Category: From Students and Guests

“A little more grace, a motive made pure, a few truths tenderly told, a heart softened, a character subdued, a life consecrated, would restore the right action of the mental mechanism, and make manifest the movement of body and soul in accord with God.”

       (Miscellaneous Writings 1883–1896, Mary Baker Eddy, p. 354:15)

I am working to live the clause, “A little more grace…” right now. 

Next month, “…a motive made pure….”

A little more grace  (defined is part as:)

A little more exercise of love, kindness, mercy, favor 

A little more disposition to benefit or serve another

A little more favor bestowed or privilege conferred

A little more inherent excellence

A little more beauty, physical, intellectual, or moral

A little more loveliness.

A little more easy elegance of manners.

A little more perfection of form.

A little more forbearance to inflict harm under circumstances of provocation, when one has the power to inflict it; compassionate treatment of an offender or adversary; clemency.

A little more compassionate treatment of the unfortunate and helpless

A little more elegance –

Elegance can be by an art, skill, or training; as, elegance of manners, composition, handwriting, etc.

A little more disposition to exercise compassion or favor;

A little more  willingness to spare or to help.

A little more courtesy

A little more merit, virtue, excellence, value

A little more dignity or honor.

From Duffy

By Jennifer Jones

I had quite an inspired moment one morning recently. The October 3-9 Bible lesson featured a portion of Psalm 30. I was inspired to open my Bible and read the entire Psalm and was delighted with this familiar phrase “… weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning.”

I felt suddenly plunged into an ocean of gratitude and joy. The sun shone through the lace curtains, my Christian Science reading material surrounded me, my morning tea was comforting, and all was well. I thought about all my blessings, all my loving friends, my happy and blessed way of life, and was overcome with joy.

Verse 2 of Psalm 30 reads “O Lord my God, I cried unto thee, and thou hast healed me.” That inspired me to reflect on my healing of pneumonia this past summer. After nearly three weeks in the hospital, it felt like a mountain of love destroyed a wall of fear and mortal medical opinions, and restored my breathing. The powerful work of a loving Christian Science practitioner ensured my release.

After a sweet 2 1/2 week rehab at the home of a loving Christian Science friend, I was able to manage the staircase and return home. Now back to my usual activities, including playing the ukulele, it is delightful to play and sing favorite hymns.

So grateful, I find myself inspired to expand my Christian Science reading, study and prayer, and to learn and play more hymns.   Joy DOES cometh in the morning (and at other times too)! ♥️

“If the salt have lost its savour” – By Roya

It is recorded in the Bible that Jesus tells us we are the salt of the earth, and adds, “but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men” (Matthew 5:13). I got a new sense of that passage today while reading the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew’s gospel.

I had always read that passage as advising us not to lost our saltness — our spiritual sense. Otherwise, we wouldn’t be doing much good with our days. I was curious, though — how could salt lose its saltness? Well, one online source brought out the fact that pure salt — sodium chloride — cannot lose any of its flavor. Well, of course! From that basis, the passage takes a different tone. Salt can’t lose its savour! And neither can we. We are worthy and productive and can never lose our divine nature.

The original sense I saw of keeping aligned with spiritual sense is definitely useful, but I also enjoyed thinking of the absolute fact that we are salty salt, just as we are “the light of the world” (Matthew 5:14). We don’t lose our light — the city shines on and on through day and night.

I recently had a conversation that went in the direction of mourning. I was enjoying mentally sticking to the truth of the goodness of Life as this conversation continued, but later I felt a mental cloud overhead. After I gleaned this new revelation about our saltness, I realized that I was still taking these friends at their word to a certain extent — believing that they had lost some of their saltness as they worked through grief. Well, the Christ certainly corrected this thought! Now I understand better than ever the importance of keeping my thought clear about the individuals around me, as much as I do for myself. If our saltness is the fact of our being, there is nothing keeping me from seeing this truth manifested absolutely everywhere.

“Stick to the truth of being in contradistinction to the error that life, substance, or intelligence can be in matter” (SH 418:5–6).

