About the 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.”

The Seventh Commandment

from the March 5, 1927 issue of the Christian Science Sentinel

“Thou shalt not commit adultery.” A dictionary defines the word “adulterate” as meaning “to corrupt, debase, or make impure by admixture of a foreign or a baser substance; as to adulterate food.” On page 67 of “Miscellaneous Writings” Mrs. Eddy has written, “'Thou shalt not commit adultery;' in other words, thou shalt not adulterate Life, Truth, or Love, — mentally, morally, or physically.” The seventh commandment rings down the ages as a demand for mental, moral, and physical purity, a stern reminder that we are to keep unsullied and uncontaminated that which was given us as sons of God “in the beginning.” We are not to make our mental home a sacred place, for it is already so in Truth; but we are to keep it so. We are to stand watchfully at the door of thought, challenging each newcomer with the old cry, “Halt! Who goes there?” And if anything presents itself which “defileth, ... or maketh a lie,” it must be given instant dismissal.

All this is very easy to say; but let us not be disheartened if our progress along this line seems sometimes to be slow, and perhaps fraught with many failures. So long as we are still, in greater or less degree, believing ourselves to be living in matter instead of in Spirit, erroneous and disturbing mental visitors will continue to present themselves. Yet, let us remember in this connection that one gets “what he makes a market for,” as the saying is. One may not run away from evil suggestions, but he can know, and prove, that they will come to him less and less as each day he rids himself of some unspiritual thinking; and hence that there will be in him each day less and less materiality to make response.

To evade is not to conquer. Jesus understood this when, in praying for his disciples on the night before the crucifixion, he said, “I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil.” To be in the world but not of it is the true test of greatness. One may shut himself within stone walls, or dwell a hermit in mountain fastnesses in his endeavor to overcome the lusts of the flesh, only to find that wherever he goes he takes with him the real source of his difficulty, his rebellious, uncontrolled, undisciplined human belief in a mind apart from God. Repression is not demonstration.

The seventh commandment bids us correct and purify our thoughts by becoming each day more and more conscious of our unity with God, with good. Let us be so attuned to good that we make no response to evil. Jesus once said, “The prince of this world cometh, and hath nothing in me.” In other words, evil suggestions may come, but they will find nothing in one to respond to them. And one may be sure that in that case they will not continue to come very long. When right thinking builds its own impenetrable defense, no attack of the enemy can prevail, however cunningly devised. Joseph and Daniel both lived for a time as captives in the midst of the most corrupt and licentious surroundings; yet each maintained his high standard of purity, even though it sent one to a dungeon and the other into a den of lions. Their God delivered them in each case, just as to-day He will deliver those who steadfastly refuse obedience to the demands of every false god.

In the adulteration of food or any commercial commodity, the baser element thus added is usually of a cheap and deleterious nature. It is generally done to make the commodity cheaper to produce, and thus to deceive the buyer. Just in proportion as the spurious element is added is the original purity and intrinsic value of the commodity destroyed; yet, if one be not awake to the deception, he will accept the adulterated product in the belief that it is genuine. In the published writings of Mary Baker Eddy is to be found Christian Science in all its purity and completeness. She is its Discoverer and Founder, and her books, read in connection with that greatest of all books, the Bible, are all that anyone requires to enable him to become a Christian Scientist. No books of human opinions about it, however attractively presented, are necessary to the acquiring of a demonstrable knowledge of this Science.

Our real need is not more books, but more devoted and unremitting application to those we already have. Let us guard against the mesmerism of mental laziness or a belief of superior intellectuality, which would lead one to drink of a fountain contaminated and adulterated by human theories. These so-called helps are not “simpler” and “easier,” as some have already found to their sorrow. Genuine Christian Science is so simple that even little children can understand it. Mrs. Eddy herself writes (Retrospection and Introspection, p. 61): “Posterity will have the right to demand that Christian Science be stated and demonstrated in its godliness and grandeur, — that however little be taught or learned, that little shall be right. Let there be milk for babes, but let not the milk be adulterated.”

No one on earth to-day can realize what our Leader went through to give Christian Science to the world. It rests with us, her followers, to whom Mrs. Eddy intrusted this “pearl of great price,” to guard and protect it as our most priceless possession, to be jealous over it “with godly jealousy.” Let us daily watch and pray that we be not robbed of it by aggressive mental suggestion. Let us prove that we cannot be confused in our Christian metaphysics. For if the practitioners of Christian Science should become confused, where would the healing be? And if the healing stopped, where would the Cause of Christian Science be? And what if the teachers in the Sunday schools should begin to substitute their own views for absolute Christian Science?

The seventh commandment is a constant reminder that “the inoculation of evil human thoughts ought to be understood and guarded against” (Science and Health, p. 449). It is a clarion call to inspire us with the joyous knowledge that, under God's law, His children have a right not only to a religion pure and undefiled, but to all things else pure and undefiled as well — pure food, pure air, pure companionship, innocent amusement, clean and wholesome occupation. The seventh commandment is a divine demand to rise above earth-sense and its limitations into the clear atmosphere of Spirit, to hold ourselves ever untouched and uncontaminated by evil, remembering always that it is the pure in heart who see God.

Excerpt from the October 1929 issue of The Christian Science Journal

No one since the time of Jesus has healed as Mrs. Eddy healed. And why? Because her spirituality, selflessness, purity, and love for mankind most nearly resembled that of our blessed Master; because her thought was so pure that she was able to receive the revelation of the truth, and because she saw it so clearly that she was able to heal the sick and the sinner and to restore the dying to health. If we wish to obey the commands of Jesus, if we wish to show our gratitude to our beloved Leader, we must go forward. Not only must we be healed, but we must learn to heal the sick, the sad, the sinner. This work can be accomplished only through love and purity, which reflect divine Mind. We cannot love God, good, unless we are pure; and the more unselfed our love is, the greater is our purity of thought.

Let us keep the seventh commandment in its broadest sense! Let us never for a single moment adulterate our thought of man as God's perfect idea! Let us always endeavor to see him as he really is, the perfect, pure reflection of God! In this way our thoughts will grow pure, and will bless and heal whomsoever they may rest upon. As this lesson is learned, we shall be well on the way to winning the prize.

