Iremember growing up in a community with many religions. For me it was a great experience, and of great help in seeking Truth. My mother, being a long time and faithful member of the Methodist Church, did the best she knew how to train all her children in the love for God, and she inspired me with the great need and desire to seek the truth about God and man. In Genesis, I read that God created man in His image and after His likeness, and blessed him. God also gave him dominion over all the earth.

Later, fear came, as I was taught in all the churches I’ve been to that the image and likeness of God, and the dominion He gave to man, were lost in the Garden of Eden, where Adam disobeyed God and man was cursed by God to work the ground, and sooner or later go back to the dust, because he was made of dust. All the teaching I had in those days was a terror to me, because it was totally different from my hope.

So, when I became independent from my parents on certain issues, I told them that I was no longer comfortable with this Methodist system of worship, creed, doctrine, and teaching, that God and heaven are somewhere in the sky, and that man is separated from God, and that good and evil come from God. The Scriptures lost their spiritual and significant meaning.

I was confused and burdened with all these things until Christian Science came into my life. Then, all that seemed hidden to me was brought to light. I began to study the great truth about God, man, and all that really exists, as taught in Plainfield Church. This brought to me total freedom from fear, and opened the way for the great light of Truth to shine in my life. Then peace and love began to radiate within my heart. The fear that God can send good and evil was annulled with the great truth that God is only good, and loves man, and that nothing unlike good can come from God. The fear that man is separated from God, and made from dust and destined to go back to dust, was destroyed by the great truth that God and man are one, and inseparable in being, and that man is never material, but spiritual and immortal, destined only for immortality and eternity. Christian Science helped me to know that God made man perfect and harmonious; that God is the Life of man; and that man has no life apart from God; therefore, man is incapable of suffering, decay, or dying, but eternally reflects God, Life.

This spiritual understanding about God, man, and everything around me, came as soon as I began to study Christian Science a few years ago with the Plainfield Christian Science Church, Independent. This spiritual understanding makes man perfect and harmonious, and frees him from all fear, sin, sickness, and death. Then, God and heaven are no more somewhere in the sky, but are man’s true dwelling place with his Father-Mother God. Mrs. Eddy writes: “Heaven. Harmony; the reign of Spirit; government by divine Principle; spirituality; bliss; the atmosphere of Soul.” (S&H) Heaven was never a material dwelling-place that existed somewhere in the sky, but rather in man’s consciousness.

You will find heaven in proportion to your understanding of your unity and oneness with Spirit, God. This understanding is very important, and available to all of us here, now, and forever. Our homes, offices, communities and nations become the atmosphere of Soul, in proportion to our understanding of God and man as one, inseparable in being.

This great fact of being was hidden to me, as it seems hidden to many people today, until I found Christian Science through the Plainfield Christian Science Church, Independent. I was consistent in seeking the Truth as Jesus said: “Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.” He also said: “Ye shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free.” This great truth of our Master unfolded to me as I began to study Christian Science. It is even clearer since I arrived here in Plainfield Church. Now I have found true freedom, peace, and happiness. Mrs. Eddy writes: “Love and Truth make free, but evil and error lead into captivity.”(S&H)

Perhaps you are one of those people who are still living under the captivity of the physical senses and theological error that brings confusion and fear. Now is your opportunity to have total freedom. I leave you with these inspiring statements from our beloved Leader, Mary Baker Eddy: “When we wait patiently on God and seek Truth righteously, He directs our path. Truth, independent of doctrines and time-honored systems, knocks at the portal of humanity. Contentment with the past and the cold conventionality of materialism are crumbling away. Ignorance of God is no longer the stepping-stone to faith. The only guarantee of obedience is a right apprehension of Him whom to know aright is Life eternal.” (S&H)

A life or a nation is saved, in proportion to the predominance within of purity, patriotism, or other right motives; and this is the inner spiritual meaning of the story of Abraham’s petition to God. If Sodom City had in it enough moral worth it would be saved, but not otherwise.

Mary Baker Eddy Betrayed: Exhibits on Appeal

David Robinson

(Excerpt, page 187)

The Hon. Charles Evans Hughes, former Governor of New York State, who ran for President of the United States, and later became Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court, summarized Eustace v. Dickey (1921) thusly: “It seems most unjust to Mrs. Eddy, most contrary to her teachings, to assume for one moment that she relied upon the despotic power which these Directors have arrogated to themselves.

“The unity that these Directors wish, the unity of despotic power, the absolute control of the entire government of Christian Science in the church and in the publications, and everywhere else, is the unity which might well destroy the very faith of the organization for the propagation of the faith, to which they profess to be devoted.

“There is nowhere now any more centrally controlled religious organization than the church founded by her [Mrs. Eddy]. It is the rigidity of the organizational structure with its extraordinary controls over branch churches, practitioners, and other responsible leaders, that has been the occasion for most of the conflict that has been aroused.

“Every measure the Directors have taken to guard their authority has stifled freedom of thought and expression, inhibited initiative and responsibility, and has closed off the means of inspiration and instruction. Their every step has tended to dilute and emasculate Christian Science.”

Men are learning that freedom does not imply the right to do as one pleases, unless one pleases to do right.

Frank H. Sprague, Christian Science Sentinel 1918

Freedom to Follow God

Gary Singleterry

Every once in a while, I like to think back at the incredible way that God has taken care of Plainfield Church throughout the years. When I first got here, our practitioner, Mrs. Evans, told us that we needed to pray for our church. It needs our prayers as much as any person needs our prayers.

Those of you who are familiar with our history know, after we were kicked out of the organization many years ago, we were soon thereafter sued by the b.o.d. in Boston. They hired the biggest law firm in New Jersey and paid them a lot of money to try to prevent us from calling ourselves Christian Scientists and worshipping as a Christian Science church. I am sure they expected to overwhelm us, bankrupt us, and bury us. However, God found, right in our own backyard in Plainfield, one of the top litigators in the State of New Jersey, a partner in the second largest law firm in New Jersey, who deeply believed in our cause and was more than happy to help us. With his help and God’s direction, the case against us was eventually ruled in our favor by the Supreme Court of the State of New Jersey, which freed us and every church in the United States to become an independent Christian Science church, if they should choose to do so. This is what Mary Baker Eddy intended in the first place.

That lawsuit cost us over a quarter of a million dollars, and it was fully paid without having to incur debt, thanks to generous donations from many people throughout the country.

When we began to write our own Bible Lessons, we needed a printer. So God brought a professional printer from New York City, who set up shop in the basement of the church; and he faithfully served us for many years. When we needed an electrician to wire the church so that we could broadcast and record our services, God sent us a master electrical engineer who was more than capable of doing the job. When we needed a new organist, there happened to be one of the best organists in New Jersey right in our own Sunday School, and he graduated to be our organist and served us very well for many years. When we needed a temporary replacement, God brought a good replacement to us who filled the job right away. He even helped us find a soloist, and she has been faithfully serving us ever since. When we needed someone to maintain the new website and bring it up to date, God brought to us just the right person at the right time, and he has been doing a wonderful job. Then, when we needed to replace our organist, our soloist found, not one, but two superb professional organists, one for Sundays, and one for Wednesdays.

