First Church of Christ, Scientist, La Cañada Flintridge, California
Wednesday Meeting Readings
- Prov. 12:28
28In the way of righteousness is life; and in the pathway thereof there is no death.
- John 8:1, 2, 12-16, 29-32, 51-55
1Jesus went unto the mount of Olives.
2And early in the morning he came again into the temple, and all the people came unto him; and he sat down, and taught them.
12¶ Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.
13The Pharisees therefore said unto him, Thou bearest record of thyself; thy record is not true.
14Jesus answered and said unto them, Though I bear record of myself, yet my record is true: for I know whence I came, and whither I go; but ye cannot tell whence I come, and whither I go.
15Ye judge after the flesh; I judge no man.
16And yet if I judge, my judgment is true: for I am not alone, but I and the Father that sent me.
... 29And he that sent me is with me: the Father hath not left me alone; for I do always those things that please him.
30As he spake these words, many believed on him.
31Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed;
32And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.
51Verily, verily, I say unto you, If a man keep my saying, he shall never see death.
52Then said the Jews unto him, Now we know that thou hast a devil. Abraham is dead, and the prophets; and thou sayest, If a man keep my saying, he shall never taste of death.
53Art thou greater than our father Abraham, which is dead? and the prophets are dead: whom makest thou thyself?
54Jesus answered, If I honour myself, my honour is nothing: it is my Father that honoureth me; of whom ye say, that he is your God:
55Yet ye have not known him; but I know him: and if I should say, I know him not, I shall be a liar like unto you: but I know him, and keep his saying.
- John 9:1-39 (to ;)
1And as Jesus passed by, he saw a man which was blind from his birth.
2And his disciples asked him, saying, Master, who did sin, this man, or his parents, that he was born blind?
3Jesus answered, Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents: but that the works of God should be made manifest in him.
4I must work the works of him that sent me, while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work.
5As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.
6When he had thus spoken, he spat on the ground, and made clay of the spittle, and he anointed the eyes of the blind man with the clay,
7And said unto him, Go, wash in the pool of Siloam, (which is by interpretation, Sent.) He went his way therefore, and washed, and came seeing.
8¶ The neighbours therefore, and they which before had seen him that he was blind, said, Is not this he that sat and begged?
9Some said, This is he: others said, He is like him: but he said, I am he.
10Therefore said they unto him, How were thine eyes opened?
11He answered and said, A man that is called Jesus made clay, and anointed mine eyes, and said unto me, Go to the pool of Siloam, and wash: and I went and washed, and I received sight.
12Then said they unto him, Where is he? He said, I know not.
13¶ They brought to the Pharisees him that aforetime was blind.
14And it was the sabbath day when Jesus made the clay, and opened his eyes.
15Then again the Pharisees also asked him how he had received his sight. He said unto them, He put clay upon mine eyes, and I washed, and do see.
16Therefore said some of the Pharisees, This man is not of God, because he keepeth not the sabbath day. Others said, How can a man that is a sinner do such miracles? And there was a division among them.
17They say unto the blind man again, What sayest thou of him, that he hath opened thine eyes? He said, He is a prophet.
18But the Jews did not believe concerning him, that he had been blind, and received his sight, until they called the parents of him that had received his sight.
19And they asked them, saying, Is this your son, who ye say was born blind? how then doth he now see?
20His parents answered them and said, We know that this is our son, and that he was born blind:
21But by what means he now seeth, we know not; or who hath opened his eyes, we know not: he is of age; ask him: he shall speak for himself.
22These words spake his parents, because they feared the Jews: for the Jews had agreed already, that if any man did confess that he was Christ, he should be put out of the synagogue.
23Therefore said his parents, He is of age; ask him.
24Then again called they the man that was blind, and said unto him, Give God the praise: we know that this man is a sinner.
25He answered and said, Whether he be a sinner or no, I know not: one thing I know, that, whereas I was blind, now I see.
26Then said they to him again, What did he to thee? how opened he thine eyes?
27He answered them, I have told you already, and ye did not hear: wherefore would ye hear it again? will ye also be his disciples?
28Then they reviled him, and said, Thou art his disciple; but we are Moses’ disciples.
29We know that God spake unto Moses: as for this fellow, we know not from whence he is.
30The man answered and said unto them, Why herein is a marvellous thing, that ye know not from whence he is, and yet he hath opened mine eyes.
31Now we know that God heareth not sinners: but if any man be a worshipper of God, and doeth his will, him he heareth.
32Since the world began was it not heard that any man opened the eyes of one that was born blind.
33If this man were not of God, he could do nothing.
