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.”

Christianity and our Founding Fathers

Christian Science Journal, May 1902

The world will ever more highly honor the bravery and devotion of the Pilgrim Fathers. It will be more clearly seen that America ranks first in the world because of the principles which these early settlers conceived and endeavored to obey.

Christian Science re-emphasizes the unique position of the Pilgrim Fathers in their demand for recognition of the inherent rights of man and men, as against the theories of the ages regarding apostolic succession and the divine right of kings.

The Pilgrim Fathers first brought to America a vision of this understanding that man must have absolute freedom of conscience toward God.

It is recorded that in 1755, during a battle in the French and Indian War in what is now Pennsylvania, George Washington was one of the few mounted officers who was not killed or wounded. He had two horses shot out from under him and four bullet holes in his uniform. The myth of invincible George Washington, an American Achilles, was born during that battle.

Later, in the year 1772, Washington was traveling through the Ohio Valley with a group, when they were visited by an Indian tribe. The aged Chief showed reverential deference to Washington, bowed to him with immense respect, and said that he and his braves had tried to kill Washington during that battle. He said that a power far mightier than they shielded him from harm, and he knew Washington could not die in battle. He said, “The Great Spirit protects that man and guides his destinies. He will become the chief of nations, and a people yet unborn will hail him as the founder of a mighty empire.”

Excerpts from
The Spiritual Journey of George Washington,
by Janice T. Connell

The Revolutionary War began on the night of April 18, 1775. The British forces marched on to Concord, where “the shot heard round the world” was fired. George Washington was the most esteemed military leader among the Founders, and was appointed Commander-in-Chief of the American forces. He did not desire the position, and even tried to avoid it, but his patriotism and high moral sense left him no choice but to serve.

His personal vision was guided by his commitment to live in Christian Light, to the best of his abilities. He knew his Creator deep in his soul and sincerely believed the American cause was just. He simply and sincerely desired to be a faithful follower of Jesus Christ and serve God and the new nation. His mottos were “Deeds, not words” and “For God and my Country.” He hoped that Americans would achieve freedom to fully adhere to the natural law written upon their hearts, without government interference.

His men were an ill-equipped and poorly trained militia comprised mainly of farmers, fishermen, and merchants. By the winter of 1777, Washington’s courage and bravery were sorely tested. His soldiers were ragged, starving, and sick. Art history reveals Washington, in full view of his troops, kneeling in the snow in prayer to Almighty God.

Quoted in Judicial Watch

Let’s recall that our country has faced threats before. Each time, strong leaders emerged and patriots followed them to victory.

On Christmas Day 1776, George Washington made the decision to lead his army across the icy Delaware River, in the face of a severe snowstorm, to attack a British encampment at Trenton, New Jersey. This was a critical decision. Things had not been going well for Washington. He had suffered several significant defeats without any major victories. The brand new Republic was at stake.

But forward he went. And on December 27, 1776, he wrote to John Hancock reporting his victory at Trenton. The ice on the river, he wrote, “made me despair of surprizing the Town, as I well knew we could not reach it before the day was fairly broke, but as I was certain there was no making a Retreat without being discovered, I determined to push on at all Events.”

Of his troops he said: “In justice to the Officers and Men, I must add, that their Behaviour upon this Occasion, reflects the highest honor upon them. The difficulty of passing the River in a very severe night, and their March thro’ a violent Storm of Snow and Hail, did not in the least abate their Ardour.”

Just a week before, Washington had ordered that a pamphlet written by Thomas Paine (from a series of pamphlets called “The American Crisis”) be read to all of his soldiers to inspire them. Paine wrote:

“These are the times that try men’s souls; the summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of his country; but he that stands by it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman. Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph.”

Crossing the river, and the victory that followed, was a turning point in the war.

Thomas Paine was an English-born revolutionary, inventor and intellectual, was one of the founders of the United States, and actively participated in the American Revolution.

His most famous pamphlet, “Common Sense,” was first published on January 10, 1776, selling out its thousand printed copies immediately. By the end of that year, 150,000 copies — an enormous amount for its time — had been printed and sold. In it he writes, “The cause of America is, in a great measure the cause of all mankind. Many circumstances have, and will arise, which are not local, but universal, and through which the principles of all lovers of mankind are affected. … Declaring war against the natural rights of all mankind … is the concern of every man to whom nature hath given the power of feeling.”

He also writes, “The children of Israel being oppressed by the Midianites, Gideon marched against them with a small army and victory, through the divine interposition, decided in his favor. The Jews elate with success, and attributing it to the generalship of Gideon, proposed making him a king, saying Rule thou over us, thou and thy son and thy son’s son. Here was temptation in its fullest extent not a kingdom only, but an hereditary one, but Gideon in the piety of his soul replied, I will not rule over you, neither shall my son rule over you, THE LORD SHALL RULE OVER YOU. Words need not be more explicit.”

“Common Sense” is credited as playing a crucial role in convincing colonists to take up arms against England. The pamphlet proved so influential that John Adams reportedly declared, “Without the pen of the author of ‘Common Sense,’ the sword of Washington would have been raised in vain.”

Paine claimed that the American colonies needed to break with England in order to survive and that there would never be a better moment in history for that to happen. As the Revolutionary War began, Paine enlisted and met General George Washington, whom Paine served under. The terrible condition of Washington’s troops during the winter of 1776 prompted Paine to publish a series of inspirational pamphlets known as “The American Crisis,” which opens with the famous line “These are the times that try men’s souls.”

There is a kinship our Church feels with this patriot, especially due to our historic freeing from the illegal control of the Boston organization. It is interesting, also, that C.S. (Christian Science) is often equated to mean “common sense.”

History.com

Revolution was in the air in early 1775. Amid these mounting tensions, the Second Virginia Convention convened. The roughly 120 delegates who filed into Richmond’s St. John’s Church were a veritable “who’s who” of Virginia’s colonial leaders. George Washington and Thomas Jefferson were both in attendance, as were five of the six other Virginians who would later sign the Declaration of Independence. Prominent among the bewigged statesmen was Patrick Henry, a well-respected lawyer from Hanover County. Blessed with an unfailing wit and mellifluous speaking voice, Henry had long held a reputation as one of Virginia’s most vociferous opponents of British taxation schemes.

After several delegates had spoken, Patrick Henry rose and took the floor. Just what happened next has long been a subject of debate. Henry spoke without notes, and no transcripts of his exact words have survived to today. The only known version of his remarks was reconstructed in the early 1800s by William Wirt, a biographer who corresponded with several men that attended the Convention. According to this version, Henry began by stating his intention to “speak forth my sentiments freely” before launching into an eloquent warning against appeasing the Crown.

“The war is actually begun!” Henry cried. “The next gale that sweeps from the north will bring to our ears the clash of resounding arms! Our brethren are already in the field! Why stand we here idle? What is it that gentlemen wish? Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!”

It cannot be emphasized too strongly or too often that this great nation was founded, not by religionists, but by Christians; not on religions, but on the gospel of Jesus Christ!

Terry Mize ministries

In the U.S.A. the church has always been at the forefront of keeping the nation on track and keeping the political playing field in line with the Bible and Judeo-Christian principles.

During the revolutionary war, King George said he was much more afraid of the black-robed regiment than he was of the continental army. The black-robed regiment he referred to was, of course, the preachers, the clergy, the ministers of the church, who wore black robes to preach on Sundays, and then after service removed their robes revealing their continental army uniform and guns and telling the congregation he was off to battle and asked who would join him!

Daniel O’Conner said in 1829 “Nothing is politically right which is morally wrong,” and Benjamin Franklin said, “Resistance to tyranny is obedience to God.”

The rise of liberal progressivism and socialism virtually mirrors the declining political role of churches and church leaders.

Alexis de Tocqueville, a French diplomat, political scientist, and historian, best known for his work “Democracy in America,” wrote in 1835: “I sought for the greatness and genius of America in the commodious harbors and her ample rivers—and it was not there…in her rich mines and vast world commerce—and, it was not there…in her democratic congress and her matchless Constitution—and, it was not there. Not until I went into the churches of America and heard her pulpits aflame with righteousness did I understand the secret of her genius and power. America is great because she is good, and if America ever ceases to be good, she will cease to be great.”

When, after the representatives who had met in 1787 to write the Constitution of the United States struggled for several weeks making little or no progress, eighty-one-year-old Benjamin Franklin rose and addressed the troubled and disagreeing convention that was about to adjourn in confusion. It seemed that their attempt to form a lasting union had apparently failed.

Benjamin Franklin said, “In the beginning of the contest with Britain, when we were sensible of danger, we had daily prayers in this room for Divine protection. Our prayers, Sir, were heard and they were graciously answered. All of us who were engaged in the struggle must have observed frequent instances of a superintending Providence in our favor….And have we now forgotten this powerful Friend? Or do we imagine we no longer need His assistance?”

“I have lived, Sir, a long time, and the longer I live, the more convincing proofs I see of this truth: ‘that God governs in the affairs of man.’ And if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without His notice, is it probable that an empire can rise without His aid? We have been assured, Sir, in the Sacred Writings that except the Lord build the house, they labor in vain that build it. I firmly believe this.”

“I also believe that, without His concurring aid, we shall succeed in this political building no better than the builders of Babel; we shall be divided by our little partial local interest; our projects will be confounded; and we ourselves shall become a reproach and a byword down to future ages. And what is worse, mankind may hereafter, from this unfortunate instance, despair of establishing government by human wisdom and leave it to chance, war or conquest. I therefore beg leave to move that, henceforth, prayers imploring the assistance of Heaven and its blessing on our deliberation be held in this assembly every morning before we proceed to business.”

Benjamin Franklin then proposed that the Congress adjourn for two days to seek divine guidance. When they returned they began each of their sessions with prayer. The stirring speech of Benjamin Franklin marked a turning point in the writing of the Constitution, complete with a Bill of Rights.

Christian Science Journal, November 1885

Dr. Benjamin Franklin, during his residence in Paris, was invited to a company of distinguished men who were skeptics. According to their custom, in conversation, Christianity and the Bible were treated with unsparing severity. One of the company attracted universal attention by asserting, with great confidence, that the Bible was not only a piece of gross deception, but totally devoid of literary merit.

Benjamin Franklin asked if he might read them a passage from a book he had just bought. They consented. He read Habakkuk 3:4-6.

4 And his brightness was as the light; he had horns coming out of his hand: and there was the hiding of his power.
5 Before him went the pestilence, and burning coals went forth at his feet.
6 He stood, and measured the earth: he beheld, and drove asunder the nations; and the everlasting mountains were scattered, the perpetual hills did bow: his ways are everlasting.