I could go on and on. This could actually be a very long list, but I will stop for now. I am so grateful to see how God brought to this church exactly what it needed, exactly when needed to be able to fulfill His purpose for this church. This is not chance. This is not luck. This is not coincidence. This is God’s plan being carried out for His church. I am so grateful to see the lives that are changed and healed, including my own. I don’t know where I would be without this church and the correct teachings of Mary Baker Eddy’s pure Christian Science that are practiced and taught here.

Liberty is the freedom to do right, but not to do wrong. It is the freedom to obey God as best you can without human interference. In this regard, the Church Manual is as divinely inspired as the textbook of Christian Science, as the following article by Mrs. Eddy indicates. — Editor

Mental Digestion

Mary Baker Eddy

from Miscellany page 229

Will those beloved students, whose growth is taking in the Ten Commandments and scaling the steep ascent of Christ’s Sermon on the Mount, accept profound thanks for their swift messages of rejoicing over the twentieth century Church Manual? Heaps upon heaps of praise confront me, and for what? That which I said in my heart would never be needed, — namely, laws of limitation for a Christian Scientist. Thy ways are not as ours. Thou knowest best what we need most, — hence my disappointed hope and grateful joy. The redeemed should be happier than the elect. Truth is strong with destiny; it takes life profoundly; it measures the infinite against the finite. Notwithstanding the sacrilegious moth of time, eternity awaits our Church Manual, which will maintain its rank as in the past, amid ministries aggressive and active, and will stand when those have passed to rest.

Scientific pathology illustrates the digestion of spiritual nutriment as both sweet and bitter, — sweet in expectancy and bitter in experience or during the senses’ assimilation thereof, and digested only when Soul silences the dyspepsia of sense. This church is impartial. Its rules apply not to one member only, but to one and all equally. Of this I am sure, that each Rule and By-law in this Manual will increase the spirituality of him who obeys it, invigorate his capacity to heal the sick, to comfort such as mourn, and to awaken the sinner.

Self-Government Under God: True Liberty

Florence Roberts

Ilove the understanding that we are under the government of the All-knowing, All-seeing, All-acting and All-wise God, who is merciful and just. He alone can confer the peace that cannot be disturbed. His promises are kept, and we can call on them every moment of the day or night.

More and more I feel totally convinced that self-government under God would have a collective effect of obedience to the Ten Commandments and the two given by Christ Jesus, “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.” (Matt. 22) Can anyone doubt that these laws, individually obeyed, would effect a more peaceful world?

From Retrospection and Introspection page 48, Mrs. Eddy states clearly that: “Every one should build on his own foundation, subject to the one builder and maker, God.” In her works she explains how everyone can learn their true selfhood, through Christ Jesus’ teachings and example. From him we learn we are God’s likeness, each is an embodiment of all right ideas, meaning we each already include health, wealth, comfort, freedom, happiness, etc. Thus, the sense of lack of any of these is merely an attempt to deny our perfection. We cannot and should not dishonor God by believing in them, as if there was some self or power apart from Him.

In our Daily Duties, found at the end of each Bible Lesson, Mrs. Eddy implores God thus: “and may Thy Words enrich the affections of all mankind, and govern them!” And in the second Daily Duty we read, “In Science, divine Love alone governs man.” These are invaluable counsel for us to remain under God’s control and direction in all we do.

She further reiterates, “Like our nation, Christian Science has its Declaration of Independence. God has endowed man with inalienable rights, among which are self-government, reason, and conscience. Man is properly self-governed only when he is guided rightly and governed by his Maker, divine Truth and Love.” (S&H)

Who can better govern His own creation, individually and collectively than the Omnipotent, Omnipresent, Omniscient and Omni-acting God?

Liberty

Edward Everett Norwood

Christian Science Journal 1896

“Stand fast therefore, in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.” (Gal. 5:1)

The word “liberty” is a large word in the Christian Science vocabulary, and means much. When a Christian Scientist uses the word, it has far more significance than it ever had before. It not only means freedom from bondage of other governments or persons, but also freedom from other forces and restrictions.

Our Declaration of Independence is found on page 468 of our textbook, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures and is called the “Scientific Statement of Being.” Our battle cry is, “All causation is Mind, and every effect a mental phenomenon.” (Ret.) We are enlisted as soldiers in a war, a war of extermination, and will never cease fighting until the enemy is forever destroyed.

Christian Science teaches us how to be free; how to realize that good is the real, error the unreal, and so meet and master the false by a realization of the true.

The Israelites knew, or at least the leading minds among them knew, they were in darkness. They looked around upon the great mass of people and saw they were worshiping their sense of God in a half-hearted perfunctory way. Generation after generation longed for a deliverer. The promise had been given.

But at last, when he did come, how was he received? Nineteen hundred years ago there was born to human consciousness this Saviour. He walked among men healing and teaching. He taught them, as much as they were able to bear, of the Science of Being. He pointed out to them the falsity of material sense, and showed them its evidence was not to be depended upon.

He proved his words by his works; but with all this, he was not generally believed. A few accepted his teachings, came into some understanding of their Principle, and were enabled by this understanding to do the works he did.

The Truth spread for a season, but finally corruption came into the Church. Materialism once more asserted itself among the followers of Christ, and the healing power, the understanding and realization of the omnipotence of Mind, was gradually lost to the world.

In the year 1866, through the tireless researches and investigations of the Reverend Mary Baker Eddy, the Truth, the Comforter, the demonstrable Science of Being was given to the world. It appeared to be so new, so at variance with the prevailing systems of thought, that, as aforetime, mankind was very slow to accept it. But it grew and prospered.

From a little handful of seekers it has increased. Its followers’ work is to destroy error, to preach the glad tidings of this spiritual Gospel, to bring men into the “liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free” — the freedom from the bondage of matter. Christian Science might well be called the Gospel of Liberty, for it proclaims freedom to captive man, shackled by oppressive beliefs. It teaches him how to throw off his bonds, how to conquer the seeming by understanding the real, destroying the false by realizing the true.

The world needs Christian Science. It is ready for it or the Truth would not have come at this time and as it did. So let us “stand fast therefore, in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.”

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Image by Carl Miller

From Mrs. Eddy

On January 1, 1863, was issued the Emancipation Proclamation, and at the close of the American Civil War the Congress of the United States passed a resolution prohibiting slavery throughout the land. On February 3, 1865, the bells were rung in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts to proclaim this joyful news, and Mrs. Eddy published in a Lynn newspaper her poem entitled “The Liberty Bells.”

William McCrackan

“The Liberty Bells”

Mary Baker Eddy

This is the hour they then foretold —

When earth, inebriate with crime,

Laughed right to scorn, and guilt, grown bold,

Knelt worshiping at mammon’s shrine.

This is the hour! Corruption’s band

Is driven back; and periled right,

Rescued by the “fanatic” hand,

Spans our broad heaven of light.

Righteousness ne’er — awestruck or dumb —

Feared for an hour the tyrant’s heel!

Injustice to the combat sprang;

God to the rescue — Liberty, peal!

