perfect and eternal, to have remained unchanged in it’s eternal history.”
All through life, dealing with relationships with school friends, parents, work associates, husband and best friend, children, and all who we associate with, are all under the same umbrella of love and care by God.
Trusting God and churchgoing has brought harmony to our family. Peace and love reign instead of dissension. Saying grace together at our evening meals tied the evening together with calm reporting of the day’s activities for each child and my husband and myself. On page 444 of Science and Health, line 9 through 12, it says, “Step by step will those who trust in him find that ‘God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.’”
Each child had tasks of scholastic and athletic duties to conquer each day and each one was blessed by trusting God to lead the way and lift their thought to good. Their shepherd was showing them the way step by step, day by day. They were brought up singing “Feed my Sheep” by Mary Baker Eddy and returned to her hymns for comfort and healing many times.
How have I made Christian science my own? Well, by living what I understand to be the laws of God and trusting these truths. “God is love” (John 4:8), so to be godlike is to be love-like. Knowing this is to feel assured of God’s care. My mom and dad would always say “Know The truth” and “Do your work.” That is what growing up in Christian Science has taught me to do. Through prayer and study of the Bible and Science and Health, I’ve learned to understand my relationship to God and God’s love for me.
Participant contribution C
I attended Sunday School while living in Alexandria, LA., with my Grandmother and two aunts when I was about 6 through 8, but when my mother and I moved back to Shreveport, she took me back to the Episcopal Sunday School. When I was 12, we were told in Sunday School that in the fall we would all take classes that would enable us to become confirmed in the Episcopal church. With no hesitation, I told the teacher and the Sunday School superintendent that I wouldn’t be taking the classes, that I would be going to the Christian Science Sunday School in the fall.
That afternoon, the Sunday School superintendent and several other men, elders in the church, came to call on my mother. She told them if that’s what I want to do then that’s what I’ll do. Until I could drive, my mother dropped me off at the CS SS every Sunday. She became interested in CS also and we went to Wednesday evening services together.
I had my first significant healing when I was about 16. I was running and came down hard on a piece of lumber with a nail that pierced my foot. Within an hour or so my foot swelled up. I called my SS teacher who was in the practice. By that Friday night I was completely healed and went to a dance and danced all evening.
In college I was active in our Org., and began to rely completely on CS by myself. Had a wonderful SS teacher there, too. Had a complete healing of measles very quickly and didn’t miss a big weekend in New Orleans.
Those experiences showed me that CS heals and heals quickly and helped me handle any problem that came my way ever since.
Participant contribution D
When I first started thinking about our topic tonight, I wasn’t sure about coming up with anything terribly metaphysical. Then I thought about how helpful the testimonies in our Wednesday meetings have been to me, along with all of the testimonies printed in our periodicals, and realized that sharing our stories is another way of strengthening each other in our quest to become better healers. Plus, we get to know each other better and learn to work together toward our common goal of healing.
I asked my mom how our family came into Christian Science. All we know is that her paternal grandmother and aunts were Christian Scientists. We don’t know how they found it. I believe they were living in Montana, although the only one of that group that I met lived in California as an adult. Evidently those women stayed with Christian Science throughout their lives. My great-grandmother introduced Christian Science to her daughter-in-law, my grandmother, when she married my grandfather, who never embraced Christian Science. This would have been about 1918 or 1919. My grandmother had a significant healing during the birth of my mother, a few years later, and raised my mother and uncle in Christian Science. As it turned out, my grandmother and mother, unbeknownst to each other ahead of time, were in the same Christian Science class during the 1950s. My mother raised her four children in Christian Science.
We attended a small, rural Sunday School. In the winter there may have been 18 students, but in the summer, we were reduced to around 9, half of those being my siblings and me. Throughout high school, I was in a class with one other student, a popular guy on the football team and the son of my mom’s best friend. So, he had to be nice to me and acknowledge my existence, even though I was not in the football/cheerleading crowd. None of my friends attended the Christian Science Sunday School, and none of my parents’ social or professional interactions, except for my mom’s best friend, included Christian Scientists. We were pretty quiet about it at home, because my dad wasn’t really in favor of it.
When it came time to go to college, I decided I wanted to go to Principia College. Why? Because I wanted to be around Christian Scientists to decide if this was the lifestyle I wanted to follow. I even wrote that on my application, and they accepted me anyway. It was not the best choice of college for my academic interests, but in retrospect, it was best for me and easily opened channels that may not have been available had I gone elsewhere. The first healing that I feel that I accomplished on my own was a result of the prayer I did concerning where to attend college.
