About the new cover:

From In Defense of Mary Baker Eddy, and the Remnant of Her Seed, by Paul R. Smillie:

In the Christian Science Sentinel of September 6, 1913 on page ten, Archibald McLellan stated three most important points about the cover of the Sentinel and a minor change made at that time on its cover. Speaking of this change he said, “Beyond this there can be neither desire nor occasion for change in the Sentinel, because,” he said, “Mrs. Eddy’s instructions forbid any change.” He explained this by saying, “Mrs. Eddy likewise gave instructions.” The word “instructions” is most important. Speaking then of the two women, the lamps and the inscriptions beneath them, he said they had been “preserved as expressive of our Leader’s thought. ...” Mrs. Eddy requested that the cover of the Sentinel be light blue in color.”

Observing Christmas in Quietude

Painting by Luanne Tucker

“I love to observe Christmas in quietude, humility, benevolence, charity, letting good will towards man, eloquent silence, prayer, and praise express my conception of Truth’s appearing.”

Long, long ago there was witnessed, at dead of night, a sight in the heavens more wonderful than had ever before been witnessed by human eye. Though it filled those who saw it with awe and terror, so that “they were sore afraid,” it was not a warning of impending evil, but brought such a promise of peace and joy as never before was whispered in human ears.

The phenomenon referred to was the Star of Bethlehem, which blazed out through the dark night, bathing a world of woe in a hallowed light. Shining in the East, it led mankind to the manger, where, cradled in humble obscurity, lay our Master, — the Prince of Peace. This guiding Star appeared to be a physical phenomenon; but we must look upon this vision in a higher sense and consider this heavenly light in its spiritual significance. From this height of thought, the Star of Bethlehem becomes a glimmer of Truth, rising above materiality, and blazing out through the dark night of sense, burning away the clouds of belief, and leading to the living Christ — a glimmer of immortal light, traversing the darkness of human belief, rising higher and higher above worldliness, ever beckoning pilgrims to the habitation of the perfect Idea of God. This glorious pilot of the heavenly realm will guide all to Christ.

The Wisemen from the far East were not the only ones who had supernatural warning of the advent of a new dispensation, in the birth of this wonderful child, Jesus. We read in the simple Gospel narrative: “There were in that same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flocks by night; and lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them.”

This wonderful vision, which the shepherds saw, was no dream, no fable. It did not appear to those who were wrapped in slumber. It came to shepherds who were accustomed to all-night wakefulness, watching their flocks. It came to men who were in a proper condition of mind to receive it, — men whose spiritual vision was ever awake.

To such shepherds appeared this angelic message. It did not come in confusion or discord. It came in the midnight hour, when the world was asleep in material darkness, and none but the shepherds were awake. It came in heavenly harmony, and was heard only by those whose minds were receptive to the heavenly chorus. The air was stirred with that wondrous song, as a multitude of the heavenly host swept down from the skies, to bless the earth with “glory to God in the highest, peace on earth and goodwill toward man.” The theme belongs to Heaven. There is a ring in the words that is not of this world.

When Jesus was born there was no place for his mother at the village inn, and she and Joseph were obliged to take up their lodgings in the stable connected with the inn. In a manger in this stable our Master was born.

Is it very different today? Does not personality again crowd Christ out from the consciousness of mankind? Does not the world refuse a place for the birth of Truth? Oh that mortals would open their hearts for the birthplace of Truth. Christ stands at the door of your heart and knocks for admission. Who will open to him and the heavenly host?

The Star of Bethlehem shines today as of old, piercing the darkness of belief, and leading followers to the portals of Heaven. As of old, it shines in the Heavens of perpetual and perfect harmony. Let us walk with single-eyed devotedness, reflecting so much of God’s glory, that we may point with the finger of assurance to the true and only Star, which will not only guide us, but lead others to the place where they can discern the living Christ, the risen and immortal Jesus.

Christian Science Journal 1894

Has Christ, the spiritual idea,

Of Life and Truth and Love,

Dawned on thy vision, weary one,

Thy day star from above?

Has Truth — the star of Bethlehem

Its clear light shed o’er thee;

To guide thee where the young child lay

In sweet humility?

Hast journeyed far from East or West,

To bring thy treasures rare,

And lay them at the feet of Love,

With consecrated prayer?

Do songs of peace come welling up

From inner depths of love,

To swell the grander chorus,

Of angel songs above?

“Peace, peace on earth; good will to men;”

It is our Father’s voice,

Hushing the jarring notes of earth,

Bidding our hearts rejoice.

Lo! unto us a child is born;

To us a Saviour’s given.

His presence clouds of doubt dispels,

And points the way to heaven.

They only truly celebrate

The birth of the dear Christ-child,

Whose hearts are one with purity,

Loving and undefiled.

From the Illustrations of “Christ and Christmas”

The star of Bethlehem is the dominating feature of “Christ and Christmas.” The star is effulgent in nine of the illustrations; its absence from two of the others is of the utmost significance.

In the study of this first illustration, Mrs. Eddy’s words shine out: “The star of Bethlehem is the light of all ages; is the light of Love … divine Science.” (Mis. 320:27) Here we see that the only light, and all the light, is from the star. Without this star of Bethlehem — without the revelation of Mary Baker Eddy — there is nothing but chaos; nothing but darkness without one ray of light. All spiritual understanding, all true healing of sickness and sin, all true consciousness, all Science of being, is found in the light of the star of Bethlehem.

To all those reflecting the light comes the promise of Christ Jesus: “He that overcometh, and keepeth my works unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations: And I will give him the morning star.” (Rev. 2:26, 28)

Below is a 1952 Christmas card, from a notebook of papers by Gilbert Carpenter. The card included this picture of Mary Baker Eddy.

Christmas merriment is but the tinge of an eclipse, the relic of a tradition, for Christ was never born; the Father, Son and Holy Ghost are one in essence and in office. The Father, the divine Principle of being, the Son, the spiritual idea of this Principle, and the Holy Ghost, is Christian Science, the Comforter, leading into all Truth. These three are the triune God, ever-present, infinite, All. This is the monotheism of Christian Science. Let us adhere to it, abide by it, and let it abide in us in the spirit of eternal Truth. Then shall it make us free indeed, unchained to sense, attached to Soul and immortal.

How shall we celebrate Christmas day

If holiday merriment’s taken away?

Is it wrong to feel joy because Jesus was born,

When angels announced his glorious morn?

Yet Christ had no birth — no beginning, no end —

But remains forever humanity’s friend

As the idea of God, apart from false sense,

Ever bringing to light God’s omnipotence.

Can we call it a loss when God calls us higher,

To give up our earth-weights and human desire,

When in their place comes an infinite joy —

A sense of His presence that has no alloy?

What can equal the joy of a Christmas each day,

A joy that can never be taken away?

To celebrate Jesus veils Christ from our sight,—

To commemorate Christ ever brings God to light.

From “The Virgin Mary” by Martha Wilcox

“Sacred history tells us that in this province of Galilee, and among the common people, was a little group of metaphysical thinkers. Right in the midst of this dense materialistic thinking of the upper class, was this little group, this remnant of Israel who practiced pure and undefiled religion. They taught and practiced the most beautiful moral precepts. In fact, they were full of light in that black night of materialism.

“This little remnant of Israel was undiscouraged for Israel’s deliverance. Their faith in God was unshaken by the blood ravages of Rome. They worshipped the true God of all the religions of that day; none approached the Hebrew religion in purity of doctrine or cleanness of life as shown forth by this little group of metaphysicians.”

The important point here is that this remnant was working and watching from a place of victory, not victimhood. As they grew spiritually, their sense of victory having already been achieved became more real to them than the wretchedness of their physical circumstances. Thus, they gradually removed themselves from the place of emotionally bingeing on how bad things were, the place of powerless complaining and crying out to God. Over time they were filled with genuine gratitude and appreciation — and even breathless expectancy — for the new outpouring of Light coming upon the earth, calling those “things that be not as though they were.” (Romans 4:17.)

They filled themselves with an ever-increasing sense of “Fear not: for they that be with us are more than they that be [against us].” (II Kings 6:16.) They overwhelmed their doubts by storming them with the promises of God, such as Psalm 27, Psalm 91, and all the songs of the prophets proclaiming the kingdom of God. They watched and prayed from the perspective of glory, not discouragement. This was spiritual warfare waged from the mindset of “It-is-finished: the battle is the Lord’s and it’s already won,” not a far-off victory, but here and now, accepted as a foregone conclusion. (I Samuel 17:47, II Chronicles 20:17.) As Rebecca Greenwood has said, “We pray not for victory, but from victory.”

This is how a little remnant changed history, and brought the Light of Christmas to a darkened world.

Christian Science Journal, December 1887

Christmas is coming, bright and gay,

With sound of mirth and ring of sleigh.

Give heed to One whose radiant love

Shone o’er our world from Heaven above, —

Who made this earth a globe of light,

Till darkling human thought turned bright;

Then go, as he would bid you do,

If he were with us here below,

And help some weary heart to rest

Upon your Saviour’s tender breast.

From Christian Science Journal, December 1897

He who seeks for heaven alone to save his soul,

May keep the path, but will not reach the goal;

While he who walks in love will wander far,

Yet God will bring him where the blessed are.

You know the story of the Three Wise Men of the East, and how they travelled from far away to offer their gifts at the manger in Bethlehem. But have you never heard the story of The Other Wise Man, who also saw the star in its rising, and set out to follow it, but did not arrive with his brethren? Of the great desire of this fourth pilgrim, and how it was denied, yet accomplished in the denial; of his many wanderings; and the strange way of his finding the One whom he sought?

