First Church of Christ, Scientist, La Cañada Flintridge, California
Wednesday Meeting Readings
- I John 4:1 (to :), 6 (to :), 11, 21
1Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God:
... 6We are of God:
... 11Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another.
... 21And this commandment have we from him, That he who loveth God love his brother also.
- II Sam. 9:1, 3 2nd And, 6, 7, 13 (to ;)
1And David said, Is there yet any that is left of the house of Saul, that I may shew him kindness for Jonathan’s sake?
... And Ziba said unto the king, Jonathan hath yet a son, which is lame on his feet.
6Now when Mephibosheth, the son of Jonathan, the son of Saul, was come unto David, he fell on his face, and did reverence. And David said, Mephibosheth. And he answered, Behold thy servant!
7¶ And David said unto him, Fear not: for I will surely shew thee kindness for Jonathan thy father’s sake, and will restore thee all the land of Saul thy father; and thou shalt eat bread at my table continually.
13So Mephibosheth dwelt in Jerusalem: for he did eat continually at the king’s table;
- II Kings 4:8, 9 (to 1st ,), 10-12 (to 1st ,), 14 What, 15 2nd And, 16 (to 1st .), 17
8¶ And it fell on a day, that Elisha passed to Shunem, where was a great woman; and she constrained him to eat bread. And so it was, that as oft as he passed by, he turned in thither to eat bread.
9And she said unto her husband,
... 10Let us make a little chamber, I pray thee, on the wall; and let us set for him there a bed, and a table, and a stool, and a candlestick: and it shall be, when he cometh to us, that he shall turn in thither.
11And it fell on a day, that he came thither, and he turned into the chamber, and lay there.
12And he said to Gehazi his servant,
... What then is to be done for her? And Gehazi answered, Verily she hath no child, and her husband is old.
... And when he had called her, she stood in the door.
16And he said, About this season, according to the time of life, thou shalt embrace a son.
... 17And the woman conceived, and bare a son at that season that Elisha had said unto her, according to the time of life.
- Isa. 40:1, 3, 4, 11, 13, 31 they
1Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God.
3¶ The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God.
4Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low: and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain:
11He shall feed his flock like a shepherd: he shall gather the lambs with his arm, and carry them in his bosom, and shall gently lead those that are with young.
13Who hath directed the spirit of the Lord, or being his counsellor hath taught him?
they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.
- Luke 7:11-15
11¶ And it came to pass the day after, that he went into a city called Nain; and many of his disciples went with him, and much people.
12Now when he came nigh to the gate of the city, behold, there was a dead man carried out, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow: and much people of the city was with her.
13And when the Lord saw her, he had compassion on her, and said unto her, Weep not.
14And he came and touched the bier: and they that bare him stood still. And he said, Young man, I say unto thee, Arise.
15And he that was dead sat up, and began to speak. And he delivered him to his mother.
- Luke 8:5-9, 11, 15 that, 16
5A sower went out to sow his seed: and as he sowed, some fell by the way side; and it was trodden down, and the fowls of the air devoured it.
6And some fell upon a rock; and as soon as it was sprung up, it withered away, because it lacked moisture.
7And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprang up with it, and choked it.
8And other fell on good ground, and sprang up, and bare fruit an hundredfold. And when he had said these things, he cried, He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.
9And his disciples asked him, saying, What might this parable be?
... 11Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God.
... that on the good ground are they, which in an honest and good heart, having heard the word, keep it, and bring forth fruit with patience.
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.
- Mark 16:17 these
these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues;
- Eph. 6:10, 11, 15, 17
10Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might.
11Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.
... 15And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace;
... 17And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:
Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures
by Mary Baker Eddy
- SH 272:3-8, 9
The spiritual sense of truth must be gained before Truth can be understood. This sense is assimilated only Spirituality of Scriptureas we are honest, unselfish, loving, and meek. 6In the soil of an “honest and good heart” the seed must be sown; else it beareth not much fruit, for the swinish element in human nature uproots it. ... The spiritual sense of the Scriptures brings out the scientific sense, and is the new tongue referred to in the last chapter of Mark’s 12Gospel.
- SH 365:30-11
The unchristian practitioner is not giving to mind or body the joy and strength of Truth. The poor suf-fering heart needs its rightful nutriment, such as peace, 366 366:1patience in tribulation, and a priceless sense of the dear Father’s loving-kindness.
