A note about the cover sketch by Luanne:

Boston Light — little Brewster Island (outer Boston Harbor), Massachusetts

Boston Light was the first light station in North America and is the country’s oldest continuously used lighthouse site. The original structure, built in 1716, was destroyed during the Revolutionary War. Rebuilt in 1783, it has been called “the ideal American lighthouse.” Designated as a National Historic Landmark in 1964, it is the only manned lighthouse in the United States.

Employment

One of the most insistent of human problems is that of employment. It seems that at one time or another, everyone has this problem to solve.

At one time, I found myself in a situation where employment was an imperative necessity. All the ordinary channels for obtaining work were tried, but without success. There seemed to be a scarcity of work all over the country.

One day, when praying in the still morning hours, the thought came very clearly that I did not have to “get a job,” or take it from anyone else, but that right now I reflected God in His completeness. I realized that the real purpose of employment is not primarily to earn a livelihood, but to glorify God. My true work, then, was to express the qualities of God. Very soon after, a totally unexpected and unusual avenue of work opened up.

In working out this problem in Christian Science, we find that it’s necessary that everything concerning employment be lifted out of the domain of so-called matter into the realm of Mind.

Since, as Mrs. Eddy declares in Science and Health, “All is infinite Mind and its infinite manifestation,” all real activity must be in the spiritual realm. Then it becomes plain that all we can do is to be constantly employed in right thinking. From this standpoint no one is ever out of work. If we are thinking actively, bringing “every thought to the obedience of Christ,” we are bound to reap what we have sown, and this will be seen in a way that meets the present human need.

God does not withhold His care and His sustaining power at any time. Every individual spiritual idea is maintained without lapse throughout eternity.

Since Jesus was always about his Father’s business, what was Jesus’ business? Jesus’ business was to show forth to the world all the conscious operations of his Father-Mind. To Jesus all business activities went on unceasingly and in divine order, and were governed by the divine Mind, even to the slightest detail.

The only way in which we can change business conditions is to change our own thinking. But it is not by thinking only, that we overcome human difficulties in business. We think the Truth pertaining to our business, and then we must execute this Truth. The thinking and the concrete evidence is a unit. Jesus always presented the concrete evidence, human or material, of Truth in all his demonstrations.

According to sense testimony, there is entirely too much feeble thinking about business going on among Christian Scientists. Good scientific thinking within ourselves, about our own business, germinates security and provides us humanly with right and legitimate wants and needs.

Every Christian Scientist should be getting richer, not because we desire material riches, but because we are demonstrating infinity. And there is no limit to infinity. As Christian Scientists, we should “Awake and inherit.”

Plainfield Christian Science Church, Independent, found me via YouTube at my lowest point, just about a month and a half ago. I had been in misery with a serious illness, and my job situation was bleak. Demoralized and weakened from the illness, I was getting the courage up to look for new work, as this was the cause of much uncertainty.

Being a long-time Scientist, I was looking for healing. A local practitioner did work for me, once I was off the medication (my wife had put her foot down and insisted I see a doctor; it turned out that I was dealing with pneumonia); and this helped bring about a speedy recovery. So next I was seeking answers regarding employment.

This is when I came upon your videos. I’m not even sure at this time, what video I watched; but the reader’s voice was Truth in my ears. This led me to the website and the Lesson Sermon, and next was the overwhelming love which filled every corner of my being. I had found the Truth! Invigorated by the extensive resources to soak up freely, I became a sponge for more.

This also gave me the employment that I really needed — God’s employment! Folks may talk about the great benefits they have at their Union job; but nothing beats the benefits of working for God in His Union. My journey from darkness to light was very swift — you could say at the speed of light. I couldn’t possibly keep this all to myself, whereas before I was reluctant to even say I was a Christian Scientist. Empowered, I began sharing this with all who were willing to listen, take a look at the website, and see for themselves the Truth being freely given and “taught” in real time, with real people.

One of the recipients is a friend of mine, who is also a practitioner. I had been talking to him about the website, and asked him to look at and study the Lesson, as he had been struggling with some difficulties in life. He called me at 4:00 in the morning yesterday (I work a night shift) very elated and saying “this is the Truth we’ve all been looking for!” From newbies to practitioners, Plainfield has what we all need.

Along the way I got in touch with one of the Plainfield Church’s practitioners. Her prayers for my family and me have enriched our lives so much. Also her spiritual guidance has been deeply beneficial. Gratitude has no bounds for Plainfield Christian Science Church, Independent, and the Wednesday evening testimony meetings, filled to the brim with an outpouring of Love! The readings and readers of all the live services, also the music and Jeremy’s tech — and the ever-growing, rather than shrinking, membership, local and worldwide. What an outreach!

You all do Mrs. Eddy proud!

God is a business God. He attends to the business of the universe, and you reflect this business ability. The divine and perfect law of attraction is operating in and through the law of adjustment, bringing to me all that belongs to me. Today divine Mind adjusts me to my work, and adjusts my work to me. Under this law of adjustment, God’s law, my work must be successful. Through steadfast declaration, work and worker are brought together. Thus supply meets supply and God’s perfect law is brought into manifestation.

Whenever there seems to be a lack or need in your experience, that simply indicates the scientific fact that the seeming need is already supplied by God’s gracious abundance. Then give thanks with your whole heart because you have learned in Christian Science that God’s supply is ever at hand.

God is always with a good desire giving it power, activity, energy, intelligent action and rich fruition. He brings every right endeavor to its fulfillment, and gives more blessings than one has sought.

Can you see that if you have a consciousness of failure, inability, and poverty, it is impossible to change the manifestation of these things from the outside, since consciousness will out-picture itself, no matter what you do? Change consciousness.