“My three brothers are watching at the ancient Temple of the Seven Spheres, and I am watching here. If the star shines again, they will wait for me at the temple, and then we will set out together for Jerusalem, to see and worship the promised one who shall be born the King of Israel. I have made ready for the journey. I have sold my houses and possessions, and bought these three jewels — a sapphire, a ruby, and a pearl — to carry them as a tribute to the King.”

After days and nights of weary wanderings, he was detained in his journey by taking compassion on a poor perishing man lying across the road, to whom he gave of his bread and wine and a portion of healing herbs. When he reached the Temple of the Seven Spheres, he could discern no trace of his friends. At the edge of the terrace he saw a little piece of parchment. He caught it up and read, “We have waited past the midnight, and can delay no longer. We go to find the King. Follow us across the desert.”

“How can I cross the desert,” said he, “without food, and with a spent horse? I must return to Babylon, sell my sapphire, and buy a train of camels, and provisions for the journey. I may overtake my friends. Only God the merciful knows whether I shall not lose sight of the King because I tarried to show mercy.”

The next delay was occasioned by saving the life of a beautiful little child, which act cost him his ruby. He turned his face to the east and prayed, “God of Truth, forgive me my sin! Two of my gifts are gone. I have spent for man that which was meant for God. Shall I ever be worthy to see the face of the King?”

I saw him moving among the throngs of men in Egypt, seeking everywhere for traces of the household that had come down from Bethlehem. I saw him again in an obscure house of Alexandria, taking counsel with a Hebrew rabbi. The venerable man, bending over the rolls of parchment on which the prophecies of Israel were written, read aloud the pathetic words which foretold the sufferings of the promised Messiah — the despised and rejected of men, the man of sorrows and the acquaintance of grief.

“And remember, my son,” said he, fixing his deep-set eyes upon the face of Artaban, “the King whom you seek is not to be found in a palace, nor among the rich and powerful. The light for which the world is waiting is a new light, the glory that shall rise of patient and triumphant suffering. And the kingdom which is established forever is a new kingdom, the royalty of perfect, unconquerable love. Those who seek Him will do well to look among the poor and lowly, the sorrowful and oppressed.”

So I saw The Other Wise Man again and again, travelling from place to place. He passed through countries where famine lay heavy upon the land, and the poor were crying for bread. He visited the oppressed and the afflicted in the gloom of subterranean prisons, and the crowded wretchedness of slave-markets. In all this populous and intricate world of anguish, though he found none to worship, he found many to help. He fed the hungry, and clothed the naked, healed the sick, and comforted the captive. But once I saw him for a moment as he stood alone at sunrise, waiting at the gate of a Roman prison. He had taken from a secret resting-place in his bosom the pearl, the last of his jewels. As he looked at it, a mellower luster, a soft and iridescent light, full of shifting gleams of azure and rose, trembled upon its surface. It seemed to have absorbed some reflection of the colors of the lost sapphire and ruby. So the profound, secret purpose of a noble life draws into itself the memories of past joy and past sorrow. All that has helped it, all that has hindered it, is transformed by a subtle magic into its very essence. It becomes more luminous and precious the longer it is carried close to the warmth of the beating heart.

Three and thirty years of the life of Artaban had passed away, and he was still a pilgrim and a seeker after light. Worn, and weary, and ready to die, but still looking for the King, he had come at last to Jerusalem. There was a singular agitation visible in the multitude. The sky was veiled with a portentous gloom, and the currents of excitement seemed to flash through the crowd. Artaban joined company with a group of people from his own country, and enquired of them the cause of this tumult, and where they were going.

“We are going,” they answered, “to the place called Golgotha, where there is to be an execution. Have you not heard what has happened? Two famous robbers are to be crucified, and with them another, called Jesus of Nazareth, a man who has done many wonderful works among the people, so that they love him greatly. But the priests and elders have said that he must die, because he gave himself out to be the Son of God.”

How strangely these familiar words fell upon the tired heart of Artaban! They had led him for a lifetime over land and sea. And now they came to him darkly and mysteriously, like a message of despair. The King had arisen, but he had been denied and cast out. He was about to perish.

But he said within himself, “The ways of God are stranger than the thoughts of men, and it may be that I shall find the King at last, in the hands of His enemies, and shall be in time to offer my pearl for His ransom before He dies.” Just beyond the entrance of the guard-house a troop of soldiers came down the street dragging a young girl with torn dress and dishevelled hair. As the Magian paused to look at her with compassion, she broke suddenly from her tormentors, and threw herself at his feet, clasping him around the knees. She had seen his white cap and the winged circle on his breast. “Have pity on me,” she cried, “and save me for the sake of the God of Purity! I also am a daughter of the true religion which is taught by the Magi. My father was a merchant of Parthia, but is dead, and I am seized for his debts to be sold as a slave. Save me from a fate worse than death.”

Artaban trembled. Was this his great opportunity, or his last temptation. He could not tell. One thing only was clear in the darkness of his mind — it was the inevitable. And does not the inevitable come from God? One thing only was sure to his divided heart — to rescue this helpless girl would be a true deed of love. And is not love the light of the soul?

He took the pearl from his bosom. Never had it seemed so luminous, so radiant, so full of tender, living luster. He laid it in the hand of the slave. “This is thy ransom, my daughter! It is the last of my treasures which I kept for the King.”

While he spoke the darkness of the sky thickened, and shuddering tremors ran through the earth. The walls of the houses rocked to and fro, stones were loosened and crashed into the street. Artaban and the girl whom he had ransomed crouched helpless beneath the wall of the Prætorium. A heavy tile, shaken from the roof, fell and struck the old man on the temple. As the girl bent over him, fearing that he was dead, there came a voice through the twilight, very small and still, like music sounding from a distance, in which the notes are clear but the words are lost. Then the old man’s lips began to move, and she heard him say, “No, my Lord! For when saw I thee enhungered, and fed thee? Or thirsty, and gave thee drink? When saw I thee a stranger and took thee in? Or naked, and clothed thee? When saw I thee sick and in prison, and came unto thee? Three and thirty years have I looked for thee; but I have never seen thy face, or ministered to thee, oh my King.”

The sweet voice came again. And again the maid heard it very faintly and far away. But now she understood the words: — “Verily I say unto thee, inasmuch as thou hast done it unto the least of these my brethren, thou hast done it unto me.”

A calm radiance of wonder and joy lighted the pale face of Artaban, like the first ray of dawn on a snowy mountain peak. One long, last breath of relief exhaled gently from his lips. His journey was ended. His treasures were accepted. The Other Wise Man had found the King.

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From Mrs. Eddy

Miscellany, pages 261-263

To me Christmas involves an open secret, understood by few — or by none — and unutterable except in Christian Science. Christ was not born of the flesh. Christ is the Truth and Life born of God — born of Spirit and not of matter. Jesus, the Galilean Prophet, was born of the Virgin Mary’s spiritual thoughts of Life and its manifestation.

God creates man perfect and eternal in His own image. Hence man is the image, idea, or likeness of perfection — an ideal which cannot fall from its inherent unity with divine Love, from its spotless purity and original perfection.

Observed by material sense, Christmas commemorates the birth of a human, material, mortal babe — a babe born in a manger amidst the flocks and herds of a Jewish village.

This homely origin of the babe Jesus falls far short of my sense of the eternal Christ, Truth, never born and never dying. I celebrate Christmas with my soul, my spiritual sense, and so commemorate the entrance into human understanding of the Christ conceived of Spirit, of God and not of a woman — as the birth of Truth, the dawn of divine Love breaking upon the gloom of matter and evil with the glory of infinite being.

Human doctrines or hypotheses or vague human philosophy afford little divine effulgence, deific presence or power. Christmas to me is the reminder of God’s great gift, — His spiritual idea, man and the universe, — a gift which so transcends mortal, material, sensual giving that the merriment, mad ambition, rivalry, and ritual of our common Christmas seem a human mockery in mimicry of the real worship in commemoration of Christ’s coming.

I love to observe Christmas in quietude, humility, benevolence, charity, letting good will towards man, eloquent silence, prayer, and praise express my conception of Truth’s appearing.

The splendor of this nativity of Christ reveals infinite meanings and gives manifold blessings. Material gifts and pastimes tend to obliterate the spiritual idea in consciousness, leaving one alone and without His glory.

Miscellany, pages 256-257

Again loved Christmas is here, full of divine benedictions and crowned with the dearest memories in human history — the earthly advent and nativity of our Lord and Master. At this happy season the veil of time springs aside at the touch of Love. We count our blessings and see whence they came and whither they tend. Parents call home their loved ones, the Yule-fires burn, the festive boards are spread, the gifts glow in the dark green branches of the Christmas-tree. But alas for the broken household band! God give to them more of His dear love that heals the wounded heart.

To-day the watchful shepherd shouts his welcome over the new cradle of an old truth. This truth has traversed night, through gloom to glory, from cradle to crown. To the awakened consciousness, the Bethlehem babe has left his swaddling-clothes (material environments) for the form and comeliness of the divine ideal, which has passed from a corporeal to the spiritual sense of Christ and is winning the heart of humanity with ineffable tenderness. The Christ is speaking for himself and for his mother, Christ’s heavenly origin and aim. To-day the Christ is, more than ever before, “the way, the truth, and the life,” — “which lighteth every man that cometh into the world,” healing all sorrow, sickness, and sin. To this auspicious Christmastide, which hallows the close of the nineteenth century, our hearts are kneeling humbly. We own his grace, reviving and healing. At this immortal hour, all human hate, pride, greed, lust should bow and declare Christ’s power, and the reign of Truth and Life divine should make man’s being pure and blest.