34They answered and said unto him, Thou wast altogether born in sins, and dost thou teach us? And they cast him out.
35Jesus heard that they had cast him out; and when he had found him, he said unto him, Dost thou believe on the Son of God?
36He answered and said, Who is he, Lord, that I might believe on him?
37And Jesus said unto him, Thou hast both seen him, and it is he that talketh with thee.
38And he said, Lord, I believe. And he worshipped him.
39¶ And Jesus said, For judgment I am come into this world, that they which see not might see;
Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures
- SH 18:3
Jesus of Nazareth taught and demonstrated man’s oneness with the Father, and for this we owe him Divine onenessendless homage. His mission was both in-6dividual and collective. He did life’s work aright not only in justice to himself, but in mercy to mortals, — to show them how to do theirs, but not to do 9it for them nor to relieve them of a single responsibility. Jesus acted boldly, against the accredited evidence of the senses, against Pharisaical creeds and practices, and he 12refuted all opponents with his healing power.
- SH 26:28
Our Master taught no mere theory, doctrine, or belief. It was the divine Principle of all real being which he 30taught and practised. His proof of Christianity was no form or system of religion and worship, but Christian Science, working out the harmony of Life and Love. 27 27:1Jesus sent a message to John the Baptist, which was in-tended to prove beyond a question that the Christ had 3come: “Go your way, and tell John what things ye have seen and heard; how that the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, 6to the poor the gospel is preached.” In other words: Tell John what the demonstration of divine power is, and he will at once perceive that God is the power in 9the Messianic work.
- SH 365:7-24
The benign thought of Jesus, finding utterance in such words as “Take no thought for your life,” would heal 9the sick, and so enable them to rise above the supposed necessity for physical thought-taking and doctoring; but if the unselfish affections be lacking, and common 12sense and common humanity are disregarded, what men-tal quality remains, with which to evoke healing from the outstretched arm of righteousness?
15 If the Scientist reaches his patient through divine Love, the healing work will be accomplished at one Speedy healingvisit, and the disease will vanish into its native 18nothingness like dew before the morning sun-shine. If the Scientist has enough Christly affection to win his own pardon, and such commendation as the Mag-21dalen gained from Jesus, then he is Christian enough to practise scientifically and deal with his patients compas-sionately; and the result will correspond with the spiritual 24intent.
- SH 19:6
- SH 30:14-25
Rabbi and priest taught the Mosaic law, which said: 15“An eye for an eye,” and “Whoso sheddeth man’s blood, by man shall his blood be shed.” Not so did Jesus, the new executor for God, present the divine law of Love, 18which blesses even those that curse it.
As the individual ideal of Truth, Christ Jesus came to rebuke rabbinical error and all sin, sickness, and death, — 21Rebukes helpfulto point out the way of Truth and Life. This ideal was demonstrated throughout the whole earthly career of Jesus, showing the difference between 24the offspring of Soul and of material sense, of Truth and of error.
- SH 51:19-32
His consummate example was for the salvation of us all, but only through doing the works which he did and 21Example for our salvationtaught others to do. His purpose in healing was not alone to restore health, but to demon-strate his divine Principle. He was inspired by God, by 24Truth and Love, in all that he said and did. The motives of his persecutors were pride, envy, cruelty, and vengeance, inflicted on the physical Jesus, but aimed at the divine Prin-27ciple, Love, which rebuked their sensuality.
Jesus was unselfish. His spirituality separated him from sensuousness, and caused the selfish materialist 30to hate him; but it was this spirituality which enabled Jesus to heal the sick, cast out evil, and raise the dead.
- SH 183:26-29
- SH 243:4-9
The divine Love, which made harmless the poisonous viper, which delivered men from the boiling oil, from 6Ancient and modern miraclesthe fiery furnace, from the jaws of the lion, can heal the sick in every age and triumph over sin and death. It crowned the demon -9strations of Jesus with unsurpassed power and love.
- SH 412:31-2
- SH 486:23
Sight, hearing, all the spiritual senses of man, are 24eternal. They cannot be lost. Their reality and immor-Permanent sensibilitytality are in Spirit and understanding, not in matter, — hence their permanence. If this 27were not so, man would be speedily annihilated. If the five corporeal senses were the medium through which to understand God, then palsy, blindness, and deafness 30would place man in a terrible situation, where he would be like those “having no hope, and without God in the world;” but as a matter of fact, these calamities often 487 487:1drive mortals to seek and to find a higher sense of happi-ness and existence.
- SH 487:8
Hymn 130: “...That Word dispels all blindness”
Hymn 178: “...Healing mind and heart of blindness”
Hymn 401: “Thou whose almighty Word”
