First Church of Christ, Scientist, La Cañada Flintridge
Wednesday Meeting Readings
- Gal. 5:13, 14
13For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another.
14For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
- Matt. 22:35-40
35Then one of them, which was a lawyer, asked him a question, tempting him, and saying,
36Master, which is the great commandment in the law?
37Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.
38This is the first and great commandment.
39And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
40On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.
- Ps. 15:1-3, 4 he (to 1st .), 5 2nd He
1Lord, who shall abide in thy tabernacle? who shall dwell in thy holy hill?
2He that walketh uprightly, and worketh righteousness, and speaketh the truth in his heart.
3He that backbiteth not with his tongue, nor doeth evil to his neighbour, nor taketh up a reproach against his neighbour.
4 ... he honoureth them that fear the Lord.
5 ... He that doeth these things shall never be moved.
- Ex. 20:16, 17
16Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.
17Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour’s.
- Lev. 19:1, 2, 13 (to ,), 17, 18, 33, 34 (to ;)
1And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,
2Speak unto all the congregation of the children of Israel, and say unto them, Ye shall be holy: for I the Lord your God am holy.
13¶ Thou shalt not defraud thy neighbour,
17¶ Thou shalt not hate thy brother in thine heart: thou shalt in any wise rebuke thy neighbour, and not suffer sin upon him.
18¶ Thou shalt not avenge, nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people, but thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself: I am the Lord.
33¶ And if a stranger sojourn with thee in your land, ye shall not vex him.
34But the stranger that dwelleth with you shall be unto you as one born among you, and thou shalt love him as thyself;
- Prov. 3:26-30
26For the Lord shall be thy confidence, and shall keep thy foot from being taken.
27¶ Withhold not good from them to whom it is due, when it is in the power of thine hand to do it.
28Say not unto thy neighbour, Go, and come again, and to-morrow I will give; when thou hast it by thee.
29Devise not evil against thy neighbour, seeing he dwelleth securely by thee.
30¶ Strive not with a man without cause, if he have done thee no harm.
- Prov. 11:11, 12
11By the blessing of the upright the city is exalted: but it is overthrown by the mouth of the wicked.
12He that is void of wisdom despiseth his neighbour: but a man of understanding holdeth his peace.
- Prov. 18:4, 15-17, 19, 24
4The words of a man’s mouth are as deep waters, and the wellspring of wisdom as a flowing brook.
... 15The heart of the prudent getteth knowledge; and the ear of the wise seeketh knowledge.
16A man’s gift maketh room for him, and bringeth him before great men.
17He that is first in his own cause seemeth just; but his neighbour cometh and searcheth him.
... 19A brother offended is harder to be won than a strong city: and their contentions are like the bars of a castle.
... 24A man that hath friends must shew himself friendly: and there is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother.
- Zech. 3:7, 9 and, 10 (to neighbor)
7Thus saith the Lord of hosts; If thou wilt walk in my ways, and if thou wilt keep my charge, then thou shalt also judge my house, and shalt also keep my courts, and I will give thee places to walk among these that stand by.
9 ... and I will remove the iniquity of that land in one day.
10In that day, saith the Lord of hosts, shall ye call every man his neighbour under the vine and under the fig tree.
- Zech. 8:16, 17 (to ;)
16¶ These are the things that ye shall do; Speak ye every man the truth to his neighbour; execute the judgment of truth and peace in your gates:
17And let none of you imagine evil in your hearts against his neighbour;
- Matt. 5:38-48
38¶ Ye have heard that it hath been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth:
39But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also.
40And if any man will sue thee at the law, and take away thy coat, let him have thy cloak also.
41And whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain.
42Give to him that asketh thee, and from him that would borrow of thee turn not thou away.
43¶ Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy.
44But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;
45That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.
46For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same?
47And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others? do not even the publicans so?
48Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.
- Luke 10:25-37
25¶ And, behold, a certain lawyer stood up, and tempted him, saying, Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?
26He said unto him, What is written in the law? how readest thou?
27And he answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself.
28And he said unto him, Thou hast answered right: this do, and thou shalt live.