Painting by Luanne Tucker

Whither, ‘midst falling dew,

While glow the heavens with the last steps of day,

Far, through their rosy depths, dost thou pursue

Thy solitary way?

Vainly the fowler’s eye

Might mark thy distant flight, to do thee wrong,

As, darkly seen against the crimson sky,

Thy figure floats along.

Seek’st thou the plashy brink

Of weedy lake, or marge of river wide,

Or where the rocking billows rise and sink

On the chaféd ocean side?

There is a Power, whose care

Teaches thy way along that pathless coast, —

The desert and illimitable air

Lone wandering, but not lost.

All day thy wings have fanned,

At that far height, the cold thin atmosphere;

Yet stoop not, weary, to the welcome land,

Though the dark night is near.

And soon that toil shall end,

Soon shalt thou find a summer home, and rest,

And scream among thy fellows; reeds shall bend,

Soon, o’er thy sheltered nest.

Thou’rt gone, the abyss of heaven

Hath swallowed up thy form, yet, on my heart

Deeply hath sunk the lesson thou hast given,

And shall not soon depart.

He, who, from zone to zone,

Guides through the boundless sky thy certain flight,

In the long way that I must trace alone,

Will lead my steps aright.

Mary Baker Eddy writes in Science and Health, “If we are ungrateful for Life, Truth, and Love, and yet return thanks to God for all blessings, we are insincere and incur the sharp censure our Master pronounces on hypocrites. In such a case, the only acceptable prayer is to put the finger on the lips and remember our blessings.”

I thank God every day for Life. I thank God that He is Life, that He is my Life, that He is your life, and that we are alive.

I thank God for Truth; for the fact that the universe isn’t just a haphazard bunch of matter. There is a Truth that governs the universe, that governs my life, that governs all of us.

I thank God for Love, for the fact that Love destroys hate. What a comfort that is. What a protection; what an instruction for us to live by.

I thank God for intelligence. God is the one Mind that knows all, has created all, and governs all. And He lets us know what we need to know, when we need to know it. We are intelligent because God loves us enough to make us that way.

“Delight thyself also in the Lord.” (Psalm 37: 4) In the Lord, we have much to delight in.

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Interesting Squibs

Christianity is not merely a theory of existence; it is a working power.

When there is a lack of honor in government, the morals of the whole people are poisoned.

Before any man can be considered as a member of civil society, he must be considered as a subject of the Governor of the Universe.

John Bunyan had a great dread of pride. Once, after preaching a fine sermon, his friends crowded around him to express their admiration of his eloquence. He interrupted them, saying: “Ah, you need not remind me of that: for the Devil told me of it before I was out of the pulpit.”

Never despair. Be always brave. Understand the power of Spirit which gives all things into your hands, so that obstacles in the path of your progress, temptations which now overcome you, sorrows which now oppress you, fears which are only shadows of your dreams, will become as exercise for your strength, and you will find there need never be a failure in attaining victory.

Happiness has no limits, because God has no bounds.

Two young city ladies, in the country, were standing by the side of a wide ditch, which they didn’t know how to cross. They appealed to a boy who was coming along the road, for help, whereupon he pointed behind them with a startled air, and yelled “Snakes!” The young ladies crossed the ditch at a single bound.

We grow able to do and bear that which it is needful we should do and bear. I have no fear for the Christian man who keeps to the path of duty. Straining up the steep hill, his heart will grow stout just in proportion to its steepness.

In a mind vindictive,

Spirit can not dwell,

Until storms afflictive

Purge it of its hell.

Growing is not merely waiting for the sunshine, it is reaching after it.

Superstition is to religion what astrology is to astronomy, a very foolish daughter of a very wise mother.

Who dogs the steps of the toiling saint,

and digs the pits for his feet?

Who sows the tares in the field of time,

where ever God sows His wheat?

The Devil is voted not to be,

and of course the thing is true;

But who is doing the kind of work

the Devil alone could do?

Kingdoms fall, institutions perish, civilizations change, human doctrines disappear; but the imperishable truths which pervade and sanctify the Bible shall bear it up above the flood of change and the deluge of years.

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History Corner

as reported in the March 1888 Christian Science Journal

One of the most impressive occasions ever witnessed in our church’s history took place on Sunday, February 26, 1888, when twenty-nine of our little people, including a few babes, were christened with the baptism of Christ, by their beloved Pastor, Mary Baker Eddy.

The little ones were led to the platform in Chickering Hall and placed in semicircles about her in sweet silence, as she named each one and emphatically pronounced this blessing: “May the baptism of Christ with the Holy Spirit cleanse you from sin, sickness, and death.” Even the very small children understood her and followed her through her explanation of baptism by water and by fire and the Holy Ghost, realizing, probably, as little children never did before, more of the Truth of Being, and what God requires of us. The presence of our Pastor’s grandchildren among the others, was an added solemnity to her people who love her.

The short address by Mrs. Eddy which followed was on “Names and Baptism.” In the Bible we read that names were changed: Abram to Abraham, Jacob to Israel, Saul to Paul, Simon Barjona to Simon Peter; but these indicated changes of character, not of name only. The baptism of the Christian should be a baptism into Spirit, and should represent “the answer of a good conscience toward God,” as says Peter in his First Epistle, and not merely “the putting away the filth of the flesh.”

The Christening took place early in the service, so that the children might not be weary. They did indeed “run and not faint,” for the service attuned them to quiet sympathy with the remainder of the exercises.

Thus the children have been brought early into the fold, and they will take up the work, and carry it on to perfection, not being handicapped by tradition and false doctrines. They are equipped right at the start. Our Pastor’s heart is vested in them to carry on the great work which she has founded.

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Watches to Work with Often

Below are two watches to work with in preparation for the upcoming Holy-Day season, to radiate out God’s love and peace to bless the world.

November 9, 2017

“December 24, 1903. Let us take ‘heart’ as a token of our Christmas; the great heart of Christ; it is the palpitating presence encircling the universe; it is the only intelligence, and that is what? Love. Could there be anything greater?”

from Divinity Course and General Collectanea, (the “Blue Book”), by Mary Baker Eddy, p. 16

With the holidays (holy-days) fast approaching, evil becomes ramped up, trying to distract mankind from God. It can’t be done! This is time for an active peace, where any attempt to disrupt is instantly challenged and defeated. The opposite of evil’s argument is true — God is the only power, good is the only thing going on, and Love is even more active, more alive in the hearts of all. Let’s be ready for it! The more active evil seems to get, the easier it is to recognize and destroy!

“Good is supreme; evil is unreal; good is all, there is none beside God, Life, Love, Truth, holiness. These are right here, and no other consciousness is here, no other mind, no other power.”

from Divinity Course and General Collectanea, (the “Blue Book”), by Mary Baker Eddy, p. 45

December 21, 2017

“At this happy season the veil of time springs aside at the touch of Love. … But alas for the broken household band! God give to them more of His dear love that heals the wounded heart.”

from Miscellany, by Mary Baker Eddy, pages 256-257

Let us know that our military men and women, and their families, feel the warmth and comfort of God’s ever-present dear love during this Christmas season — and always! — and that each one “Feels in his heart the Lord Christ born.” (Hymn 170)

I send to you, my friend,

A token, rare and new;

Rare, for ’tis of the mind.

’Tis easier some gift to buy

Than benedictions think

That bless and happify.

New, for, as a budding rose each hour

Grows more complete — our thoughts of man

Do up and onward move to bless

Your Christmas day, and days to come,

With purer outlook, armored strong

For battles to be waged and won.

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From the Early Workers

Christian Science Journal 1885

We are told that “Man’s extremity is God’s opportunity,” and Christian Science has often proven that. But when one says, “I shall believe in Christian Science if I am healed, or my family,” he is putting to test the power of God — and perhaps he or his are not ready to make the sacrifice necessary for the healing touch to come.

When we seek to touch “the hem of the robe,” we do it in humility and with reverence, knowing that the consequence of mortality is vanity and delusion. Some individuals need but to hear the truth uttered and they are every whit whole. They have caught the true tone, and have taken it up, and will hold it forever, bringing out more and more of Divine harmony until they attain the perfect stature of man, “the image and likeness of God.”

For those whose ears are dulled, and who do not hear quickly, more work is required for them to gain their inheritance. Envy, temper, malice and self-aggrandizement are cardinal sins, and no one can realize the senses spiritual until he seeks to overcome these. Christian Science proves there is no sin. And why? Because God never made it. But that does not prevent man suffering for his wrong doings; and the more sinful a wrong deed seems to us, the more we suffer for the doing. If, however, one believes himself healed in Christian Science and cherishes evil thoughts, let him beware, as they will retard his growth. Jesus said, “Watch and pray;” and we should do it without ceasing.

Our thoughts must be watched that they do not go astray, and the axe must be laid at the root of error. The cutting off of a few branches is not sufficient. Neither does loyalty to Christian Science admit of conservatism. We need not give our pearls to those who do not understand their value, or who mock at our generosity; but when the time comes for us to speak for the Truth, we should not be silent. Rebuking error is a task we shrink from; but we have a solemn duty to perform, and a word fitly spoken revolutionizes the thoughts of another, oftentimes.

“The still, small voice” of Truth encompasses the world, and reaches the spiritual sense of man wherever he is. To some it comes dully, feebly, and the response is indifferent, the carnival of error being at its height, or the individual wrapped in the ego of his own belief. The idols that we set up must be destroyed, and pride and ambition in things temporal set at naught.

a native of India, 1889 Christian Science Journal

“Thou shalt hide them in the secret of Thy presence.”

