First Church of Christ, Scientist, La Cañada Flintridge, California
Wednesday Meeting Readings
- Gen. 1:3-5 (to 1st .), 16 (to :), 17
3And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.
4And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness.
5And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night.
16And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night:
... 17And God set them in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth,
- Ps. 27:1, 3, 4, 14
1The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? the Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?
... 3Though an host should encamp against me, my heart shall not fear: though war should rise against me, in this will I be confident.
4One thing have I desired of the Lord, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to inquire in his temple.
... 14Wait on the Lord: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the Lord.
- Luke 8:16
16¶ No man, when he hath lighted a candle, covereth it with a vessel, or putteth it under a bed; but setteth it on a candlestick, that they which enter in may see the light.
- Luke 5:12, 13
12¶ And it came to pass, when he was in a certain city, behold a man full of leprosy: who seeing Jesus fell on his face, and besought him, saying, Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean.
13And he put forth his hand, and touched him, saying, I will: be thou clean. And immediately the leprosy departed from him.
- Acts 9:1-3, 5, 8-15, 17, 18, 20, 21, 23-25
1And Saul, yet breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord, went unto the high priest,
2And desired of him letters to Damascus to the synagogues, that if he found any of this way, whether they were men or women, he might bring them bound unto Jerusalem.
3And as he journeyed, he came near Damascus: and suddenly there shined round about him a light from heaven:
... 5And he said, Who art thou, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest: it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks.
... 8And Saul arose from the earth; and when his eyes were opened, he saw no man: but they led him by the hand, and brought him into Damascus.
9And he was three days without sight, and neither did eat nor drink.
10¶ And there was a certain disciple at Damascus, named Ananias; and to him said the Lord in a vision, Ananias. And he said, Behold, I am here, Lord.
11And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go into the street which is called Straight, and inquire in the house of Judas for one called Saul, of Tarsus: for, behold, he prayeth,
12And hath seen in a vision a man named Ananias coming in, and putting his hand on him, that he might receive his sight.
13Then Ananias answered, Lord, I have heard by many of this man, how much evil he hath done to thy saints at Jerusalem:
14And here he hath authority from the chief priests to bind all that call on thy name.
15But the Lord said unto him, Go thy way: for he is a chosen vessel unto me, to bear my name before the Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel:
17And Ananias went his way, and entered into the house; and putting his hands on him said, Brother Saul, the Lord, even Jesus, that appeared unto thee in the way as thou camest, hath sent me, that thou mightest receive thy sight, and be filled with the Holy Ghost.
18And immediately there fell from his eyes as it had been scales: and he received sight forthwith, and arose, and was baptized.
... 20And straightway he preached Christ in the synagogues, that he is the Son of God.
21But all that heard him were amazed, and said; Is not this he that destroyed them which called on this name in Jerusalem, and came hither for that intent, that he might bring them bound unto the chief priests?
23¶ And after that many days were fulfilled, the Jews took counsel to kill him:
24But their laying await was known of Saul. And they watched the gates day and night to kill him.
25Then the disciples took him by night, and let him down by the wall in a basket.
- Acts 19:11
11And God wrought special miracles by the hands of Paul:
- I John 3:8
8He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil.
- Ps. 42:5, 8, 11
5Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted in me? hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him for the help of his countenance.
... 8Yet the Lord will command his lovingkindness in the daytime, and in the night his song shall be with me, and my prayer unto the God of my life.
... 11Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted within me? hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him, who is the health of my countenance, and my God.
Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures
by Mary Baker Eddy
- SH 546:23
Christian Science is dawning upon a material age. 24The great spiritual facts of being, like rays of light, shine Dawning of spiritual factsin the darkness, though the darkness, com-prehending them not, may deny their reality. 27The proof that the system stated in this book is Chris-tianly scientific resides in the good this system accom-plishes, for it cures on a divine demonstrable Principle 30 which all may understand.
- SH 326:23-27
- SH 216:18-1
The great mistake of mortals is to suppose that man, God’s image and likeness, is both matter and Spirit, both good 21and evil.