It is useless for you to try and think things into being. Do as Jesus did, when he let the operation of Mind take place. We see Jesus going through the simple steps of manifestation. He lifted his eyes to heaven, and gave thanks. He had already disregarded the appearance, and had let go of thoughts of how, when, why, and where; this being entirely out of his province.

It was thanksgiving and recognition that multiplied the loaves and fishes to the five thousand. The way Jesus stood before the five thousand witnesses for lack, gives us an idea of the confidence which is born of the recognition of the natural functioning of God. He lifted up his eyes to heaven, and gave thanks; what is your move? Watch.

If you grasp the idea that you are not trying to change the outside, not trying to prosper yourself, not trying to find a job, you will see that the moment you have these things in your consciousness, the moment you accept in your mind the possibility of manifestation, at that moment does the manifestation, the natural out-picturing of the Word, become flesh.

Be still outwardly, and shout for joy within, until it shall shatter the walls of your prison. “I have many hidden things to show you, when you can be still.” Right where you are is holy ground.

I have only to be recognized, to be manifest in hell.

The place you seek is seeking you: the place you need, needs you. Divine Principle brings need and supply together for mutual good. God wisely, intelligently and lovingly controls, guides, protects, prospers and blesses this union of his idea (man) and his normal activity (work).

All you need to do is to see to it that your consciousness is fully prepared, enlarged, purified, uplifted, joyous, expectant of infinite good so that no sense of limitation may hinder the full manifestation of God’s will for His idea, and you know that God’s will for His idea is perfection, nothing less.

All we need to change is our sense of discord to the consciousness of harmony, divine government.

There is no human will and planning, no material planning in divine Mind; therefore, you have not the power or the inclination to express such falsehoods. All is patient, calm obedience, because God is All-in-all, and everywhere. All is quiet, loving, scientific harmony. God is right where you live. Stand still and lift up your vision. There is no human tyrant, no cruelty, no tempter, lust, greed, injustice, self-righteousness anywhere to personify themselves; there is no expression of them in your environment. There are no such claims to distress, oppress, to hold you down. “God’s being is infinity, freedom, harmony, and boundless bliss” (S&H), and you reflect God. So work for consciousness of harmonious activity and clear all sense of person, either good or bad person, and know that you serve the Lord Christ, and know that nothing can hinder, delay or limit God-directed and God-protected and God-placed activity.

You really have no need, for you are already complete in God. God is thinking, and you reflect God’s thoughts. God is working and nothing else can. God is outlining, directing, and no one can stay His hand or say unto Him, “What doest thou?” God will tell you what to do about your work. He will unfold each step, so don’t get worried, or anxious, or impatient. He has infinite good in store for you. Just work to know that you are receptive to it. We need to know that malpractice cannot argue disintegration of church, families, or friendships. We need to know that divine Mind builds up and holds together and prospers.

The divine and perfect law of adjustment operating through the ever-present law of attraction is bringing to you all that belongs to you.

Realize for yourself daily, more than once, that the fields are already white for harvest, that “Divine Love always has met and always will meet every human need.” (S&H) The need of work as well as any other need is met. Mind is active and you reflect the divine activity; that there is plenty of work for all; and that yours belongs to you and no one else can do it and it comes to you direct and the supply is abundant. AND KNOW ALL THE TIME THAT THIS IS SO. Never let a sense of lack of anything for a moment stay with you. It is rank error and breeds all sorts of disease and difficulties. God is abundance and supplies only abundance. The demonstration of this is an abundance of Light, Love, Truth, and intelligence for all our material needs. Keep your aim, stick to your text and have faith in your understanding of Christian Science.

Remember “Mind has infinite resources,” so do not limit yourself in any way. There is no law of malicious malpractice acting through any condition or circumstance that can hinder or obstruct for an instant the perfect and complete manifestation of God’s plan for you here and now.

The best and most rewarding employment we could ever desire is to be in service to God, to spread His Word, and to bless His children with Truth. Benjamin is an ambassador for Christ. He came to us from Africa, where many of his fellow Christian countrymen were slaughtered by non-Christians; and yet the Christly love in his heart enabled him to open the eyes of a complete stranger.

Recently I had the opportunity to share a space with someone, and we were thrilled to know we both came from Africa. He’s an Egyptian and of Muslim faith. We also felt the freedom to share our faith with each other; maybe we could find a common ground somewhere along the discussion. I quietly prayed that God would open his heart and make him receptive to what I was going to share with him. Then I found out he was more interested in knowing more about my religion of Christian Science than telling me about his own. He then expressed to me how he has been viewed and perceived by other religions, mostly Christians. The view was if anyone is not a Christian, he or she has no place in heaven or the Kingdom of God, and that the person is destined to hell.

I began by telling him a little about the Founder of Christian Science and why Christian Science is different from the other religions he knows about. The Founder of Christian Science, Mary Baker Eddy, just like Christ Jesus, never preached “religion.” God, Love, was their teaching. Both taught us how we must love God, and love our neighbors as ourselves, regardless of their religion, ethnicity, race, etc. The Bible is full of examples of Jesus crossing boundaries, reaching out to people of different nations and tribes, healing them of their diseases, and teaching them the kingdom of God. He also commended all his followers, then and now, to do likewise. I told him anyone who preaches or practices anything other than the teachings of Christ Jesus is not a Christian, and such a person has no place in His Kingdom of Heaven. It doesn’t matter what religion you belong to. He admired how I referenced Jesus as Christ Jesus, saying he never heard him so referenced before.