(Ps. 31:20)

In the secret of his presence

       how my soul delights to hide,

Oh, how precious are the lessons

       which I learn at Jesus’ side.

Earthly cares can never vex me,

       neither trials lay me low;

For when Satan comes to tempt me,

       to the secret place I go.

When my soul is faint and thirsty,

       ‘neath the shadow of his wing

There is cool and pleasant shelter,

       and a fresh and crystal spring;

And my Saviour rests beside me,

       as we hold communion sweet;

If I tried I could not tell you what he

       says when thus we meet.

Only this I know: I tell him all my doubts,

       and griefs, and fears;

Oh, how patiently he listens!

       and my drooping soul he cheers.

Do you think he ne’er reproves me?

       What a false friend he would be,

If he never, never told me

       of the sins that I must see.

Would you like to know the sweetness

       of the secret of the Lord?

Go and hide beneath his shadow:

       this shall then be your reward,

And whene’er you leave the silence

       of that happy meeting-place,

You must mind and bear the image

       of the Master in your face.

Christian Science Journal 1887

An experience in the history of a little child, somewhat illustrative of the practical truth of Mrs. Eddy’s teaching, came to my notice quite recently, and so much interested me that I will try and give it in substance as she gave it to me.

“I was left an orphan at seven years of age; have never been to school a day in my life, and when ten years old did not know even a letter of the alphabet. One day I was abusively made fun of because of my utter ignorance, which roused me to intense desire and purpose to learn to read; with it also came the thought, that if I would take the Bible, it would teach me how to do so. I said nothing to anyone about it; but would get the Bible and steal away by myself, and as I opened its sacred pages the letters were made plain, so that I could spell out each word, and was also given the pronunciation; which enabled me in a very short time to read verses correctly.

“I was stopping for a little while with a relative whose custom it was to read aloud the daily paper, which greatly interested me, and I wondered if that would not teach me equally as well. The proof was in trial: the words did not come to me the same; but persevering with the Bible, as before, I soon found myself able to take up other reading-matter quite successfully, to the utter astonishment of those around me, and to whom it remains a marvel.”

This little one’s experience is a shining example that simple, unquestioning trust and obedient effort brings grand results. As we give ourselves to God, and are held in subjection to the Divine Will, we will be transformed by the renewing of thought.

Christian Science Sentinel 1900

A mind filled with gratitude to God for the countless blessings He has bestowed upon His children, has no room for thoughts of error, which rob man of health, happiness, and harmony. Thanksgiving fills the heart with love for God and man, and causes one to live not for himself alone, but that the whole world may be the better for his having lived.

Giving thanks brings heaven down to earth and reveals the glorious reality of a present salvation. At all times and under all circumstances the prayer of thanksgiving should arise unto the God of our salvation. “In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.”

There is always great reason for rejoicing when we look to the spiritual fact of Being. No matter what may seem to be the manifestations of error, they do not change the fact that God is, and that man is His child, pure, perfect, and eternal.

On one occasion Jesus said to his disciples, “rejoice, because your names are written in heaven.” The faithful disciple of Truth always has this cause for rejoicing. This is the joy which the world can neither give nor take away.

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I am writing you today to express my overwhelming gratitude for the Plainfield Church, for Mary Baker Eddy and the Truths she shares with us through her books, and also to warn people of the dangers of practicing alternative interpretations of Christian Science. I am, or was, the poster-child for what has gone wrong with the Christian Science establishment and religion. I sincerely hope that what happened to me can serve as a lesson on “What Not To Do” while attempting to practice Christian Science.

Twenty five years ago I was a freshman in high school. I attended a boarding school which advertised itself as a Christian Science religious school, with every staff member supposedly being a practicing Christian Scientist. I was born into the religion and saw this as an awesome opportunity.

Not long after moving across the country to live at the school, I endured a serious head injury while practicing football. When I regained consciousness, no one asked me what was wrong or what I was feeling like. My mind felt like a skipping record, and I insisted on lying down that afternoon. The next day the boarding school staff began to act and behave like nothing had happened, instead of investigating my injury to find out if I had any broken bones, etc.

I was hearing phrases from the adult staff like “error doesn’t exist, so you are fine.” I was told that I was ok “because this injury never even happened.” Instead of informing my parents of the severe nature of the head injury and that I had lost consciousness, they proceeded to conceal and sugarcoat the whole situation and informed them that I had hurt myself, but not to worry at all. They told my parents that I was fine and would be back on the field the next day. It would be several years before I found out that my parents didn’t know that I had been knocked unconscious.

I was pretty confused and was having a hard time thinking clearly. I was feeling a lot of pain, some numbness in my hands and feet, and I began to experience all kinds of strange and unusual behavioral anomalies. Rather than address any of these problems, I was instructed by several different adults that I shouldn’t be a quitter and that I needed to get back on the football field and demonstrate that I was “God’s perfect child.”

So I did what I was told. I got back on the field, and I began to pretend that nothing ever happened. I wasn’t pretending to just hide the injury; it was because I was learning from the staff that this is how you practice Christian Science.

Unfortunately, I was still too young to understand Christian Science fully. I wasn’t aware that ignoring the problems I was now facing was not the way to practice Christian Science properly. I didn’t realize that you practice Christian Science in order to overcome errors like the ones I was experiencing. I didn’t know any better, so I accepted this dangerous alternative interpretation of Christian Science as Truth. Accepting this alternative version of C.S. would turn out to be the worst decision I would ever make.

After several years of pretending my way through this ordeal, I concluded that Christian Science was completely flawed and that Mary Baker Eddy was wrong. I left the religion entirely because I could see that “sticking my head in the sand” with regard to all of these challenges was not helping me; I was actually getting worse. I decided to see if modern medicine could help me. Doctors informed me that I had a severe spinal cord injury and needed to have spinal surgery to fuse my vertebrae. They explained that I was foolish to have ignored these problems and to have let it fester and get worse for so long. They said I’d probably need morphine to cope with pain for the rest of my life. After the surgery I would spend 3 years in bed, and 8 years not able to work. I was in severe constant pain, and unable to use my hands effectively. Every doctor and specialist I saw told me that my spine was not curable, that the damage was beyond what medicine could fix. It wasn’t until I accidentally “died” from a morphine overdose which stopped my breathing for a long period of time that I began to consider that perhaps Mary Baker Eddy was right when she warned us about medicine.

Twenty-five years had now passed since this whole mess began. I felt I was literally going insane from enduring so much constant pain for so long; I believed I was out of options. Every day I would find myself pondering and imagining that perhaps it would be more peaceful for me to just die than to grow old in this broken body. I held that temptation at bay and instead, I picked up a used copy of Science and Health to investigate where it all went wrong. I began reading and re-reading the textbook a little every day. I started to realize that maybe my experience wasn’t what Mrs. Eddy had in mind when she started this religion. Then I stumbled across the Plainfield Christian Science Church YouTube page. I began listening to the services, the Bible Studies, and the Roundtable discussions for hours every day, and would even play them all through the night as I slept. These programs gave me hope that the Truth really could set me free from my existential hell and gave me credible reason to question the Boston establishment as it exists today. After about 3 months into my second voyage into Christian Science I was questioning everything. The discussions in the Plainfield Church videos helped me to realize that the establishment itself was suffering from systemic error and that it had wandered astray from its Leader and her understanding of the Truth.

I can see very clearly where it all went wrong for me with Christian Science, and why I and so many others have lost faith and abandoned the religion.

Mrs. Eddy writes, “A knowledge of error and of its operations must precede that understanding of Truth which destroys error.” (S&H p. 252) Ultimately, if you cannot discern the difference between Truth and error, then you can be easily confused and misled. The people who led me astray by telling me that error did not exist and that nothing had happened, and that I had no problems to overcome, had severely sabotaged my understanding of Christian Science and fundamentally undermined its overall effectiveness. To this day, the staff and legal representation at the C.S. boarding school still stand by their actions regarding the treatment of my injury, and say they made no errors.

I am so very grateful to inform you that Authentic Christian Science has helped me to such an extent that I have been able to discontinue all pain medications. The symptoms of brain damage have entirely vanished, and I no longer experience any mental defects, missing time, horrific hallucinations, or self-inflicted harm. The 25-year-long pain and numbness that had me pondering death on a daily basis has faded to a minuscule whisper, and I expect it will be gone entirely by the time I finish my current voyage through Science and Health. My suicidal thoughts have also disappeared entirely now that I have found a healing solution, and my future is finally looking bright.

I cannot express the level of never-ending gratitude I have for Authentic Christian Science, for Mrs. Eddy and her writings, for my practitioner, and for your Plainfield Independent Church and the Truth that it preserves. I know that Mrs. Eddy and Christ Jesus are proud of you for what you are doing. You may never find out how many people you are helping with your independent church services and its online presence, but please know that we are out here and we are grateful! I look forward to your next video lesson and to your continued success!

Mrs. Eddy states that the uncovering of animal magnetism was her second discovery. Could anyone reveal her life without understanding how she demonstrated Christian Science and overcame the claims of animal magnetism?

There is great evil in putting before the people a portrait of her life written by an uninspired writer; this would be an account of animal magnetism, for animal magnetism would be the true writer, and the victory over animal magnetism in that account would be misunderstood and underestimated.