Joy is in every belfry bell —

Joy for the captive! Sound it long!

Ye who have wept fourscore can tell

The holy meaning of their song.

‘Tis freedom’s birthday — blood-bought boon!

O war-rent flag! O soldier-shroud!

Thine be the glory — nor too soon

Is heard your “Cry aloud!”

O not too soon is rent the chain

And charter, trampling right in dust!

Till God is God no longer — ne’er again

Quench liberty that’s just.

“The Higher Truth Lifts Her Voice”

Mary Baker Eddy

from the Blue Book, page 24

March 12, 1907. Do you believe what the book says about chemicalization, that, ‘The higher Truth lifts her voice, the louder will error scream,’ etc. (Page 97)? Yes. I was just thinking how I am being abused (Glover case and newspaper articles) and I could feel the tears starting to come, when suddenly I thought of two cases of healing I had, and then joy took the place of sorrow.

One of them was one of the worst cripples I ever saw. I was walking along the street — I walked because I hadn’t a cent to ride — and I saw this cripple, with one knee drawn up to his chin; his chin resting on his knee. The other limb was drawn the other way, up his back. I came up to him and read on a piece of paper pinned on his shoulder: help this poor cripple. I had no money to give him so I whispered in his ear, “God loves you.” And he got up perfectly straight and well. He ran into the house (told name of the people, Allen I think) and asked, “Who is that woman?” pointing to Mrs. Glover (afterwards Mrs. Eddy). The lady told him, “It is Mrs. Glover.” “No, it isn’t, it’s an angel,” he said. Then he told what had been done for him.

The other case was: I was at a house (told name and place) and the woman came running into the room as white as ashes, and said, a cripple was at the door and he looked so dreadful she slammed the door in his face. I went to the window, and there was — well, it was too dreadful to describe; his feet did not touch the earth at all; he walked with crutches. I gave him through the window all I had in my pocket — a dollar bill — and he took it in his teeth.

He went to the next house and frightened the woman there, but she did not slam the door in his face. He asked her to let him lie down a few minutes; she let him into a bedroom and lie down. He fell sound asleep, and when he wakened up was perfectly well. Sometime afterward the woman, who was kind to him, was in a store (I think) and this man came rushing up to her and said, “Yes, you are the one, but where is the other woman?” Then he told her he was the one who was healed by me. The papers are writing up my history; the history of my ancestry; writing lies. My history is a holy one.

A little girl, only six years old, had become filled with the ideas of Christian Science, by hearing her mother and friends talk about it. One evening her father came home with a sick-headache. The child said to him: “Papa! when you say you have a headache, you are not talking Science. Now I will treat you.” She bowed her head, and the family united in the solemn silence.

Her mother presently asked her what she had said, and the little one replied: “Well, mamma, I treated him that he was ashamed of himself for saying his head ached, when God was good enough to make him all right; and when God was all, there was no headache beside Him.” When she had finished her treatment she added: “Now papa, you are well, and hereafter you must talk Christian Science in this house.” The headache vanished.

Christian Science Journal February 1886

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Interesting Squibs

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.

Author Unknown

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Shall we never learn that no height is insurmountable, and no mountain as large as the mountain of fear?

Annie J. Close, Christian Science Journal 1886

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The gospel comes to the sinner at once with nothing short of complete forgiveness as the starting-point of all his efforts to be holy. It does not say, “Go and sin no more, and I will not condemn thee.” It says at once, “Neither do I condemn thee: go and sin no more.”

Horatius Bonar

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A man’s life does not consist in what he does but in what he is. His capacity of enjoyment is in what he does to increase the enjoyment of others.

Christian Science Journal, 1887

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Patriotism is supporting your country all the time, and your government when it deserves it.

Mark Twain

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The care of human life and happiness, and not their destruction, is the first and only object of good government.

Thomas Jefferson

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If the freedom of speech is taken away, then dumb and silent we may be led, like sheep to the slaughter.

George Washington

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Success is obtained by mixing two parts of common sense with three parts of will, and stirring both in the bowl of ambition, with the spoon of perseverance.

Christian Science Journal, 1884

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The truth is incontrovertible. Malice may attack it, ignorance may deride it, but in the end, there it is.

Winston Churchill

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Purposes, plans, and achievements of men may all disappear like yon cloud upon the mountain’s summit; but, like the mountain itself, the things which are of God shall stand fast for ever and ever.

Charles Spurgeon

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He that loseth his conscience has nothing that is left worth keeping.

Christian Science Journal, 1883

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As surely as God is good; so surely is there no such thing as necessary evil.

Southey, Christian Science Journal, 1887

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Heaven’s gates are not so highly arched as prince’s palaces; but they who enter there, must go upon their knees.

Webster, Christian Science Journal, 1887

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To gather with God’s people in united adoration of the Father is as necessary to the Christian life as prayer.

Martin Luther

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Max Dunaway

“Lord, Lord,” I begged, “open Your gates to me

That I may come into Your secret place.”

Yet there came forth no answer to my plea,

And heaven’s gate seemed shut against my face.

“Now, Lord,” I hotly cried, “I do demand

That entrance to Your kingdom I shall gain.”

Yet still outside it I was forced to stand.

Pleading and angry threats had been in vain.

“Ah, Lord,” I humbly said, “just let me then

Go forth from here to gently, meekly love

And manifest Your ways to fellow men,

Till, step by step, I work my way above.”

And then, behold, before my startled eyes

The gate swung wide, and God did words employ:

“Your manifesting love wins heaven’s prize.

Enter, then, into your Father’s joy.”

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From the Early Workers

Man, endued as he is with divine intelligence and eternal Life, has some fine purpose to fulfill and cannot become the victim of disease, idleness, or failure. That purpose will not permit him to stagnate in ease or end in defeat.

The ideal state, or heaven, is not a place from which problems have been removed. Rather is it a place where pain and stress have been taken out of problems. Why this equipment of strength and ability, if there be no work for man to do, no adventures to run, no heights to climb?

The creator and governor of the universe is Love and Principle. But there are seeming forces at work in human experience — among them rivalry, greed and dishonesty — which would divert from man those good things God expects him to enjoy. We should take intelligent account of these hostile forces, look them squarely in the face, and recognize their impotence. They are impotent when confronted masterfully, because they are unprincipled and cannot operate to deprive man of what is justly his.

In Science, good is the real and only, but we should be sure not to ignore the devices of supposititious evil. Be quick to detect and resolute to extinguish sinister schemes to undermine our health or our business. Nor can we afford to ignore contagion and other supposed laws of disease which would jeopardize health. They should be reduced to nothingness through a realization that they have no place or power in a world where inextinguishable Life is All.

The earth traveling in its orbit furnishes a graphic picture of the operation of law. It cannot depart from its fixed course because gravity holds it there. God has set man in an orbit — an orbit of security, of usefulness, of abundance, of opportunity. Principle holds him there. No power, no influence, can swerve him from his path. Man never deviates from his orbit of security.

Criticism, fault finding, will shut you out of heaven; it will darken all your skies. You will criticize people in the clothes they wear, the way they talk, the way they read, and the way they sing. Then you will want to know why you do not understand the Truth as well as you would like to. It is because you are not looking for the Truth, you are looking for faults, and finding them.