3 In order to cure his patient, the metaphysician must first cast moral evils out of himself and thus Moral evils to be cast outattain the spiritual freedom which will en-6able him to cast physical evils out of his patient; but heal he cannot, while his own spiritual barrenness debars him from giving drink to the thirsty 9and hinders him from reaching his patient’s thought, — yea, while mental penury chills his faith and under-standing.
- SH 402:8-12
- SH 405:5-11, 18
Christian Science commands man to master the pro-6pensities, — to hold hatred in abeyance with kindness, Mental conspiratorsto conquer lust with chastity, revenge with charity, and to overcome deceit with hon-9esty. Choke these errors in their early stages, if you would not cherish an army of conspirators against health, happiness, and success. ... The good man finally can overcome his fear of sin. This is sin’s necessity, — to destroy itself. Im-mortal man demonstrates the government of God, good, 21in which is no power to sin.
- SH 57:18, 23
Happiness is spiritual, born of Truth and Love. It is unselfish; therefore it cannot exist alone, but requires all mankind to 21share it.
Love enriches the nature, en-24Help and disciplinelarging, purifying, and elevating it. The wintry blasts of earth may uproot the flowers of affec-tion, and scatter them to the winds; but this severance 27of fleshly ties serves to unite thought more closely to God, for Love supports the struggling heart until it ceases to sigh over the world and begins to unfold its wings for 30heaven.
- SH 58:7
- SH 402:20-28
We say that one human mind can influence another and 21in this way affect the body, but we rarely remember that The evil of mesmerismwe govern our own bodies. The error, mes-merism — or hypnotism, to use the recent term 24— illustrates the fact just stated. The operator would make his subjects believe that they cannot act voluntarily and handle themselves as they should do. If they yield 27to this influence, it is because their belief is not better instructed by spiritual understanding.
- SH 125:5
Moral conditions will be found always har-6monious and health-giving. Neither organic inaction nor overaction is beyond God’s control; and man will be found normal and natural to changed mortal thought, 9and therefore more harmonious in his manifestations than he was in the prior states which human belief created and sanctioned.
- SH 301:6-13, 17-20, 24
To himself, mortal and material man seems to be substance, but his sense of substance involves error and therefore is material, 9temporal.
On the other hand, the immortal, spiritual man is really substantial, and reflects the eternal substance, or Spirit, 12which mortals hope for. He reflects the divine, which constitutes the only real and eternal entity.
As God is substance and man is the divine image and 18likeness, man should wish for, and in reality has, only Inverted images and ideasthe substance of good, the substance of Spirit, not matter. ... Delusion, sin, dis-ease, and death arise from the false testimony of material sense, which, from a supposed standpoint outside the 27focal distance of infinite Spirit, presents an inverted image of Mind and substance with everything turned upside down.
- SH 272:19, 29
It is the spiritualization of thought and Christianization of daily life, in contrast with the results of the ghastly farce 21Unspiritual contrastsof material existence; it is chastity and purity, in contrast with the downward tendencies and earthward gravitation of sensualism and impurity, 24which really attest the divine origin and operation of Chris-tian Science. The triumphs of Christian Science are re-corded in the destruction of error and evil, from which are 27propagated the dismal beliefs of sin, sickness, and death.
God is the divine Principle of all that repre-30God the Principle of allsents Him and of all that really exists. Chris-tian Science, as demonstrated by Jesus, alone reveals the natural, divine Principle of Science.
- SH 261:2-4, 31-1
- SH 264:13-20, 28
As mortals gain more correct views of God and man, multitudinous objects of creation, which before were 15Self-completeness invisible, will become visible. When we realize that Life is Spirit, never in nor of matter, this understanding will expand into self-com-18pleteness, finding all in God, good, and needing no other consciousness.
Spirit and its formations are the only realities of being.
When we learn the way in Christian Science and rec-ognize man’s spiritual being, we shall behold and under-30stand God’s creation, — all the glories of earth and heaven and man.
Hymn 431: “A holy air is breathing round, A fragrance from above”
Hymn 528: “Lord, Your mercy reaches higher than the heavens”
Hymn 168: “Let all the earth with songs rejoice”