Tell the Truth

I was really inspired by this poem by Peter J. Henniker-Heaton which my teacher shared with me. It is published in the Anthology of Classic Articles II, which contains reprints of selections from Christian Science publications. The book is available from your local Christian Science Reading Room or from the Christian Science Publication Society (spirituality.com).

The sheet music is available at this link. The song in mp3 format is available from the MP3s tab on the menu.

Here is the poem (song lyrics appear in boldface):

Divine Contentment Heals
by Peter J. Henniker-Heaton

This is God’s day; I do not wish it
To be any other day or time.
This is God’s place; I do not want it
To be any other place. I am
About my Father’s business now and always;
I do not long for any other employ.
This is God’s presence; His company is sufficient
Fully to satisfy.

Here is God’s holiness; no further wholeness
Can man require.
Under His laws we live; no wiser government
Can man desire.
Man is complete and perfect in God’s own likeness;
Man does not yearn for a different nature or name.
Such are the facts that spiritually acknowledged
Compel all human evidence to conform.

Such are the facts that morning by morning welcomed,
Uphold, direct, inspire
Our every footstep and will safely bring us
Through wilderness or fire.
Such are the Christly facts that daily held to
Evangelize, redeem
All human thinking, till signs of healing follow.
In such divine contentment is heaven and home.

Ezekiel 34:15, 25, 26
I will feed my flock [God will nurture you and bring you what you need], and I will cause them to lie down [life will not always be a struggle; Truth will work out your problems], saith the Lord God.

And I will make with them a covenant of peace [I promise to bring you peace], and will cause the evil beasts [alcoholism, addiction, negativity, fear] to cease out of the land [consciousness]: and they shall dwell safely in the wilderness [even in the midst of loneliness, doubt, darkness], and sleep in the woods. [you can rest peacefully even in the midst of your troubles] And I will make them and the places round about my hill [even when we're just starting on our spiritual journey] a blessing; and I will cause the shower [nurture; our daily bread] to come down in his season; there shall be showers of blessing. [abundance of good; good without end; falling on us and around all we see]

Don’t become discouraged if the way ahead seems impossibly far, instead focus on the beauty and desirability of the goal—awareness of the constant presence of God; living amidst Love; seeing through the hypnotism of our fear and trouble into the precious Truth of being; unfolding in beauty and purity; feeling the uplifting of Spirit at all times; realizing the health, peace and well-being of eternal Life; knowing the mystery and balm of salvation—however you want to picture it.

You see, in our heart, we know what we’re searching for even before we know it’s really possible. God has given us awareness of the end even as we are at the beginning of our journey. This is why the prophets of the Bible were able to catch a glimpse of the future. You too can see the end at the beginning. Let it draw you. Let Love lead you on.

This little "Seed Thought" song is a wonderful reminder to us of the supremacy of Truth, Love and Spirit which govern us. I like to sing these short "one-liners" over and over to let them sink into my thought.

Click here for the music. You can also download the song from the MP3s page.

Here is the text:

SH 420:3-4
Truth not error, Love not hate,
Spirit not matter, governs man.

This song teaches us a Rule of Christian Science: if disease seems to move around or grow in the body, it is not the disease that is the actor, but mortal mind, therefore we must watch our thoughts and remove from our thinking anything that we don’t want to see develop; and think less of the material condition and more of the spiritual reality. This is a Song of Remembrance—learn the song, learn the passage.

Click here for the music. The song is available for downloading from the MP3s page.

Here is the text:

SH 419:14
If disease moves, mind, not matter, moves it;
therefore be sure that you move it off.
Meet every adverse circumstance as its master.
Observe mind instead of body,
lest aught unfit for development enter thought.
Think less of material conditions and more of spiritual.

As you will easily tell, I’ve taken considerable liberties with both the 223rd Psalm and Mrs. Eddy’s spiritual interpretation of it for the sake of rhyme, yet I believe it still captures the essence of this Psalm that is so dear to us. It appears in the Christian Science Bible Lesson for January 29, 2012 on the topic of Love.