The Old Testament does not reveal the nature of evil that Elijah and Moses had to overcome. The New Testament does not reveal what Jesus had to overcome to make his demonstration. Isn’t that why we as Christian Scientists can appreciate the work of Elijah, Moses, and Jesus more than other people can? We know what they had to overcome in order to do their great work.

Without understanding what Mary Baker Eddy had to overcome to uncover animal magnetism and to discover and found Christian Science, we cannot appreciate her. The magnitude of one’s demonstration is determined by the resistance one must overcome.

Mary Baker Eddy was the greatest demonstrator of her own revelation. Her life therefore not only shows us the resisting delusion called evil, and how it attempts to operate, but at the same time her life reveals the scientific means of destroying that evil. She is therefore preeminently qualified to stand as an example for all of those who are despaired in their struggle with the latent and conscious, the unseen and seen claims of evil. Her life must be understood. Without this understanding, Christian Scientists and mankind are lost.

This letter is in response to an article in The Guardian (theguardian.com) titled, “Dying the Christian Science Way: the Horror of My Father’s Last Days,” by Caroline Fraser. It is a gross mischaracterization of Christian Science and an outright misstatement and misrepresentation of Christian Science and its saving message.

My experience with Christian Science is quite contrary to what Ms. Caroline Fraser shared about this way of life, which has saved and blessed so many.

I was not raised a Christian Scientist, but my father read Science and Health, and it was his own healing from a stroke, with Christian Science treatment, after the physicians gave him just three days to live, that made my sister and me explore Christian Science. He lived seventeen years after that healing. I am eternally grateful we were led to find out the truth about its healing and saving message.

To trivialize Christian Science as some human theory that forbids medical care of its students is far from the truth. That shows lack of understanding of its textbook, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy, which is read with the Bible. Living Christian Science has preventative as well as curative benefits. Unfortunately, many only want the quick healings without the moral regeneration and spiritual understanding, which benefits a healthier way of thinking and living and a better foundation for treating oneself.

Ms. Fraser’s “unfortunate” account, makes one doubt whether the true practice of Christian Science had been her experience; especially as she refers to her own father as being “abusive and full of rage.” Part of the discipline in Science is to aid the healing of such ill emotions as fear, anxiety, anger, irritability, resentment, sensuality, impatience, hatred, envy, jealousy, and so on. Eradication of such emotions fosters healing and regeneration of character, an imperative part of living what Christian Science teaches.

I have not understood Christian Science to forbid anyone from seeking medical care if that is what their understanding permits at the time. I was a medical nurse for over 20 years before I started studying and practicing what Christian Science teaches. I have had many healings and much has been prevented as a result, not to mention the invaluable transformation in how I think, see myself and others now. Let’s not forget the many mistakes and horrific failures that can occur under medical health care as well, not to mention the many side effects from drug use.

To vilify Mary Baker Eddy in instances when healing is not achieved is like saying just because someone mistakenly got 2+2=5, that means 2+2 is not 4. She sacrificed her life for this Cause, so that mankind may gain this saving revelation of freedom from the bondage of sin, sickness, fear, etc. Yes, there are many damaging aspects and deficiencies in the main organization, some of which Ms. Fraser alluded to in her article. However, the human organization is not what the Christ Truth is. Mrs. Eddy said, “As time moves on, the healing elements of pure Christianity will be fairly dealt with; they will be sought and taught, and will glow in all the grandeur of universal goodness.” (Science and Health, pg. 329) That day will come when its Truth will reign when all else fails; when that day comes I hope the Guardian will still be around to publish that too.

The following words sum the eternality of the Christ Truth in Christian Science; it will not die because its Truth cannot die.

Hymn 337

From The Christian Science Hymnal

Theories, which thousands cherish,

Pass like clouds that sweep the sky;

Creeds and dogmas all may perish;

Truth Herself can never die.

Worldlings blindly may refuse Her,

Close their eyes and call it night;

Learned scoffers may abuse Her,

But they cannot quench Her light.

Thrones may totter, empires crumble,

All their glories cease to be;

While She, Christlike, crowns the humble,

And from bondage sets them free.

There is a law of God that governs everything in His universe — a law of good. If we will acknowledge and then strive to live in accordance with that law, we will have a healthy and fulfilling life.

Mary Baker Eddy has written a statement in Science and Health, which I love. It states, “Truth, Life, and Love are a law of annihilation to everything unlike themselves, because they declare nothing except God.” (p. 243) There’s the law! Jesus knew that divine Truth, Life, and Love is a law of God, and that’s how he healed. That is how Christian Science heals.

There is a statement in the Bible that says, “For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.” (Romans 8:2) I’ve been healed of many things in Christian Science, often with the help of a practitioner from this church. With every healing, I have found a greater sense of the presence and power of God, and a greater understanding of the law that God is. I have also found greater confidence in our God-given authority over sin, disease, and death. When you know your authority over sin, disease, and death, you become less fearful of anything. It is a liberating, wonderful way of life, knowing that no matter what problem you might have to face, there is a law of God that will see you through.

At least once a day, we should pray to know God better, and to do better with what knowledge we have. Let us occasionally pray a treatment that will give something to God rather than expect something from Him. Let it be redolent with gratitude, not only that God gives, but that God is.

In Science and Health, Mary Baker Eddy has written, “What we most need is the prayer of fervent desire for growth in grace.”

A number of years ago, with great help from the practitioner in Plainfield Church, I was having many healings, which I sorely needed. Then, at our Wednesday testimony meeting, I would tell about the healings. But I began to notice that on the next day, Thursday, I would have some experience to challenge whether or not this really was a healing. It was like the devil was saying, “Oh yeah?”

I talked with a Plainfield practitioner about it. She laughed, and said, “If this challenge, or testing time, comes on the day after testifying about a healing, you should be just as happy to prove again that you have, indeed, been healed!” She asked me to work with that statement from Science and Health, and to pray for that “fervent desire for growth in grace.” Once the lesson was learned, those experiences on Thursdays stopped happening.

How wonderful to learn to have this “fervent desire”! These proving times are so valuable, and we can be grateful for each and every one.

My neighbor is having his sound system enhanced, and I had the opportunity to talk to the audio technician about it. I asked him if we were going to be “blown away” by the increased sound volume, and he assured me, “No, not at all.” He then explained that many people are under the wrong impression that sound is improved by increasing the volume. Instead, sound is improved by the purity of the transmission, — that is, the quality of the wiring. He further explained that there is a lot of outside interference from phone, radio, television, and other types of electrical transmissions. By using more advanced and improved wiring that cuts out this outside interference, the quality of the sound is improved. Then you are able to pick up the finest and most distinct sound without having to increase the volume. Amazing!

I thought this is how Elijah could hear God. He had cut out all outside interference — the earthquake, the wind, the fire, the noise of the false prophets. His purity of thought enabled him to hear God speaking to him, loud and clear, even though it was a “still, small voice.”

So, I asked myself, am I cutting out all outside interference — too much television or time on the computer, listening to negative or empty social chatter, fussing over unnecessary chores, or taking on false responsibilities, etc., — any mindless distraction that keeps me from quietly listening for God’s voice. God doesn’t need to turn up His volume; I only need to purify my “wiring.”

It wasn’t until I came to Plainfield Church and was taught Mrs. Eddy’s pure Christian Science that I began to learn how to listen for God’s voice. Studying the Lesson daily, spending quiet time reading Mrs. Eddy’s writings, keeping a daily watch, and working consistently with a practitioner here, has helped me hear God’s voice more clearly. I’m grateful for all the difference it is making in my life.

The other day, I was being challenged by fearful thoughts and trying to overcome them as best I could by doing what Mrs. Eddy tells us in Science and Health, “Rise in the strength of Spirit to resist all that is unlike good.”

Since coming to this church and all the instruction I have been receiving from my practitioner and Bible Studies, etc., I know better than to call any thought “my thought,” especially thoughts that are fearful, hateful, or negative in any way.

I went to my Bible and just asked God to send me the thought I needed. I opened to Philippians 4:4: “Rejoice in the Lord alway: and again I say, Rejoice.” I looked up that verse in a Bible commentary and it said, “This is a very delightful thing. What a gracious God we serve, who makes delight to be a duty and who commands us to rejoice. Should we not at once be obedient to such a command as this? We should be cheerful — more than that, we should be thankful and we should rejoice. This word ‘Rejoice’ is not only joy once, but it is joy over again, re-joice! We are to joy, and then we are to re-joy. We are to chew the cud of delight — we are to roll the dainty morsel under our tongue till we get the very essence of it.”

As I am learning that obedience to God is the only way we dwell in the “secret place of the most High,” I had better get with it and stop being disobedient by having any fearful thoughts. I need to do what God commands and Rejoice! It is so easy to be joyful when everything is going smoothly, but to rejoice when being challenged is not quite so easy.

Realizing that disobedience to God closes the door to seeing all the good that is right in front of us, then obediently rejoicing is the only way to open our thought and hear what our Father-Mother God is saying to us. “Draw nigh to God and He will draw nigh to you,” the Bible says. Every situation, whether seemingly good or challenging, is really all good, for its only purpose is to bring us closer to Him and see that when all our care is cast on God, we can “live with that holy carelessness which is the very beauty of the Christian life,” as this same Bible commentary puts it.

Needless to say, that pretty much wiped out all the fearful thoughts. I went out for a short errand, and the whole way I was putting the word “Rejoice!” in front of every statement that came to me. Rejoice! that there is no life, truth, intelligence nor substance in matter. Rejoice! that all is infinite Mind and its infinite manifestation. Rejoice! that man is spiritual and perfect, and so forth. What a wonderful way to spend the day!