“Whatever dims thy sense of truth,

Or stains thy purity,

Though light as breath of summer air,

Count it as sin to thee.

“Preserve the tablet of thy thoughts

From every blemish free,

While the Redeemer's lowly faith

Its temple makes with thee.”

Excerpt from the May 1894 issue of The Christian Science Journal

Thou shall not commit adultery.

This prohibits the violation of the moral law of chastity in the broadest possible sense. There is no form of unchastity against which it is not directed. Every lustful or impure thought and act, is a violation of this command. The impure thought, even though not expressed in act, is the commission of adultery. So the Master expressly said. He also said: “That which cometh out from a man, that defileth the man. For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness; all these things come from within, and defile the man.” Every one of these qualities is an adulterous quality. Webster defines adultery thus: "Adulteration; corruption; lewdness; unchastity of thought or action; faithlessness in religion; injury; degradation; ruin.” Thus we see that even according to the ordinary definition of the word, adultery is much more than the violation of chastity, as that term is commonly understood. Any form of dishonesty is adultery. We hear much of the adulteration of food in the commercial world; this is a form of adultery. But in the higher sense, any departure from the law of righteousness is adultery. Any violation of the first commandment is therefore adulterous. Hence the only way to avoid committing adultery is to have no other gods than Him who is wholly pure.

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Items By and About Mary Baker Eddy

Dear God, I ask for divine Love to leave me not to be tempted, nor to yield to temptation in any direction. I ask for wisdom and grace to know and to do just what God would have me do.

My dear Students: Guard your tongues. When you see sin in others, know that you have it in

yourselves, and become repentant. If you think you are not mortal, you are mistaken.

I find my students either in an apathy or a frenzy. I am astonished at your ignorance of the methods of animal magnetism. Your enemies are working incessantly, while you are not working as you should. They do not knock, they come with a rush. They do not take me unawares. I know before they come.

Would that my head were a fountain of waters, and my eyes rivers of tears that I might weep, because of the apathy of the students and the little that they have accomplished. You have never seen me in my real home, but you may sometime. Come with me into it.

from Lessons of the Seventh Day, (the “Brown Book”)

Animal magnetism is the belief in material man, that Life, substance and intelligence are material instead of spiritual.

1. There is ignorant A.M. which includes all beliefs of colds, damp climate, food, heredity, contagion, producing disease.
2. There is malicious A.M. including belief of anger, envy, jealousy, hate, etc., held against another person.
3. There is malicious mental malpractice (M.M.P.) which is educated thought that has learned the power of thought and uses it for a wrong end. This is sometimes operated through prayers that Christian Scientists may have relapses, reverses, losses, etc., that they may be discouraged, disillusioned, may have a return of their old beliefs [causing] them to doubt the efficacy of treatment being of God; or through predictions or prophecies of evil to make them consent to aggressive mental suggestions of the power of evil or the peace of dying; or through anathema that all enemies of the Holy Mother Church may suffer. This claim seems to act as a narcotic.

In healing malicious mental malpractice these are the main points to be taken up: Recognition that all mental malpractice is based on the supposition:

1. That there is a mortal mind.
2. That it manifests itself through what are termed avenues — channels or instruments.
3. That it can impart to thought what it suggests through its channels.
4. That it can enforce its beliefs or declarations, its rule, wish, or desire, by means of its law.
5. That it has any object on which to impress itself.

If we are going to forestall animal magnetism’s attempt to destroy everything that is good in human experience, we have not a moment to lose. The highest form of evil is malicious mental malpractice, which is educated evil.

Meet animal magnetism without a fight. There is no animal magnetism that can reverse the currents of Truth in consciousness. Arguments are mesmerism. Error is not a person, place, nor thing, and there are no avenues, channels, nor instruments, through which it can act or upon whom it can devolve any power or capacity to act. God is almighty and All-in-all.

Know that God sent it even if it seems the devil brought it.

M.M.P. is not power, mind, or law. It has no sphere of activity, no mind to project its beliefs, no mind to accept its beliefs. It has no dupes, no victims. It is not law — it is not a lawmaker.

Keep the joy of Christian Science and a well-grounded and boundless hope in your success. Remember as Truth progresses, error grows more subtle and aggressive but it does not become something — it always remains an illusion and is always met and destroyed with the understanding that divine Love is the only power.

This last lesson that Jesus taught his students was the most advanced, and this was that lesson: repentance, humility, self-consecration.

Under a Quotation from Phillips Brooks in her ‘Sentinel’ for January 6, 1906, Vol. VIII, p. 294 The secret of my life is in the above.

(The quotation was as follows:

God has not given us vast learning to solve all the problems, or unfailing wisdom to direct all the wanderings of our brothers' lives; but He has given to every one of us the power to be spiritual, and by our spirituality to lift and enlarge and enlighten the lives we touch.)

The fleeting freshness of youth, however, is not the evergreen of Soul; the coloring glory of perpetual bloom; the spiritual glow and grandeur of a consecrated life wherein dwelleth peace, sacred and sincere in trial or in triumph.

from the Christian Science Sentinel, November 2, 1912

HARK! a voice of gentle sweetness

 Whispers to the listening ear,

Bringing joy and peace and gladness,

 Faith and hope instead of fear.

Shedding light where all was darkness,

 Happiness where all was gloom,

Just a low sweet voice which murmurs,

 I will lead you safely home.

Every one may hear its message —

 King or beggar, high and low,

Soldiers 'mid the din of battle,

 Sailors when the tempests blow,

To the man of business worries,

 To the orphan left alone,

Comes the low sweet voice which murmurs,

 I will lead you safely home.

Whose the voice that comes so sweetly,

 Leaving peace along the way,

Healing all the broken-hearted,

 Cheering each so tenderly?

'Tis the voice of Love that whispers

 To the weary ones that roam:

Courage, I am with you alway;

 I will lead you safely home.

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History Corner

Mary Baker Eddy was well known worldwide in her time and made headlines around the world. Her views on different topics were frequently requested. Her articles, sermons, and poems were published by the general media.

One of the periodicals in which Mary Baker Eddy was featured was called The Granite Monthly, a New Hampshire magazine that was “devoted to literature, biography, history, and state progress.”