The few sentences made a deep impression. The admiring listeners pronounced them superior to anything they had heard or read; and that nothing could surpass them in grandeur and sublimity. They all wished to know what was the name of this new work, the name of this new author, and whether this was a specimen of its merits? “Certainly, gentlemen,” said Dr. Franklin, smiling at his triumph; “my book is full of such passages; it is no other than your good-for-nothing Bible. I have read to you a short paragraph from the prayer of the prophet Habakkuk.”

I am for doing good to the poor, but I differ in opinion of the means. I think the best way of doing good to the poor, is not making them easy in poverty, but leading or driving them out of it. In my youth I travelled much, and I observed in different countries, that the more public provisions were made for the poor, the less they provided for themselves, and of course became poorer. And, on the contrary, the less was done for them, the more they did for themselves, and became richer.

from American Minute by William J. Federer

Among his many accomplishments, Thomas Jefferson drafted the Declaration of Independence, was governor of Virginia, and was the third President of the United States.

Jefferson lived in Virginia, which had the Anglican church established from 1606 to 1786. Establishment meant mandatory membership, mandatory attendance, mandatory taxes to support it, and no one could hold public office unless he was a member. Other Protestant Christian denominations were considered “dissenters.” With the king of England being the head of the Anglican church of England, there were conflicting allegiances for Anglican clergy during the Revolution, with many siding with the king.

Jefferson took a public stand for religious freedom. In 1779, as governor of Virginia, he signed a proclamation appointing a day of thanksgiving and prayer: “Resolved … to appoint … a day of publick and solemn Thanksgiving to Almighty God … that he would grant to his church, the plentiful effusions of divine grace, and pour out his Holy Spirit on all Ministers of the Gospel; that he would bless and prosper the means of education, and spread the light of Christian knowledge through the remotest corners of the earth … and finally, that he would establish the independence of these United States upon the basis of religion and virtue.”

While U.S. minister to France, 1785-1789, Jefferson met with the Muslim ambassador from Tripoli to negotiate freeing hundreds of captured U.S. sailors held in dungeons. Jefferson asked what the United States had done to provoke the Muslim attacks. He recorded their answer, March 28, 1786: “The ambassador answered us that it was written in their Koran, that all nations which had not acknowledged the Prophet were sinners, whom it was the right and duty of the faithful to plunder and enslave; and every mussulman who was slain in this warfare was sure to go to paradise.”

Jefferson received a demand from the Muslim pasha of Tripoli immediately after being inaugurated the third U.S. president, for $225,000 as an extortion tribute payment, or they would declare war. Jefferson refused and sent over the U.S. Navy and Marines in the first Muslim Barbary pirate wars. As Jefferson reported after victory, “We are bound with peculiar gratitude to be thankful to Him that our own peace has been preserved through a perilous season.”

There was doubt concerning whether he was a Christian. On April 21, 1803, Jefferson wrote to Dr. Benjamin Rush, also a signer of the Declaration: “My views … are the result of a life of inquiry and reflection, and very different from the anti-Christian system imputed to me by those who know nothing of my opinions. To the corruptions of Christianity I am, indeed, opposed; but not to the genuine precepts of Jesus himself. I am a Christian in the only sense in which he wished any one to be; sincerely attached to his doctrines in preference to all others.”

Jefferson wrote to Charles Thomson, Jan. 9, 1816: “I have made this wee-little book … which I call The Philosophy of Jesus. It is a paradigm of his doctrines, made by cutting the texts out of the book and arranging them on the pages of a blank book, in a certain order of time and subject. A more beautiful or precious morsel of ethics I have never seen; it is a document in proof that I am a real Christian, that is to say, a disciple of the doctrines of Jesus, very different from the Platonists, who call me an infidel.” This “wee-little book” was also known as the “Jefferson Bible.”

Inscribed on the Jefferson Memorial in Washington, D.C., are his words: “God who gave us life gave us liberty. Can the liberties of a nation be secure when we have removed a conviction that these liberties are the gift of God? Indeed I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just, that his justice cannot sleep forever.”

Christian Science Sentinel Nov. 1, 1900

Clergy and laymen will be interested in knowing that through the diligent search of Representative Lacey of Iowa, what is known as the “Jefferson Bible” has been brought to light. This little volume was compiled by Thomas Jefferson, and it contains the moral doctrines of Christ. So thoroughly did Jefferson go into this work that when it was completed, the moral doctrines of the Saviour were pasted in a blank book in parallel columns, being in the Greek, Latin, French, and English languages.

The story of this precious book is best told in the words of Judge Lacey, as follows:— “There is a little volume of one hundred and sixty-four pages in the library of the National Museum, bound in red morocco by a Richmond bookbinder, which is one of the curious things in Washington that is rarely seen. Thomas Jefferson’s library was purchased by the government, and is now contained in the splendid Congressional Library.

“Some time ago, in giving the Jefferson collection a careful examination, I found that the ‘Jefferson Bible,’ as it is sometimes called, was not there. No one could tell me where it was until I asked A. R. Spofford, who knows everything about books, and he told me it was in the National Museum Library. It appears that the volume was not included in the sale of Mr. Jefferson’s library, but was afterwards purchased for four hundred dollars from Miss Randolph. This book is too valuable to be kept upon the shelves of the Museum Library, but Dr. Cyrus Adler keeps it under lock and key, and carries the key himself.”

Excerpts from Thomas Jefferson, The Art of Power, by Jon Meacham

The Ordinance of 1784, written mainly by Thomas Jefferson, called for the land west of the Appalachian Mountains, north of the Ohio River and east of the Mississippi River, in the recently created United States of America, to be divided into separate states. The Ordinance left many of the details of organization to the future states themselves. They were however, to forever remain a part of this confederacy of the United States of America and “their respective governments shall be republican.”

Most significant, the version of the Ordinance that Jefferson supported banned the expansion of slavery into the new territories, although slavery still prevailed throughout much more than half the lands of Europe. The plan failed by a single vote in the Congress. Although in early legal and legislative life he attempted to abolish slavery, Jefferson determined this was a cause whose time had not yet come.

Excerpts from Thomas Jefferson,
The Art of Power, by Jon Meacham

1. Never put off till tomorrow what you can do today.
2. Never trouble another for what you can do yourself.
3. Never spend your money before you have it.
4. Never buy what you do not want, because it is cheap; it will be dear to you.
5. Pride costs us more than hunger, thirst, and cold.
6. We never repent of having eaten too little.
7. Nothing is troublesome that we do willingly.
8. How much pain have cost us the evils which have never happened!
9. Take things always by their smooth handle.
10. When angry, count ten, before you speak; if very angry, a hundred.

Jefferson was asked to send counsel to a young namesake, how to live a virtuous life. “Adore God,” he wrote. “Reverence and cherish your parents. Love your neighbor as yourself, and your country more than yourself. Be just. Be true. Murmur not at the ways of Providence. So shall the life into which you have entered be the portal to one of eternal and effable bliss.”

Mary Baker Eddy has written, “This more perfect idea, held constantly before the people’s mind, must have a benign and elevating influence upon the character of nations as well as individuals, and will lift man ultimately to the understanding that our ideals form our characters, that as a man ‘thinketh in his heart, so is he.’” (People’s Idea of God, page 2:25–3)

Our Founding Fathers fixed their gaze upon the, “more perfect idea” — and this is why we must watch and pray for our country and all countries, their citizens and leaders, and the mass media, that they may hold, “constantly before the people’s mind” the perfect model of a free, principled nation — a nation governed by the Spirit of God, for “where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.” (II Cor. 3:17)

Every child in America should be acquainted with his own country. He should read books that furnish him with ideas that will be useful to him in life and practice. As soon as he opens his lips, he should rehearse the history of his own country.

Providence has given to our people the choice of their rulers, and it is the duty, as well as the privilege and interest of our Christian nation, to select and prefer Christians for their rulers.

SIGNER OF THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE; PRESIDENT OF CONGRESS; REVOLUTIONARY GENERAL; GOVERNOR OF MASSACHUSETTS

Sensible of the importance of Christian piety and virtue to the order and happiness of a state, I cannot but earnestly commend to you every measure for their support and encouragement.

He called on the entire state to pray “that universal happiness may be established in the world [and] that all may bow to the scepter of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the whole earth be filled with His glory.”

He also called on the State of Massachusetts to pray . . .

• that all nations may bow to the scepter of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and that the whole earth may be filled with his glory.
• that the spiritual kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ may be continually increasing until the whole earth shall be filled with His glory.
• to confess their sins and to implore forgiveness of God through the merits of the Savior of the World.
• to cause the benign religion of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ to be known, understood, and practiced among all the inhabitants of the earth.
• to confess their sins before God and implore His forgiveness through the merits and mediation of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior.
• that He would finally overrule all events to the advancement of the Redeemer’s kingdom and the establishment of universal peace and good will among men.
• that the kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ may be established in peace and righteousness among all the nations of the earth.
• that with true contrition of heart we may confess our sins, resolve to forsake them, and implore the Divine forgiveness, through the merits and mediation of Jesus Christ, our Savior. . . . And finally to overrule all the commotions in the world to the spreading the true religion of our Lord Jesus Christ in its purity and power among all the people of the earth.

“But it should always be remembered, that this law, natural or revealed…flows from the same divine source; it is the law of God. Human law must rest its authority, ultimately, upon the authority of that law, which is divine.”

Submitted by Joanne

We stand at the crossroads, each minute, each hour, each day, making choices. We choose the thoughts we allow ourselves to think, the passions we allow ourselves to feel, and the actions we allow ourselves to perform. Each choice is made in the context of whatever value system we have selected to govern our lives. In selecting that value system, we are, in a very real way, making the most important choice we will ever make.

Those who believe there is one God who made all things and who governs the world by this providence will make many choices different from those who do not. Those who hold in reverence that being who gave them life, and worship Him through adoration, prayer, and thanksgiving will make choices different from those who do not. Those who believe that mankind are all of a family and that the most acceptable service of God is doing good to man will make many choices different from those who do not. Those who believe in a future state in which all that is wrong here will be made right, will make many choices different from those who do not. Those who subscribe to the morals of Jesus will make many choices different from those who do not.

Since the foundation of all happiness is thinking rightly, and since correct action is dependent on correct opinion, we cannot be too careful in choosing the value system we allow to govern our thoughts and actions.

And to know that God governs in the affairs of men, that He hears and answers prayers, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him, is, indeed, a powerful regulator of human conduct.

Here is my Creed. I believe in one God, Creator of the Universe. That he governs the World by his Providence. That he ought to be worshiped. That the most acceptable Service we can render him, is doing good to his other Children. That the Soul of Man is immortal, and will be treated with Justice in another life, respect[ing] its Conduct in this. These I take to be fundamental Principles of all sound Religion, and I regard them as you do, in whatever Sect I meet them.