If you are studying Christian Science, you will progress in everything you do. Christian Science leads into wisdom. It leads into love. It leads into kindness and satisfaction. You will become better in everything, better mechanics, better teachers, better fathers and mothers, better sisters and brothers, better neighbors. You will become better business men.

Everything that you touch will grow and be blessed. Everything will be made plain, and everything made easier. You will find no such thing as hard times, if you are sincerely studying the great facts of Being. Let go of mortal sense and study Truth. You will find a better life than you ever had before or knew anything about.

You will lose the thought of growing old, of losing your health, or losing your life, because you are growing into life, into health, into freedom, into happiness, and into strength. This is God’s plan for man, and it is a perfect plan.

Christian Science Sentinel 1905

From whatever point of view, whether that of the historian, the philosopher, or the religionist, the resurrection ranks as the most startling, the most prophetic, the most inspiring event in history.

On that first Easter Day, malice and hatred’s self-confidence gave place to confusion and defeat before the might of him whose cross was to become the universal symbol of victory, whose opened tomb was to be the hope of the nations.

This “mighty happening” is not an isolated incident of a unique life, but the practical evidence that resurrection is brought nigh by every decision and deed which is inspired by Truth and Love.

To follow Jesus’ example, to know that every effort to resist temptation, to return good for evil, to be gentle under provocation, forgiving under injustice, fearless when in danger, has its part in removing the stone from the door of an entombed human sense. This gives a new enthusiasm to purpose, a new bright star in the night-time, a new confidence for the morning, a new meaning to life. It is to acquire that stimulating and victorious attitude of thought in which Paul could say, “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.”

This ascension of thought, this trend of choice toward the better part, — this is our lifting up, our resurrection from the entombment of material sense. It is effected through Christian Science, — that knowledge of the Truth of being, the acceptance of which makes an Easter day in every human consciousness.

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A Watch to Work with Often

Nature says more to me, I find, than many humans do.

It tells me in its quiet way things that are always true.

It does not contradict itself between effect and cause,

But carries out its purposes according to its laws.

The stillness of a lake says more to me without a word

Than many an interminable conversation I have heard.

And I have gained more wisdom beside a gently flowing brook

Than I have found in some philosophies within a book.

Let each approach the source of wisdom, then, as he deems best.

Give me the simple verities that bring Love’s peace and rest.

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Current Articles

People are often assailed by stress and pressure, and Christian Science was very helpful to me in showing me the right way to deal with these feelings and not let them overwhelm me.

Before coming to Plainfield, I would often feel like I had too many things to do, and too many people trying to pull me in different directions. After a while of this, I would shut right down, mentally and emotionally.

After coming here and beginning to learn about Christian Science, I began to understand two important things: First, God is my employer; second, I don’t need to shoulder burdens for Him, since He has it all under control.

Now I know that I only have God to both listen to and to please. If I start feeling like I have a lot to deal with, more than I can handle, I stop and work to realize that right this moment is all I have to be concerned with. In fact, often I write on a post-it note the word “Now” just to be sure I quit thinking about what needs to be done later.

What a blessing it is to know that I can give God my past, my future, and even this moment. The practical applications that Christian Science has are so wonderful and useful, and it has changed my entire life.

During the February 16, 2019, Bible Study on David and Goliath, it was quite surprising to me to find out how much the Philistines harassed, oppressed, and invaded the land of the Israelites. It was pointed out that the Philistines here represent the tactics of error, the operation of the human mind that always seeks to dominate.

As part of their control over the Israelites, the Philistines demanded the payment of taxes. They also managed to disarm the Israelites by controlling the production and repairing of weapons: “Now there was no smith found throughout all the land of Israel: for the Philistines said, Lest the Hebrews make them swords or spears.” (1 Sam. 13:19) Error always attempts to take our weapons and use demoralizing taunts, as Goliath did to the Israelites for forty days. It uses discouragement and fear to cause us to surrender to its control.

Interestingly, every time the Israelites drifted away from God, they came under the control of the Philistines. “And the people of Israel again did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, so the Lord gave them into the hand of the Philistines for forty years.” (Judges 13:1) It was their own disobedience that made them easy prey.

But the Bible Study also discussed how to stand up and conquer those erroneous suggestions to stray from the laws of God. We have many spiritual tools and weapons we can use daily in our warfare with error. We don’t have to lose our freedom to evil’s despotic control. Mrs. Eddy writes, “Slavery is not the legitimate state of man. ... Love and Truth make free, but evil and error lead into captivity.” (S&H p. 226)

The Israelites were able to free their nation when Samuel, and then David, through the guidance of God and with moral courage, were able to defeat the Philistines. “Then Samuel took a stone, and set it ..., saying, Hitherto hath the Lord helped us” (ISam. 7); then later on, “And David did so, as the Lord had commanded him; and smote the Philistines.” (IISam. 5:25) It was pointed out that it took but one small stone, precisely aimed, to take down the giant. One small truth, clearly understood and lived, will take down the arguments of evil every time.

In the book Mary Baker Eddy’s Six Days of Revelation (p. 321) it states that Mrs. Eddy “gave warning that the time might come when medical thought might be so organized that it would make the practice of Christian Science almost impossible. The remedy given was not the counter power of Christian Science churches, but: ‘When [that] time comes I want my students to take every means possible to make Science and Health available to the whole world.’”

With all the advertisements for medicines, doctors, and hospitals over TV, radio, and in print, it would seem that this is trying to come about. Of course, in order for drug companies to sell their drugs, they first have to sell the disease! All these blatant suggestions, bombarding people’s mentalities over and over, could mesmerize anyone who is not on their guard, to accept all these maladies as real and inevitable.

However, we were taught here years ago that, every time we see or hear any of those evil lies, to handle them by knowing that this is nobody talking about nothing to no one, and no one can hear it, be impressed by it, or manipulated by it — and God never made it! If God is the only creator — and He is — we know as an indisputable fact that He never created disease or anything else that would harm His children, so there is absolutely no truth, no power, and no life in anything but good! False advertising needs to be challenged and neutralized every time it appears. Mrs. Eddy says in Science and Health, “why should we stand aghast at nothingness?” The invincible power of Truth is behind our every declaration, and it does have an effect!

If we all reversed this error consistently, every time we’re exposed to it, think about the awesome force of healing power going out into the universe. It would heal the sick and raise the dead!

The truths in Science and Health give man — give us — power to resist and repel evil suggestions of every kind. Every truth we declare does its part in neutralizing this false advertising for all mankind. “The power of Christian Science and divine Love is omnipotent. It is indeed adequate to unclasp the hold and to destroy disease, sin, and death.” (S&H)

The thoughts we choose to entertain have a big effect on our daily lives. I was taken aback last week while looking through some catalogs I saw a small blanket — the kind that’s called a “throw.” It had wild flowers on it and a saying that said, “I think I’ll just be happy today.”

How simple! I can just be happy — with no justification or reason. I can simply choose each day to be happy. In the beingness of joy you don’t need to have or do something to make you happy; you already are, that’s how God made you, and so everything makes you happy.