Mary Baker Eddy submitted the following for their October 1901 edition, which was included in a 15-page article titled “Christian Science and the Children.” The above picture of Mother’s Room was included as well.

[Given for this article by courtesy of Mrs. Eddy, August, 1901.]

Concord, April 16, 1891.

To the Sabbath School Children.

My Dear Little Friends: — Do you know how much I love you? Do you know that God loves you? Do you know that all the ways of loveliness merit affection? Also they make you smart in planning to do good — they make you prompt in doing good, and make your motives unselfish, this is the best of all.

Only think of having these gems of childhood character among the foundation stones for the Church of Christ, Scientist, in Boston!

Only think that sometime I may go into this church, look at its massive walls, and, try to think how many doll dresses, how many paper bags of pop corn, how much candy it took, how much shoveling of snow, carrying up wood, yea, how many loving, tireless tasks the dear children cheerfully performed to help build the first church for Christian Science in Massachusetts.

Your sweet example is writing out in bas relief a golden rule in Christian Science. And it should arouse your senior Scientists all over the world to go and do likewise.

When our elder brethren take up the cross as eagerly as you have taken it, they will find, like you, it is no cross, and this long needed Temple dedicated to our God will go up, and its spire point to Heaven.

Yours in tenderness,

Mary Baker G. Eddy.

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Children’s Corner

The Ten Commandments (Exodus 20:1–17) are important and show how His people should live.

God’s rules protect us — they are a guide to living a life of blessing and peace. Long ago, God gave Moses the Ten Commandments to take to all the people. Look at the first four Commandments (rules). They talk about how to love God with all your heart. The other six talk about how we should treat each other. Christ Jesus was the perfect example of keeping God’s rules. It pleases God when we follow or obey His rules, and you will feel happy too!

1. Love God first in all you think, say and do. Love God more than anything else.
2. There is nothing more important than God; worship Him only.
3. When you talk about God, always use His name with love and respect.
4. Have a day to rest each week to love, honor, and thank God.
5. Love, respect, and obey your parents.
6. Do not hurt others with words or actions. Don’t tease.
7. Be faithful and keep your promises to others and God.
8. Do not steal from others. Don't take anything that isn't yours. God is giving you all you need.
9. Always tell the truth, even when it is hard.
10. Do not be jealous or envious of others; be happy with what you have and be happy for them.

“Child's Prayer

Dear Father, I want to love Thee supremely; I want to be unselfish, temperate, pure and good; I want to love and honor my earthly parents, and so be able to uplift humanity. I know that God is good, and that He hath made me in His own likeness, harmonious and immortal; and I will strive daily not to make myself appear otherwise. I thank Thee now and forevermore. Amen ”

from Divinity Course and General Collectanea, (the “Blue Book"), by Mary Baker Eddy, page 279

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Inspired Gems

We are not obliged to take any step in haste. Wait on God, and not on human opinions. Demonstration is sometimes waiting.

Dear God, I ask for divine Love to leave me not to be tempted, nor to yield to temptation in any direction. I ask for wisdom and grace to know and to do just what God would have me do.

The mission of Christian Science is to bring the activities of righteousness into daily use, to prove to the world that right thinking is the only practical solution of every human problem.

It is not a matter of time so much as a matter of heart; if you have the heart to pray, you will find the time.

The quality of mercy is not strained;

It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven

Upon the place beneath. It is twice blest;

It blesseth him that gives and him that takes.

Perfection is the birthright of all the children of God. Had it not been so, Jesus would not have encouraged his disciples to strive for it.

Whoever resists all false thoughts and feelings and holds his consciousness open to Divine Love sees the way of spiritual completeness stretching before him and learns to walk in it unafraid, spiritually strong, radiant with the blessedness of universal love.

You don't have to move a foot from where you are, to realize the full presence and power of God.

Do not wrestle too hard. Take time off occas-ionally to be just lazy and ordinary. Then it is that you are most likely to hear what the Lord is saying. Never doubt it; He is talking to you pretty constantly.

Men ought to begin each day with the greatest expectancy that immeasurable good will come to them, rejoicing always that today “is the day which the Lord hath made."

No one should be ashamed to admit he is wrong, which is but saying, in other words, that he is wiser today than he was yesterday.

The food that the student eats should remind him of God's love for His children, as it comes to them and is assimilated by them, nourishing and resurrecting their sense of life.

God is unfailing, unchanging, irresistible Love. The vainglorious claim of evil to reality fades into nothingness before the radiance of divine Love. Doubt not! The great Physician, divine Love, is beside every bed of pain, ready to wipe away all tears, dispel all fear. Nothing is too tenacious, too ‘old,’ or too hard for Love to dissolve; nothing is impossible to God.

Christian Scientists are not running their lives by the key-note of Christianity so long as smug self-satisfaction preserves enough of a personal sense to deal grudgingly with each other, instead of overflowing lovingly and healingly.

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From the Early Workers

From the July 1901 issue of the Christian Science Journal

In Jesus’ treatment of the lepers… he put his hands upon them, which was contrary to the law relating to the isolation of lepers,—and it is really most important that we should know why he did this. Was it merely to show his disregard of all human law? This is not supposable for a moment, but it seems very clear indeed that in this act he illustrated and demonstrated what St. Paul calls, “The law of Spirit of life in Christ Jesus,” which sets free from the law of sin and death.

It would have been impossible for sin to have invaded his pure consciousness, even though he were constantly associated with the impure, and equally impossible for disease to have affected him through contact with those suffering from its most terrible forms, and why? The answer is to be found in the apostle's words, “In him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily.” Did this Truth apply to him alone? it is well to ask. The apostle who declared it also prayed on behalf of all Christians, “That ye might be filled with all the fulness of God.” If we are filled with the fulness of God may we not resist both moral and physical contagion, and is it not also possible that the light which shines through us may go out with healing power and glorify our Father in Heaven?

From the June 16, 1917 issue of the Christian Science Sentinel

“The recipe for beauty,” Mrs. Eddy writes on page 247 of Science and Health, “is to have less illusion and more Soul, to retreat from the belief of pain or pleasure in the body into the unchanging calm and glorious freedom of spiritual harmony.”