Then I asked him if I can share a story from the Bible with him, as he wanted to know more about hell fire, and of heaven; if God has such a place waiting for evil doers. So, I shared the parable of Lazarus and the rich man, and a quote from Mrs. Eddy where she said, “The sinner makes his own hell by doing evil, and the saint his own heaven by doing right.” It can’t be clearer than that. The parable painted the picture to him of what it would be like if one continues to ignore God and do evil; there is no escaping it; the punishment is inevitable. Evil, sin, is what is being punished, not God’s child, regardless of your religion, as seen in the experience of the rich man when he passed on. I also made it clear to him that no God’s child will experience so called “hell”; not now, not here or hereafter; for God never made it.

Our conversation ended with both of us being grateful for the opportunity we had. He said he learned more about Christianity today than he ever thought he knew, especially the realization that not every religion sees differences in people, and he expressed his desire, and I agreed with him, to see more people accepting the commonality we have as God’s children, and loved by Him; to see more people opening their hearts and embracing our differences, then we can help to change and refine someone if the need is there.

I’m really grateful for the opportunity, and I am looking forward to more opportunities like this. This is one of the ways we can bring change in this world. Change of heart and change of nations are all possible!

The whole secret to a perfect, joyous occupation, is to let the one Mind be our Mind.

Could we but fill our consciousness with the thought that every individual idea of God is as fixed in its place in divine Mind as the steadfast stars in their orbits, it would help to dispel the illusion that any of God’s children is out of position, displaced, out of line with the source of supply. No one of that universe, which is unseen and eternal, is ever out of place, for God is without variableness or shadow of turning, and His ideas reflect His stability.

Photo by Carl Miller

Back to the top of the page

From Mrs. Eddy

(in the first person with scientific interpretation)
Attributed to Mary Baker Eddy

I dwell in the secret place of the most high, (consciousness of good) and abide under the shadow (protection) of the Almighty.

I will say of the Lord (Supreme Ruler), He is my refuge and my fortress; my God; in Him will I trust.

Surely He shall deliver me from the snare of the fowler (temptation) and from the noisome pestilence (uncleanness, impure thoughts).

He shall cover me with His feathers (omnipresence), and under His wings (omnipotence) shall I trust: His Truth (omniscience) shall be my shield and buckler (defense).

I shall not be afraid for the terror by night (mental malpractice); nor the arrow (aggressive mental suggestion) that flieth by day;

Nor for the pestilence (mental contagion) that walketh in darkness; nor for the destruction that wasteth at noon-day.

A thousand (false beliefs) shall fall at my side, and ten thousand at my right hand; but it shall not come nigh me.

Only with my eyes (personal sense) shall I believe and see the reward of the wicked (unrighteousness).

Because I have made the Lord, which is my refuge, even the most high, my habitation; there shall no evil befall me, neither shall any plague (inharmony) come nigh my dwelling.

For He shall give His angels (spiritual intuitions) charge over me to keep me in all my ways. They shall bear me up in their hands (power of right thoughts), lest I dash my foot against a stone (belief of life in matter).

I shall tread upon the lion (animal courage) and adder (subtlety): the young lion (blind enthusiasm, mortal will) and the dragon (malicious animal instinct) I shall trample under my feet (understanding).

Because I have set my love upon Him, therefore will He deliver me: He will set me on high (spiritual exaltation), because I have known His name (manifested His nature).

I will call upon Him and He will answer me; He will be with me in trouble (human experience); He will deliver me and honor me (manifest Himself through me).

With long life (immortal being) will He satisfy me and show me His salvation (preservation).

Abide in the ninety-first Psalm and know that such abiding is treatment and protection. There is nothing that can make laws and influence you. There is one Mind and that is Love.

If you could but see the sublimity of your hope, the infinite capacity of your being, the grandeur of your outlook you would let error kill itself. You give it the only life it has. It comes to you to give it life, and you prolong its life by giving it a temporary sense of life.

Practice having a sense of possession of all things. Taking possession of what God gives us is the step leading to God giving us what we desire. If you take possession of what is at hand for you, it becomes the loaves and fishes for you, the basis of multiplication. Jesus’ first question was, “How many loaves have you?” You must first have the consciousness of something to multiply. Keep practicing “this is mine” until the spirit of possession is gained, and you will feel “all things are mine.”

You must have a clear enough sense of possession to make others feel it. “All things that are the Father’s are mine” means just what it says. Things that have no possessor, anyone can claim. This is a sense of the Kingdom of Heaven within that gives power and control. Conviction is dominion. As we argue this of possession we shall see that a sense of loss is not possible.

Mind is all that recognizes or experiences within itself all power, all ability, all achievement, all results. Let us rid ourselves of an outside world, and learn that we possess all things, and were given dominion. A sense of possession is as much a law of your being as the distinct sense of activity. Take possession of healing, of health, of demonstration, of results, of a sense of results. Let the results be what you decide and not what some other mortal thinks for you. Our land of Canaan lies before you. Let us go in and possess the land.

Quoted by Herbert Eustace in Christian Science, Its Clear, Correct Teaching, page 397

You may falsely think that something stands between you and your heart’s desire, and so go through life here with that desire unfulfilled, but it is not so. Deny it, and you will find yourself free; and good will begin to flow to you and you will see clearly that nothing can stand between you and your own. Lean on God. Trust Him. Understand Him, and He will give you foresight, wisdom, and a capacity to execute His will, and show forth His name.

Back to the top of the page

Gems

The past and the future are unreal at this moment. And, because everything good is possible to man right now, you have only to live in the present moment to be equal to it.

He who prepares himself for service, and gets ready for whatever opportunity may offer, without too much concern as to just what the work or the reward will be, is likely to find his lines falling into pleasant places.