When Washington consented to act as commander-in-chief, it was felt as if the strength of the American forces had been more than doubled. Many years later, in 1798, when Washington, grown old, had withdrawn from public life and was living in retirement at Mount Vernon, and when it seemed probable that France would declare war against the United States, President Adams wrote to him, saying, “We must have your name, if you will permit us to use it; there will be more efficacy in it than in many an army.” Such was the esteem in which the great President’s noble character and eminent abilities were held by his countrymen!

Christian Science Sentinel October 31, 1901

1. Act at all times as in the presence of God, and make it the great object in all things to please Him. In order to do this,
2. Seek first of all to gain clear views of His will, and with regard to all things to be perfectly conformed to it. In doing this,
3. Cherish no thoughts, indulge no feelings, speak no words, and do no actions, but what you really think, after all the light you can gain, will most honor God, most benefit yourself and others, and give you the greatest joy when they come to be exhibited before the assembled universe at the judgment day.
4. Begin and end each day by a season of communion with God, and by a solemn and hearty commitment of yourself and all your interests, temporal and eternal, to His guidance, care, and disposal.

5. Daily read, with deep attention and fervent prayer, a portion of the word of God, for the purpose of understanding, believing, and obeying it.
6. Never express or indulge the least degree of unkindness towards any human being, and give no needless pain to any one of the human race, or even of the animal creation.
7. Make it your object to promote the greatest happiness, on the whole, of all upon whom you may have influence, both of the present and all future generations.
8. Regard the hand of God in all the dispensations of His providence, and in whatsoever state He places you, therewith be content.
9. Envy none who are above you, and despise none who are below you; but possess and manifest the utmost good­will towards all men.
10. Never speak of any, or feel towards them in a manner that you ought not to wish them, under similar circumstances, to speak or feel with regard to you.
11. Let all statements and narrations be an exact exhibition of the real truth.
12. Act for God, for the universe, and for eternity; and in such a manner as is adapted to promote the highest good forever. In order to do this,
13. Look habitually to Jesus Christ; let your whole soul be imbued with his spirit, and manifest it in all your actions.
14. Look to the Holy Ghost as the author of all good in man; seek habitually His teaching, His illuminating and purifying influences, that He may dwell in you as His temple, and take full possession of all your powers and talents for Himself.
15. Earnestly desire that He would take of the things of Christ and more and more show them unto you; and carefully avoid everything which tends to hinder you from becoming perfectly like Him.
16. Make it as your meat and drink to do the will of God, and perseveringly have respect to all His commandments.
17. Feel and acknowledge that all the good that you ever have received, that you now receive, or ever will receive is of grace through Jesus Christ; trust in him for all which you need, both for this life and the life to come; rely on his merits, imitate his example, and in view of every blessing give him and the Father and the Holy Ghost all the glory.

Christian Science Sentinel, March 22, 1900

George Washington was “first in peace” as well as in war, and was twice President of the infant Republic. His position as such was one of the most difficult that ever fell to the lot of man, and he held it with remarkable wisdom. He was one of the first to see that the old Confederation, which had carried on the war, was impossible to direct the Republic’s affairs, and he summed up the essence of the situation in one pregnant sentence: “Influence is no government.”

To make a real and effective government which should bind the young and errant states together was his first aim, and he presided over the Convention which made that constitution which, with all its faults, has lasted over a century and has seen the dissolving wrecks of many a European structure. That, we take it, was the fundamental political service rendered by Washington to his people, and only those who have sufficient political imagination to realize the immense problem of meeting the needs of a new nation can estimate the value of that service.

Christianity is part of the common law.

“What power has love but forgiveness?”

The purpose of separation of church and state is to keep forever from these shores the ceaseless strife that has soaked the soil of Europe in blood for centuries.

Independence is my happiness, and I view things as they are, without regard to place or person; my country is the world, and my religion is to do good.

If there must be trouble, let it be in my day, that my child may have peace.

The real man smiles in trouble, gathers strength from distress, and grows brave by reflection.

Being a Christian… is a character which I prize far above all this world has or can boast.

The Bible… is a book worth more than all the other books that were ever printed.

Righteousness alone can exalt [America] as a nation…Whoever thou art, remember this; and in thy sphere practice virtue thyself, and encourage it in others.

The great pillars of all government and of social life [are] virtue, morality, and religion. This is the armor, my friend, and this alone, that renders us invincible.

This is all the inheritance I can give to my dear family. The religion of Christ can give them one which will make them rich indeed.

If all printers were determined not to print anything till they were sure it would offend nobody, there would be very little printed.

The moral principles and precepts contained in the Scripture ought to form the basis of all our civil constitutions and laws.

In my view, the Christian religion is the most important and one of the first things in which all children, under a free government, ought to be instructed. ... No truth is more evident to my mind than that the Christian religion must be the basis of any government intended to secure the rights and privileges of a free people... When I speak of the Christian religion as the basis of government... I mean the primitive Christianity in its simplicity as taught by Christ and His apostles, consisting of a belief in the being, perfections, and government of God; in the revelation of His will to men, as their supreme rule of action; in man’s... accountability to God for his conduct in this life; and in the indispensable obligation of all men to yield entire obedience to God’s commands in the moral law and the Gospel.

The Bible is the chief moral cause of all that is good and the best corrector of all that is evil in human society; the best book for regulating the temporal [secular] concerns of men.

Every civil government is based upon some religion or philosophy of life. Education in a nation will propagate the religion of that nation. In America, the foundational religion was Christianity. And it was sown in the hearts of Americans through the home and private and public schools for centuries. Our liberty, growth, and prosperity was the result of a Biblical philosophy of life. Our continued freedom and success is dependent on our educating the youth of America in the principles of Christianity.

The whole and sole motive and mission of the United States of America is Christian Science.

The fact that some are rich deprives no one. Christian Science is the opposite of Socialism. Socialism tends to level all down. Christian Science raises the condition of all.

The most comfortable human condition called government is generally the worst. Under it, all things are arranged for everybody. Everybody knows just what he may and may not do, according to law, and individual freedom is not only a misnomer, but an impossibility, because thought is ever restrained and restricted by such a system. Consequently, whether a government claims to be the very acme of paternalism and the perfection of it, or whether it be Socialism and the perfection of that, it is equally wrong, because in either case human laws take the place of divine individuality. If such governments were to prevail, happiness and eternal life could never be demonstrated. Christian Science is the right government and the only one. It will, in due time, be the only government.

Christian Scientists have themselves in a dangerous situation. They experience their daily family routine, everyday business duties, and their demand for the good material life which includes that the practitioner and God do everything for them. They become so totally absorbed in this mesmerism that they have nothing to do for their own salvation. This is another tenet of scholastic theology and is a very serious one. It is called accepting the blood of Jesus. In short, all one must do is believe on Jesus and thus relieve himself of responsibility. When we accept the blood of Jesus, we have a ticket to heaven without any requirements. Adding this error to the claim of the intercessor, we can certainly see why our nation is being consumed by the claims of Socialism. Unless the Movement wakes up to these insidious Socialistic claims, the Movement and the world will be destroyed, for this error in the Movement affects the world adversely. In conjunction with these errors we find a Christian Science Movement totally enveloped in the claim of wanting all good without working for it. This is a complete reversal of Jesus’ statement, “Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.” (Matthew 6:33) We have a Movement choking with sin, resulting in a total love of materiality and all that it brings.

The claims of Socialism and centralized government find their roots in scholastic theology. If one has an intercessor, there is no need for self-government or responsibility. This error degenerates into centralized authority and care and security are sought through personality instead of Principle. Loving someone to care for us, heal us, interpret for us, and someone to make decisions for us leads to economic manipulation and political domination. Our Leader says:

“The eastern empires and nations owe their false government to the misconceptions of Deity there prevalent. Tyranny, intolerance, and bloodshed, wherever found, arise from the belief that the infinite is formed after the pattern of mortal personality, passion, and impulse.” (Science and Health, page 94: 12)

This is a very descriptive statement regarding scholastic theology. The false concepts of God and man’s relationship to God are at the root of all isms and ologies. In 1900 Mrs. Eddy wrote:

“To my sense, the most imminent dangers confronting the coming century are: the robbing of people of life and liberty under the warrant of the Scriptures; the claims of politics and of human power, industrial slavery, and insufficient freedom of honest competition; and ritual, creed, and trusts in place of the Golden Rule, ‘Whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them.’” (Miscellany, page 266:3)

You are master of the bad tendencies of Socialism and not at all at their cruel mercies.

Excerpts from Clear, Correct Teaching
by Herbert Eustace, pages 364 to 366

America, spiritually understood, is the outward evidence of man’s individual oneness with God.

Beardsley, in his work, “The Builders of a Nation,” brings this out clearly on page 265:

“Until the spring of 1623, Plymouth Colony had been upon a communistic basis. The houses of the settlers were individual property but the crops were raised in common for their general consumption. The results, however, did not justify the continuance of the scheme ... which, in theory, had seemed so attractive, but which in the end ... the taking away of property, and bringing in community into a commonwealth, would make them happy and flourishing; as if they were wiser than God. For this community (so far as it was) was found to breed much confusion and discontent, and retard much employment that would have been to their benefit and comfort ... Upon the point of all being to have alike, and all to do alike, they thought themselves in the like conditions, and one as good as another; and so, if it did not cut off those relations that God hath set amongst men, yet it did much diminish and take off the mutual respects that should be preserved amongst them. And would have been worse if they had been men of another condition. Let none object this is men’s corruption, and nothing to the course itself. I answer, seeing all men have this corruption in them, God in his wisdom saw another course fitter for them.’”

The attempt of evil to change America from individualism to collectivism, and all that goes with that theory, is destined to failure. The breath of America is freedom, which means individualism.

To surrender its Pilgrim heritage, would be to sell the birthright of America. But this can never be done, for it is America. Mrs. Eddy emphasizes individualism thus: “Is not a man metaphysically and mathematically number one, a unit, and therefore whole number, governed and protected by his divine Principle, God?” (Pul., p. 4: 7)

This individualism, this oneness is America.

Image by Carl Miller

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From Mrs. Eddy

Pulpit and Press, page 10

Rome’s fallen fanes and silent Aventine is glory’s tomb; her pomp and power lie low in dust. Our land, more favored, had its Pilgrim Fathers. On shores of solitude, at Plymouth Rock, they planted a nation’s heart, — the rights of conscience, imperishable glory. No dream of avarice or ambition broke their exalted purpose, theirs was the wish to reign in hope’s reality — the realm of Love.

Miscellaneous Writings, pages 176-177

The day we celebrate reminds us of the heroes and heroines who counted not their own lives dear to them, when they sought the New England shores, not as the flying nor as conquerors, but, steadfast in faith and love, to build upon the rock of Christ, the true idea of God—the supremacy of Spirit and the nothingness of matter. When first the Pilgrims planted their feet on Plymouth Rock, frozen ritual and creed should forever have melted away in the fire of love which came down from heaven. The Pilgrims came to establish a nation in true freedom, in the rights of conscience.

