Tell the Truth

Archive for April, 2007

Our divine Mother-Father God fully expresses all the qualities that we look for in a parent. With my recent challenges with my son, I’ve felt at times that I needed an “adult” to step in and take care of this situation. As I thought about what those qualities were that I felt needed to be expressed, I came up with wisdom; decisiveness; strength; love; maturity; guide, shepherd, adviser; and support. All of those qualities are qualities of our Father God that can be expressed through me and my son, or through those around us to take care of our needs.

I love the line in the 23rd psalm that says, He prepares a table before me in the presence of mine enemies. This morning I had the image of the loving parent who, before the child even becomes hungry, has planned the meal, shopped for it and begun preparing it sometimes hours before the child even gets hungry. I may go through more parental worry before my son’s situation is resolved, but God already has already provided for both of us.

God cares for all our needs.

As a little child relies
On a care beyond its own;
Knows he’s neither strong nor wise,
Will not take a step alone:
Let me thus with thee abide,
As my Father, Friend, and Guide.

This hymn was brought to my attention yesterday. I love the words, especially the 2nd verse. The author is John Newton, the author of Amazing Grace. The Christian Science hymnal has only the first three verses, but Newton’s hymnal, named Olney Hymns, contains a fourth verse which I’ve posted here. Where the two texts differ, I have put the CS hymnal text in [brackets]. You can view and download Newton’s hymnal at the Christian Classics Ethereal Library.

Quiet, LORD, my froward heart,
Make me teachable and mild,
Upright, simple, free from art,
Make me as a weaned [little] child:
From distrust and envy free,
Pleased with all that pleases thee.

What thou shalt today provide,
Let me as a child receive;
What tomorrow may betide,
Calmly to thy wisdom leave:
‘Tis enough that thou wilt care,
Why should I the burden bear?

As a little child relies
On a care beyond his [its] own;
Knows he’s neither strong nor wise,
Fears to stir [will not take] a step alone:
Let me thus with thee abide,
As my Father, Guard [Friend], and Guide.

Thus preserved from Satan’s wiles,
Safe from dangers, free from fears;
May I live upon thy smiles,
Till the promised hour appears;
When the sons of God shall prove
All their Father’s boundless love.

Did you know that the Christian Science Monitor has a daily article about Christian Science online?

You can read it each day at this link.

I’m constantly amazed at mortal mind and its need for process; for rules. I am around people who believe strongly in herbal medicine, vitamin therapy, healthful diets, etc. Sometimes I just shake my head. They believe that we have to jump through hoops to find health and well-being. They have a belief that you have to take thismany pills, drink this much water, do this much yoga, take this combination of herbs; and they believe that healing requires time and process. Prayer may heal, but then it takes days or weeks of months for the healing process to occur.

Neither Jesus of Mary baker Eddy believed in a material process. They believed life was already perfect. The only process they believed in was a mental one.

Jesus required neither cycles of time nor thought in order to mature fitness for perfection and its possibilities. He said that the kingdom of heaven is here, and is included in Mind; that while ye say, There are yet four months, and then cometh the harvest, I say, Look up, not down, for your fields are already white for the harvest; and gather the harvest by mental, not material processes. Unity of Good, p. 11:24-2.

Why wait for a process to take place, or for weeks or months to pass while the healing occurs? Claim it now as the truth and so bring it into being now. Good is present here and now. A light may be off in a room for 5 minutes or 50 years, but when you turn the light switch on, the light instantly appears. It doesn’t require longer for the light to come on for chronic problems any more than it does for small, inconsequential ones. Once you learn that 2+2=4, you stop making the same old mistake. The only process involved is a mental one, that of realizing that 2+2 does equal 4.

As one who is (temporarily) active in both the Unity and Christian Science churches, I am becoming increasingly aware of the differences between the two teachings. I recently stood in for a teacher at the local Unity church who was teaching a class on the history of Unity. The chapter we were reviewing that day was on the spiritual and philosophical antecedents of Unity. There was much in the chapter about Christian Science that was totally wrong and misleading. Obviously the author hadn’t done his homework, or he had issues with Christian Science.