29But he, willing to justify himself, said unto Jesus, And who is my neighbour?
30And Jesus answering said, A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, which stripped him of his raiment, and wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead.
31And by chance there came down a certain priest that way: and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side.
32And likewise a Levite, when he was at the place, came and looked on him, and passed by on the other side.
33But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was: and when he saw him, he had compassion on him,
34And went to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine, and set him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him.
35And on the morrow when he departed, he took out two pence, and gave them to the host, and said unto him, Take care of him; and whatsoever thou spendest more, when I come again, I will repay thee.
36Which now of these three, thinkest thou, was neighbour unto him that fell among the thieves?
37And he said, He that shewed mercy on him. Then said Jesus unto him, Go, and do thou likewise.
- Eph. 4:7 unto, 17, 18, 20, 23-25, 31, 32
7unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ.
... 17This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that ye henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk, in the vanity of their mind,
18Having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart:
... 20But ye have not so learned Christ;
... 23And be renewed in the spirit of your mind;
24And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.
25Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbour: for we are members one of another.
... 31Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice:
32And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you.
- Rom. 13:1, 8-10
1Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God.
... 8Owe no man any thing, but to love one another: for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law.
9For this, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Thou shalt not covet; and if there be any other commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this saying, namely, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
10Love worketh no ill to his neighbour: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.
Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures
by Mary Baker Eddy
- SH 88:18-20
- SH 138:17-14
Jesus established in the Christian era the precedent for 18all Christianity, theology, and healing. Christians are New era in Jesusunder as direct orders now, as they were then, to be Christlike, to possess the Christ-spirit, to 21follow the Christ-example, and to heal the sick as well as the sinning. It is easier for Christianity to cast out sick-ness than sin, for the sick are more willing to part with 24pain than are sinners to give up the sinful, so-called pleas-ure of the senses. The Christian can prove this to-day as readily as it was proved centuries ago.
27 Our Master said to every follower: “Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature! . . . Healthful theologyHeal the sick! . . . Love thy neighbor as 30thyself!” It was this theology of Jesus which healed the sick and the sinning. It is his theology in this book and the spiritual meaning of this theology, which 139 139:1heals the sick and causes the wicked to “forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts.” It was our Mas-3ter’s theology which the impious sought to destroy.
From beginning to end, the Scriptures are full of accounts of the triumph of Spirit, Mind, over matter. 6Marvels and reformationsMoses proved the power of Mind by what men called miracles; so did Joshua, Elijah, and Elisha. The Christian era was ushered in with signs and 9wonders. Reforms have commonly been attended with bloodshed and persecution, even when the end has been brightness and peace; but the present new, yet old, re-12form in religious faith will teach men patiently and wisely to stem the tide of sectarian bitterness, whenever it flows inward.
- SH 9:5
The test of all prayer lies in the answer to these 6questions: Do we love our neighbor better because of Summit of aspirationthis asking? Do we pursue the old selfish-ness, satisfied with having prayed for some-9thing better, though we give no evidence of the sin-cerity of our requests by living consistently with our prayer? If selfishness has given place to kindness, 12we shall regard our neighbor unselfishly, and bless them that curse us; but we shall never meet this great duty simply by asking that it may be done. There is 15a cross to be taken up before we can enjoy the fruition of our hope and faith.
- SH 176:19
- SH 234:9-30
9 We should become more familiar with good than with evil, and guard against false beliefs as watchfully as we Hospitality to health and goodbar our doors against the approach of thieves 12and murderers. We should love our enemies and help them on the basis of the Golden Rule; but avoid casting pearls before those who trample 15them under foot, thereby robbing both themselves and others.
If mortals would keep proper ward over mortal mind, 18the brood of evils which infest it would be cleared out. Cleansing the mindWe must begin with this so-called mind and empty it of sin and sickness, or sin and sick-21ness will never cease. The present codes of human systems disappoint the weary searcher after a divine theology, adequate to the right education of human 24thought.