Then I thought — this could be done with gratitude, too. Today I think I’ll just be grateful — for everything! For the air we breathe, for sidewalks, for pencils, for Life, Truth, and Love. No need to work so hard at it, trying to figure it out — just look around. If I am just grateful for everything, especially for God who is All-in-all, I’ve found that it suddenly becomes a whole lot easier and makes me even happier. A bit like Scrooge waking up on Christmas morning!

Christian Science Journal 1885

Some one has said, “The great want of this age is men.” Men who are not for sale; who are honest at heart, simply because honesty is right: men who love God and hate evil: men who are not afraid to speak the truth, and who condemn wrong-doing in themselves, as well as in others: men who have courage without whistling for it, and joy without shouting. Men careful of God’s honor, and careless of men’s opinions; too large for sectarian limits, and too strong for sectarian bands. Men who know what their duty is, and are not afraid to do it. Men who are willing to fill the place God has called them to fill. Men not ashamed to speak their honest convictions, strong with divine strength, wiser with heavenly wisdom, and loving with the love of Christ.

The verb “to plenish” is derived from the Latin plenus meaning “full, filled, greatly crowded; stout, pregnant; abundant, abounding; complete,” from which words like “plenty,” “plentiful,” “plenitude,” and “replenish” are derived. Any assembly with full attendance, such as the UN General Assembly, is called a plenum. A plenary school assembly denotes full attendance of all students and faculty.

Christ was brought to earth by a remnant of followers of God who were so fully present with God that God was with them — along with all the hosts of heaven in plenary attendance. In one accord with Allness, this remnant was able to replenish a Christ-depleted earth drowning in materialism; by a new and living Way, they ushered in the Christ, and so began the Christian era.

In Genesis 1:28, replenishment is not simply filling up depleted space and stopping there, but is an energetic, ever-happening endeavor, bestowing blessings upon earth that are constantly begetting more, each one increasing in blessedness (think of Mrs. Eddy publishing the Christian Science Monitor with greater energy than that of a girl seventy earth-years younger than she). In other words, replenishing the earth is God’s omni-activity operating through lives dedicated to Him in full, uninterrupted surrender.

Replenishment is what Jesus meant by “life, and life more abundantly,” and which he demonstrated by healing great multitudes of people in an afternoon, the multiplication of the loaves and fishes, etc. This is also how God blessed His creation on the seventh day, not calling it merely “good,” as on previous days, but “very good,” heavenly good that is bristling with activity, constantly replenishing those who are replenishing the earth with it.

Replenishing the earth is my assignment. “God rests in action.” (S&H 519:25) Therefore, God grant that I may enter into His rest, to manifest the light of His Day every moment of my life, and, like a wise virgin, replenish a light-famished world by seeing it filled to overflowing with the radiance of the Christ.

Seeing the world right-side up turns its evils upside-down, so that every space, every corner that darkness once claimed as exclusively its own is refreshed, restored, renewed — replenished — with the light of “eternal noon, unmarked by a setting sun.” (S&H, 1st Ed., p. 212)

Not long ago I had a chance to meet with some people I had never met before. I had been warned that one of them was very manipulative and controlling. I was grateful for the warning, but I prayed that this meeting would be a blessing to everyone concerned, and that God’s will would be done.

A recent Bible Lesson contained the story of David. One brief statement in the middle of this story impressed me. It said, “David behaved himself wisely in all his ways.” (ISam. 18) What an amazing statement! With all that David endured — as a shepherd protecting the sheep, defeating Goliath, mistreatment by Saul, and so on — he behaved himself wisely.

Remembering that statement, I prayed to God: “I know Your wisdom controls this situation, and I ask that Your wisdom control me.” The only thing I wanted was to feel guided by God’s wisdom.

My wife and I went to the meeting, and there was no manipulation or controlling by anyone. This person that we had been warned about was actually very quiet and listened most of the time. I felt God’s blessing on the meeting, and that He was guiding every detail. And I thanked God sincerely that His will was done.

I’m very grateful for God’s protection and power during hurricanes this past year. Over the past three years, including this year, our rental home on an island just south of Charleston, South Carolina, has been threatened by hurricanes; and each time, because of much prayer and much practitioner support, these storms have done little to no damage, despite what has been forecast.

Each time a storm is predicted, I feel I grow in my understanding of God, trust Him more, and put more armor on, so to speak, in handling these storms. One hurricane was forecast to strike our area. The outlook was dire — a possible Category 4 or 5 hurricane, 20-foot storm surge, and many inches of rain. The governor issued a mandatory evacuation of the entire coast.

I am very grateful to be involved with Plainfield Church, which has been teaching us how to handle the weather. A few citations I worked with were, from Science and Health, “Moral and spiritual might belong to Spirit, who holds the ‘wind in His fists;’” from No and Yes, “God’s law reaches and destroys evil by virtue of the allness of God.” In addition, it came to me to stand fast, and not have a halting or halfway position.

None of the forecasts for our area materialized. It seemed each hour the storm lessened in intensity, and we ended up with only a half inch of rain. To me this is proof that God is more powerful than any storm mortal mind could ever conjure up!

We’ve all encountered heavy traffic at one time or another, but have we ever thought of praying our way out of a traffic jam? It happened to me while driving to work one morning. There was an accident on the highway ahead involving an oil tanker. After waiting for hours, we were told it could be eight hours more!

I knew at that point that I really needed help, so I texted a practitioner here in Plainfield. In just a couple of minutes, she responded, saying that all of the commuters could not be held back by error from what we were supposed to do that day, and that God would lead us out of this (seeming) wilderness situation. I continued to hold to these truths and disregard the aggressive mental suggestion that kept coming that God could not help me or anyone stuck in this situation, that it was pretty much impossible.

A short while later, I looked behind me and could see that some police officers were directing all the commuters to make U-turns and drive in the opposite direction towards a more distant exit. This was no small feat because there were hundreds, if not thousands of cars that had to make this same coordinated move, yet it all went smoothly, and everyone was able to be freed from this ordeal.

This was convincing proof to me that truly nothing is impossible to God!

Before joining the Plainfield Church, I had a strong belief in God and an improved understanding from my childhood years, but I didn’t really know Him. It’s wonderful to be learning, and learning to prove, that He is the only real presence and the one and only power.

From what I’ve been learning through my study in this church, I’m now aware that by understanding that God is my Father-Mother, who protects, directs, guides, guards, and governs all that concerns me, then there is no human condition, circumstance, demand, expectation, or opinion that can limit me, burden me, bind me, or keep me from knowing what God wants me to know, going where He wants me to go, or doing what He requires of me.

And what wonderful reminders we’re given to defend ourselves from aggressive suggestions of any power apart from God. Then we find the freedom and courage to learn and practice this Truth!

We seem to live in a very busy time, where people often feel pulled in different directions. That certainly is not God’s plan for His children!

There was a time in the past that I found myself very busy. I was up almost every night doing a lot of mental work, watching and praying for our nation and the world, and toward the end of the week I didn’t have my usual joy and was feeling tired. Any time we feel that way, that’s the time to pay attention to it and do some work for ourselves.