But what of ourselves, and our times and obligations? Are we duly aware of our own great opportunities and responsibilities? Are we prepared to meet and improve them, to act up to the acme of divine energy wherewith we are armored?

Never was there a more solemn and imperious call than God makes to us all, right here, for fervent devotion and an absolute consecration to the greatest and holiest of all causes. The hour is come. The great battle of Armageddon is upon us. The powers of evil are leagued together in secret conspiracy against the Lord and against His Christ, as expressed and operative in Christian Science. Large numbers, in desperate malice, are engaged day and night in organizing action against us. Their feeling and purpose are deadly, and they have sworn enmity against the lives of our standard bearers.

What will you do about it? Will you be equally in earnest for the truth? Will you doff your lavender-kid zeal, and become real and consecrated warriors? Will you give yourselves wholly and irrevocably to the great work of establishing the truth, the gospel, and the Science which are necessary to the salvation of the world from error, sin, disease, and death? Answer at once and practically, and answer aright!

1925 Association Address

Mrs. Eddy once said to me (Frances Thurber Seal), “I have not had much peace or rest in the last forty years. I have no sooner taken one step, then I found it led to a higher and more difficult one.” If this was her experience, shall we grumble because our advancing footsteps seem sometimes to become difficult?

We Americans, children of pioneers, should not be surprised to encounter difficulties in opening up a new land. The experience of our forefathers, who were not daunted by the horrors of the wilderness and savages, was certainly a preparation for this greater work that we have to do.

A certain apothegm of a Talmudical philosopher suits my sense of doing good. It reads thus: “The noblest charity is to prevent a man from accepting charity; and the best alms are to show and to enable a man to dispense with alms.”

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Interesting Squibs

When quite a youth Benjamin Franklin went to London, entered a printing office, and inquired if he could get employment. “Where are you from?” inquired the foreman. “America,” was the answer.

“Ah,” said the foreman, “from America! A lad from America seeking employment as a printer! Well, do you really understand the art of printing? Can you set type?” Franklin stepped to one of the cases, and in a brief space set up the following passage from the first chapter of John: “Nathanael said unto him, Can there any good thing come out of Nazareth? Philip saith unto him, Come and see.” This was done so quickly, so accurately, and administered a delicate reproof so appropriate and powerful, that the incident at once gave him influence and standing with all in the office.<

The government will one day be corrupt and filled with liars, and the people will flock to the one that tells the truth.

The great enemy of the salvation of man, in my opinion, never invented a more effective means of limiting Christianity from the world than by persuading mankind that it was improper to read the Bible at schools.

Education is useless without the Bible. The Bible was America’s basic text book in all fields. God’s Word, contained in the Bible, has furnished all necessary rules to direct our conduct.

We should not look back unless it is to derive useful lessons from past errors, and for the purpose of profiting by dearly bought experience.

Every religion is good that teaches man to be good; and I know of none that instructs him to be bad.

He that sows thorns should never go barefoot.

Charity is no part of the legislative duty of the government.

To all general purposes we have uniformly been one people, each individual citizen everywhere enjoying the same national rights, privileges, and protection.

This is the age of thought. Old systems are dead or dying; new ones are infusing hope and courage into the waiting, willing hearts of the children of men. The long night of fear lifts, and the dawn of independence breaks with the shining of Science over every field of human endeavor.

The Christian ideal has not been tried and found wanting; it has been found difficult and left untried.

Whether it be for good or evil, the education of a child is principally derived from its own observation of the actions, the words, the voice, the looks of those with whom it lives. It is not enough, then, that parents and others set no bad example; it is indispensable that they set a good one.

Do not look back on happiness, or dream of it in the future. You are only sure of today; do not let yourself be cheated out of it.

He that has done you a kindness will be more ready to do you another, than he whom you yourself have obliged.

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History Corner

Contributed by Ann in England

John White was born in England in 1575, and educated at Winchester School and New College, Oxford. He was a student of theology, and a moderate Puritan in his views, meaning that he favored simpler forms of worship, and was very concerned with how faith was expressed in everyday living. He was ordained a priest in 1602, and in November 1605, he moved to Dorchester to become Rector of Holy Trinity church.

Dorchester was the small town, which had a population then of about 2000. Parts of Dorchester, however, were very poor, with unemployment, drunkenness and petty theft being particular problems. In August 1613 a fire started, and about half the houses in the town were destroyed, leaving many people homeless or impoverished due to loss of possessions and businesses.

The financial and physical impact of the fire was less striking than its emotional and spiritual impact. The result was a kind of wake-up call, or spiritual mass conversion, with a recognition that a total reformation of the town was required. Led and encouraged by the eloquent preaching of John White, a new civic spirit was born, which was to turn Dorchester into a new godly community.

John White worked hard to care for and teach the people of the town. Besides Sundays, he held additional services on other days of the week, and lectured 3 times per week. On Friday mornings, he progressively went through the Bible from beginning to end, interpreting passages, and explaining their meaning to his listeners.

He also drew up a covenant of ‘Ten Vows’ which he encouraged people to commit to. These included keeping the pure word of God without innovation or corruption, reading and meditating on the scriptures, instruction of children and families in the fear of the Lord. Under his leadership, the churches in the town began to thrive and law and order was improved.

In 1625, Charles I became king, and many felt his views were too Catholic. He tried to reintroduce more ceremony and other reforms. When Charles I issued a Declaration of Sports permitting archery, dancing and some other pursuits on Sundays, John White refused to read this out in church as required, and so came close to being dismissed.

Some individuals had begun to invest in fishing and fur trading ventures in New England, and John White could see the possibilities of developing a permanent settlement there. His vision was a colony with Puritan aims, rather than joining the strict and more extreme worship and way of life in the colony at Plymouth. As more “popish” reforms were introduced in England, interest in emigrating spread as a means for people to escape to a “Godly refuge.” They settled in what became Salem.

The following spring, 5 ships full of supplies and people set out. One of the ministers among that party commented: “We do not go to New England as separatists from the Church of England, though we cannot but separate from the corruptions in it, but we go to practice the positive part of church reformation, and propagate the gospel in America.”

By 1635 the population of Massachusetts Bay colony as a whole had increased to over 8000. The new Dorchester was becoming a town, and built their Meeting House near the Old Harbour, large enough for everyone to meet for worship on Sundays, which they became increasingly appreciative of, as news reached them of persecutions of Puritans back in England.

So while John White and others strove to make their community in old Dorchester a beacon in England, others from the town did the same in New England. John White would very much have liked to emigrate himself, but he never did. In America, he is commemorated by a plaque in Stage Fort Park, with a plaque that reads: “On this site in 1623 a Company of Fishermen and Farmers from Dorchester, England, under the direction of the Rev. John White, founded this Massachusetts Bay Colony.”

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Watches to Work with Often

December 12th, 2019

“Now there is a claim that there is separation between Mind and idea and that you have to have a telegraphic system [or phones, email, and websites] to link up. Now is there any separation between Mind and idea? NEVER! Then the claim that there is a telegraphic system is not true, for this is the fact in relation to all being; that Mind and idea cannot be separated, and it is the law that they never shall be, and that they are forever performing the functions of being, because Mind is their presence and substance. It is not a telegraphic system but the immediate presence of Mind; for its being is Mind, its substance, its evidence, and all there is to it is Mind.”

from Association Addresses,
by Bicknell Young, pages 26-27
of the 1918 Address

The Word of God is love, peace, and freedom! Let us support the outreach of our foreign language websites by knowing they are the Word of God, and bring healing and comfort. Animal magnetism is powerless to disrupt or shut down these websites because the Word of God needs no human government, material devices, or electric charge to reach every man, woman, and child — divine Mind is already there and in complete control! Everyone hungering and thirsting for the Christ will cling fast to the Truth given in our websites, and there can be no resistance to Truth. All our work for the world is God’s doing, and will continue until mankind unites as one in spirit and in purpose!

March 5th, 2020

“The zeal and enthusiasm for democracy and things spiritual must be recaptured. Lethargy and inertia have brought them perilously near the precipice. There is still time to arouse ourselves and act heroically, but none too much. ‘Awake thou that sleepest,’ cries the apostle, ‘and Christ shall give thee light.’”

from Lectures on Christian Science
by Peter V. Ross, page 229

God is calling on all mankind to awaken and to embrace the Truth on every front! Man is “the conscious identity of being,” (S&H, p. 475) not a sleepy mortal, easily mesmerized or manipulated, but a fully conscious idea of God, awake, vitally aware of right — and repelled by wrong. Mankind is ready now to hear the Truth; and when Truth is spoken, man’s divine intelligence recognizes it, is receptive to it, and accepts it enthusiastically! Animal magnetism’s lies about our nation and the twisted history taught in schools, can only be rejected when Truth is voiced. The mesmerism is broken, the veil has lifted, and animal magnetism and its wicked lies are banished! God has spoken!

“Awake from this dream! You are awake to the Truth, you see it, you realize it, and no mortal mind can hinder you from realizing it.”

from Divinity Course and General Collectanea, (the “Blue Book”), by Mary Baker Eddy, p. 40

Artwork by Luanne Tucker

The teaching was given in love, with the hope

That many would answer the call

To take up the mantle of Truth for the Cause,

And stand faithfully rebuilding the wall.

Some ran quickly away from the holy demand,

And some reluctantly strayed;

Others who held to their strong sense of self,

Soon found it lured them away.

Only those who loved God enough to obey

And set egos completely aside,

Were able to walk into Truth’s furnace fire,

And come through, purged of will and all pride.

But, O what a glorious victory has come!

The mantle of Truth taken up and unfurled,

By the few who remained and embraced it in love,

‘Til its trumpet call brought in the world.

Now its healing message goes forth through the din

Of sorrow and human strife.

It goes forth because of the few who remained,

And made Truth their mantle of life.

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From the Early Workers

Christian Science Journal, February 1919

Man is God’s reflection, neither separate from, nor abandoned by, Deity; therefore man is always free to be good and to do good. Evil influences cannot in reality intervene between man and his Maker, yet how persistent has been the effort of evil to insert itself between the Creator and His creation! The human footsteps taken by the race in repulsing such attempts and in reaffirming man’s solidarity with God constitute human history.

Mesmer brought his discovery of mesmerism and animal magnetism into notice in Germany in 1774, and it had seeped into England. The revolution of the English colonies in America, led by George Washington, was not against the England of their own ancestry, the England of the Magna Charta, of Wycliffe, and of Cromwell, but against England as ruled by a foreigner, imported from Germany. In the light of this historic fact, George Washington then appears as a benefactor of the human race, who was really waging war against a condition of thought which had reached England from Germany.