God’s orbits are not limited channels wherein His ideas are confined, but divinely outlined opportunities for reflection of Mind’s infinitude.

Opportunity is infinite and ever present; in fact, man himself exists at the standpoint of opportunity. According to Christian Science, it is never too late for opportunity and its availability. No human condition is so severe, no sickness so desperate as to defeat the opportunity to recover.

In the great deluge of Noah’s time only those who clung to earth were submerged. Those who dwelt within the ark, who put their trust in spiritual reality, were lifted up as the waters rose.

God’s law is eternally operating to bless man, and there is no power to delay or thwart His law.

It does not necessitate much study nor understanding to follow the simple teachings of Mrs. Eddy’s revelation, but it requires persistency and consistency, where the endeavor is made to apply this divine power to everything in one’s experience, whether small or great.

The correct answer to every problem is already in divine consciousness, just as the correct answer to every problem in arithmetic is already existent before the child at school even opens the covers of a schoolbook.

Whatever the nature of the difficulty may be with which one is confronted, it should never be looked upon as an affliction, or a wholly personal problem; but rather seen to be a cry of human belief calling out to be healed of its suffering.

Our individual consciousness IS the temple of the living God wherein God speaks to us and we learn of Him.

Every true identity, from the most minute to immensity, lives and moves in accord with God’s law of changeless perfection.

Absolute truth is on our side, making for ultimate and complete victory over all evil.

Painting by Luanne Tucker

Christian Science Journal, April 1898

The mists hid fair Gethsemane,

Whose olives whispered soft and low

A requiem to mortal woe,

As Easter dawned on Calvary.

Then weeping, and with senses gloomed,

Came Magdalene, with spices rare,

And ointments, to anoint with care

The body of her Lord entombed.

"But who shall roll away the stone?"

Not faith, but doubt, beset her mind,

Until with joy she came to find

That fearsome barrier was gone.

Aware of Truth's infinity,

Man's greatest Teacher burst His tomb,

As lily wakes from bud to bloom,

And said to man, "Come unto Me."

Not for a chosen few, but all—

The sick, the sinful, the distraught—

To each one held by mortal thought,

Resounds this resurrection call.

There is no death, no falsity,

That Life and Truth may not dispel;

No sin nor hate but Love may quell,

No prisoner but may be free.

The stone of sense is rolled away,

The mists of mortal thought are gone;

All error fades at Easter's dawn,

And Spirit rules eternal day.

Back to the top of the page

From the Early Workers

Christian Science Journal, March 1902

We are again in the midst of Eastertide. The Christian world commemorates this marvelous event in various ways. Christian Scientists celebrate the risen Christ. Their sincere effort is to keep constantly in consciousness the conception that God is Life, the only Life, that all His ideas reflect Life without beginning or end, because they reflect God. Then it is understood how Jesus was able to demonstrate Life by triumphing over death and the grave. This immaculate conception, truly and steadfastly adhered to, leads on to the resurrection.

And what is the resurrection? We answer: Freedom from the trammels of the flesh; freedom from sin in all its hideous shapes; freedom from the fear of death, which Jesus proved, by his resurrection, to be an illusion. As we ascend from the darkness of the sepulcher of sin, which is the only death, we reach up toward the Light of infinite Love, which is the only Life. God’s idea, man, cannot be forever entombed in the sepulcher of sickness, sorrow, sin, and death. God’s idea, man, is an eternal manifestation of Life.

Mary Baker Eddy writes in Science and Health of the resurrection: "The lonely precincts of the tomb gave Jesus a refuge from his foes, a place in which to solve the great problem of being. His three days’ work in the sepulchre set the seal of eternity on time. He proved Life to be deathless and Love to be the master of hate. He met and mastered on the basis of Christian Science, the power of Mind over matter, all the claims of medicine, surgery, and hygiene."

Truly Jesus "proved Life to be deathless, and Love to be the master of hate." (S&H) Life lived in spite of the attempt to destroy it. Love triumphed over hate, for it was hate, and nothing but hate, that sought the life of Jesus.

What a mighty lesson was taught by Jesus’ resurrection! A lesson for all the ages; a lesson for time and for eternity. The resurrection morn has dawned in the consciousness of thousands, and the stone of material sense is being gradually rolled away from the door of human darkness, admitting the Light of Love, and Joy.

Christ is risen! He is risen!

Tell it with a joyful voice;

He has burst his three days' prison,

Let the whole wide world rejoice.

Christian Science Journal, November 1889

When God created man it was said, “Let us make man in our own image and after our likeness and let them have dominion over all the earth and subdue it.” Man was given dominion over all the earth, not only over animals, and all living things, but over all the forces and principles of what has been termed “nature.” Jesus demonstrated for us our rights to this dominion. “He rebuked the winds and the raging of the water, and they ceased and there was a calm.”

He used his power for the benefit of his fellow men; and because the principle through which he controlled them was not understood, they were called “miracles.” Jesus called them “the works of my Father.”

The Saviour controlled or subdued these “forces of nature” through the spiritual power, or understanding, which he had from the Father. He said to his disciples then, and he says now, “The works I do, ye shall do and greater,” indicating that when people live as they ought to live, and as the Scripture teaches them to live, they too have this power.

Through the study of Christian Science, man is bringing the “forces of nature” under dominion just in proportion as he learns the truths, which are taught in the Scriptures and in Science and Health — and as he lives them in daily life.

To have “dominion over all the earth and subdue it,” is also for man to free himself from the false claims of sin, sickness, and death, according to the demonstration given through Christ Jesus. He has told us how to reach this dominion. “If any man would come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross and follow me.” It is only through demonstration, after the example set by Jesus, that we can approach to the perfect humanity, in which the will of God is done on earth as it is in heaven.