If the decision were left to the corporeal senses, evil would appear to be the master of good, and sickness to 24be the rule of existence, while health would seem the exception, death the inevitable, and life a paradox. Paul asked: “What concord hath Christ with Belial?” (2 Cor-27inthians vi. 15.)
When you say, “Man’s body is material,” I say with Paul: Be “willing rather to be absent from the body, 30Personal identityand to be present with the Lord.” Give up your material belief of mind in matter, and have but one Mind, even God; for this Mind forms its 217 217:1own likeness.
- SH 74:21-23
- SH 191:4-15, 30-32
As mortals give up the delusion that there is more than one Mind, more than one God, man in God’s likeness will 6appear, and this eternal man will include in that likeness no material element.
As a material, theoretical life-basis is found to be a 9misapprehension of existence, the spiritual and divine The immortal birthPrinciple of man dawns upon human thought, and leads it to “where the young child was,” 12— even to the birth of a new-old idea, to the spiritual sense of being and of what Life includes. Thus the whole earth will be transformed by Truth on its pinions of light, 15chasing away the darkness of error.
Mind has no affinity with matter, and therefore Truth is able to cast out the ills of the flesh.
- SH 244:23-28
Man in Science is neither young nor old. He has 24neither birth nor death. He is not a beast, a vegetable, Man not evolvednor a migratory mind. He does not pass from matter to Mind, from the mortal to the im-27mortal, from evil to good, or from good to evil. Such admissions cast us headlong into darkness and dogma.
- SH 263:7-11
- SH 280:25-13
Rightly understood, instead of possessing a sentient material form, man has a sensationless body; and God, 27Sensationless bodythe Soul of man and of all existence, being perpetual in His own individuality, harmony, and immortality, imparts and perpetuates these qualities 30in man, — through Mind, not matter. The only excuse for entertaining human opinions and rejecting the Science of being is our mortal ignorance of Spirit, — ignorance 281 281:1which yields only to the understanding of divine Science, the understanding by which we enter into the kingdom 3of Truth on earth and learn that Spirit is infinite and supreme. Spirit and matter no more commingle than light and darkness. When one appears, the other dis-6appears.
Error presupposes man to be both mind and matter. Divine Science contradicts the corporeal senses, rebukes 9God and His imagemortal belief, and asks: What is the Ego, whence its origin and what its destiny? The Ego-man is the reflection of the Ego-God; the Ego-man 12is the image and likeness of perfect Mind, Spirit, divine Principle.
- SH 310:11-18
Day may decline and shadows fall, but darkness flees 12when the earth has again turned upon its axis. The sun The central intelligenceis not affected by the revolution of the earth. So Science reveals Soul as God, untouched 15by sin and death, — as the central Life and intelligence around which circle harmoniously all things in the sys-tems of Mind.
- SH 418:20
- SH 428:8
To divest 9thought of false trusts and material evidences in order that the spiritual facts of being may appear, — this is the great attainment by means of which we shall sweep 12away the false and give place to the true. Thus we may establish in truth the temple, or body, “whose builder and maker is God.”
- SH 539:10-12, 14, 22
God could never impart an element of evil, and man possesses 12nothing which he has not derived from God. ... Has Spirit 15 resigned to matter the government of the universe?
Disputing these points with the Pharisees and arguing for the Science of creation, Jesus said: “Do men 24gather grapes of thorns?” Paul asked: “What com-munion hath light with darkness? And what concord hath Christ with Belial?”
- SH 474:29
The apostle says that 30the mission of Christ is to “destroy the works of the devil.” Truth destroys falsity and error, for light and darkness cannot dwell together. Light extinguishes the 475 475:1darkness, and the Scripture declares that there is “no night there.” To Truth there is no error, — all is Truth. 3To infinite Spirit there is no matter, — all is Spirit, divine Principle and its idea.
Hymn 359: “Trust the eternal when the shadows gather”
Hymn 541: “O God, my Friend and guardian, … No shadows of the darkness Will dim the light You send”
Hymn 485: “God of creation and Lord of my soul, … While waking or sleeping. I live in your light”