I looked at what he said, and then checked it against the Christian Science textbook, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy. I ended up creating a handout of passages from Science and Health disproving many of his statements. This process has been a good one for me, for it has made me both more alert to spot the differences between the two teachings, and not merely gloss over statements about Christian Science.

One of the greatest differences between Unity and Christian Science is this one:

Christian Science attaches no physical nature and significance to the Supreme Being or His manifestation; mortals alone do this. S&H, 117:7-9

Unity does not attach a physical nature to God, but it does to man. It sees man as both a physical body as well as a soul, and a spirit. It presents man as made up of “Spirit, Soul and body”. Christian Science does not recognize man as having a material nature; it also sees Soul and Spirit as both being synonyms for God, and having no existence apart from Him. There is no material body, no mortal soul, and no spirit apart from God’s. The two views could hardly be more different.

The Christian Science position is clear and correct, whereas the more traditional position of “Spirit, Soul and body” is confused and misleading for this reason: a true metaphysical perspective includes only Spirit–not matter, in its consideration of reality. That’s why it’s called metaphysics–meaning beyond physics, beyond the physical or material view of life. As Mrs. Eddy says, “mortals alone do this”–that is only a mortal, limited view of man as separate from God would consider life as possible apart from the All. Christian Science is clear that:

There is no life, truth, intelligence, nor substance in matter. All is infinite Mind and its infinite manifestation, for God is All-in-all. Spirit is immortal truth; matter is mortal error. Spirit is the real and eternal; matter is the unreal and temporal. Spirit is God, and man is his image and likeness. Therefore man is not material, he is spiritual. S&H 468:9-15

On the subject of matter, Mrs. Eddy explains that it is only a misconception:

Works on metaphysics leave the grand point untouched. They never crown the power of Mind as the Messiah, nor do they carry the day against physical enemies,–even to the extinction of all belief in matter, evil, disease, and death,–nor insist upon the fact that God is all, therefore that matter is nothing beyond an image in mortal mind. S&H 116:13-19

It’s interesting to me that Emma Curtis Hopkins (a former Christian Science practitioner), who is generally credited as being the primary person responsible for establishing the New Thought movement, was so unable to convey the nothingness of matter to those she taught: Ernest Holmes, Charles and Myrtle Fillmore, Nona Brooks, etc. That she taught the nothingness of matter is quite clear in her book, Christian Science Mental Practice, but not one of her famous students were able to grasp this essential metaphysical point, and perhaps this, more than any other thing has resulted in the limited and waning healing ability of the Unity, Religious Science (Science of Mind), Divine Science and other semi-metaphysical, New Thought churches.

In this weeks Bible Lesson, this passage from Science and Health appears:

Paul had a clear sense of the demands of Truth upon mortals physically and spiritually, when he said: “Present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.” S&H, 325:20-24

As Mrs. Eddy says, this sacrifice of our bodies is a demand of Truth, both physically and spiritually. To me, the word “sacrifice” used here represents a giving up of a material view of the body, and an acceptance of man’s spiritual nature. Metaphysical Truth demands that we do so.

If you would like to learn true and uncompromising metaphysics–the “real deal” as they say, visit your local Christian Science reading room; the Christian Science website, spirituality.com; or amazon.com and order a copy of Mary Baker Eddy’s metaphysical textbook, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures for yourself.

When I get squeezed, music comes out, and I’ve been squeezed real hard lately! As a result, this has been an exceptionally creative period for me. I sang some of my recent songs at church this past Sunday and we got a pretty good recording of them. Here they are for you to enjoy.

Not One Negative Thought

I don’t care if the sky turns black
And the rain starts pouring down
And I’m outside in my birthday suit
On the wrong side of the town.
They’ve called the cops,
They’re on the way
And I’m the one they want to see
But not one negative thought is going to get by me.