In praying and studying for myself at that time, I turned to something in Gilbert Carpenter’s book Precepts 4, where he quotes Mary Baker Eddy: “If there is any lack of progress in our Cause, it may be directly traced to a lack of group mental support by its adherents.” We are reminded in the Daily Duty “Alertness to Duty” not “to forget nor to neglect” this sacred duty. She writes in Science and Health “The struggle for Truth makes one strong instead of weak, resting instead of wearying one.”

Carpenter continues, “Surely if one finds himself disliking to sit down and do a half hour of mental work for the Cause, seeking to think with God and to relate, in his thought, God’s children to their heavenly parent in a scientific, healing way, that student should know that something is wrong. He should recognize that error is striving to make him believe an impossible supposition, namely, that one can be wearied in thinking God’s thoughts. … When this false argument of work in regard to right thinking is handled, one will find complete rest and great joy in thinking with God.”

After thinking about that and realizing how I had been duped into thinking any kind of spiritual work can make one tired, I woke up and my joy and energy returned, which I am so grateful for. Certainly, it goes along with what Mrs. Eddy says in Science and Health “The highest and sweetest rest, even from a human standpoint, is in holy work.” (p. 519-520) Doing this work is a great privilege, and it can only bless those who do it!

All Good Is Thine

Klara from France, age 9

It’s neither hers, nor his, nor mine,

All Good is only Thine.

My God, as I sit in thy shine,

I feel You know I’m good and fine.

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The Touch of the Master’s Hand

Myra Brooks Welch

‘Twas battered and scarred, and the auctioneer

Thought it scarcely worth his while

To waste much time on the old violin,

But held it up with a smile.

“What am I bidden, good folks,” he cried,

“Who’ll start the bidding for me?”

“A dollar, a dollar. Then two! Only two?

Two dollars, and who’ll make it three?”

“Three dollars, once; three dollars, twice;

Going for three…” But no,

From the room, far back, a grey-haired man

Came forward and picked up the bow;

Then wiping the dust from the old violin,

And tightening the loosened strings,

He played a melody pure and sweet,

As a caroling angel sings.

The music ceased, and the auctioneer,

With a voice that was quiet and low,

Said: “What am I bid for the old violin?”

And he held it up with the bow.

“A thousand dollars, and who’ll make it two?

Two thousand! And who’ll make it three?

Three thousand, once; three thousand, twice,

And going and gone,” said he.

The people cheered, but some of them cried,

“We do not quite understand.

What changed its worth?” Swift came the reply:

“The touch of the Master’s hand.”

And many a man with life out of tune,

And battered and scarred with sin,

Is auctioned cheap to the thoughtless crowd

Much like the old violin.

A “mess of pottage,” a glass of wine,

A game — and he travels on.

He is “going” once, and “going” twice,

He’s “going” and almost “gone.”

But the Master comes, and the foolish crowd

Never can quite understand

The worth of a soul and the change that is wrought

By the touch of the Master’s hand.

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Letters of Gratitude

A little over a year ago I was searching for a Christian Science article that was referenced in another article I was reading, and I found it on this church’s web site. I began exploring the site and soon discovered that it has a wealth of information on Christian Science: articles by early workers, online services, weekly Bible Lessons, testimony meetings, a forum, etc., and practitioners.

At the time I was no longer attending my branch church. I began following the live services, reading, and listening to recordings, and I set my alarm for each live service and followed them. I continued to read, listen and study. I found the messages so timely, and quite often the testimonies provided answers to questions I had or solutions to issues I was facing. During the live sessions there is a feeling of love, comfort, and oneness. I looked forward to these sessions, as I was gaining a better understanding of Science and Health and the legacy Mrs. Eddy gave us.

After some prayerful work, I was led to contact one of the practitioners on the web site. I discussed some challenges I was experiencing at the time. We worked together, and not very long thereafter, one by one those challenges were overcome, plus others I never mentioned to the practitioner.

Thanks for the wonderful work you are doing at Plainfield Church Independent. Grateful for all the workers who make this possible.

I’d like to thank you so much for the Bible Studies and Roundtable sessions. I look forward to these each week, and try to listen to them live, if I can. I’ve found books I never heard of — it’s just amazing that these accounts of Mrs. Eddy’s life are being kept secret from people trying to study Christian Science! One piece I found detailed evidence of Mrs. Eddy having a divine mission, by the healing work she was able to do throughout her life, not just after her fall on the ice, and, when she was a child, hearing a voice calling her name, like Samuel in the Bible did. All very moving, and so important.

I am most grateful for finding Plainfield Church, and for all it is teaching me.

Listening to the service Wednesday night brought tears of gratitude once again, thank you! We are all one, and the “we” that we think we are, is truly only One, All. Such a tremendous, powerful thought to dwell on! So many things I would like to share; so very grateful for you and all of the Plainfield group all around the world.

I’ve lovingly embraced in thought the Plainfield group so many times, and felt embraced by them. I first found you online after reading about Bicknell Young, that his writings are so beautifully expressed. I’d read some things by him quite a while ago, but was hoping to find something to listen to in the car, as my commute every day is at least an hour each way. I listened to the readings, and then became curious about Plainfield. The first thing I was led to was the recording of “How Great Thou Art;” I was a complete puddle of tears! I’m so very grateful for that beautiful performance. I’ve played it over and over.

I’m so grateful for all aspects of Plainfield Christian Science. The thought that this might just be the church home that is honest, fearless, accepting, loving and can help me to come to a clear understanding of Christian Science is practically overwhelming. It’s hard to even describe.

Blessings, love, and tremendous gratitude to all at Plainfield.

I was very inspired by a recent Roundtable discussing slower healings. I’d like to share with you my experience of a prolonged healing. Whereas I’m still at times in some discomfort with this problem, this has forced me to dig deep and really look at myself and my relationship to God with serious intent. I’m learning so much more about Mrs. Eddy and Christian Science, and how I should be thinking and living.

I also want to encourage everyone who hasn’t had a quick healing to hold out for all the blessings that come from a deeper study and more urgent listening. I’m quite sure that when the total healing is here, I will look back and bless this whole experience, as I’m blessing it most of the time now. These Roundtables and Bible Studies fill me with inspiration and food for thought.

Thank you to Plainfield, my practitioner, Mrs. Eddy, and Christian Science.

Recently I became aware of what might be considered an alarming thought that is being introduced to our country and its governing body on a system of government that our country should adopt. I found myself getting caught up in this disturbing thought and knew I had to re-establish peace in my thinking and to not break the First Commandment by giving power to this error.

At that point I turned to two powerful resources to re-establish what is true and what is really going on in the present. Bicknell Young’s writing entitled “The United States of America,” which is found on the website and is read by Gary Singleterry, is very powerful. Mr. Singleterry reads with forthrightness, strength, and conviction and it is evidenced by this audio presentation.

My other resource was a Wednesday evening meeting presented on May 30, 2018. The topic was, “God’s Ever Present Law: The Only Authority and Power Over All Creation and the Universe.” The readings were strong statements of Truth as to who is really in control of all, and read with strength, and conviction. These two resources speak for themselves in re-establishing the Truth and destroying the blatant lie for all mankind.