During my senior year in college, I was accepted for class instruction the summer after graduation. When I interviewed for my job, I told the hiring manager that I’d have to take two weeks off in the middle of the summer. He nodded knowingly; he was a Christian Scientist. Looking back, it was pretty gutsy of me to take those two weeks off for class. I had only a temporary summer job, with no guarantee it would become fulltime. I had no money. My parents were expecting me to support myself with no help from them. But, off I flew to a city I had never visited and a $20 hotel room in a Sheraton, which was expensive and luxurious, not knowing how I’d pay my credit card bill when it came. I was so penniless that I didn’t go to restaurants with the rest of the out-of-towners, but went to the grocery store to buy a supply of peanut butter, tuna, bread, and cold cereal to eat in my room. I used the ice bucket to keep the milk relatively cold, because there was no refrigerator in my room. Needless to say, I was praying. I already knew that my grandmother would pay the tuition for class instruction. I worked a lot with Hymn 82, “God is working His purpose out,” doing my best to march forth with the banner of Christ unfurled, as the third stanza instructs. When I arrived back at work, my supervisor told me that they had been able to create a full-time position for me and I could have it if I wanted. That lead to a 34-year career. I think I got a little bit of a raise with this unfoldment. Finally, my credit card charges for the hotel room weren’t posted to my account until November! Even in those uncomputerized days, that was a little longer than usual for charges to be posted. By that time, I had saved enough money to pay the bill and still have money to live on.
From there, the rest is history. I’d like to share a few of the passages that have been especially helpful over the years:
• The 23rd Psalm with its spiritual sense (S&H 577:32-18)
• The Lord’s Prayer and its spiritual interpretation ( 16:26-15)
• Hymn 82, “God is working His purpose out”
• Hymn 148, “In heavenly Love abiding”
• Hymn 305, “Feed My Sheep”
• “It never happened” — a statement made by a practitioner, which has been helpful in subsequent situations, too.
• “Pilgrim on earth, thy home is heaven; stranger, thou art the guest of God” (S&H 254:31) — a useful reminder to act as God’s houseguest, and its correlative Hymn 278, which includes the lines, “Cared for, watched over, beloved and protected, / Walk thou with courage each step of the way” and “Grace to go forward, wherever He guide thee, / Gladly obeying the call of His word.”
• “You will never turn out the lights!” — a statement by a practitioner when I was lamenting that I might be the last person left in our congregation and have to turn out the lights. This was a long time ago and we’re still here! The lights have not been turned out.
• Proverbs 3:5, 6
• Hymn 6, “Abide not in the realm of dreams”
• Hymn 224, “O Lord, I would delight in Thee, / And on Thy care depend...”
In closing, I am so grateful for membership in this branch church. Working with each of you is part of my story. Thank you.
Participant contribution E
Christian Science is not about a profession of belief in a particular religious dogma. In founding her church, Mary Baker Eddy made it clear that the practical healing element was the reason for the church. The motion initiating the church in 1879 stated that it “should reinstate primitive Christianity and its lost element of healing” (Man. 17:8-13). The church was designed for “understanding and demonstration” (Man. 19:3). Demonstration, including Christian healing, cannot be separated from the purpose and operation of this church. That dedication applies also to each and every individual in the movement, whether or not they realize it.
Christian Science was found by my father, and he introduced it to my mother. She had been a semi-invalid since she was young, and because she was ill and away from school so frequently, she left school at an early age. All of that was healed through Christian Science. I don’t know the details — those were not discussed in the home — but I do know that it included the healing of long-standing whooping cough. Through this new-found freedom, Mother became a devoted Christian Scientist, active in a small Christian Society in the provincial town where we were raised, and sending my sisters and me to Sunday School. In due course Mother became a practitioner listed in The Christian Science Journal.
I don’t think I’ve ever had to be brought into Christian Science. It was always just there, part of one’s upbringing. It was used in resolving every ill that needed attention. I remember healings of flu, measles, and mumps when I young. Overall I have always had good health, and this has continued through my adult years. In relatively recent years, conditions such as influenza and severe toothache have been healed most effectively. When I was first reader at this church, one Sunday I feinted during the service while reading the weekly Bible Lesson; I was quickly back in action, thanks to the immediate prayerful work of my wife, the church members, and myself. At that time there were occasions, before and after that incident, when I would feel feint, and I would treat these occurrences whenever they happened. Gradually the problem dropped away and has never recurred.
The practicality of Science extends beyond health issues, and has been instrumental in resolving career moves, work situations, relationship issues, and other challenges requiring major decision-making. I have much to be grateful for in these respects. I’m aware of multiple specific occasions when a matter has been resolved when treated spiritually.
To be fully effective, Christian Science does require continual watching of thought to keep the angel message of the Christ as the instigator of ideas. This requires ongoing perseverance, but the rewards are bountiful and natural, never intrusive, always joyous.