It is generally understood that the apprecia-tion of beauty is a perception of certain qualities, and one writer has said that we may search the whole world over to find the beautiful, but except we carry it with us we shall not find it. It is seen, then, that the definition of beauty as well as the definition of truth, must be sought in the realm of metaphysics; …

As a manifestation of good, beauty is radiant with life, positive with truth, redolent with love, and such must be the beauty sung by the psalmist, who said, “Worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness.” What is the “beauty of holiness” but life replete with a satisfying knowledge of divine Love, overcoming evil with good and finding manifestation in the graces of Spirit? With the unfolding understanding of truth comes the apprehension and appreciation of beauty and the ability to express it.

Even as the artist seeks the model which will best aid him in delineating his ideals, then works perseveringly to express his inspiration in a form suitable to convey his message, so must the student of Christian Science discern his spiritual model, the Christ-idea, and study it continually until it shall find expression in God's own way. Thoughts of love, faith, hope, meekness, good-ness, gentleness, childlike trust in the Father, honesty, uprightness, — all these reflect health and beauty on the body, …

What painting, what wondrous tapestry, what sculptured story can compare with the beauty of a life redeemed from suffering or sin! As the truth is lovingly presented, fear and anxiety give place to confidence and trust. A revelation of the joys of Soul changes sorrow into rejoicing; dull despair disappears in the light of hope; and morbid stagnation is vanquished by the health giving activity of right thinking. Under divine influence slavery to false appetites is overcome by conscious dominion, and a belief in decrepitude is changed to expectation of progressive growth in spiritual understanding.

From the August 1, 1931 issue of The Christian Science Sentinel “Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus.”

It is helpful to take the verse under consideration as a daily watchword; for to have the Mind that was in Christ Jesus means to think rightly, and therefore to act rightly, at all times and under all circumstances. The healing of disease in Christian Science is always incidental to regeneration, which includes the reversing of all wrong thinking; for discord of every name and nature is but the externalization of wrong thoughts…

We all need to strive more earnestly to let that Mind be in us “which was also in Christ Jesus,” that Love's fragrance may be shed wherever we go, thus helping our brother man to “rise into higher and holier consciousness" (Science and Health, p. 419), which will enable him to rise above the falsity of all material sense testimony. As demonstrators of the truth we cannot remind ourselves too frequently of Isaiah's words, “Ye are my witnesses, saith the Lord, and my servant whom I have chosen.”

From the November 2, 1918 issue of The Christian Science Sentinel

Those who love birds have sorrowed over the wanton destruction of them which has caused some varieties practically to disappear. They rejoice, therefore, that in order to give them respite from harassment on their migrations, bird sanctuaries have been established where the winged travelers may find safety and freedom and legal protection. The word sanctuary is broadly used now to mean a place of refuge and protection, though at first applied to the consecrated place devoted to the keeping of sacred things.

In Biblical use the word means “a place set apart.” In the ninety-sixth Psalm it is said: “All the gods of the nations are idols: but the Lord made the heavens. Honour and majesty are before him: strength and beauty are in his sanctuary.” God's sanctuary, however, does not necessarily mean an edifice, because we find the promise in Ezekiel: “Therefore say, Thus saith the Lord God; Although I have cast them far off among the heathen, and although I have scattered them among the countries, yet will I be to them as a little sanctuary in the countries where they shall come.” It is true, then, that we may expect to find a sanctuary in a building dedicated to the worship of God; and yet without this, we may find a sanctuary in the consciousness of God's goodness though in heathen surroundings.

One walking to church in a New England town on a recent Sunday found things somewhat as they were in Puritan days — quiet streets and quiet people on foot proceeding churchward. It was something unusual, however, to see some church edifices with closed doors, the announcements being, No services because of the prevailing epidemic; Church closed in deference to the request of the board of health; or the simple affixing of a transcript of the request from this board.

Now, the subject for this Sunday dealt with by the Lesson-Sermon in our churches throughout the world was the answer of Christian Science to the question, “Are Sin, Disease, and Death Real?” The closed churches seemed to answer in the affirmative, but the listener in a Christian Science church anywhere had the opportunity to hear a firm negative and to learn that God's goodness extends to man to heal and save him now; hence true life and health, and heaven here, may be understood and enjoyed. Therefore everywhere such a service was a sanctuary, and those who were present were reminded of the words of David, “I was glad when they said unto me, Let us go into the house of the Lord.” They were reminded also of the prophecy of Isaiah, a prophecy repeated by Micah, of the many people who shall say, “Let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths.”

While, then, so many agencies are pro-pagating the mesmerism of dread, despondency, discouragement, and all the downcast feelings which favor the invasion of disease and give power to the enemy, it should be self-evident how very much need there is at this time of the sacred hour of divine service when one may enter into a sanctuary, when thought can rest in God and be uncontaminated by microbes of fear, when the heart may receive God's comfort and peace and be reassured as to the safety of man. If there be churches which have no message to meet the human need of the hour, whose officials believe the materialistic arguments regarding contagion and have no spiritual insight as to God's healing power, let them close at request. The Churches of Christ, Scientist, have a message of truth and health and joy and peace which is supported by thousands upon thousands of demonstrations of healing. They are keepers of the law, and will of course “render to Cæsar the things that are Cæsar’s, and to God the things that are God’s;” but so long as it is a matter of “request,” which means that freedom to exercise judgment remains, they do that which they are sure is “right in the sight of God.”

from Vol. 1 of The Independent Christian Scientist

Once upon a time there was a handsome young prince who was the son of a great and glorious king. Now this king was exceedingly great and good, and he had the gift of eternal life. He wanted his son to grow up to rule with him, but to do that he must be as great and good as his father, so the king told his son the secret of eternal life: you may do anything you want freely with but one exception; if you touch the knowledge of good and evil, you will die.

A wicked hypnotist tried to usurp the king’s throne, but he could not begin to unseat the king. In fact, he could not even get anywhere near him, because the king’s great goodness repelled evil automatically as a magnet repels the wrong pole, and this surrounded him with an impenetrable armor of light. So the pretender started whispering to the young prince and his young wife.