Faith, Hope and Love

There are blue skies shining where the dark clouds seem to be.
There are flowers blooming in the dark.
In the tomb where they laid Jesus there were possibilities,
And Noah saved his family and the animals in the Ark.

Got to Stand

You’ve got to stand. You’ve got to stand.
You’ve got to plant your feet on the rock of truth and stand.
And when trouble comes to greet you,
You’ve got to know that it can’t defeat you.
You’ve got to stand on holy ground.
You’ve got to stand.

You are my shepherd; I’m going to be OK.
You get me to where I’m supposed to be: you calm me down.
You bring me back to my right mind: and because you’re loving and kind, you point me in the right direction.
Even when everything seems black, I don’t need to be afraid: you are with me; and it’s knowing that you’re in control that makes me feel safe.
You bring good into my life even when I’m in trouble: knowing you love and care for me soothes me; You bring me more blessings than I can see.
Surely, goodness and mercy will always follow me wherever I go: and I know that I belong to you forever.

Lately, I’ve been spending time with 2 Timothy 1:7…

For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. 2 Tim 1:7 (KJV)

God has not given us a spirit of fear. There is only one Spirit, God, and that Spirit knows no fear. It is a spirit of power, of dominion and authority over every circumstance and condition in our lives. It is not timid, but confident as it moves to insist upon God’s principle as the only reality there is.

God’s Spirit, and ours, is a spirit of love. We are loved, and we can be confident and assured that divine love has created us in His image and likeness; we are the reflection of God’s perfection. Love is our nature, and we are always expressing and knowing that love is active in every circumstance we encounter.

God is the only Mind; and His Mind is ours. That mind is sound. We are not like frightened rabbits, running here and there in fright of everything thing we see. Our mind is capable, orderly, peaceful, calm, confident. Our mind is balanced and remains balanced when confronted with the unexpected or any claims of mortal mind. We stay on our “spiritual feet” no matter what the circumstance or what is happening around us.

In preparation for his court date this morning, my practitioner suggested I look at my son in relation to the 7 synonyms of God that Mary Baker Eddy has given us in Science and Health. Please affirm this with me today!

Mind

M. is intelligent; wise; a good communicator; not with ADD or bipolar disorder; stable mind; his whole life precedes from infinite Mind; thinks only divine ideas; God’s light illumines his thinking; he has the Mind of Christ; Divine Mind regulates and controls his mental processes.

Spirit

M. has the right attitude; has faith; is creative; has the strength of Spirit; understanding transforms his life; he is the offspring of the beautiful, good and pure; reflects every quality of God; he is good; his history and reality are spiritual; the only M. is the spiritual one.

Soul

His identity is a a spiritual idea; he is attracted only to good; he is growing from sense to Soul; is interested only in things that are good for him; M. is the expression of God and nothing else; he is never “in” trouble or any material condition; M. is sinless and free; he is not forgetful or unpredictable; his wellbeing is intact.

Principle

M. exercises good judgment; is consistent; never wavers from what is right; he is one with Principle; and is inseparable from God’s man; he is governed and controlled by God; obedient to good; he demonstrates the reality of Principle; Principle proves itself in M’s life and experience; Principle is always working out good in M’s life.

Life

M. is confident; is engaged in right activity; is unfolding God’s attributes; is healthy; is unfolding unerringly; Life sustains M.; God is M’s only life; Life is raising M’s consciousness; Life regenerates M.; M. is perfect now.

Truth

M. is truthful; honest; he doesn’t fool himself; is sincere and righteous; has an unshakable trust in God; is the ideal man; is faultless (does not have a fatal flaw); overcomes all error in this thinking; all falsity is dispelled in him; he has dominion in his life (not a victim).

Love

M. is kind; loving; joyful; in harmony with all; is happy; Love meets all of M’s human needs; God’s blessings in his life are inexhaustible; M. is never deserted; M. attracts only good; has a clear intellect and a pure heart; knows no temptation; he is living out God’s loving plan for his life.

Watch May You Be Blessed

Virtual Therapy for the Soul. A lovely Macromedia Flash presentation.