Consecration is such an important part of our lives. As Mary Baker Eddy tells us, the more we progress, the more consecrated we need to become and the more dependent on our Father for everything in our lives.

A recent Lesson on Substance reminded me of a wonderful healing I had many years ago. My husband and I had been living in California where he was going to school. I had become very ill with pneumonia. At that time I neither got medical help nor called a practitioner, which was very unwise. I was getting worse and losing weight. Eventually I did call a practitioner from the Plainfield Church, even though I lived in California. She took my case and helped me. She gave me a line from Unity of Good by Mary Baker Eddy, on page 60: “Christ cannot come to mortal and material sense, which sees not God. This false sense of substance must yield to His eternal presence, and so dissolve.”

As the practitioner prayed for me, I began to ponder what it was to have a false sense of substance. I wasn’t really sure at that time what it meant. I certainly know I thought my life was in matter. I had yet to learn that my life was not in matter but in God.

At that time my husband and I were making a decision about where to live, as he was finishing school. He was from the west coast and had a very good job offer there. It was a great climate, nice life style, and a beautiful place to live. We thought that it was where we would, or should, live. I was having an internal battle because I wanted to come back to New Jersey, which was my home, but mainly because the church was here and a healing practitioner. I yearned to be part of this church.

I prayed deeply about it because, in many ways, it seemed like the logical thing to live on the west coast. My head said that, but my heart said something else. When I made the decision to come back here to Plainfield, I felt a surge of joy come over me. I was rapidly healed of the pneumonia. I realized later in retrospect that my problem had been because I was depressed due to the human reasoning as to where I should live and why I should live there. It was this false sense of substance, of my substance, that needed to yield to God and His plan and His purpose. When I did that, my body just responded naturally and normally.

So if you have a problem, something stubborn or deep rooted, you can ask yourself, “what false sense of substance am I entertaining that I need to yield to my Father?” Perhaps it is someone you feel you can’t forgive, or a deep rooted fear you haven’t faced. Bring it out in the open. Let God heal it because it is the whole transformation that is needed. This is what heals. It brings you the greatest joy and peace because you find oneness and connection with the Father.

In Mary Baker Eddy’s Hymn No. 160 she writes, “It matters not what be thy lot, So Love doth guide.” This is certainly what I found. All the human reasoning in the world doesn’t matter. It is Love that guides; Love that leads us home. It is Love that heals us.

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Letters of Gratitude

Hi everyone there! I am from India. I loved your teachings on the website and on YouTube. I regularly visit the website and I am impressed by the way you have managed all the Asian languages there. The teachings are very heart touching, and the translations are done in a great manner as well. The new languages you added are really impressive, and I loved Tamil, Marathi, Sindhi and Nepali as well.

Please keep everything updated with more articles and books also. God bless ye.

I just finished reading the beautiful September issue of Love is the Liberator. It is a magnificent testimony to the love for Mrs. Eddy and her Christian Science that this church expresses. I especially loved reading about the Carpenters, and the history of how they faithfully preserved Mrs. Eddy’s teaching and demonstrations for us today. This magazine is truly what Mrs. Eddy envisioned to spread her Science. Thank you so much for all the prayerful work that goes into it.

I am grateful for what I’m learning at your church. It certainly is a thinker’s church; I have received profound insights, explanations, and answers to long-term questions.

I’m so impressed with this church’s daily involvement with world issues and individual needs. In addition, I am so blessed with practitioner support.

I’m very grateful for the Roundtable the other weekend. My heart goes out to the dear man whose letter you read, who had such a difficult experience growing up. So lovely to know that, now he has found our church, his situation is now improving.

Thank you so much for the group singing “Blessed Quietness.” It was a very different arrangement to the version I previously heard, but also beautiful. As it’s American, and I believe fairly old, there’s a chance Mrs. Eddy knew it too.

It was amazing to hear that you have plans to translate into even more languages, and I do wish you well with that.

Much love.

In reading “We Knew Mary Baker Eddy,” Third Series, I’m so thankful for the specific instructions Mrs. Eddy shared with her students. In a letter to Calvin Hill, she wrote: “We never can know who is in reality a Christian Scientist until he is tested under fire; then what is left are the dregs unfit for use till purged and purified, or they are qualities that evil cannot destroy and are held by the power of God.”

On one occasion, Mrs. Eddy said to him in substance, “The first thing I do in the morning when I awake is to declare I shall have no other mind before divine Mind, and become fully conscious of this, and adhere to it throughout the entire day; then the evil cannot touch me.” Many times she said to him, “All my hours are His.”

My dear friends at Plainfield,

You are all a blessing to the world as you continue in performing God’s Work on Earth. I am so grateful we found each other.

May the “dews of divine Science … blossom into greater freedom” (Ret.) in the world through your ongoing dedication.

With many thanks for the wonderful and enlightening instruction freely shared in the Bible Studies and the Roundtable discussions, I send my monthly contribution to forward the work of this church.

With love and gratitude.

It so happened that at just the right time, divine Love led me to your beautiful church, because at Plainfield there is a wealth of knowledge about how to practice and demonstrate. Signing up for the Watches at Plainfield and participating in the three weekly Unity Watches with the church, has helped me gain a fuller understanding of Truth. Through the books, prayers, conversations, articles, and resources offered at Plainfield, I’m gaining new tools so that I can reach a higher level in scientific demonstration.

The workers at Plainfield have helped me not to fear mortal mind, but to “stand porter at the door of thought.” May we continue to watch and work faithfully under the rod of our Leader’s demonstration.

I want to take time to thank Christian Science. I have been praying for people for 25 years. Healing has not been what I like it to be. I have been using your teachings on myself — ringing in the ears is much improved. I am a student of the Word of God, I seek truth. I have watched your teachings on YouTube, and have ordered Mrs. Eddy’s books.

Christian Science came into my life after a complete return to God, having had significant health problems. I was diagnosed with a neurological disease that affects the nervous system. I received heavy treatment from the doctors.

My wife, who is very pious, helped me through her prayer to get out of the hospital, and we moved to a quiet place. I could finally come back to God, and I should even say to discover God. I began to study Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures and the Bible, I humbly realize in my life the greatness of God and Jesus Christ. I immersed myself in prayer for my loved ones and all sick people.

In France contacts with Christian Science were particularly complicated. The practitioner strongly insisted that I follow the instructions but did not help me to understand Christian Science, so I searched and realized that the practitioner was part of a church affiliated with Boston.

For my part, I want to get involved and learn Christian Science at the Plainfield Christian Science Church, Independent, and not follow the choices of the Boston Board of Directors. I think that first of all, we must respond to God, looking daily at the writings of Mary Baker Eddy and the Bible.

I wish to study Christian Science in the Plainfield Church, and I would like to devote myself to it in my daily life. I read the Lesson in the morning on the website in French, which is a very happy and very rewarding time.

I express my gratitude and kindness to you.

It is with much sincerity and gratitude for all that I have received from this church that I send you my application for membership.

I left my branch church almost 20 years ago after doing a lot of research and finding that what I was trying to uphold was not Mr. Eddy’s church. Not being aware at the time of Plainfield, I assumed that I no longer needed church membership.

Last year a friend told me about your church, and since then I have been working with a practitioner from the church and reading so much material that before was unknown to me. Since working with her and learning how to really live this Science, I am ready to do my part in working for God in this way.

With gratitude and love.

I want to express my thanks and gratitude for Watching Point No. 261 found in the May issue of the Liberator magazine.

I woke up this morning, Memorial Day, and after unwisely watching the news, I felt angry and depressed. Part of the news referred to the death of immigrant children that have died crossing the border. I kept reminding myself that, “There is no spot where God is not,” feeling a bit more calm, but still wrestling with this picture.

Then I read this blessed Watching Point in the Liberator magazine; and, although it doesn’t refer to immigrants, it brought sharply to my attention that death is a belief that most of the world believes is irrevocable. To quote, “when we assent to the world’s belief in death, we open the way for our dying. Therefore, we should always resist such suggestion and evidence strongly and strenuously.” The rest of the Watching Point also mentions Mrs. Eddy’s response to a student when they offered to place flowers on Memorial Day on her family’s grave: “I love you, and thank you, but they sleep not there. Let the dead bury their dead. Jesus.”

It also ends with a humorous snippet of a mother pig warning her babies covered in mud, “don’t you dare go and get clean.” Just like error, mortal mind, the world, the news, etc., doesn’t want us to get clean of the error of sin, disease, and death.

This Watching Point saved my day from one of despondency and sadness to the realization that I must stay alert and ready to deny animal magnetism and mortal mind suggestions. So many countries in one way or another do assign a day in which to dwell on the dead, to lament and wail about something that, if understood correctly, it will be found to have been only a belief, a dream, a mirage from which we need to wake up!

Thank you for this Watching Point!

Thank God for Christian Science, for the Plainfield Church, and for all I am learning here.

My work requires me to stand and/or walk around throughout my entire shift. I was buying shoes pretty much every three months. I would buy expensive shoes to help me avoid pain and discomfort in my feet and ankles, and would get some relief; but for the most part by the end of my work day my feet and ankles would still be swollen and very painful.

I have been working on this with what I have been learning at Plainfield, and have obtained wonderful results. I have no pain, no discomfort, and no swelling in my feet and ankles anymore. I have not bought shoes since February. Now I don’t even think about it and I walk around for the entire shift. Last night my phone said I had walked 20,251 steps. I thank God for this church and your willingness to share all you have learned.