Excerpt from Bicknell Young's 1930 Association Address

The philosophers were not wrong in their theory that happiness is the chief aim of existence. They were wrong, however, in their finite and material conceptions of that aim, and in the means by which they believed it alone attainable.

Many beautiful theories as to the way of happiness through unselfishness have been advanced by both religion and philosophy, but none of them have withstood the onslaughts incidental to the element of selfishness in the so-called “human nature.” Sometimes that which appears outwardly as unselfishness is only self-deception. But unselfishness is the way to happiness.

To devote oneself to the material welfare of others is about the only measure for it that mortal mind possesses. In many instances this is mere slavery for all concerned. The ones who are to be benefited by such devotion are held more firmly in their own erroneous beliefs, and the ones who show such devotion are often kept from the activity which would benefit everyone far more.

As in all things, the life of Jesus exemplified true devotion and pure unselfishness. There never was a moment from the first recorded incident of importance — that of contending with the doctors of religion, up to the time of the Ascension — when he permitted any erroneous acceptance of what mortal mind called “good” to retard his progress. He knew that to show forth the “I AM,” he must not be hampered by any sense of so-called duty or religion, because the most unselfish thing he could show to the human race, were to appear through his full human demonstration of divine power.

What a noble, pure, and holy thing;

The desire to do His will.

The longing to hear the “still small voice”

Of, “Peace, — peace be still.”

To follow where He leads us,

This duty to fulfill.

If we a constant joy would find,

In, “Peace, — peace be still.”

Back to the top of the page

Interesting Squibs

Show me a man who is always whining about his bad luck, and I will show you one who is too lazy to seize upon good luck if it should ever come within his reach.

The only dynamite that works in this country is the dynamite of a sound idea.

He who begins by halving his heart between God and mammon will end up being whole-hearted for the world and faint-hearted for God. We must be out-and-out for God or we shall be in-and-in for the world.

Christianity is life, not rules about life; it is conduct, not doctrinal treatises; it is doing what Christ Jesus taught, not theological dogma; it is behavior, not heated discussion over matters that are beyond our human knowledge.

The message of Easter is a message of peculiar encouragement and of abounding hope. It is the message that death can never conquer life.

Back to the top of the page

Current Articles

I was fortunate to grow up in a loving home where Christian Science was cherished and practiced. Our family practitioner was a good friend of Gilbert Carpenter and often visited Mr. Carpenter. The memory of many childhood healings left no doubt in my thought about the effectiveness of prayer, as taught in Christian Science, to heal both quickly and permanently.

One particular healing stands out. It was actually a healing my brother had of a contagious disease. I was about ten years old at the time. My parents believed it to be German measles. A Christian Science practitioner was called for healing prayer. My brother was healed quickly. The practitioner also prayed to know that man was immune from disease, as well as that there was no contagion. Consequently no one else in the family could contract this belief called disease — and no one did. My brother’s quick healing was the end of it. As Mary Baker Eddy states in Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures: “Truth handles the most malignant contagion with perfect assurance.” (p. 176) And also on page 369:23 she writes, “The prophylactic and therapeutic (that is, the preventive and curative) arts belong emphatically to Christian Science ....”

I did not think about this experience for years until I had a sleepover with my best friend in high school. She and I shared the same bed during the night, and both of us went to school together the next day. By midafternoon, my friend, who was not a Christian Scientist, was sent home from school with German measles. Her case was medically confirmed, as her father was a medical doctor. I never came down with any of the symptoms of this disease.

Then, as an adult and in my early forties, I was required to have blood tests done for some international travel. I remember the nurse coming out of the back with the results and saying, “Your tests are all fine and, oh, by the way, you still have an immunity to German measles.” She then stated that the effectiveness of childhood vaccinations would have usually worn off at that point in my life, and it was very unusual to find that I still had this immunity. Apparently prayer has resulted in a lifetime immunity to this disease, as I am now, humanly speaking, many years beyond this blood test and still have never contracted this disease.

I just smiled and thanked her for her work. I did not tell her that my parents were Christian Scientists and had successfully applied for an exemption from vaccinations when I was a child. Nor did I tell her that I had never had the disease. I was smiling because I knew the good report was the result of those early childhood prayers by a beloved practitioner, proving once again that prayer is the most effective and reliable means of protection from disease, and that prayer can be both curative and preventative. As an expansion of this concept, as God is immaculate and pure, so is man and therefore man is immune to anything that would say otherwise.

An additional thought on contagion and immunity is that I experienced childhood colds, etc., which seemed normal at the time, but I was always healed of these false claims. I was told by a practitioner at a later date that as one grows in Science, one will cease to have colds and the flu because progress is the law of being. (A paraphrasing of Miscellaneous Writings 15:19 "for progress is the law of infinity.") This has proved to be the case. I just stopped getting them. How wonderful that our own spiritual progress will also provide immunity to disease.

For this experience and for the many healings which I have experienced over my lifetime, I am truly grateful.

The continual teachings at Plainfield Christian Science Church, Independent, through the Roundtable and Bible Study, are priceless. I have found that the weekly learning, and applying what I am learning step by step, has made a profound difference in my life and walk with God. It has been helping me drop my misconceptions of God, Mrs. Eddy, and Christian Science. In its place is offered a clear, practical, and healing understanding to be practiced each day. It helps me see the negative thinking I entertain, and a way out. There are so many lessons to be learned that I can hardly conceive of doing this any other way.