Sin and disease must be thought before they can be manifested. You must control evil thoughts in the first 27instance, or they will control you in the second. Jesus declared that to look with desire on forbidden objects was to break a moral precept. He laid great stress on the 30action of the human mind, unseen to the senses.
- SH 205:22-18
When we realize that there is one Mind, the divine law Redemption from selfishnessof loving our neighbor as ourselves is unfolded; 24whereas a belief in many ruling minds hinders man’s normal drift towards the one Mind, one God, and leads human thought into opposite channels 27where selfishness reigns.
Selfishness tips the beam of human existence towards the side of error, not towards Truth. Denial of the one-30ness of Mind throws our weight into the scale, not of Spirit, God, good, but of matter.
When we fully understand our relation to the Divine, 206 206:1we can have no other Mind but His, — no other Love, wisdom, or Truth, no other sense of Life, and no con-3sciousness of the existence of matter or error.
The power of the human will should be exercised only in subordination to Truth; else it will misguide the judg-6Will-power unrighteousment and free the lower propensities. It is the province of spiritual sense to govern man. Material, erring, human thought acts injuriously both 9upon the body and through it.
Will-power is capable of all evil. It can never heal the sick, for it is the prayer of the unrighteous; while 12the exercise of the sentiments — hope, faith, love — is the prayer of the righteous. This prayer, governed by Science instead of the senses, heals the sick.
15 In the scientific relation of God to man, we find that whatever blesses one blesses all, as Jesus showed with the loaves and the fishes, — Spirit, not matter, being the 18source of supply.
- SH 64:1-13
64:1 Want of uniform justice is a crying evil caused by the selfishness and inhumanity of man. Our forefathers 3exercised their faith in the direction taught by the Apostle James, when he said: “Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father, is this, To visit the fatherless and 6widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world.”
Pride, envy, or jealousy seems on most occasions to 9be the master of ceremonies, ruling out primitive Chris-Benevolence hinderedtianity. When a man lends a helping hand to some noble woman, struggling alone with 12adversity, his wife should not say, “It is never well to interfere with your neighbor’s business.”
- SH 560:10
Heaven represents harmony, and divine Science inter-prets the Principle of heavenly harmony. The great 12True estimate of God’s messengermiracle, to human sense, is divine Love, and the grand necessity of existence is to gain the true idea of what constitutes the kingdom of 15heaven in man. This goal is never reached while we hate our neighbor or entertain a false estimate of any-one whom God has appointed to voice His Word. Again, 18without a correct sense of its highest visible idea, we can never understand the divine Principle. The botanist must know the genus and species of a plant in order to classify 21it correctly. As it is with things, so is it with persons.
- SH 239:5-15
Take away wealth, fame, and social organizations, 6which weigh not one jot in the balance of God, and we Right views of humanityget clearer views of Principle. Break up cliques, level wealth with honesty, let worth 9be judged according to wisdom, and we get better views of humanity.
The wicked man is not the ruler of his upright 12neighbor. Let it be understood that success in error is defeat in Truth. The watchword of Christian Science is Scriptural: “Let the wicked forsake his way, and the 15unrighteous man his thoughts.”
- SH 8:10-18
If a man, though apparently fervent and prayerful, is impure and therefore insincere, what must be the 12Aspiration and lovecomment upon him? If he reached the loftiness of his prayer, there would be no occasion for comment. If we feel the aspiration, hu -15mility, gratitude, and love which our words express, — this God accepts; and it is wise not to try to deceive ourselves or others, for “there is nothing covered that 18shall not be revealed.”
- SH 467:9
9It should be thoroughly understood that all men have one Mind, one God and Father, one Life, Truth, and Love. Mankind will become perfect in proportion as this fact 12becomes apparent, war will cease and the true brother-hood of man will be established. Having no other gods, turning to no other but the one perfect Mind to guide 15him, man is the likeness of God, pure and eternal, hav-ing that Mind which was also in Christ.
From the Christian Science Hymnal
Hymn 180: “Love the Lord thy God”
Hymn 105: “Help us to help each other, Lord”
Hymn 178: “Love is life's true crown and glory”