So salutary was the effect of the American Revolution upon Great Britain itself that the short-lived attempt to build up an empire by mesmeric autocratic control was promptly abandoned, and the principal British settlements such as those in Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Canada, and elsewhere took upon themselves the form of independent commonwealths linked to the mother country by the slenderest political ties, but by the strongest bonds of affection.

Many emancipators have trodden the stage of earthly life, acted their parts, spoken their inspired words, and, though not always understood, yet have lifted the thought of the world to a higher plane, leaving mankind in their debt. The United States of America, the greatest of all democracies, had inherited African slavery from colonial times and had allowed it to become incorporated into its body politic, until another great emancipator arose in the person of Abraham Lincoln. The genius of America is liberty.

Christian Science Journal 1884

Are our “feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace?” Have we invested ourselves with the whole armor of God, so that we are able to withstand the wiles of the devil? Have we sufficient understanding of Divine Love to carry us through the warfare of error, so that we shall not smell of the battle smoke, or carry a thought of it with us?

“He that dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High, shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.” Let us seek that secret place. It is not for one, but for all. If we are falling into mortal error, we are departing from God, divesting ourselves of His armor, and substituting in its place a target for the enemy to hit.

A withdrawal into the Infinite Love hides us from the gaze of our foes. Error cannot enter the presence of Truth without losing its claim to power. It becomes annihilated.

Who chooses discord? Is not the peace of Heaven better? Love is the fulfilling of the law; let us abide in love.

Working for name, working for fame, working for wealth, is accomplishing nothing. That man tells the truth who says he is poor, although his neighbors may think him a liar when they know of his possessing houses and lands and bank stock, for riches have been his god. He is poor: he has not been laying up treasures in heaven. His wealth is only a part of his dream. When he awakens—what? Will not that which he had have been taken? We judge of people’s thoughts by their deeds, because they were thoughts before they were acted upon.

We judge them more by their demonstrations than we do by their words, for a man may talk hours, and be even eloquent, who is unworthy the subject he is discussing; and yet he may impress people with the idea that he is a saint, and be half convinced himself that he is. There is many a self-deceiver. Words may mislead, deeds cannot.

A perfect Christian life is abundant wealth. The golden dream may be pleasant, but it may become a nightmare. It will not buy our armor that shall protect us from the terror by night, nor from the arrow that flieth by day.

II Corinthians 9:7

God loveth a cheerful giver, for he made the world on the plan of cheerful giving, and a great artist loves all that is consistent with his plan. I will show you. Look at the sun. What an orb of splendor. What a glorious creation of God! Why is it bright? Because it is giving away its light. Why is it glorious? Because it is scattering its beams on all sides. Imagine that it should say, “I will give no more light,” where would be its brightness? If it should say, “I will no more scatter my beams,” where would be its luster? It is in the magnificent generosity of that great father of the day that his glory consists. It is the grandest of orbs to us because it gives us so much of that vitalizing force which is heat, and light, and life.

Behold the moon, the fair queen of the night, wherefore do we rejoice in her? Because what light she receives from the sun, she gives again to us. If she were not to give her light, who would speak of her? If she were a selfish orb, absorbing into herself all the sun’s rays, if she were an ungenerous circle bounding up and storing within herself every sunbeam, what would she be? We should not even know of her existence probably except when, as a black speck, she passed between us and some bright luminary. But it is because she scatters her beams over the poverty of midnight that we rejoice and thank God for her wealth of beauty. Even the twinkling stars which seem so small to us, do not their brightness and their radiance consist in their giving?

There is not a flower that blooms but its very sweetness lies in its shedding its fragrance on the air. All the rivers run into the sea, the sea feeds the clouds, the clouds empty out their treasures, the earth gives back the rain in fertility, and so it is an endless chain of giving generosity. Generosity reigns supreme in nature. There is nothing in this world but lives by giving, except a covetous man, and such a man is a piece of grit in the machinery; he is out of gear with the universe. Man is a wheel running in the opposite direction to the wheels of God’s great engine. He is a jibbing horse in the team. He is one that will not do what all the forces of world beside are doing. He is a monster; he is not fit for this world at all. He has not realized the motion of the spheres. He keeps not step with the march of the ages. He is out of date, he is out of place; he is out of God’s order altogether. But the cheerful giver is marching to the music of the spheres. He is in order with God’s great natural laws, and God therefore loveth him, since he sees his own work in him.

There is one reason why God loves a cheerful giver which I must dwell on at some length, namely, because he is a cheerful giver himself. The Lord is the most cheerful of all givers. I want you to think of that for a minute. “Who spared not his own Son.” Oh, what a gift was that! Mothers, could you give your sons? Fathers, could you spare your children? Well, yes, perhaps you might for your country, but you could not for your enemies. But God, the cheerful giver, spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, as saith the word. And since then what a cheerful giver he has been! We have need of a giving God, and therefore, let us be cheerful givers.

The Bible is the best of all books, for it is the word of God and teaches us the way to be happy in this world and in the next. Continue therefore to read it and to regulate our life by its precepts.

Be like the bird that, halting in her flight

Awhile, on boughs too slight,

Feels them give way beneath her, and yet sings,

Knowing that she hath wings.

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Current Articles

I have come to understand that it does not always take a giant amount of faith to move a mountain. In fact, as our life experiences can tell, it often takes just a little bit of faith in God to move a mountain of any size. If you are facing a mountain or a giant and wondering, “Can this ever be moved?” My answer is, “Yes, it can be moved!” Maybe all you need is that grain of faith in God, “for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you.”—Christ Jesus. Yes, it’s that simple. A little faith in God is what it takes, and it’s always enough for God, our loving Father, who has loved us with an everlasting love.

Recently, as my family has just started to grow in number, it was obvious that we would soon need a bigger space to live, especially for the kids. I love where we’ve been living, as we’re surrounded by loving neighbors and it was close to church as well. But we soon realized it may not be big enough to accommodate all of us. As a new father, I started to think about what our options were. A new development like this could be a humongous mountain to face. But the truth is that a new development can also be an opportunity to demonstrate our oneness with our Father-Mother, God, who knows and always will provide all our needs. As Mrs. Eddy said, “Divine Love always has met and always will meet every human need.” (S&H)

I have been praying for this and knowing quite well that God has the answer. And yes, He does have the answer and He has responded to the need, through a loving family and members of this Church, and provided us with another beautiful home to live in. It’s just as perfect as the other one and will meet the need, and we will continue to be surrounded by love. Like the other home, it’s just a few minutes away from the church, which is very important to us. I am grateful to God for keeping His promises that He will never let any of His children suffer.

It is important not to let the mountain before us define our experience and expectations. Instead we must lean more on God, through whom all our needs have already been met. We must not look too much at the mountain before us, but instead use the opportunity to count our blessings. The devil will always want us to forget the mountains we have previously moved through our faith in God. It will try to remind many times, you have tried and failed, making you forget that you have had more victories in life than failures. The fact that you are alive today is itself a victory.

Moving a mountain always seems important, but what’s more important is remembering the mountains we have previously moved in our lifetime. Many of your past mountains were bigger than the one before you today. If you are able to do this, able to count your blessings, then you can say to yourself, with certainty, that this is another opportunity to prove that God is Love, and there is no mountain too big to be moved. No matter how small your faith is, even if it’s as small as a grain of mustard seed, it is more than enough for God.

With election time coming around again, and some talk about maybe eliminating the Electoral College, I realized I needed to understand more about the Electoral College, and how to pray intelligently to support our nation.

Just what is the Electoral College? Why did the Founding Fathers set it up? First, I know that the United States is a republic and not a democracy, so I started there and looked up the difference. A simple, basic comparison said that a republic is governed by a set of rules; but a democracy is where the majority rules, and the minority ends up having no say in its government. It made me think of obeying Principle and not person.

It also said that in a democracy, the majority can overrule and take away the rights of the minority—I’ve heard it referred to as being like “mob rule.” But in a republic, all have equal rights and the majority can’t take them away, as can happen in a democracy.

Now about the Electoral College. I read that the founding fathers disagreed about how the President should be elected. Some thought Congress should elect the President, and others insisted on popular vote. The Electoral College was a compromise. It also was a compromise with the smaller states, so that states with smaller populations, and fewer big cities, would still have a say in the election. The number of electoral votes in each state is determined by the number of Senators and Representatives each state has; so each state is guaranteed a minimum of three electoral votes.

After all that research, my attention was drawn to the picture of George Washington on his knees, in the snow, in prayer; and I wondered how he was praying. I imagined him saying, “Almighty Father, help me to work for You, help me to do this great task You have given me.” Here he was establishing a free nation where everyone is represented; and now we, today, are being asked to do our part to protect it! So I prayed, “Please give us the words to motivate Your workers to see the foe, the words and the spirit that will animate us to defend our country.”

The thought came that mortal mind, the human mind, is attempting to insert its “logic” and its “reasoning” into the national thought to undermine what the founders worked so hard to establish, to replace the divine inspiration they felt, with human mind influence.

In Essays and Other Footprints (the “Red Book”), Mary Baker Eddy writes, “Caesar’s government was over-thrown, based as it was on physics and political economy, whose foundations are matter, even the beliefs of mortal mind. But the government that Jesus supported cannot be overthrown, based, as it is, on divine economy, on metaphysics or immortal Mind. Friends, which of these two governments do we acknowledge, and conform to?”

A republic based on obedience to the rule of law will stand unmoved by any effort to undermine or dethrone it, along with any element of its Constitution, including the Electoral College. The law of right is firm and unyielding, founded on Principle, and it cannot be circumvented — God will not allow it. Any attempt to limit the rights of each individual — whether in the majority or the minority — was guarded against when every word of the Constitution was so thoughtfully and agonizingly crafted under the watchful eye of Almighty God. The hand of God protects and defends this nation and its laws against intrusion by the human mind to undermine what God has established. It cannot be done! The Lord God Omnipotent reigneth now and forever!

In a Bible Lesson recently, there was a quote from page 89 of Science and Health where Mary Baker Eddy says, “We are all capable of more than we do.” I have been thinking of that this week. When I first came here to Plainfield Church, I felt I had grown about as far as I could in life, only to find that it was just the beginning of what God was going to demand from me.

Multiple times in these past years that I have been a member of this church, I have felt that I was at my absolute limit of what I was capable. And then, each time, just a few months later I would need to take on more work, and it would be clear to me that God was making me ready for it. Now, when I start feeling that I am at my limit, it makes me happy because I know that God is preparing me and soon there will be room for more.

I am so grateful for this process, as not only has it proved to me the truth of Mrs. Eddy’s words, but also I am realizing that anyone willing to go through this process for God will find there is no upper limit; God has created each of us with unlimited potential for expressing His good.

I would like to corroborate what Jeremy said about everyone being capable of more than we do.