I started by listening to archived classes. They were like flood-tides of Love washing away my misconceptions and false beliefs, and little by little, I began to be able to put into practice what I was learning.

After listening to individuals share their journeys, I had a new appreciation for the things that happened to me along the way that eventfully led me to Plainfield. I see now that each incident was a step up and out of wrong thinking and into a whole new life. I am very grateful that Plainfield was on the Internet. It is very comforting that God wants to be known and makes a way for us to know Him.

I am so grateful to those who, day after day, year after year, despite challenges, kept this light aglow for others to come and be taught so they can have a clear sense of the Bible and the writings of Mary Baker Eddy.

I have a new appreciation of what Mrs. Eddy writes on page 15 of Miscellaneous Writings: “The new birth is not the work of a moment. It begins with moments, and goes on with years; moments of surrender to God, of childlike trust and joyful adoption of good; moments of self-abnegation, self-consecration, heaven-born hope, and spiritual love. Time may commence, but it cannot complete, the new birth: eternity does this ....”

Philippians 2:5, 15 – “Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus…in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world….” (emphasis added)

“Christ’s life outwardly was one of the most troubled lives that was ever lived: Tempest and tumult, tumult and tempest, the waves breaking over it all the time till the worn body was laid in the grave. But the inner life was a sea of glass. The great calm was always there. At any moment you might have gone to Him and found Rest. And even when the bloodhounds were dogging him in the streets of Jerusalem, He turned to His disciples and offered them, as a last legacy, ‘My peace.’” (Henry Drummond, Pax Vobiscum)

“Christ Jesus…threw upon mortals the truer reflection of God and lifted their lives higher than their poor thought-models would allow, — thoughts which presented man as fallen, sick, sinning, and dying.” (SH 259:6-11)

Jesus had mastered the troubled waters of mortal mind so much, that his entire being became a still, smooth, polished reflecting surface upon which the light of God could shine undimmed and uninterrupted, one reflected beam of which was more powerful than any laser weapon devised on earth.

“[H]e that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed.” (James 1:6)

“The people that sat in darkness have seen a great light” (Matthew 4:16). So today, more than ever before, the light I reflect must be “great,” indeed. This means that my stillness — my death to self — before God must be great, and greater each day. This cannot be faked. The surface of a choppy sea, even on the clearest of days, reflects the sunlight only in patches at best.

“A rest remaineth on earth’s battle fields

To every son of man, a Sabbath rest,—

Progressive states of peace to him who yields

His all to Principle, — unfoldment, blest

With true enlightenment. There is, indeed.

The shadow of a rock, a peaceful place,

A Sabbath rest to-day. The world’s great need

Of seeing Mind, man’s Maker, face to face

Is striking from the human mind unrest."

How I Found Plainfield Church, and How It Has Changed My Life

Dede from Georgia

I want to express gratitude for being a part of this church and I want to briefly share the story of how I got here.

I had been attending a local branch church since high school, but I had come to the point where it became harder for me to attend each week. To me there was an overall feeling of too much niceness, though love seemed nonexistent there.

I had absolutely no idea where else I would go or what I would do; but one Sunday, I just couldn’t stand to attend, so I didn’t, and I never went back.

Not too long after, while feeling very low, discouraged, and uncertain about everything, I began working with a Plainfield practitioner. I had known about the Plainfield Church for quite a while, though the thought of any direct affiliation seemed impossible, and even intimidating.

That Spring, I joined the weekly Unity watches, which I was immediately thrilled to be part of. That Fall I moved to a new city to attend school, and not long after, I began attending the Roundtables.

I was then encouraged by my practitioner, to become a member. Although this was simply suggested, I was overcome with anxiety, as I was extremely apprehensive about joining or belonging to anything ever again. I prayed about it like never before, and with great fear, I finally looked at the church membership application. It reads the following quote from Mary Baker Eddy: "When one sees that Christian Science is the only way, he is ready for church membership, and there is no other requirement.”

I was amazed by the simplicity of it all. And although I was most certain that I met the requirement, I read the words over and over just to see if there was any chance to deny it.

Needless to say, I completed the application, then prayed, “Father, Thy will be done,” constantly and almost aggressively, while walking to the mailbox outside my building. I even paused a moment to complete my prayer before dropping the application in the mailbox.

It’s been a little over three years now, and through church instruction, I’ve started to overcome a lifetime of wrong beliefs. The very experience which I feared would be limiting, has been the most liberating, bringing about unimaginable opportunity, resulting in tremendous progress through the freedom of right thinking.

Though well into adulthood when I arrived at Plainfield, it is here where my life truly began; that is, my life with God.

It is with my whole heart that I thank God for the members and teachings of the Plainfield Christian Science Church, Independent, past and present, which have blessed me with the understanding, confidence, and courage needed to bless someone in the future.

I thank God for guiding me all the way.

Back to the top of the page

Into the house of God I went,

Weary at heart, my courage spent.

Forth from the house of God I came,

My heart a leaping, living flame.

Prayer and praise and Truth’s clear ring

Had touched my life and made it sing.

Letters of Gratitude

I belong to a Society of Christian Science in Australia. I found your website the other day and have not had time to look properly through it all at the good things you offer.

I have however listened to a couple of Roundtable discussions and LOVE them! Thank you so much for putting these on YouTube so that they are easily accessible. I found these inspirational and helpful talks while I was suffering from something not from God, and was not in any state to do my usual study. What a wonderful resource. Thank you for all the wonderful people who take part and their deep thought, sense of humor and naturalness in being recorded. It is much appreciated and I look forward to hearing more.