The Beacon Light of Truth is shining brightly to all mankind from this church and its website. This is an incredible gift from God and Mary Baker Eddy, the Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science.

A while ago I was working part-time helping to look after the finances of a small private, fee paying school. The fees were paid by the parents at the start of each term, so at certain times of the year there was quite a lot of money in the school’s bank account for just a short period of time. The school, of course, had technical support, and all the usual anti-virus software in place to keep these funds safe. I usually checked the bank accounts of the school not only on my days in work, but also remotely from home each morning on my days off, just to be sure all was in order.

One particular day at the start of the term, I was at home and was led to look at the international transfers tab of the school’s bank details, not something I usually checked, as the school never had any transactions coming from overseas or leaving the U.K. Nevertheless, that day I sat looking in disbelief at a transfer listed to leave the school’s bank account that day to go to a foreign country for a huge sum of money, which had certainly not been authorized by anyone at the school. So despite the security arrangements, our system (or perhaps the bank) must have been hacked. I quickly contacted the bank, which was able to stop the transaction in time. If it had gone through, it would have caused immense difficulties for the school.

I cannot say how grateful I was to have been led to see this attempt to steal, and prevent it in the nick of time. Subsequently the bank issued an option for businesses to restrict their transactions solely to the UK, if they did not trade abroad. This gave extra security and was a blessing to many businesses. I was and continue to be so grateful for this guidance from the one Mind.

I am so grateful to the Plainfield Independent Church for its services, the continually updated website, the Bible Studies, Roundtables, practitioner help, and the dedication which I’m certain goes into all the activities of the church as it reaches out to the world.

I would like to express my gratitude for continued discussions on the First Commandment. Both the Bible Study and Roundtable the weekend of January 28, 2019, were particularly helpful.

The First Commandment states. “Thou shalt have no other gods before me.” God is omnipotent good, and thinking there is anything else is dishonoring God. So being afraid is dishonoring God and disobeying the First Commandment. When we fear anything, we are believing in a power apart from God. This belief makes us suffer until we wake up out of the mesmerism of fear.

Someone mentioned the amazing faith to the First Commandment that Daniel and Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego had when facing the terrifying situation of being thrown into the lions’ den and fiery furnace. I am currently going through a lot of big changes in my life and I am thinking a lot about the need to obey the First Commandment, to keep the fear and feeling of being overwhelmed shut out of my experience. We were instructed to sing praises to God whenever the feelings of fear come up.

This reminded me of a story I heard some years back of a man who was in his car that fell into a river. As his car filled with water, he found a pocket of air where he could breathe, and he started to sing hymns of praise to God. He was rescued and survived. He shared the story with the news, and also thanked his church.

Please accept the enclosed very special copy of the book, From Hawthorne Hall that came into my experience by God’s grace, with the handwritten note on the inside front cover by the author, William Lyman Johnson. I’m happy to have received it, as it only seems right for you to have it for your ever-growing library. It comes to you as a small token of my deep gratitude for all you do and stand for!

Thank you.

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Testimonies of Healing

A Life Turned Around

from J. O. in New Jersey

Mary Baker Eddy says in our text book, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures “Divine Love always has met and always will meet every human need.” I didn’t realize what Mrs. Eddy’s words meant until I lived through a recent healing experience.

I told my Plainfield practitioner that my teenage daughter was in big trouble. Drugs were involved and a criminal misdemeanor. I told the practitioner that I was flying out to Portland, Oregon, to go find my daughter. She said I was going on a mission of love and to let go of any preconceptions troubling me about my daughter, and to know that “God will make a way in the wilderness.”

I flew to Portland and located my daughter with some of her teenage friends and two other homeless teens living out of an old car. When I found her she was dirty and wearing army boots and an old Army surplus jacket. I noticed she and her friends were high on pot, which is legally sold all over Portland.

In the morning, she had to appear in court for a misdemeanor, but fought against going and would have missed it if I hadn’t called the police, who gave us an escort from the hotel to the courthouse. When the judge called her name, I looked around and she was nowhere to be found. So the judge skipped her and called the next defendant.

She refused to get on the plane going home. On the plane ride home alone, I remembered what my Christian Science practitioner said, “God will make a way in the wilderness.” But it would take many more months of prayers and a second rescue trip to Denver, Colorado, to get my daughter home.

I continued to work with my practitioner, who reminded me to always love my daughter no matter what, and to know that she is a good girl governed, guarded, and guided by God.

My daughter today is a different person from the one we knew last year. She’s recently found a job in TV broadcasting in Grand Junction, Colorado, and she must be doing a good job because after working part-time her boss asked her to go full-time.

Thank you, Plainfield Christian Science Church, Independent, and thanks for practitioner help, and to Mary Baker Eddy for helping me to get my daughter back. This experience really demonstrated to me how, “Divine Love always has met and always will meet every human need.”

Painful Knee Healed

from E. H. in Oklahoma

I am grateful for the quick healing of a very painful knee. As I tried to stand up, my left knee felt stiff and sore. As I tried to move my leg to get comfortable, I felt severe pain. The more I tried to adjust my foot and leg, the more the pain increased and I went into shock.

I called a Plainfield practitioner for help. She said she would start to pray immediately, and for me to read or recite Psalms 91 and 23, and to access and listen to Bicknell Young’s article “Oneness” or Mary Baker Eddy’s article “Body,” which I did.

In just about two hours, I felt much better. I managed to get up on my other leg and get ready for bed. I continued to also pray with the Scientific Statement of Being and to know the absolute Truth about myself as a child of God. Perfect God, perfect man.

I slept for several hours; and when I woke up, my knee was much better and I was able to flex it and to stand on it. I asked the practitioner to continue to work for one more day; and by the next day, I was completely well.

I am so grateful for this healing. I appreciate all of Mary Baker Eddy’s work to create the wonderful Christian Science texts that inspire us. And we are all so blessed by the selfless devotion of the practitioners who are also ready to help. I am very grateful for the practitioner’s effective prayers that brought about this healing.

Prayer Opens the Way to Employment

from B. S. in California

I wish to express gratitude for practitioner help and God’s loving care for His children.

My son found himself unemployed after the owner of his company passed on and his widow decided to sell the business. When I called a practitioner from this church regarding this situation, she asked me to work with the article entitled “Place” by Mary Baker Eddy, which is also in the audio library on our website. This article covers every aspect of finding employment and handles the false beliefs regarding seeking employment.

During this time I was able to use some of the truths in this article when speaking with my son when he called. One that that comes to mind is, “The place you seek is seeking you.” While my son is not a Scientist, he is active in his church and open to prayer. The practitioner also suggested that I email this article, “Place” by Mrs. Eddy, to my son, which I did.

My son called to say he had an interview with a well-known company and was open to prayer support during this interview. My husband and I both prayed at this time. Later, he called and said it went well.

My son did get this job. I was overjoyed and grateful to God, Mrs. Eddy, and for practitioner help. Later, when speaking to the practitioner, I mentioned that I didn’t know if my son had read the article I’d sent. She said it didn’t matter because it went out into the universe to bless all mankind. So grateful for this wonderful thought!