I want to say how much I love and appreciate the Plainfield website. It is my constant companion on the phone during the day and on my I-pad at night. While I love what is being said, what impresses me even more is the love that shines through the words. There is genuine sincerity about their words and not merely an intellectual response. I feel included in your church family.

In the May 12, 2019 Roundtable discussion entitled, “Study to be Quiet,” it was said “we read, read, read. . . but there is a danger in that because it becomes a subtle motive to find a cure, it is like saying “I do have this disease and am looking for something to heal it.”

I have been guilty of that and probably still am. The next comment said, “It is like tuning your violin, when you have it tuned, then play it — in other words start living what you are reading.” Thank you. I needed that.

Being quiet reminded me of a dear friend, a practitioner I knew some years ago. She dates back into the early years of Christian Science, having been taught by Emma Shipman, who was taught by Mrs. Eddy. What I remember most about her was that she asked God about everything. She did this very quietly, and I only knew because she told me.

I used to pick her up on Wednesday nights and after church we would go and have dessert somewhere. In the restaurant, she would just close her eyes for a moment before ordering. She was asking God what she should have. She asked God about everything, not just the “big things.” One of the things that I remember about her was that somehow she acquired a yellow “yield” sign which she hung in her closet, and every time she opened the door the command to “yield” to God was in front of her. She was a remarkable lady and it was a privilege to know her.

Thank you, Plainfield Church, for all you do.

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Testimonies of Healing

from S. A. in Maryland

I am grateful for the weekly Lessons and the clear correct teaching of Christian Science that I’ve been learning in this church.

Several years back when I first started listening to the Plainfield services, someone gave a testimony and mentioned how she had prayed with this week’s Golden Text from II Timothy, “For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.”

At the time I was having major mobility issues, so much so that I was afraid to cross the street or even go outside on very windy days for fear of falling. This made me very depressed, as I was a virtual shut-in in my own apartment. After listening to that Wednesday testimony, every time the fear would come, I would confidently say out loud that I was not given a “spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind,” just as is stated in II Timothy. Before I knew it, I could walk wherever and whenever I needed to without fear.

I am very thankful for our Wednesday services and for our weekly Lessons.

from E. A. in California

Thank God for Christian Science and a healing I recently experienced. About three weeks ago, I found myself very ill and ended up hospitalized. I contacted a Plainfield practitioner who gave me wonderful help through prayer. I studied Science and Health and other articles provided by the Plainfield website.

I thank God because I feel great, and because I have a different understanding of healing now. Words cannot explain the peace and joy I am experiencing these days, and I thank God for this. I’m so appreciative of Plainfield’s generosity for providing so much beneficial information, and I’m so appreciative of practitioner support. Thank you so much.

from A. B. in England

I was thinking of the experience of the children of Israel finding the manna to eat, and how God’s provision for us or solution to a problem can be beyond our knowledge of what might be possible. Therefore it is no good trying to outline a course of action to Him of what we would like to occur; He may well have something so much better for us.

Years ago, there was a period in this country (England) of many job losses, and over several years, I was made redundant a couple of times. When this happened yet again, I turned to a very dear practitioner, who very kindly agreed to help. As a single person with bills to meet, I was tempted to worry or panic, as employers were reluctant to hire people who had previously been made redundant, but I tried hard to trust that God had a plan for me. Within a short time, I came across an advertisement for a job at a private school, which I thought would suit me very well. Although I had lived in that area for a long time, I didn’t know that this small school even existed. Although I felt there were likely to be many applicants, and I did not have experience working in a school, nevertheless, I was interviewed, and hired to start as soon as possible.

Initially the job was challenging, but all the relevant help I needed in training was provided in unexpected ways, and I was so grateful to the practitioner and to God for this outcome. This provided an income and an interesting job quite close to home to meet my need for a number of years. I was able to make improvements in several areas of the school’s business, too, so that what blessed one, blessed all.

So grateful to be learning that God always has a way forward for us, no matter the circumstances.

from C. H. in California

I am truly grateful to be learning so much more of Christian Science every day from teachings and resources of our Plainfield Church.

I have a dear friend whose daughter is struggling with drug addiction and seems to have lost her way. This lovely young lady called me recently, as I had given her my phone number if she wished to keep in touch and let us know how she was doing (she has left her parents’ home and sometimes for long periods no one knows where she is or what she is doing). Before we ended our phone call, she agreed for us to meet soon, and we have set a time and place to do that.

I was reading the recent Love is the Liberator magazine and in it I found the article “A Pure and Righteous Prayer.” This prayer is from Colossians chapter 1, verses 9-13. The article states that this is a perfect prayer for anyone that you love, or it can be used for people that you don’t even know. The article said, when you think about it, what really do you want for anyone but that they become closer to God.

This is indeed a righteous prayer and I am so grateful to have found this very timely article to be included in my prayerful work, not only for this loved child of God, but for all children that might be struggling with drug-related issues.

Thank you very much.

from L. S. in Pennsylvania

I am very grateful for gaining a greater understanding of mercy since participating at Plainfield. 

While working with young children on a wet playground one day, I slipped and fell on my face during an afternoon recess. There had been some contention in the group of adults I was working with, and in reacting to the situation I found myself rushing. I was embarrassed by the fall but I decided that it was an opportunity to get rid of more pride. I did not allow myself to drift into worrying what others were thinking about me. I was so grateful that my practitioner had encouraged me to work on memorizing the 91st Psalm. The line, “He will give His angels charge over thee,” stuck with me. I had called her at lunch that day and knew she was working with me. By dinner the discomfort left and the swelling where I had bitten my lip had completely gone down. A deep sore from the bite healed over in just days. I had hit my jaw pretty hard and worked with the prayer I learned here that our “teeth are rooted and grounded in love.” Shortly after that I went to the dentist for a cleaning and they did not see any problems from the fall.

I see how important it is not to take these moments of grace for granted. With gratitude we can learn the lessons from these experiences.

from J. M. in California

I am living near the California Kincade fire area. I decided to pray about the weather as Mary Baker Eddy had done. The idea came to me first to know all are in God’s care and out of harm’s way. Second, the thought came that God was in control of the situation and that the wind could shift so the fire would turn on itself, which is what it did. Amazingly my electricity stayed on throughout this time.

These are just a few of the blessings I received during this time. Being still and turning to God’s care and love, healed. I am so grateful for Christian Science. This experience was amazing.

from J. G. in Texas

I was recently asked to take a job as hostess, or greeter. It appeared that mortal mind was playing the “doubt game” with me, saying that I wouldn’t be good enough for the job, which included many additional chores. That bit of doubt tried to prove itself to me by presenting resistance from the younger staff who were more experienced and set in their ways. Thanks to the teaching in Plainfield Church and the sharing of Mrs. Eddy’s wonderful writings, I saw that this resistance was just an illusion. I refused to play that game.

One particular person seemed to try to get rid of me in what appeared to be subtle and sneaky ways, but I refused to dislike this person. I knew I wanted to love, not just tolerate her. It worked! I am so happy to have the Truth shine through. She is a lovely child of God and very easy to work with.

I’m so grateful that God and His goodness are present in our workplaces, too.

from L. T. in New York

Every time a social event came up, I would either hide in the back of the room or avoid going altogether. I was always very intimidated and told myself “I can’t” so many times, I actually believed it was impossible for me to participate.

I have been working with a practitioner for some time now, to change these false beliefs. To me, it seemed to be a hopeless case. The truth is, I had to learn to trust in God.

Trust is something that doesn’t come easy for me, and I am so grateful for the truths that the practitioner has applied to my misconceptions of God. They have cleared away all the excuses and showed me how wrong I was in believing that others were capable of judging me. She helped me to understand myself as a child of God, as the expression of God.

Recently, I was involved in a social event, an art show, where I would be placed at the center of attention. This time I didn’t hide away in the back of the room; I knew that my sole purpose for being there was to express God. I put out of thought all sense of self, and put all my trust in God. It was the most wonderful experience I have ever had because I knew God was right in the center of it all. As a result of this, I was able to witness something very beautiful.

I went to the show and stood by my drawing of a Cocker Spaniel, joyfully and very comfortably answering questions. A woman came up to me and told me that she had lost her Cocker Spaniel and that the drawing brought back her joy, in remembering him. As I engaged in a conversation with her, I could see the sorrow she had been feeling was turned aside and she was full of joy.

I am so grateful to be free of this burden, and for the wonderful opportunity to witness the presence and power of God. I am so thankful for everything I have been given through the study of Christian Science and the continual guidance of my practitioner. I praise God for opening my eyes to all that is good.

from E. S. in Georgia

Several years ago I noticed that at times my heart seemed to beat irregularly. I would wake up in the middle of the night or in the morning and I could feel something abnormal. I called a practitioner because I knew it needed to be handled. Some of the ideas she shared with me were that my heart beats for God, I live for God, and that organs are ideas of God.

She also suggested I study the question in Miscellaneous Writings, “Do you believe in change of heart?” Mrs. Eddy says there must be a change from human affections, desires, and aims to the divine standard, and that human affections need to be changed from self to benevolence and love for God and man.

It came to me that I was holding a personal sense of certain family members and how they were acting. I realized I was harboring a fear about that, as well as other things.

This irregularity vanished very quickly when I let go of the fear and the false sense of responsibility I had for one of my children. I am so grateful for everything I am learning at Plainfield.

from J. P. in New Jersey

On a recent Sunday morning, I had such joy. Then, after the service, I started to really struggle with a sort of muted, bland feeling that washed over me. I kept struggling through the day, and did what I thought was my best to keep my joy while finishing my work. I went to sleep that night thinking perhaps tomorrow I will feel better.