This past summer I tripped over the Plainfield website and was impressed. I was overly bogged down in a ton of work on the property I own in Pennsylvania. I only spend a few months there each year so I cram as much physical labor into my stay as possible, often perhaps unwisely, letting my spiritual studies lag. I have a lake on the property and it is loaded with Canada geese. I love these creatures and treat them as friends. I even buy duck chow to feed them.

One day I noticed a problem with one of the geese. They aren’t particularly nice to each other and when one is injured or sick they kick it out of the flock. This one goose appeared to have an eye injury and there was this stain running from the eye all the way down its body. The eye did not look right either. Owing to the fact that I let my spiritual feathers droop, the immediate need of this goose and my recent acquaintance with the Plainfield website, I decided to call a practitioner there for help. I was curious if this was the real deal.

The next day the same goose was back on the property and still ostracized but that oozing stain was completely gone. The eye looked better too. Quite frankly, although having been a lifelong Christian Scientist, I was shocked at the quick and immediate transformation I had just witnessed. I called and asked for one more day of prayer. The next day there was no ostracized goose. All the geese looked normal and healthy.

To those reading this testimony who are not familiar with Christian Science or Plainfield, this is the real deal. I am extremely grateful for the work and dedication of this practitioner as well as all the wonderful early works on Christian Science this church shares on its website.

Have I said how grateful I am for practitioner, the Church and the members? There are not deep enough and large enough words to express it. A life and purpose changed in infinite ways for good. So very grateful to all.

I am so amazed and very grateful at the same time at how I am finding time and time again that the Wednesday evening meeting readings and testimonies always provide a powerful thought for me to work with in challenges I might be dealing with for that week.

Years ago, I would find that the Christian Science Sentinel would do the same thing. I would always be taken aback at how a title of an article on the cover would be exactly what I needed for that week, but that has all changed (unfortunately) and I cannot express enough gratitude for finding this beloved Church and for all the God-directed good it provides to me, my family, and to the world.

With much love and gratitude.

Thank you so much for the Wednesday testimony meeting on February 7, 2018 theme, “Fear Not, Trust Love’s Constant Care.” It has been so helpful to me this week in facing down many fears.

Thank you, Plainfield Christian Science Church, Independent for sharing your loving ideas of Truth.

The solo sung on a recent Sunday entitled, “When I Found God I Found Me,” reminded me of how I, too, had looked for who I was and where I was going until I found the Plainfield Church. Here I found that God truly cares for all His children and is always speaking to me (and all His children) and showing me the way I should go. When I am still and listen I am not led astray, but to my rightful path.

Thank you Plainfield Church.

Thanks for sharing. I am very happy. Today I found the great website that I can continue my study in Christian Science which is not taught in my country. Thank you Plainfield Christian Science.

Watching Point #5 says, “Watch lest you set your affections on the peep-hole, rather than on the sunlight that is pouring through it.” I am so grateful for this Watching Point because it helps me to realize God’s allness and matter’s nothingness. Instead of looking to a person, place, or thing, I understand now that I should look at the Infinite Love pouring through all things and not to limit my concept of Good! This reinforces to me the idea that there is one Infinite Mind, one Infinite Life and one Infinite Love. This radiant light bathes all in the harmony of eternal existence.

Thank you Plainfield Christian Science Church, Independent for the unselfed devotion of thought, words and deeds that bless us all.

I would like to express gratitude for the various testimonies I’ve heard over the past six months at your Wednesday night meetings. Last Wednesday evening, I was faced with the opportunity to cling to the Truth and not submit to error. The battle went on for quite a while in the night, but I kept affirming the Truth, as all of you have shared at one time or another. Your own victories in similar circumstances gave me added strength to hang on. I need not buy the lie. I began to feel a lessening, a letting up of intense pressure and was able to return to bed and sleep well with no adverse effects in the morning. God is Love. Thank you Christ Jesus, Mrs. Eddy, Plainfield Church and loving practitioner support.

Do we need to understand everything? Are we to be all brain, and no heart? What should we be the better if we did understand all mysteries? I believe God. I bow before his Word. Is not this better for us than the conceit of knowing and understanding? We are as yet mere children. We know in part.

Back to the top of the page

Testimonies of Healing

On Thanksgiving day, around three in the morning, a close family member called and described what sounded like heart attack symptoms. I offered to take them to the emergency room, but they instead asked for prayer. Fearful thoughts started to rush into my thinking, but I told myself I wasn’t going to go there! So I began to work as best I understood. I asked a Plainfield practitioner for metaphysical support with this situation.

Not long after, I felt a surge of what could best be described as “spiritual power,” and I was certain this was coming from God through the practitioner’s prayers. It felt like my prayers had somehow become a lot stronger.

The thought came to head over to this family member’s house and bring the Thanksgiving service with me, by way of my cellphone. As I headed over there, an almost overwhelming sense of doom and fear loomed over me. I knew this was aggressive mental suggestion being more aggressive than usual, and I kept repeating spiritual truths to myself that I’ve been learning here at Plainfield. When I arrived, I found this family member in bed, looking really distraught.

When the Plainfield Thanksgiving service began, I played the entire service on speakerphone. Around the first or second testimony, I felt a strong sense of gratitude and relief that was almost overwhelming — something had changed, and I felt that the mesmerism had been broken. My relative felt it, too, and started to sit up in bed, saying she was feeling better, even though she doesn’t speak English and the service was in English!

As the day went on, this family member’s condition improved, and by the end of the day, she was up, doing her usual routine.

There’s a footnote to this experience….

There had been no time for this family member to cook the Thanksgiving turkey she had planned on, so on Friday evening—the very next day—she called to let me know that the turkey was ready, and we ended up having a late Thanksgiving meal with several other family members, filled with gratitude for the perfect work that God had just so lovingly performed. It not only deepened our sense of gratitude for this year’s blessings, but made the whole event that much more special.