Once he had their ear, the rest was easy. He told them that the prince was already as great as his father, and that a taste of the knowledge of good and evil would prove it. The young couple thought they might just examine it to see for themselves, but the minute they touched it they were in the power of the wicked one who was a master hypnotist. They began to see the suggestions he planted and thought they were real. Not only they, but their children after them became servants of this wicked usurper, and, under his enchantment, they all saw wickedness and sickness and evil and death which did not exist in all the king’s domain.

Now the king had a second son who saw what the usurper had done to his brethren, and he said to his father, “I will go to save our people.” This second prince came to the king’s children who were completely hypnotized and told them that the usurper was a liar and that all he said and did was a lie. He said to them, “Just believe my words and you will know the truth. The truth will break the trance and set you free.”

But the people were still hypnotized and under the power of the wicked one, so they took the king’s son and killed him. But this second son had not lost eternal life, because he had obeyed his Father and had not partaken of the knowledge of good and evil. So, even though they thought they had killed his body, he had the power to resurrect it. When he did this, the spell was broken, and the king’s children began to remember the everlasting kingdom of righteousness.

They began to believe again in eternal life and in the kingdom and power and glory of the king. And they began seeking to regain this lost kingdom. But all this time the usurper kept whispering to them, and they didn’t know it because he was invisible. He kept feeding them the knowledge of both good and evil, and, because he was invisible, they thought his suggestions were their own thoughts. So they went on seeing the things the hypnotist suggested to them, and because they thought these illusions were real, the glorious king and the everlasting kingdom seemed like a myth.

The truth seemed almost too good to believe, but they loved to tell the story. They told one another that the king’s son came that they might have life and have it more abundantly, even eternally, so they would no more see death. Then the usurper whispered, “That is right, but that is not this life. That is another life in the hereafter. This life is mortal.”

So the king’s immortal children talked about eternal life, but they still believed they had to die before they could find it; and they talked about the king, but they still did not remember that they were his family.

Now the king’s youngest child was a beautiful daughter, and she said, “Father, let me go to teach our people the truth. Let me tell them again the great secret, that they may choose the tree of life and refuse to touch the knowledge of good and evil. I will tell them who they are. I will tell them about the usurper and his lies, and the hypnotic trance they have been in. will tell them what is illusion and what is real. And, Father, let me take them the sword of the kingdom.”

So the king’s daughter came to her brethren and said, “This is Life eternal. There is no other life some place else. This is my father’s kingdom. He will not come back to retake it, because he has never lost it. You have been hypnotized by a lie and have been seeing illusions. But I bring you the great sword of the kingdom which is the Spirit of Truth. Take this weapon and keep it with you, always, for it will bring all things to your remembrance, and with it you can dispell all illusions. You need but touch its point to any appearance and instantly you will know whether it is real or illusion. And as you use this sword, you will begin to remember. You will remember that life is eternal and stop counting the number of times this planet circles its sun. You will remember who you are; you will remember that you are the royal family on this planet and the rightful heirs to the kingdom.”

This is where we come into the story. Does this sound like a fairy tale? It is, but it comes closer to world history than can be found in history books. When we touch history with the sword of truth, it is seen to be a recitation of the lies of the usurper to the throne of God together with stories of what hypnotized people have done. It is the story of the knowledge of good and evil, the belief of material life which begins with a lie and ends in death.

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Current Articles

Mary Baker Eddy’s chapter on “Marriage” in Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures has helped me as a husband, and it is so clear that Christian Science is the right and happiest way for each person when they live it the best they know how.

I thank Mary Baker Eddy for the chapter on “Marriage.” Everybody who is married should read and study this at least several times a year and use it every day, because Mary Baker Eddy shows that unselfishness is so essential in marriage; it is always unassailable, and it will always side with God. I have learned from reading this chapter that I cannot take anything personally, and I can face the issue and bring about a healing.

When I first found Plainfield, I felt hopeless and in despair. I had turned down many dead ends and longed to feel God’s presence.

I desired the calmness that others clearly possessed at this church. When members shared their experiences and how they put spiritual tools to use in their lives, I listened closely and worked to apply them to my situation. The love, joy, and hope expressed at this church are felt around the world.

Here are some things I heard: Put God first; attend or listen to the classes; share your gratitude for God’s blessings in your life during Wednesday testimony meetings; work step by step on Biblical precepts; be grateful, read and listen to the early worker literature available on the Plainfield website; read the Bible, Science and Health, and Prose Works every day; do something for others. All this took the focus off myself and put it on the things of God.

Gradually, I took each of these instructions and began to see healing and real changes in my life, and I found true purpose. I began to see my life was more than a string of days to be survived. Problems did not disappear, but now, I had resources that helped me to deal with even the most difficult situations. I came to see that, with God, I can face each day and even grow as I do.

I’m very grateful for the lessons that I have learned in Christian Science taught and lived in this church. One lesson I’m very grateful for is that before I came to this church and learned the true concept of Christian Science, I felt I needed to control things. I needed to control things around me. I needed to control my life. When faced with a task, I felt I needed to study it to death before I could actually do anything. Oftentimes I would do things too late or do things incorrectly, or, in other words, not always do the right thing at the right time.

When I came to this church, our practitioner and teacher, Mrs. Evans, taught us that we don't control anything except our own thinking. Rather, God controls His universe, including us. Every time she would make that kind of statement, I felt as though God was speaking directly to me. So, I strove, whenever faced with a tough situation or a challenge or a task, rather than try to analyze everything about it, to “seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteous-ness; and [then] all these things shall be added unto you.” (Matthew 6:33) As I learned to pray and ask God what and how He wanted things done, I found that I was able to do things more efficiently, do them better, do them on time, do them

more correctly, if you will. It was a great liberating freedom for me and something I am still striving to perfect. I’m very grateful for this lesson, and for all the lessons that we learn in this church in Christian Science. God really does know what’s right for us, and He will guide us if we allow Him to. It is a wonderful way of life.