When Jeremy first took over the website, he was on his knees, he was willing to do anything that God wanted him to do. We now have at least 25 websites; and when people find our website, they are absolutely amazed by it. In fact, someone recently commented that this must be a huge mega church to have a website like this, and that there must be a lot of people involved in managing this website. Jeremy has help, but he manages all these websites.

There are others in this church who have also found that they are capable of more than they did. We publish magazines, we print and proofread books, people write articles, they contribute in a tremendous number of ways. But the amount of work that gets done by people in this church is nothing less than phenomenal. It couldn’t happen if it wasn’t all done and directed by God. People have put their lives in God’s hands and have been willing to do whatever God asks them to do. They have found that they can do incredible things.

I am so grateful for this. Sometimes, being here all the time, it’s easy to take it for granted, but we should never take that for granted. God is at the helm of this church and it is something to be very grateful for. I’m so grateful that Mary Baker Eddy discovered and gave us the Science of Christianity which enables us to do remarkable things.

I’d like to express my tremendous gratitude for the Plainfield Church, its practitioners, and loving members. I am so grateful that my path in Christian Science led me here.

I discovered Christian Science 10 years ago when my own life was in complete disarray. Somehow, although an atheist at that point, I knew that Christian Science was the only thing that would save me. I nervously entered into a Reading Room, and from then on I spent many days poring through the Bible and Science and Health, seeking healing and harmony. Steadily my understanding started to come together.

I had many small healings and joyous breakthroughs on the path to being fully healed by Christian Science. Very often during prayer, I would be filled with a wonderful warm sensation and felt the comfort of knowing that a healing had taken place.

I continued to pursue my Christian Science education, joining the Mother Church, helping in my local branch church, and ultimately taking class instruction. After that I knew something was very wrong, as spiritual feelings became few and far between and I stopped having the wonderful warm wash of comfort.

A few years ago one of the workers at the Reading Room directed me to a book of Association addresses that was not approved by the Mother Church. I ordered it online, pored through it, and with the thoughts and understanding gained from that book I was able to help my son get through a rocky period of his young life. That was a few years ago. Interestingly I found out that she had subsequently been fired from the Reading Room for not following the rules.

Fast forward: Two years ago my son started having recurring physical problems that interfered with his participation in a beloved sport. I prayed and prayed to no avail, and the situation kept getting worse. I put him in touch with practitioners, and I also worked with practitioners, but his problems kept getting worse. At the beginning of this summer things were so bad for him that he often refused to get out of bed and struggled to get through the day. I knew that God was the only answer, as it had been for me.

I implored God to please show me the right path to helping my son heal. Then one day I got an email from the publisher of the “unapproved” book that helped me with my healing a few years past. They were having a sale on the writings and Association addresses by other Christian Science authors. I ordered several and, although they were heavy reading, I plugged away.

Things were going really badly for my son just before our Christmas holiday and we were getting very concerned for his safety. I took one of these Association address compilations with me on our vacation, continually praying that I would somehow get the understanding needed to help my son.

The Association addresses I was reading made reference to the author’s teacher, Bicknell Young. By chance we were vacationing in Hawaii, on Oahu, where there is a branch of Brigham Young University. I wondered if there was any relation between the two gentlemen with the same last name. With a little help from Google, I learned that they were brothers, and Bicknell had broken away from the Mormon church upon learning Christian Science.

I returned home and went on the internet to buy copies of Bicknell Young writings. That led me to the Plainfield Church with its wonderful practitioners. I was immediately joyous, as I had a feeling that this was finally the right path. My son also started to work with a Plainfield practitioner and started going to Sunday school, which was a big change for an 18 year old. I am happy to report that almost immediately things started falling into place, and now just a few weeks after our first encounter with the Plainfield Church, my son is well on the way to a full healing.

Many years ago I hired a Christian Science caregiver to help a friend of mine temporarily. I had hired caregivers before for my friend, but never one like this one, as I soon learned.

I went to visit my friend one morning when this caregiver was there. As my friend and I were talking in the living room, she began to complain about her problem. Before she could get a few words out of her mouth, from the kitchen came the voice of the caregiver, “WHO’S TALKING?”

Throughout our visit, whenever my friend began to say anything negative, this caregiver, no matter where she was in the house, would yell, “WHO’S TALKING?” and the negativity would be silenced.

As I was getting ready to leave, the caregiver came in to my friend and said, “Do you know what all that talking wanted to say, if it could? It wanted to say, ‘BLAH BLAH BLAH!’ No matter what words were going to be used, all that talking was going to say was, ‘BLAH BLAH BLAH,’ and we are not going to let even that stand in the way of the wonderful Truth and harmony of the Christian Science prayers for this home, and everyone in it.”

This past experience came to my thought recently, and it has helped me to silence the negative clamor that was going on within me.

The words “BLAH BLAH BLAH” are all error is getting from me at present, and I am grateful to hear the clamoring that had been in my thought silenced. Or, I find myself saying, “WHO’S TALKING?” as was said by that wonderful caregiver, and that also stops it.

I am grateful to have learned in Christian Science that the only voice is the voice of Truth, and, as part of Mrs. Eddy’s hymn 304 says, “I will listen for Thy voice.” There is power in that. So, in reality, nothing else is talking!

I am so very grateful for all I am learning in Christian Science since finding this church.

I am so grateful for Christian Science and the teachings here at Plainfield that have taught me about who I really am. I am grateful for Jesus’ instructions in John 5:30 “I can of mine own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my judgment is just; because I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me.” Paul says in Philippians 4:13, “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.” These verses have helped change my life. I cannot be grateful enough because many times I have had to just simply rely on these statements and they have never failed but always brought me through apparently difficult situations.

Some time ago when we had a business, there were many days when it seemed like I could not go on. I would just use this verse, “I can do all through Christ which strengtheneth me,” and every time I was able to finish whatever I had to do. I have gained great respect for these verses and many other Truths. They have proven that they are what we are to rely on. This has also taught me that the real self, which is at one with God, alone can do all things through Him.

For me to think I need to plan my day, doing what I want to do, is not relying on the Truth about the “self” that can “do all things through Christ.” So, humbly do I pray, “Father Thy will be done, show me Thy way. Help me remain who you know that I am.” In thinking this way, I have always come through the challenges that are presented.

Recently, I was to read on Sunday and suddenly the night before I did not feel well. Throughout the night I held to, “I can do whatever God wants me to do.” I turned to this thought many times through the night. Thank God once again He proved Himself. It is a lesson I can never be grateful enough for because I can apply it to everything in my life.

I hope that someone will read this and seek God the way we should and prove that He is here all of the time for any of us who lean on Him. If we trust His Truth, the Truth always proves triumphant. I am grateful for Christ Jesus’ example, for all that Mrs. Eddy sacrificed in her life to explain these Truths, and for everyone who has stood with this Cause to bless others. I am so grateful for this lesson and the teachings I have received in this church.

Thank you tonight for those wonderful readings on God’s law, and ending in Science and Health where Mrs. Eddy says, “Obedience to Truth gives man power and strength.”

Growing up in Science most of my life, I tried very hard to be obedient to God — or what, at the time, I thought was obedience to God. I thought I was pretty obedient; I tried to be kind and loving, and live up to the commandments. But as a young adult, I had many unmet problems — physical, emotional, mental, often sick, very sick really, and didn’t know where I was failing, or what more I needed to do.

I am grateful that I was led to this church and a practitioner here. One thing I learned — and it did take me a while — I hadn’t been totally obedient to God, because I would quite often entertain thoughts of negativity and fear. That was my mode of thinking. Even though I prayed and tried to be a good person, I was fearful and negative. I guess I didn’t realize how disobedient that was. I realized I was acting like a Satan-worshipper! I say that because I needed to shock myself out of that disobedience. I had to realize that every time I was negative and fearful, I was believing that there was a power other than God. So, what would that be? I was believing in evil. I was believing in Satan. Really, that’s what it gets down to, and yet I was calling myself a Christian Scientist.

So, there was this definite duality that I had to face and come to terms with. It took a while because the Christians say “toehold, foothold, stronghold,” and this negativity and fear seemed to have a strong hold on me because I had done it so long. So, I had to begin to “stand porter at the door of thought,” as Mrs. Eddy says in Science and Health and as the Bible says, to bring every thought into captivity to the Christ, — to watch my thinking and when those fearful thoughts came, to realize that this wasn’t just some little indiscretion. I was disobeying God; I was believing that there was some other power. By listening to it and by following its awful demands, I — in belief — was giving it power and life.

Mrs. Eddy says that “error comes to you for life and you give it all the life it has.” And then I had to learn to be a “terror to error,” as Mrs. Eddy also says. Because these thoughts were very aggressive, I had to fight back and know they weren’t true, and that I did believe in one God, one good God. I was going to obey the First Commandment and have no other gods and not believe that there could ever be a power apart from God. As I stood up stoutly for the first time in my entire life, those insidious suggestions began to stop, to be destroyed, because they were not true.

As I did that, and as I did that consistently, all the other problems stopped, too. I was no longer sick all the time, I was no longer a worry-wart or mental wreck, constantly being concerned about this, that, or the next thing. I had a strength from God that I never knew existed. This Science heals. It works. It will change your life forever if you apply it with all your heart and soul and mind.

I am so grateful for this Truth, I’m grateful for a practitioner who knew how to demonstrate it, who gave me the guts to demonstrate it, and to know that we have a good God who loves us, and when we get on our knees to Him, there’s nothing that can’t be healed, changed, rectified. It’s all in His loving care.

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Letters of Gratitude

A few years ago, I decided to take a break from the Christian Science church I was attending as I felt somewhat lost in my spiritual journey and thought I needed some time away to really see where God was leading me. The last few words from one of Mrs. Eddy’s hymns, Hymn 253, “whereto God leadeth me,” would often be in my thoughts as I went about my days. I felt like I wanted to go somewhere quiet for a few months or so, and read and study more of the Bible, and Science and Health, and Prose Works by Mrs. Eddy. During this time, I would meet with a friend who attended a Christian Science church in another location. Whenever we got together we would chat about church and Christian Science.

One day my friend mentioned that she had briefly visited a Christian Science church in Plainfield and told me it was an independent church and gave me the link to the website. She suggested that I check it out. On visiting the website, I was in awe at the amount of reading materials available and for free to anyone, anywhere. Every day I would go online and read or listen to the various articles, and I at once knew that this was the place I wanted to be to continue my learning and growing in the way of Science. God has led me to the Plainfield Christian Science Church, Independent, and I am humbly grateful.

I am very grateful for the Plainfield Church’s Roundtable discussions on Sunday mornings. During the September 15, 2019 Roundtable there was an excellent discussion on supply. It was brought out that when we do God’s work, we can’t help but be blessed. Of course, you don’t do it to get something; you do it because you love God. The blessings come because of obedience.