Burned Hand Healed

from A. M. in Missouri

While making tea recently, I became distracted and spilled boiling water onto one of my hands. I had done nearly the exact same thing a year or two before, and while the hand healed completely, it took quite some time. So, when I burned myself this time, I chastised myself for doing it again. I also was concerned because this burn actually seemed to be worse and far more painful.

Then, I caught myself and realized I was essentially just accepting that I was at the mercy of matter’s laws and what they dictate. Remembering some of the ideas that I have learned in this church, I declared that I am spiritual, not material, and the so-called laws of matter have no authority or power over God’s law. Despite this, the pain seemed to get even worse and I became even more concerned.

I went to sit down and ice the hand, which lessened the pain, allowing me to concentrate. Two things came to thought. The first was the complete protection of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in the fiery furnace, and how not even the smell of smoke was upon them. The second was a testimony found in the October 1904 Christian Science Journal (Volume 22, Issue 7, pages 424-428), that told of a remarkable healing after the testifier was engulfed in flames while moving a gasoline stove. I had read this testimony some time ago and remembered the testifier’s complete trust in God. In her testimony she stated, “I never in my life realized God’s presence as I did at that time. Even while standing in the flames, my thought was undisturbed … I stood firmly by the truth, and declared unceasingly that I was under the protection of divine Love.” With practitioner help and great persistence, she went on to have a tremendous healing, without disfigurement of the skin.

My hand was still in pain, but while getting ready for bed, I set aside the ice pack, and I suppose along with it, the belief in the pain because it was gone and did not return.

The physical signs of such a severe burn never developed and there was no need for even a band aid.

I’m so very thankful for Mrs. Eddy’s discovery of Christian Science and her countless sacrifices for all of mankind. I’m also thankful to have found this independent church of Christian Science, who remains loyal to her teachings, and has such great love and gratitude for her, Jesus Christ, and our Father-Mother God.

From Collected Writings, page 178

God is governing His own universe all of the time, and governing it correctly. There isn’t a thing of which we can take cognizance, that cannot come under the law of that divine power, and all that is required of us, is said in that chapter in Miscellaneous Writings on “Fidelity”: Be faithful.

Any event, that is a demonstration of infinity, or of the one infinite Mind, can never recur, because infinity never does anything more than once. That thing it does once, it will never do again. It will do something else, because the Bible says, “Behold, I make all things new.” (Rev.21:5), and Mrs. Eddy says, “Creation is ever appearing, and must ever continue to appear from the nature of its inexhaustible source.” (S&H 507:28)

The whole and sole motive and mission of the United States of America is Christian Science. This is why it is set apart, and cannot be reckoned among what is termed nations. Man is self-governed, and there is no other government. In Science and Health page 125:16, we read: “Reflecting God’s government, man is self-governed.” This is Christian Science. So our country, standing as it does for man self-governed, stands as Principle. This is what makes it what it is. Why, then, do we have everybody making laws for everybody else? The consequence is, no one is self-governed, unless he insists upon being so.

Just at this time, there happens to be a necessity for alertness on the part of what appears as everyone who is self-governed, and who has named the name of Christian Science. The old landmarks are disappearing. They are disappearing rapidly. In our country the political situation has assumed suddenly an aspect utterly unlike anything that has preceded it. We have gone on with various parties; today the thing has changed, and we find that instead of being divided into two political parties, the Republican and Democrat, we are virtually divided into the clerical and anti-clerical party, whether we will or not. It just happened like that. Now what are we going to do about it? The trouble or danger about it is that you see it wrong. One will say the Republican or Democrat party is nearest right, and you go on in the same old way. Now what really have you got to do? Our work precedes the election, or the registration, and we cannot absolutely say that it was a lack of demonstration that enabled a violent Catholic to be nominated by one of the parties. We cannot say there is a lack of demonstration. I know one thing, that God governs the universe, no matter what the Republicans or Democrats do, and I have not seen either party do much that resembles God. Now what we do, or don’t do, is our individual demonstration, and I can’t help saying, that the convention at Houston ought to wake everyone up. There ought to be no doubt as to what the intention is of the Roman Catholic church [or at this time, communism, radical Islam, etc.], to gain official ascendancy in our country, and dominate it entirely, but we will not handle it, if we begin merely a system of resistance, because the way to handle error is not to get up a fight with error, but to do some mighty knowing from the standpoint of omnipotence. The standpoint from which to handle error, is the standpoint of Principle, the one divine standpoint.

“The Lord God omnipotent reigneth.” (Rev. 19:6) “Am I a God at hand … and not a God afar off?” (Jer. 23:23) Am I Mind at hand? Am I Principle at hand? Am I Intelligence at hand? Omnipotence at hand? Now the question is, is the understanding of Christian Science on the part of the Christian Scientists that, or is it merely just a system of saying it is that, or is it merely talking about that? Which is it? Which is Science: to talk about Love, or to be Love? To talk about ideas of Mind, or to be the ideas of Mind, so that absolutely nothing but Mind is going on?

Now, it is no use to say, it is the most serious situation that ever confronted our country, and stop there. It is like saying that someone has a terrible disease, and stopping there. To say this is the most serious situation that ever confronted our country, even considering the war of Rebellion, and stop there, is worse than nothing. Nothing can occur that is a serious menace, if we know what our country is, and what governs it. There is one Mind, one Consciousness. This Consciousness is all that is going on.

What are you doing about it? If one thinks that all these things are subject to caprice and the law of change, then he might as well not have any country. If he knows that his country is that which he thinks of correctly, that which he loves from the standpoint of Love, that which he honors, and sustains, and supports, because of Principle, and that the government is really the government of God, or Christ, and there is no other, then he knows something; and if he goes on knowing, he will meet any difficulty, he will meet any danger, overcome any threat, and establish divine power in behalf of his country. He will be more of a patriot than he ever dreamed of being, because he is exercising divine power to sustain whatever may be in accordance with Principle, in the administration, or in the law of his country, and to absolutely maintain it, and perpetuate it, for the benefit of mankind.

Every right idea has its being in God, and therefore it is maintained by God, Principle, Love, and operates on behalf of mankind, and Christian Science is here as this mighty power.

That which eternally is, that which counts, is to know that God has already done all things well, and this is the standpoint of Christian Science. Then we must know, then we can know, then we do know, and knowing that which is, and knowing the infinity of the law by which this isness is perpetuated, we say: My country, the government of divine Principle: my government, God’s government, is now established, and the law of it is untouched by any combination of circumstances of events, and the power of it, and the safety of it, is maintained. No coalition of warring elements, so-called political or financial, can touch it. No combination of politics, or politicians, nothing that can be conceived of in the way of influence, social, religious, political, financial, can touch the divine idea, and it isn’t possible that my country, or the government of my country, can ever fall into the hands of any hierarchy, for every hierarchy is error, and is destined to destruction, and can never gain the ascendancy in my country, which is governed by God.

“Thy kingdom is come; Thou art ever-present.” (S&H 16:31)

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