“109 — WATCH lest you regard the attainment of spirituality as a purification of your own thinking rather than a receiving of wisdom from God. The purification of thought is the preparation, and this requires a certain amount of study. But study will not bring spirituality unless what one learns is put into practice. Spirituality is reflection. It is what flows through the pipes after they are clean rather than the effort to cleanse the pipes.” (500 Watching Points by Gilbert Carpenter)

Since coming to Plainfield Church, I have approached my study of Christian Science with a new under-standing. As this Watching Point brings out, it is not the study that spiritualizes alone but putting into practice what you have learned. I have found that the effort to study, study, study, to hold truths, to memorize, and to say them over and over again did not bring me comfort. I thought all that studying would bring healing. A lot of times I wondered how I was going to get from here to there. Our study helps us know the letter, but the real power comes from the quietness. To be in the sanctuary of Spirit. To stop and listen, and let the wisdom of God, His message, get through. You cannot hear when you are constantly talking to yourself. An audience listens. It does not start talking during a performance. It is there to listen. Mary Baker Eddy writes, “Lips must be mute and materialism silent, that man may have audience with Spirit.” (Science and Health, page 15) We are not having an audition but are having an audience with God, coming in silence to listen to Him. Embracing quietness and a listening attitude has

brought me feelings of peace and strength.

Something I have learned in my time here, which I am very grateful for, is that there is a difference between being serious about this work and being overly serious. The Bible tells us to “Be sober, be vigilant” (I Peter 5:8) but also tells us that joy is a “fruit of the Spirit.” (Galatians 5:22) Certainly all of the workers in Plainfield do take Christian Science seriously, but sometimes the temptation has come to be overly serious, and in that temptation I have drifted away from having “wit, humor, and enduring vivacity” as Mrs. Eddy quotes in Miscellaneous Writings. (p. 117)

I think of the story of Elijah in I Kings 19, as he found himself succumbing to this temptation which led him to feel he was the only one left on earth doing God's will. There have been times I have been tempted to believe that only the members of this church are truly doing God's work, but then I have realized such a viewpoint would mean that evil has gained a victory. Such a perspective is definitely not Christian Science, and therefore it cannot be true.

Similarly, I have been tempted to feel personally responsible for the work that God is having me do, rather than following Christ Jesus in saying, “the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works.” (John 14:10) In my experience, feeling personally responsible is a very sure way to become overly serious, and also a sure way to lose my effectiveness in this work.

Mrs. Eddy says in Lessons of the Seventh Day, also known as the Brown Book: “To look into the world and see sin, sickness and death, that is hate — to look out into the world and see everything in God's image and likeness, that is love.” (p. 340) Therefore, I am grateful to learn that being sober and vigilant truly can coincide with having “wit, humor, and enduring vivacity” and it also means that as I have those qualities I can “look out into the world and see everything in God's image and likeness” with a smile on my face and joy in my heart, and be assured “that is love.”

In Miscellaneous Writings, Mrs. Eddy explains that obedience is shown forth by being “Never absent from your post, never off guard, never ill-humored, never unready to work for God.” That really says the whole thing. We must show up, be vigilant, be joyful, and be willing to do what God would have us do, and that is “being ‘faithful over a few things.’” (p. 116)

I want to give gratitude for something that happened a few weeks ago that proved what Mary Baker Eddy writes on page 12 of No and Yes: “The essence of this Science is right thinking and right acting.” She is leading us to see spirituality, to be spiritual, to understand, and to demonstrate God. I was taking a trip and carrying two suitcases. Before the trip, I prayed, knowing God governs every detail of it. At the train station, when the train pulled up, I thought the steps were rather steep and wondered how I was going to get my cases up them.

Without asking, the lady behind me helped me lift the two cases. So, there was no problem at all. Once on the train, I saw that the nearest empty seat was beside this man who looked rather unfriendly. He looked me up and down and turned his face back to his crossword puzzle that he was working on. He looked so serious, so I quietly sat down without a word. I wanted to greet him, but I kept quiet. After some time, a little bit of negative thinking started to creep in, but I have, through my knowledge of Christian Science, committed to separating every error from the thought of man every day. I kept replacing these negative thoughts with what I now know to be the truth about man.

Two stops before my destination, the question came again: how am I going to get these bags down these steps? Suddenly, this man, who had ignored me for about 30 minutes, started talking to me. He asked where I had traveled from and where I was going. He was smiling, and at one point he said, “Don’t worry, I’ll help you with your suitcase. We’re not quite there yet, but I will help you.” We had a very nice, brief conversation, and when we got down the steps, he gave me the exact directions on where to go. What was most remarkable was that I was looking at a different man. His face had changed, and he was beaming with a smile as he said goodbye. I realized, because of what I learned through the teachings of this church, that this change that took place was in my thinking. It was my thinking that had revealed to me the beloved child of God, and it reminded me of something I read sometime ago that said you are not a Christian until God is in every face, Principle revealed through every idea. I am so grateful for what Christian Science teaches, for how practical it is, and for Mrs. Eddy for working so tirelessly to give the saving grace to the whole of mankind.

“Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.

…the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.” (Galatians 5)

Paul tells us to “walk in the Spirit,” and he lists the fruit as love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance. How do we bring about the fruit of the Spirit? John answers this in chapter 15, “Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me. I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.” So, we see that apart from “me” (God), you can do nothing. Nothing. All through the centuries, anything good and great that’s ever been done has been done through the Christ, through God, through listening and obeying His voice.

“Except the Lord build the house, they labour in vain that build it.” (Psalm 127:1) It cannot be built. Things might look glorious for a while and wonderful when built by man, but eventually it comes to naught; that is everything. Bringing about the fruit of the Spirit comes from abiding in God. This means listening to God, abiding in the consciousness of the Christ, and staying in the Father’s House. To abide requires quietness of thought. To abide means to stay there, not in and out periodically. This listening and abiding is most important because without it, you can do nothing. I used to think the fruits of the Spirit were something I could do myself. I would try to be peaceful. I would try to be loving and longsuffering. I tried to be all those things.

I learned that you become those things as you abide in the Spirit, as the Holy Spirit, the Holy Ghost, takes over. Mary Baker Eddy writes in Miscellany on page 150, “A heart touched and hallowed by one chord of Christian Science, can accomplish the full scale; but this heart must be honest and in earnest and never weary of struggling to be perfect — to reflect the divine Life, Truth, and Love. Stand by the limpid lake, sleeping amid willowy banks dyed with emerald. See therein the mirrored sky and the moon ablaze with her mild glory. This will stir your heart. Then, in speechless prayer, ask God to enable you to reflect God, to become His own image and likeness, even the calm, clear, radiant reflection of Christ's glory, healing the sick, bringing the sinner to repentance, and raising the spiritually dead in trespasses and sins to life in God. Jesus said: ‘If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.’”