In the middle of the night, I woke up and instantly realized that this feeling of joylessness was still there. At that moment I said to myself, “You just accepted this, and that is not what you have been learning here to do. You need to fight!” So then I let that joyless feeling know exactly how I felt. The truth is, I love this work and I love this church. Everything about my life now is wonderful, and no bleak feeling is going to take me away from that. I kept at it until the feeling was gone.

After a few minutes, I was able to get back to sleep, and in the morning I woke as I always do, excited to get to work!

I am very grateful for this reminder of the need to “stand porter at the door of thought,” as Mary Baker Eddy tells us to do. Before coming to Plainfield, when similar feelings presented themselves, I used to say, “Let’s see where this goes” — and it always went downhill. I know now that is not right thinking, nor is it having the expectation of good. Joy is one of the fruits of the Spirit listed in Galatians 5, and that means I have the right to claim it, all day, every day!

What a wonderful change this is for me! I am so grateful to Christian Science, this church, and my practitioner for showing me the better way. Thank you!

from S. A. in Vermont

Two summers ago I attended an outdoor play that I hadn’t really wanted to attend, and found myself on a grassy hill in a thunderstorm. I slipped on the wet grass and landed on the ground, with a twisted ankle. When I tried to get up, I dislocated the ankle. It did not look good at all, and it was quite painful. I immediately called my practitioner, while sitting on the grass in the pouring rain. The practitioner answered right away. Her voice and support were an immediate comfort. She told me that this could only bless me! I wanted to rely on Christian Science and remained calm amidst the storm.

Once home, I found refuge in the 91st Psalm that my practitioner had previously asked me to memorize, and listened over and over to the beautiful musical recording of it by Peter and Faith. I started reading Science and Health from cover to cover. I could feel the healing waters of Truth move through me as I read. I spent the next few months on the living room couch. When we are off track, sometimes we need a wake-up call. This was mine.

In frequent calls with my practitioner, I was able to stay on track and grow in Christian Science. She was truly a Godsend. In a way I didn’t want to instantly be back up on my feet again, because I loved the extra time I had on my hands to be quiet with the Lord!

Today my ankle is fully healed, and I look back on this experience of being completely incapacitated and depending 100% on God’s care, as being a huge blessing. I no longer take part in activities that I have no desire to be a part of — having learned that my only obligation is to please God, not to please family or friends out of a sense of obligation. What a recipe that is for disaster! I learned the hard way how important it is to listen to God and to spiritual sense, and the importance of putting God first in everything I do. I am still learning this lesson — to serve the Lord with gladness, to choose joy every day, to remember, “Not my will, but Thine be done.” It is a daily discipline and sometimes a struggle, but I look back on my time on the couch as a reminder of how important it is to keep my priorities straight!

What a life-changer it has been to find the Plainfield Church with its correct teaching of Mary Baker Eddy’s pure Christian Science. The church services, the glorious music, the roundtables, which are like class instruction every week, the Bible Studies and the wonderful website, are all fantastic. I love the Plainfield Church, its devoted practitioners, the fellowship of its members and all of its outreach — it truly represents heaven on earth to me.

from J. F. in Florida

I am very grateful for a wonderful healing, accompanied by a sense of discipline that a practitioner here in Plainfield Church is instilling in my thought and actions.

I had left Plainfield Church for many years, and was kidding myself by thinking that just reading the Lesson daily and turning to God only when I wanted a favor granted was practicing Christian Science. I was living a very undisciplined life and it showed forth in a lot of things: weight gain, a social drinking habit, frequent gambling at the casino, and ultimately a severe accident. I had pretty much reached rock bottom.

After trying other avenues, I finally called a practitioner from Plainfield Church for help, and she agreed to help me. Due to her prayers and her guidance, the gambling and drinking habits are falling away, I now pray before eating so I’m not compulsively shoving food in my mouth, and I’m spending more time studying Mrs. Eddy’s writings. I’m learning to ask God more instead of barging ahead and doing anything. This is monumental, because in the past, I’ve always been up and down, inconsistent about everything. Doing a daily watch has also helped me to practice a Christly discipline.

The second verse of Hymn 322 says:

“Lord, may Thy truth upon the heart,

Now fall and dwell as heavenly dew,

And flowers of grace in freshness start

Where once the weeds of error grew.”

Thanks to the help of this practitioner, I’m learning a deeper discipline — obedience to righteousness, to Truth — which is helping me recognize and begin to remove many weeds of error in my life. I know it couldn’t have happened in any other way, because I tried several before returning to Plainfield.

I’m so grateful to Mary Baker Eddy for discovering Christian Science, and to the Plainfield practitioner for her help.

Announcements

When Plainfield Church first became independent, we were asked, “How will you survive? What will you read?” As you can see below, through the grace of God, we have survived very well, thank you — and flourished!

We began by writing our own Bible Lessons, and then Independent Christian Scientists from all over the world began sending us writings by early Christian Science workers that were not available anywhere else. And we grew from there — and continue to grow.

Websites in Other Languages

Our missionary work is expanding. We have recently launched websites in the languages of Hindi, Urdu, and Punjabi — that makes nine different languages! Our newest translator writes, “your Lessons are really faith strengthening and they enlighten the truths of the real message of the Gospel for me personally.” Someone in India writes, “This is amazing and very nice work you have done. Keep it up to reach plenty of Christians in India and other areas of the world.”

Lectures on Christian Science,
by Peter V. Ross

And, our church book store is growing! We have just published a book of Lectures on Christian Science given by Peter V. Ross. This version is accurate and true to the original, just as Mr. Ross first published it. These lectures are wonderfully inspiring, and cover a variety of subjects. His wonderful “plain talking” reaches people at every level, encouraging and healing. This book is available in paperback version from Plainfield Church for $18.00, postage included.

Our Website

Our church website, plainfieldcs.com, has a wealth of inspiring and healing items to read and listen to, including recordings of past services, Bible Studies, and Roundtable discussions.

You will also find a treasure trove of articles and other literature by early workers in Christian Science, including Bicknell Young, Martha Wilcox, Herbert W. Eustace, and many others. There are also audio recordings of many of these articles and books. Audio recordings of the current week’s Bible Lesson, and a Forum to post comments relating to the Lesson are available, and also a Bulletin Board where you can post comments of a more general nature.

YouTube Channel

Our YouTube channel has over 3,000 videos of church services, classes, readings of books and articles, hymns, and music from our services, which are visited regularly by people from all over the world.

Check out all that we have to offer by going to:

YouTube.com/PlainfieldCS

Our Church Publications

Our church publications are available free on our church website, but sometimes it’s nice to have a copy in your hand to refer back to at your leisure, or during the night when there might be a need for comfort. Descriptions and subscription prices are included below.

Newsletter

In alternate months, our church publishes our church Newsletter, “Plainfield Independent.” This publication contains news about church activities, miscellaneous writings, and other fun things that will make you smile, laugh — and think.

Books by Early Workers in Christian Science

Plainfield Church is the source for many books and writings by early workers in the Christian Science movement, many of whom worked in Mrs. Eddy’s home and were taught by Mrs. Eddy herself. These priceless writings are available for purchase at very reasonable prices, and are listed, along with ordering information, on our church website, plainfieldcs.com. Many articles on our church website are excerpts taken from these books, so to have the complete works is a real privilege!

You can find a list of books we have available for purchase by clicking “Store” on the top menu of our website.

Church Membership

“When one sees that Christian Science is the only way, he is ready for church membership, and there is no other requirement.” — Mary Baker Eddy

This is the only requirement for membership in Plainfield Church. We welcome everyone who wishes to become a member and work for God to send in an application, which you can find under the “Members” tab on our website. Or send an email to our clerk at: clerk@plainfieldcs.com.

Our goal was, and still is, to get the Word of God out to people all over the world who need this pure, unadulterated Science, as we did, and still do. So you will see that much of what we provide on our website, plainfieldcs.com, is free. Please feel free to browse through all that we have there. You don’t even have to tell us who you are — we warmly welcome everyone!

But there are expenses involved in maintaining a website, and in maintaining our church home and our church services. So if you are helped by what you find here, and you wish to show your gratitude, please use the “donate” button on the website. It would be greatly appreciated!

Tenets of Christian Science

Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures,
by Mary Baker Eddy, pages 496-497

The following is a brief exposition of the important points, or religious tenets, of Christian Science:—

1.     As adherents of Truth, we take the inspired Word of the Bible as our sufficient guide to eternal Life.

2.     We acknowledge and adore one supreme and infinite God. We acknowledge His Son, one Christ; the Holy Ghost or divine Comforter; and man in God’s image and likeness.

3.     We acknowledge God’s forgiveness of sin in the destruction of sin and the spiritual understanding that casts out evil as unreal. But the belief in sin is punished so long as the belief lasts.

4.     We acknowledge Jesus’ atonement as the evidence of divine, efficacious Love, unfolding man’s unity with God through Christ Jesus the Way-shower; and we acknowledge that man is saved through Christ, through Truth, Life, and Love as demonstrated by the Galilean Prophet in healing the sick and overcoming sin and death.

5.     We acknowledge that the crucifixion of Jesus and his resurrection served to uplift faith to understand eternal Life, even the allness of Soul, Spirit, and the nothingness of matter.

6.     And we solemnly promise to watch, and pray for that Mind to be in us which was also in Christ Jesus; to do unto others as we would have them do unto us; and to be merciful, just, and pure.

A note about the lighthouse 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.

“Publish the Word”

Broadcast the Truth

“Freely ye have received, freely give”