It reminded me of a prayer that Mrs. Eddy gave to a worker in her home. She told her to put this prayer in her pocketbook and she would never want. I wrote that prayer down and have carried it in my purse for many years, and I have never wanted. The prayer says, “Love is all powerful. Love is all seeing. Love is ever present. Thy kingdom has come. Thy will be done here on earth as it is in heaven, and earth is heaven.” I am so grateful that this church is living Mrs. Eddy’s teachings.

Dear Jeremy,

Thank you for appreciating the accomplishment of one year of translating. Through the whole last year Christian Science Church remained a delight and comfort for me and my family spiritually. Our God blessed me with such wonderful, positive, humble, friendly and honest friends in Plainfield. Through your prayers and concerns for us all here, I could manage many obstacles in my life. I am gradually growing in Spirit with the teachings I am working, and my family and friends could see my life changing in my Lord.

So, I give my great gratitude and thanks to you and to the whole Church for all the spiritual nourishment and provision. I am always praying that this relation with the Church may remain as close as possible to me and my family of workers and friends. I hope this will continue for many upcoming years with the same zeal and honesty.

I am very grateful for all I am learning through all the teaching supplied by the Roundtables, Bible Study sessions, services, testimony meetings and for all your dedication. I am also grateful for all your translators bringing Mrs. Eddy’s work to new audiences. I know this would never have happened in the organization. As was mentioned recently, their prayerful translating alongside the English equivalent is a true gift to the world. Plainfield’s work is an inspiration.

For me sacred music is more important than gold. It is as important as the air I breathe. “Love Grows Here” is an amazing song that brings tears to my eyes because it is food for the soul. It is our job and our duty to promote sacred music, and you are doing a great job. Thank you.

Every day I am so touched by the warmth and love pouring out of this true Christian Science Church.

Every day I visit the wonderful website which seems to me to be the online version of the Kingdom of Heaven! Obviously, I am quite enthusiastic about all of it and find myself spending more of the day pondering the wonders of the Allness of God and His absolute goodness. Thanks to you and the watches, honing thought and helpful on how to be obedient to God’s Truth. Wow!

The Plainfield Church is one huge healing demonstration going out to the world. Everything this church does is an amazing expression of how to “pour in truth through flood-tides of Love.” S&H

One can’t help but become spiritually conscious and be healed along the way. This church keeps getting increasingly spiritually successful. Keep being blessed.

Every day I am so very grateful for this incredible church. It is hard to find the words to tell you how appreciative I am for all that is provided to the listeners and all the work that goes into each and every talk or article, or Bible Study provided by Plainfield to all. The quality of thought that comes out of this church you can feel is God-directed and is so pure. What an amazing wonderful loving gift God has given us.

It is true that situations come to us to help us in our understanding of our spiritual sense and identity. I couldn’t be more grateful for God’s love, and for membership in Plainfield Church. Thank you to all who dedicate their time to preserving Mrs. Eddy’s teachings and making them available to eager hearts around the world.

I subscribe to and look forward to receiving each issue of Love is the Liberator with bated breath. It is wonderful and inspiring, and it keeps getting better with every issue. I am so grateful that Plainfield has undertaken this amazing effort and know that it is truly blessing the world. Many thanks to all who contribute to the production and publication of it! Many thanks to all of you and all the great work that goes on at Plainfield.

With love and appreciation.

Thank you Plainfield Church for having such jewels as “Happiness and Love” by Bicknell Young available on your website. This particular article was such a refreshing help in the “wee small hours.” Thank you also for bringing such jewels to our attention through links in Daily Calendar Statements and announcements at the services.

I wanted to share this wonderful prayer I found and pray daily from Collectanea of Items By and About Mary Baker Eddy. It certainly seems to cover all we are handling in the world today and hope everyone finds it helpful.

“O God, I have taken hold of Thy hand of Thine omnipotence. Thou hast taken my feet from the mire and clay and established them upon the rock. I am not afraid for I know Thou hast lifted me above the world, its erroneous illusions and temptations, I know them henceforth no more forever.”

As a Christian Science nurse, I once cared for a patient with all the aggressive symptoms of HIV. I was prayed up and was without fear. Some others wore gloves because the strong horrible odor would seem to attach to skin as well as to breathing passages of anyone in the room. The odor did not attach to my skin, hands, clothing etc. That demonstration impressed me more over time than at the time. Today it serves as a reminder to stay prayed up! Only when you are prayed up can you reflect Truth and move “undisturbed amidst the jarring testimony” of the current plague belief.

Thank you for the beautiful readings on “God our Nearest and Dearest” in the March 4, 2020 testimony meeting, As the Bible Lesson on Christ Jesus last week, and this week’s Lesson on Man, these readings clearly show us that our life is in God, Our Nearest and Dearest. We learn here to never start with a problem; always stay focused on God, ask Him and He leads the way.

I had to go to the DMV to renew my driver’s license and get the real ID (something needed by October 1, for federal identification); I was told it takes hours to do this and to bring a book. In the past, I would not have thought of taking my Bible, but that was what I was led to do; also I printed out a copy of the readings from March 4th to take with me. The time flew by. It didn’t take hours, and I had the opportunity to help others as well. It was a joyous time.

Thank you for the Roundtable on March 8, 2020. At one point you were talking about freedom, which reminded me of a very inspiring testimony from the book, “A Century of Christian Science Healing,” in which a lady, during the Second World War, simply walked out of a prisoner of war camp. This is a small extract, which I found interesting.

“I first received the book [Science and Health] in September of 1942, and sometime in January 1943 I was studying, and all of a sudden I caught a glimpse of what man is: the spiritual idea and likeness of God. It was just as if a fog had been let open and I saw that man — as he really is — cannot be detained in prison, he cannot be confined in a camp, and he is as unlimited and unbounded as God. It practically seemed ridiculous to think that you could keep man behind barbed wires, or confined in anything.

So I picked up the Bible, Science and Health, my German Herald, and a few personal things, and I walked out of this camp by broad daylight. I didn’t try to hide anything. I just walked out the one street— there was only one road out of the camp. There were watch towers, there were continually soldiers on duty, and they had trucks and armed vehicles. But I went down on foot for about two hours and a half to the closest railway station, and I took a train to Vienna. No one came after me; no one even saw me walk out. (Mrs. L. Adrienne Vinciguerra, Santee, California)”

Thank you for all the uplifting news reports you post on the “Noteworthy News” page. It’s so refreshing and encouraging to read about the good going on, rather than the negativity the press usually feeds us.

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Testimonies of Healing

from D. F. in Florida

I’d like to express gratitude for a healing I had when I was a kid in kindergarten. I was at the school and took a fall which broke my right arm. Needless to say I was in pain and the school called my parents. My father came and took me to the local doctor. He did this mainly so the school would know he had taken what they considered appropriate steps. Anyway, he had already called our practitioner and asked for help. The pain had stopped very quickly. I remember that the doctor x-rayed my arm and was amazed. The bone was set perfectly. This was surely the result of prayer. Still he wanted to put my arm in a cast. My father said no just wrap it in an ace bandage. This was done and they put my arm in a sling. In a couple of weeks we went back and had it x-rayed again. Once again the doctor was amazed. My arm was perfectly healed and he said you couldn’t even tell that it had been broken. This is proof of God’s healing power that extends to even broken bones. I’m very grateful for CS, this church and the healing practitioners that I have had over the years as well as now.

from S. W. in New Jersey

Recently I had what I thought was a bad cold and cough. I prayed about the situation, but I soon realized I had all the symptoms of pneumonia. Several years ago I was diagnosed with pneumonia and spent some time in a hospital, and was out of work for a while, so I was very familiar with the symptoms. I realized I needed help and called a Plainfield practitioner.

The practitioner didn’t believe this imposition for a minute! She agreed to pray for me and asked me to study the article “I’ve Got Cold” in Miscellaneous Writings by Mary Baker Eddy, and also pages 390-393 in Science and Health, part of which says, “Rise in the conscious strength of the spirit of Truth to overthrow the plea of mortal mind, alias matter, arrayed against the supremacy of Spirit.”

Within three days I was completely healed and back at work.

Thank God for Mrs. Eddy’s Christian Science and the prayers of the practitioner for this quick healing.

from J. F. in Florida

I am very grateful for a wonderful healing I had this weekend. For the past week-and-a-half I had intense pain in my hips and joints, to such a degree that I was hobbling when I walked, and had trouble climbing the stairs at home. I called a practitioner here and asked her for prayerful help. She told me to continue to work daily with the definition of God in Science and Health, knowing God is “all action,” governing all my action and all my activity. She also gave me statements in Science and Health to work with, especially, “The intercommunication is always from God to His idea, man,” and “Truth communicates itself but never imparts error.”

The next day I still needed more help, so I asked the practitioner to continue the prayer. She agreed, and with much love told me to “Lean on God.” I was comforted by that statement, and also by the fact that the practitioner was continuing the work.

The following morning, I awoke with such a clear sense that this pain was not in my body, but was an imposition on my thought. I saw that I was unconsciously accepting the mental and verbal suggestions around me of age and joint replacement. When I realized that these were only mental impositions, all pain in my body was gone! That day I was able to clean the bathroom, mop both the bathroom and kitchen floors, and stand up during the day cooking without any aches or pain. When I told the practitioner of the healing, she rejoiced and said she had been praying for me throughout the weekend.

This was a wonderful physical healing, but it was also a much-needed lesson for me to be more conscientious in protecting my thought, and to know that those aggressive suggestions are not true for anyone, anywhere.

I am so grateful for the practitioner’s persistent and loving help, and for this wonderful Christian Science.

from L. S. in New Jersey

I am very grateful for practitioner support here at Plainfield Christian Science Church, Independent and all the audio recordings we have available on our website.

During a routine eye exam I was told that one of my eyes was showing symptomsof a deteriorating condition. The eye doctor spent extra time closely examining it and expressed concern that I come back to have it monitored. My practitioner instructed me to pray daily about vision and told me to use several articles regularly. They were “Age” by Mary Baker Eddy, “Eyes and Ears” by Bicknell Young and “True Vision” by John Morgan, which can all be found on the Plainfield Church website.

I followed her instructions and continued to get regular practitionersupport. In my day-to-day life I put into practice what I was learning from her and our church classes.

Two-and-a half years later, I needed to get new glasses. With the practitioner’s prayers I found a perfect place to have my eyes examined that met all my needs. Both eyes were thoroughly examined by an experienced professional. No problem was found in either eye. I was given a new prescription and sent on my way.

I am grateful for this healing and the many lessons during this time.

from C. C. in New Jersey

A few weeks ago, I tripped over a curb and fell flat on the sidewalk. I felt a tremendous pain in my back, but I was able to sit up and sat on the curb for a few minutes praying, thinking of the 91st Psalm, where it says His angels “shall bear thee up in their hands, lest thou dash thy foot against a stone”—or a curb! After a few minutes, I was able to get up and drive home, and did everything I needed to do for the rest of the day.