This comes about through stillness, quietness, reflection, abiding, and letting go of any personal sense of doing anything, because on your own you can do nothing. We need humility because you can’t do it on your own. We have all tried to; I certainly have, many times, and fallen on my face trying to do something on my own rather than through reflection and abiding. So, whatever you’re doing, always ask yourself, “Where is God in this? Am I abiding in Him? Am I listening?” There’s a voice always speaking to you, guiding you, and telling you what to do if you are quiet and listening.

From Triumph and Other Poems, page 9

“Lord, Lord,” I cried, and wondered why I was not healed.

Had I not asked in faith and to God’s love appealed?

Yet my petition seemed denied.

For all my little world was troubled and oppressed;

While thought, halfway resentful, found no moment’s rest

From all the cares it magnified.

And then I prayed again, not for the healing sign,

But for an honest heart, made clean by Love divine;

For sacrifice of willful ways;

For purer, deeper love, faithful and undefiled;

For true simplicity that crowns a little child

With life of gratitude and praise.

Tense thought relaxed, and then I saw how vastly more

Of good there was than ever I had known before,

And I was still in reverence.

The sun of Truth broke through the clouds of my distress

And showed creation bathed in love and holiness

Without a taint of mortal sense.

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Letters of Gratitude

Painting by Dale Adler from VA

I read something beautiful in a magazine I receive twice a year, the Sacred Architecture digest, and wanted to share something. Recently, visiting a church in Croatia, an Archbishop spoke about the role of beauty, explaining that “[it] touches the person intuitively and prepares the ground of the soul for the seed of truth.” I believe he was speaking of the inside of a beautifully designed sanctuary, and the effect that the beautiful design has in uplifting the thoughts of those who enter in, preparing them to receive the seed of Truth... lt makes sense to me...just as the pictures of the inside of the Plainfield church bring a feeling of peace and gentle, loving activity to my thought when I see them, and then with receptive thought listen to the seeds of Truth being sowed.

With love,

Thank you very much for the new Love is the Liberator about the Founding Fathers. I'm enjoying reading about the early movers and shakers in America. I have also recently tried to get a copy of the movie called Great Awakening, which you mentioned a few weeks ago, as it had a later release date outside of the US, but it now appears it’s only going to be sold in Canada, at least at present.

The Bible lesson on Truth — I looked up the bit about the burning bush in Bible Hub, and was interested to read:

“Fire is a common biblical symbol of God's presence, purity, and power (Exodus 19:18; Deuteronomy 4:24).

Why is the bush not burning up?

The bush's resistance to being consumed by fire symbolizes God's eternal nature and His ability to sustain life. It also represents Israel, which, despite suffering under Egyptian oppression, is not destroyed. This imagery is echoed in other parts of the Bible, such as in Isaiah 43:2, where God promises to be with His people through fire and water. The unburned bush can also be seen as a type of Christ, who embodies the divine presence and is not consumed by the trials of the world.”

I love how I keep coming across explanations on Bible Hub that 'this is a type of Christ' which is helping me appreciate more the cohesiveness of the whole Bible.

Sending much love and gratitude to you all,

Greetings everyone. Still listening down here in southern Texas and I always will be. I just wanted to express my gratitude to all of you that continue day after day, week after week to bring us great teachings of Christ and Mary Baker Eddy. What great endurance and strength to keep on keeping on like you all do. Ones like Florence who contribute so much and she doesn't even live in Plainfield. And my gratitude to all who are so faithful to call in their testimonies every Wednesday. One day I hope to give one too over the phone, but right now pen and paper are my friends.

Readings from Easter Sunday's Roundtable on April 5th about our leader, Mary Baker Eddy, in her last days was very interesting. I was so thankful for all the patience that you all have and to hear the story again and again.

The only thing I knew was, she died peacefully in her sleep. I just knew in my spirit there had to have been more. And I even wondered at one point why some of her students didn't try to raise her from the dead or sleep. I understand now Mary Baker Eddy was so spiritual, she, like Jesus, could raise with the resurrection power that lived in her. I pray someday we all can reach that same place in which she reached and stood. We will someday step by step in the footprints of our dear Christ Jesus and our leader Mary Baker Eddy, the disciples and our loving teachers and leaders at the Plainfield Christian Science Church in New Jersey. Thank you all with much love.

Recently, I have had a lot on my plate — to say the least — and I've been feeling very overwhelmed and unsettled. I rush around each day, trying to get all my work done, and I realized I need to start turning my attention away from what I think I need to do. This morning I chose to start blessing all the people that I saw, or anyone that came to my thought. I acknowledge their oneness with God, their peace, their health, their beauty, their wealth, and so on. I'm learning so much here at the Plainfield church, and I know how important it is to watch and pray for our world. I am also aware that animal magnetism is trying to take away the peace and true meaning of the Christmas season, not just to me but to many others. I am so grateful to be aware of this! This practice has been helping me all day - to slow down and be thoughtful for others, not my to-do list. Thank you for this meeting that truly blesses one and all.

I am grateful today because this morning I got a clearer view of what I had to do to feel more attuned to God. I made a list to remind me of a few helpful truths: to be humble and loving, and humility helps to be loving. To know that any disturbing thought or event doesn't come from God, and we don't have to agree with it. To claim the facts stated by God when a wrong thought or discord shows up, and to see the discord as only coming as a suggestion. To refuse to fight error on its own level, and to make quietness a strong rule to claim the truth and harmony as the law of God to ponder about the power of God and to expect good to denounce evil or the accuser as having no right or legitimacy over anyone, including ourselves. I have many things to learn, and I'm grateful to have these truths with me when I'm tempted to feel confused. I’m grateful for all the past and present help I’ve received in this church.