Healing During Association

From Sharon Anderson 🌷

Recently, one night I woke up to pain in my leg that was so extreme and lasted all night that I became fearful. In fact so much so that I couldn’t even think of one simple spiritual truth.

When I got up the next morning, I still had pain and when I walked, my leg would collapse. I dug into the lesson and kept with it all day. That night when I went to bed and was saying my prayers, I was thinking about the definition of God as given in Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy, page 587, where she states, “God. The Great I Am; the all-knowing, all-seeing, all acting, all-wise, all-loving, and eternal; Principle; Mind; Soul; Spirit; Life; Truth; Love; all substance; intelligence.” When I came to God as all-acting, I stopped and gave myself a Christian Science treatment. I reasoned that if God is all-acting and I’m God’s reflection, I too am all-acting. Nothing could stop that action.

The next day I was in tears because of the discomfort and I thought I would have to use crutches and to just give up on a healing; that my leg was never going to be better and I would have to live with the pain. As soon as that thought came, another thought appeared, saying “And then what?” Immediately, I said out loud with conviction, “I will never give up on having a complete healing.” (And I never did get crutches.) I studied the Bible Lesson and kept in my thought of God’s all-action.

Then the next day the idea came to me to look up all the hymns with the word “walk” in them. I not only looked them up, I sang them all.

The following day I had 4 contacts with people and although none of them knew of my struggle, they expressed so much love to me. During one conversation, one of the people mentioned the book, “Healing Spiritually.” I haven’t read that book for several years so I took it to bed with me that night and read for a couple of hours.

That night I was so embraced in God’s pure love to those 4 people (the love both directed to me and radiating from me), I completely forgot about my leg. I believe the healing occurred at that moment. However, it wasn’t until the next morning that I realized I had experienced a complete healing. No more pain, no limping, only strength was evident. I felt so much happiness and joy. And I give love and gratitude to God, my Father-Mother for this healing.

From Duffy

What do the synonyms have to do with the election?

The true nature (character, thinking, essence, substance, quality) of each individual spring from God. There is no distraction, no separation, no drama that can take us away from our Father mother God.

Spirit: Our heart, character, courage originates in God, Love. That Love, Principle is the fullness of our consciousness.

Love: Our intelligence is rooted in Love. Our existence entrenched in Love. Our individuality is based in and originated from the one and only source of that Love, God.

Principle: The fundamental foundation of man is Love. The caring and cherishing action of God, which brings stability, is based in Spirit and is not the result of money, fame, education. Harmony is God’s testimony and demonstration in our lives.

Soul: God is our commander, nurturing each detail. He is unchanging sacred harmony, integration and unification. Man reflects these details and harmony.

Mind: Our intelligence and acumen being based in one Mind produces one family. There is one cause, one reality, one universal family without division or conflict.

Truth: Truth shatters wrong or evil atmospheres, overcoming anything ungodlike. Truth illuminates the real and dispels transgression.

Life: God is the vitality of this country giving each of us ebullience and strength. Our expression of life is shown through devotion, respect, integrity of our thought and actions.

Thanks, Pam. While being on lock down, I have been doing some thing that I hope will do some good for others in our community. I have been making toy trucks, of wood, of course. My plan is to sell them at car events and give all of the money to the food bank. I have done this before with some of my things and It has worked out very well. As Jerry would say, Thanks for all you do

Frank
This one is made of oak from a wine barrel.

From Sharon Anderson ♥️

I have a friend who lives several houses away from me. We would get together occasionally at each other’s homes for a cup of tea to visit and play cards or work a jigsaw puzzle together. Then last May my friend’s new boyfriend moved in with her. I knew they were settling in with each other and although I missed getting together with her, I didn’t think too much about it when I stopped hearing from her. I had no contact with her all summer.

In early October I received a piece of mail for her in my mailbox. I texted her to see if it would be convenient for me to bring it to her and she said yes. She was home alone and we had a pleasant visit. When I was leaving, she told me how happy she is and how close her neighbors (2 other couples) have become with her and her boyfriend. I know these couples quite well and was friends with them also. However, I had not seen them all summer either. I’m glad my friend has found happiness, but I felt very sad and left out. In fact, I was crushed that I was excluded.