Click here for the music. You can download the song on the MP3s tab of the menu.

Here are the lyrics:

Love is my shepherd; I shall not want.
In plenty I lie down in ease.
Love leads beside the still waters.
Love brings my soul release.

Love leads in paths of righteousness
Even through the valley of death.
No evil shall I fear—Love is with me
With comfort from His rod and staff.

Love prepares a table before me
In the presence of mine enemy.
Love anoints my head with its blessing.
My cup runneth over with peace.

Goodness and mercy will follow me
With God always going before;
and I will dwell in the consciousness
of Love for ever more.

This lovely scriptural text from the book of Isaiah provides appears in the Responsive Reading of the Christian Science Bible Lesson (on Love) for January 29, 2012. It makes a lovely lyric for a song, and it was used by Handel in an aria in his famous Messiah oratorio. It speaks of God’s tender care for His children.

Click here to see the sheet music. The song is available for downloading from the MP3s page.

Here is the text:

Isaiah 40:11 (KJV)
11 He 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.

The universe is made of God’s divine ideas and if He made them, they must be made after his likeness, and reflect His beauty and loveliness in their nature. This is a Christian Science Bible Lesson Song, inspired by the January 29, 2012 lesson on the topic of Love.

You can download the song from the MP3s page. Click here and get the sheet music and you can play it for yourself.

Here is the text:

516:9–12
God fashions all things, after His own likeness.
Life is reflected in existence,
Truth in truthfulness, God in goodness,
which impart their own peace and permanence.
Love, redolent with unselfishness,
bathes all in beauty and light.

It is Truth that allows us to judge what is real and what is unreal in a world where appearances deceive. This passage appears in the Christian Science Bible Lesson for January 22, 2012 on the topic of Truth. This is a Song of Remembrance—learn the song, learn the passage.

Click here for the sheet music. You can get the song from the MP3s page.

Here is the text:

406:11–16
The Science of being
unveils the errors of sense,
and spiritual perception,
aided by Science, reaches Truth.
Then error disappears.

Sin and sickness
will abate and seem less real
as we approach the
scientific period,
in which mortal sense is subdued
and all that is unlike
the true likeness disappears.

SH 386:16
A blundering despatch, mistakenly announcing the death of a friend, occasions the same grief that the friend’s real death would bring. You think that your anguish is occasioned by your loss. Another despatch, correcting the mistake, heals your grief, and you learn that your suffering was merely the result of your belief. Thus it is with all sorrow, sickness, and death. You will learn at length that there is no cause for grief, and divine wisdom will then be understood. Error, not Truth, produces all the suffering on earth.

We can all understand this example, and have all experienced the tension brought about by misunderstanding, or a false rumor. For me the key to this passage is the sentence, "Thus it is with all sorrow, sickness, and death."

A doctor gives you a diagnosis, or you begin to suffer symptoms and diagnosis yourself with an ailment—either way, Science teaches to look upon as a "blundering despatch," an erroneous message. The correcting message which corrects it is found in Christian Science, which teaches us that all Life is in God and it is eternal; that there is no destructive life going on in a material body; that God made all that was made and it is good; that as God’s image and likeness we reflect only God’s qualities.

Whew!

This is the good news that Christ Jesus brought us.

Mark 1:15 The
The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel.

Here’s why positive thinking or "holding a thought" just doesn’t work. You Must Understand You Way out of the belief of disease, or doubts of one sort or another will always linger. The basis of our thinking must be the understanding that God is the only life, and that there is no life, consciousness, or activity "in" a material body. This is what I call a "Rule of Christian Science." It is also a "Song of Remembrance"—when you learn the song, you learn the passage.

Click here for the sheet music. You can download the song from the MP3s tab on the menu.

Here is the text:

SH 381:21-26
You must understand your way
out of human theories relating to health,
or you will never believe
that you are quite free
from some ailment.

The harmony and immortality of man
will never be reached
without the understanding that
Mind is not in matter.