I want to praise and thank God for this demonstration, and the Plainfield practitioner who selflessly offered her help at a moment’s notice, for Mary Baker Eddy’s unwavering love for God and man, and all of the Plainfield congregation — your mental work was felt that day, and it made all the difference! Thank you all!

A few months ago, I began to feel some symptoms of high blood pressure. I worked for myself, but there was a bit of fear there, so I called for help from a Plainfield practitioner. The practitioner said that life does not depend on the body, it is the God life shining in you — throughout every corner of your being. She also said to remember, as Mrs. Eddy says in Science and Health, the only pressure is “the constant pressure of the apostolic command to come out from the material world and be separate.”

She also gave me some practical suggestions — to do more walking and get more exercise. That was also helpful, because I sit at a desk all day at work, using a computer; and then come home at night and sit with my laptop on my lap, doing more computer work.

I’ve been working with the statements she gave me, and also making sure to get up and walk around much more often. I am very happy to say that for about two or three months now, I haven’t felt the symptoms at all!

I am so grateful to God and for the practitioner’s prayers that brought about this quick and permanent healing. And I am eternally grateful to Mrs. Eddy for giving us Christian Science.

I am grateful to have been healed of a smoking habit through my practitioner’s prayers. I was given to this habit, indulging it, and it was very hard to get away from. Finally, through the prayers I was able to overcome it. Since this healing, I have been working for God much more in prayers, in watching, and I am much happier for it.

For the past year my husband and I have been dealing with legal issues with his family’s property. When it looked like a conclusion was near, one problem after another surfaces.

With the help of a practitioner from Plainfield, I have been learning the true meaning of patience and gratitude. I am overcoming discouragement and, instead, relying on the fact that God and God alone is completely in control — not attorneys, the court system, or family members. My practitioner pointed out that what seem to be problems are really blessings and are helping me to gain spiritual understanding.

This has proven to be true, for a few months ago I noticed that a large bump on the heel of my foot, which I have been struggling with for several years, was completely gone! I have no idea when this healing occurred.

This is proof to me that staying the course and keeping my focus on God, old things do pass away. I am so very grateful for this experience. I am grateful to God, my practitioner, and the Plainfield Christian Science Church, Independent, for teaching Mary Baker Eddy’s pure Christian Science.

I am very grateful for the lessons I am learning here about loving all mankind. Part of this process for me has been learning about God and His creation.

Recently I was talking with a Plainfield practitioner. At one point during the conversation about praying for the weather she said, “for all God’s children” with such a kind tenderness.

This feeling carried over into my day. It helped cleanse my thinking of many labels and limitations I had been unconsciously putting on others. Holding that feeling and seeing all persons I passed or thought about that day, as dearly loved by their Father-Mother God, helped me let go of negative expectations and soften a hardness of heart. It was a lesson for me of the importance of correct identification and seeing everyone as the children of God.

I want to count my blessings since coming here to Plainfield. By attending this church, reading Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy, and getting practitioner help, I have quite a few blessings to count.

When I came here I felt like a broken man, stricken with a disease of the morals. I was dishonest, certainly, and had no moral courage of any kind.

I had no job, and have since found a good one. I had a big debt hanging over my head. Through turning to Christian Science, and faithfully attending this church, it was completely forgiven. I had writer’s block for a long time and recently completed my first book. I was facing a divorce action for a year, then my wife dropped the action and my marriage was saved. I credit all this to God, Christian Science, and the prayerful help of the Plainfield practitioner.

In Webster’s 1828 Dictionary to “heal” is defined as meaning “to grow sound; to return to a sound state.” I have been healed of a lot of things. I have been blessed by God and owe the Father-Mother God a debt of gratitude. I will never stop being grateful for these things and many more things to come. All these things have been added to my life because of Christian Science. I am learning to be steadfast, loyal, and true to Mrs. Eddy’s teachings.

I’m learning that mortal mind, or the devil, is a clever enemy. I can’t sleep on my laurels. We are engaged in a kind of mental warfare against whatever mortal mind can throw at us. I am learning here how to fight the good fight, and for that I am grateful.

I am very grateful that Christian Science has shown me how to live life increasingly free of stress.

Before coming here, I was perpetually stressed. I wasn’t sure how to best live my life, how to know if I was making the right decisions, how to do anything really. So many voices seemed to be telling me this or that, and in the end, since I was trying to live without God, I was just confused and lost.

Everything I have learned in Plainfield has shown me how to listen for just one voice: God’s.

What a wonderful blessing this has been, to go through each day only seeking to do what He wants me to do. An additional blessing is how this church has ample methods to support me through the day, such as the weekly lessons, website materials, and practitioner support. Because of this, I am never without the tools to counter the claims that would bring stress.

I would not have been able to achieve any of this without God bringing me here to learn Christian Science. I am very grateful!

Not far from [Mary Baker Eddy’s] home in North Groton [when she was married to Doctor Daniel Patterson and she was then known as Mary Patterson] there lived a retired minister, a devout old man, well over ninety. He was known as Father Merrill, and day after day he would walk over to [her] home to visit [her, as she] was bed-ridden most of the time, and the two would read the Bible and pray together.

One day as he turned in at the gate from the road, to his complete surprise he looked up and say Mary all smiles and with arms outstretched coming down the path to meet him. With Father Merrill there was no doubt as to what had happened. He cried out at once with joy, “Praise God, He has answered our prayer.”

“Publish the Word”

Broadcast the Truth

“Freely ye have received, freely give”