But that night when I tried to go to bed, I found I couldn’t lie down because of severe pain in my back. I could only sit on a straight-backed chair, and I spent the night walking around or sitting on the chair, while listening to readings recorded on the church website.

In the morning I asked a Plainfield practitioner for help. She said, “You were rushing again, weren’t you.” She was right, I had been rushing, and not obeying “the stately goings of Mind” that she has talked to me about before. She told me to learn the lesson, and remember that it never happened in divine Mind, and she gave me many other truths to work with.

My back began to feel better and better, and by the evening I was finally able to sit comfortably on my couch. I went to bed, and slept soundly and painlessly until 8:00 the next morning! I got up with no pain, and my back moved freely. I called the practitioner to tell her I was completely healed, and my back has remained perfect ever since.

I am very grateful that the practitioner would not let me make excuses, but helped me to face my sin. I saw clearly that when I was rushing, I couldn’t hear God’s voice. I see now that when we are willing to come face-to-face with our sins, good things happen.

I am so grateful for the help of the practitioner, and grateful for God and Mrs. Eddy for this way of life, where we can learn our life lessons and go on to serve God better than ever.

Germany

We had storm warnings in Germany. When I got up last Monday it was raining, stormy, there was a dark, cloudy sky, and the weather was very noisy.

That reminded me of Mrs. Eddy, and that she wanted her students to handle the weather. I remembered that a student had asked Mrs. Eddy what she did when the stormy weather had changed into harmony. She answered she saw God’s smile.

I sat down and looked outside the window and declared that we live in the atmosphere of Spirit, that God, good, is the only cause of everything so there can only be good effects.

Nobody has to fear the weather, since we live, move, and have our being in God. He loves us, and He takes care of everything, everybody, and every detail. Principle is the law of harmony, and Love embraces us all.

Then I had a conversation with my son, and when I looked out of the window again, the wind and rain had stopped, the clouds had started to disappear, and there was a little light blue band in the sky coming out.

I am very grateful that God led me to Christian Science, and I want to thank you at Plainfield Church, Independent for all your wonderful work — the home page and all your audio services. Thank you very much!

from C. T. in New Jersey

When I joined this church some years ago, I sometimes got wrong thoughts during the day. I didn’t want to act them out, but the thoughts would recur. Without even asking, a teacher and practitioner in this church gave the following instruction that healed the whole trouble. The first thing every morning, I was to declare, “God is Mind. God is my Mind. God is the only pure Mind.”

I did this faithfully and it helped me to believe I was naturally a good person, an unselfish person, and a loving person. When bad thoughts came about myself or others, I was no longer fooled. I said NO to them, and eventually the thoughts hardly came, and now are rare. What wonderful peace remains. I experienced what is spoken in the Bible as “the peace of God, which passeth all understanding.” (Phil. 4:7). Thank God for this practitioner, Mary Baker Eddy, and the simple Christian Science taught in this church.

from L. S. in Ohio

It is true that situations come to help us grow in our understanding of our spiritual sense and identity. I couldn’t be more grateful for God’s love and for membership in the Plainfield Church. Thank you to all who dedicate their time to preserving Mrs. Eddy’s teachings and making them available to eager hearts around the world. I would like to express my sincere gratitude to God and Plainfield practitioners for a healing I had recently.

In the Fall of 2018, my son’s girlfriend of five years broke it off with him. He was devastated and spiraled quickly into a fretful depressive state. I feared that he might take his life. In desperation I reached out for the first time to a Plainfield practitioner. I received immediate support and was told to read about children in Mrs. Eddy’s book, “Watches, Prayers, Arguments.” While she prayed, I worked with this quote from Mrs. Eddy: “Your every thought and action are love, goodness, tenderness, gentleness, beauty, holiness, joy, and peace; that peace which passeth all human understanding. In God we live, move and have our being; therefore we are in Life, health, strength forever. To be conscious of this, is to be in the presence of God — with the Father, who is Life, Truth, and Love. Amen.”

I felt immediate relief knowing that the practitioner and God were in my son’s corner. When I would feel at a loss for words or a way to help him, these words would give me peace.

When I talked with her the next day, he did not seem any lighter in his thinking, but we persisted. By the close of that week, there was a dramatic change in his thinking. At the time of the initial call, he could not see any options other than getting back with this girl, and certainly no motivation to move forward. By the end of the week there was a remarkable change, marked by his desire to get out of the house and to begin to find happiness outside of that relationship.

God provided him with an opportunity for a new job. He explored new activities, and became invested in life again. A little over a year later, he is not only enjoying a busy and active life, he has met a wonderful young woman, and is enjoying her company immensely. God provides.

In my job, which is working with young children, the ideas in that article I mentioned earlier, are so helpful. In closing, Mrs. Eddy says when thinking of our children: “You are not weak or easily led astray. You cannot desire to rule and lead others. You are not rebellious or obstinate. You have no human will. God’s will is all, and you are its reflection. Therefore, you will only do right, for you reflect and inherit divine wisdom and understanding.”

Thank you, practitioner, and thank you to the Plainfield Christian Science Church, Independent.

I would just like to mention the book that the previous testifier mentioned, “Watches, Prayers, Arguments,” given by Mary Baker Eddy and compiled by Gilbert Carpenter.

There are many, many wonderful prayers in that book to use. The one she mentioned was under a title called “Argument” and it’s in my book on page 147 (page 154 in comb-bound edition), and it begins with the words “Children, you are a perfect thought of God, made in His image and likeness, surrounded by His love, as by a strong fortress, through which no evil can reach you.”

I have worked with that watch almost every day for years, since I had two young children. Whether you have young children or grown children, or whether you are a child of God yourself, — which we all are, — it’s a wonderful and very complete treatment. Many times we are asked about watches and how to do them, and how to pray. In this book there are watches that were used in Mrs. Eddy’s home. It’s an invaluable aid to any working Christian Scientist, and is available through our church.

Ohio

This is my first, but certainly not my last testimony. I recently asked a Plainfield practitioner for help with a long-standing case of eczema which covered me from head to toe. She suggested I work with the article “True Vision” by John Morgan and also “Age” by Mary Baker Eddy.

The following statements spoke strongly to me. “And don’t look on life from any viewpoint with a protest. Cultivate a love for people — exclusive of yourself — and let it be that divine love that sends out joy to everyone and so happiness to self.” (Watching Point No. 392) I had been protesting and believing that some people within my circle were negative and unlikely ever to change. I justified that it was just the way they were, placing myself above them in an ivory tower. That recognition was very humbling.

A child I had taken care of for four years had always been a challenge. The older she got the more difficult her behavior became. I subconsciously believed that she would never be able to change. Well not surprisingly, those irritations were being manifested all over my body. I worked with the practitioner for a little over a week, at which time I felt I had made significant progress with this problem, and continued to grow daily, pursuing the path of loving everyone, and trying to see them as God created them, not through limited human sight and experience. The practitioner suggested that I read what Mrs. Eddy stresses in the article “Age.” “You change the physical manifestations in proportion to your changed thoughts.” Also from that article, I enjoyed the strong direction of the following statement. “Your faith and trust in the omnipotent power of Truth are perfect, and unclouded, and you know that God is your sufficiency. Never was one of God’s children palsied or helpless, for all his works are good and eternal.” The practitioner told me that as she worked for me, God would be perfecting all that concerned me.

During the previous six weeks I had been experiencing a persistent cough and respiratory issues. Within a couple of days of working with the practitioner, all of those symptoms disappeared; but that was not all. Two months prior, our older dog had become lame and had been hobbling with great discomfort. My husband, who is not a Christian Scientist, had taken her to the vet and was given countless pills, none of which improved her situation. We were told that it might not improve because of her age. Three days after working with a practitioner, the dog was walking with a perfect gate and has continued to romp with the younger dogs like she was a puppy. I am so grateful for these healings. It is sure proof that the Lord is perfecting all that concerns me.

from L. T. in New York

I am so grateful to God for all that I have been given.

There was a time in my life when I thought for sure, that there was no God, no good anywhere. Growing up was tough in an abusive environment. It was a struggle every day to hold on to whatever hope could be found. I often found myself standing on the edge of a cliff, looking down, tossing aside all hope of ever finding peace. It was becoming impossible to express any bit of soul I had left. I felt powerless, broken and useless. Then God led me here to the Plainfield Church and my practitioner. I learned of the true sense of God through Christian Science. It felt like I woke up in a whole new world. Being healed of all that negativity, by the flood-tides of Love and Truth, has opened my heart to all that God is.

It was difficult at first, to let go of the past. It was the only life I knew. But God promises a new life; and as scary as that sounded to me, being someone who always needed to know what was coming next so I could prepare for it, I learned with the help of my practitioner and the example set by this Church, to let go and trust that whatever was coming next, was only good.

This new understanding has given me the strength and the power to move forward and strive to live the life God has given me, free of discord, free of pain and suffering. A life full of blessings, where I am able to express Him in all that I do, as best as I can. Each day, praying and seeking wisdom and understanding. I have learned that even when I am struggling to hear His voice and do His will, He is right there with me, with an open hand to pull me up. Nothing in this world is ever broken beyond repair.

I cherish being a member of this Church. I am deeply grateful to Mrs. Eddy for this Science and the work of my practitioner that has lifted me out of the depths of despair.

Easter joy from Luanne in New York

Handmade pottery by Luanne — facebook.com/Cre8somethingnew

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.

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.

Websites in Other Languages

Our missionary work is expanding. We have recently launched websites in the languages of Hungarian, Ukrainian, Russian, Marathi, Nepali, Pashto, Persian, Sindhi, and Tamil, which join with our existing Spanish, French, German, Dutch, Chinese, Hindi, Punjabi, and Urdu — that makes seventeen languages other than English!

Much gratitude to all of our translators for their individual demonstrations which are working to bless every corner of the world!

We recently received the following email from someone new in Pakistan:

Accept my greetings and salute for the lovely way to produce your unchallenged true teachings about God, as our Mind, we as His ideal creation and making it clear what the Christian Science Church is giving to the spiritual-thirsty like me. The great work you and your Church is dealing regarding foreign languages is amazing and fruitful. I am having great blessings since I have started learning the Word of God through your website and YouTube channels. Especially Pashto, Sindhi, Urdu, Punjabi, Tamil and Marathi languages are doing great things spiritually in my life when I read and listen to the YouTube lessons.

I greatly appreciate it and ask my Lord for the unstoppable blessings for the whole church worldwide. May you always please my heart and soul by producing these lessons and other great material in all the languages of the world especially for my Pakistani and Indian people. Amen.

I thank you and the whole church again for all of this.

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”