When I arrived home,  I started to recall some of the negative habits  of these folks and a strong question came to me saying, “do you really want to be friends with them?” I immediately thought, “of course not!” Then on the heels of that thought, another strong question came to my thought which was, “then why are you so sad?” I believe that God was speaking to my human consciousness when I received these two questions. One moment I was full of sadness and self-pity and the next moment all of it was lifted off me and has not returned.

In thinking about this, I realize because of my close relationship with these people in the past, God is protecting me from becoming involved with people where the atmosphere was not the kind I desire to be in. God always knows what’s best for me and my knowing I can never be separated from the good God has for me, is one more demonstration of His care and love. I’m so grateful for the friends I do have that are on the same path as me, going in the same direction.

 I related to a wonderful testimony in the December 9, 2019 of the Christian Science Sentinel entitled “Unselfishness:  A Recipe for Time Management”.

 The writer, an “ardent and meticulous planner” called a Christian Science practitioner for assistance in managing his schedule, and was reminded of the value of humbly turning to God for guidance.

Pondering the principles, I could see instances where I operated primarily on self-will in my planning, with resulting turmoil and disappointment.  I resolved to do better in seeking God’s guidance each and every day.

Daily seeking God’s guidance lifts the weight of busyness and stress and redirects priorities toward love and service–appropriate seasonal attitudes!

♥️🎄 Jennifer

By Sharon Anderson 🌻

A friend recently stated, “People who work in hospitals are doing something that doesn’t exist.“ I couldn’t stop thinking of that statement. To me that meant that Christian Science has shown me that God is the only healer. He does not heal by material means. The reality is, we are all living in a spiritual world.

What does exist then? The spiritual is untouched by materiality. God is the only healer. “If Spirit is all and is everywhere, what and where is matter?” (Science and Health, page 223:8) I kept with those thoughts, little knowing what that work was preparing me for.

On the following Saturday, I was planning to attend a family wedding. The wedding was some distance from where I live so my cousin said I could come the day before and stay with him at his house. Almost as soon as I got there he told me his 21 year old grandson was in the hospital ICU for the past week and was in a coma. I immediately thought of my friend’s statement and the thoughts I was working with the days before.

The next morning my cousin (who has a large ranch) had outside chores so I had alone time to read the Bible Lesson. The lesson was Man which included part of the definition of man in Science and Health. Whenever “man” was written, I said Daren’s name. Later that day, I went to the hospital with my cousin and we were told that Daren was coming out of the coma and was responsive to the doctor.

Then on Sunday morning, I was alone again for several hours and was able to read the Bible Lesson as well as listen to The Mother Church Sunday service. In the afternoon we went to the hospital and were told that a nurse did a breathing test on Daren and since he was able to breathe on his own they were going to take him off the breathing machine.

On Monday I traveled back home, but kept in touch with my cousin. During the week he said that Daren was going to be transferred to a rehabilitation hospital in another town. This week when I called my cousin I asked if Daren had been transferred to the other hospital, he said no there was no need to do that and that he was home.

I want to say that I never went in Daren’s hospital room. I know that I was able to keep my thinking clear because of not seeing him hooked up to all the medical devices and that was a huge part of this demonstration. Another positive thing was that no one told me why he was in a coma and in the hospital. Because of that I didn’t have to deal with those thoughts in my own thinking.

The family had a private waiting room with 8 or 10 chairs in it and it was always full of family members. At one point, I was standing in the doorway and Daren’s girlfriend was in the hall. I was able to have a private conversation with her and to make some scientific statements to her.

This was a huge demonstration for me and I was prepared because a friend made the thought provoking statement, “People who work in hospitals are doing something that does’t exist.” This struck me so clearly that what is true is always true, regardless of where it appears to be going on. “Truth is always the victor.” (p. 380) In fact this experience has made me a stronger Christian Scientist. I want to include that I am the only Christian Scientist in my family.

Sharon Anderson