I'm very grateful, and I thank God for the website and all the services you all make available for the public. The June 2026 issue of Love Is the Liberator is so inspiring and uplifting. I enjoyed reading it. The Roundtable meetings have been a great help for me in so many ways.

I am grateful for the love, prayers, and work, and for the outreach that all of you do from a grateful heart.

I thank God for this wonderful church and its sacred mission to preserve Mary Baker Eddy's pure Christian Science.

It was in 2002 that I found this church online after many, many hours of searching the internet for answers to my numerous questions on the state of the Christian Science movement. Joining this church helped me to grow and set me straight on the true path that Mrs. Eddy has prepared for her students. It truly changed my life. It is with ongoing gratitude and appreciation for all the work of the church members that I send the enclosed monthly contributions. Frankly, I do not know what I would do without this beautiful church. With love.

Dear fellow members, thank you as always for the wonderful work that comes out of this independent church, spreading the truth to all mankind.

The June 2026 issue of Love is the Liberator is filled with items of valuable history of the United States of America, celebrating its 250th anniversary.

And in the Roundtables, especially Sunday, June 28, is found vital history of the Christian Science movement, its founding and guidance in the Church Manual 88th Edition, for the dedication and

practice of its members in this remnant church. I am sincerely grateful and enclose my monthly contribution to support this work with much love and gratitude.

Dear Brothers and Sisters of Plainfield Independent Christian Science Church,

With a loving, grateful, and blessed heart, I give the enclosed gift. The website is a very valuable asset to everyone seeking Truth, Love, and Light! Thank you to Mary Baker Eddy for Christian Science! And for all of you who work to share these truths with us.

Prayers and very many blessings to all of you. Keep up the awesome work! Lots of love to you all!

Dear Plainfield Christian Science Church, Independent, Just a quick note to let you know how deeply grateful I am for the Plainfield Christian Science Church, Independent, and for all that you dear members do.

I found your website a few months ago, and it felt as if I had struck gold. It is so vast and full of the finest Christian Science literature. The best Reading Room I've ever visited!!!

I look forward to each week for the Sunday Roundtable discussions followed by the uplifting Church service, which includes such beautiful organ music, readings, and solos. Also, the Wednesday testimony meeting, which starts with fifteen minutes of beautiful organ music and is then followed by such inspiring readings, is jam-packed with testimonies of demonstrations and gratitude.

There is no way to adequately thank you and the Plainfield Church for the work you are doing, probably the most important work going on in the world today. Enclosed is a small donation to the church with my love and gratitude.

Hello, Plainfield Christian Science Church Independent,

I am very grateful for all the resources, love, prayers, and words of encouragement, along with instructions on how to put them into practice. God has given to the world Christian Science.

Divine thanks!

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Testimonies of Healing

from Christina in England

I would like to share a healing I had many years ago, which has been a source of hope and faith for me when faced with challenges and whenever I’m tempted to doubt. When I was 15, I slipped on some ice on my way home from school and landed very heavily on my arm on the pavement. I was in a great deal of pain, and my arm was useless, hanging loosely by my side. My mother was called from work and arrived to take me home. We called a practitioner who told me the truth: that God’s man is unfallen and that God is all. The next morning, after a very painful night, I was no better, and the practitioner advised my mother to take me to the hospital, as in the United Kingdom, adults who are responsible for minors are legally obliged to seek medical treatment for young persons in their care. I was not happy about this, but my mum said that Christian Scientists don’t break the law, and we needed to follow God’s guidance.

This did not stop us from praying at the hospital. The wait was very long, and the accident and emergency department was very depressing. We’d been there two hours, and my mum said to me, “Sing hymns.” I love the hymns and play the piano for Sunday school, so I started singing hymns in my head. “Oh, gentle presence” (Hymn 207 Mother’s Evening Prayer by Mary Baker Eddy). This is one of my favorites. And when I got to the line, O life divine that owns each waiting hour, I was suddenly aware of a feeling of complete confidence in God’s power. What was I waiting for? A medical verdict. It just seemed to me to be utterly ridiculous that I, as God's reflection made in His image, could be sitting in a hospital waiting for anything.

These thoughts were so strong, unlike anything I'd experienced before. I then realized that my arm was no longer painful, and I could move it normally. I excitedly told my mom this just as the nurse came in and called me for an X-ray. I didn’t want to go, but my mom said it would be very difficult to explain why we were suddenly leaving, and felt I should go for the X-ray. A while later, we were met by the doctor who showed us the X-ray image, which showed a bone completely snapped in two. I could not understand this, as I knew I was healed. The doctor said I may need an operation, but he would bind my arm up for five days, and then I needed to go back, so he could decide the best way forward. He said my arm was very badly broken.

We rang the practitioner when we got home, and I explained what had happened and how upset I was, as I was so sure I was healed. She assured me that that was the case. In fact, she said, “You’ve had a wonderful experience. Don’t worry about matter, it’ll catch up.” Within two days, I had taken the strapping off and was using my arm normally. We went back to the hospital for the appointment, and the doctor went absolutely crazy. He accused my mother of being irresponsible and said my arm would be damaged forever. My mother was very firm at this point and said, “We are Christian Scientists. We believe this was a spiritual healing. And why didn’t he take note that I was in no pain and using my arm normally?” This stopped him in his tracks, and he asked me to go for another X-ray.

When I came back, there was another gentleman in the room who was an orthopedic specialist. He and the doctor were looking at the second X-ray, which showed a perfectly fused bone. There was a tiny mark where the split had been, but the bone was whole and complete. The specialist said, I’ve been asked to look at this X-ray and give my professional opinion, which is that this is the result of at least six months’ recovery following an operation by a master surgeon, but I know what has actually happened.” He said, “I believe you are Christian Scientists.” My mum said, “Yes, we are. Have you heard of Christian Science?” He said, “Yes, I have. My grandmother was a Christian Scientist.” My mother replied, “Oh, well, you’ve seen this sort of thing before.”

from Nancy in Texas

I honestly don’t know where I would be without Christian Science. I’ve depended on it for healing, direction, and advice all of my life.

Recently, I had experienced some pain in my leg that just wouldn’t yield, no matter how much I prayed to know the truth about the situation. Christ Jesus admonished us to “know the truth and the truth shall make you free,” but the pain just grew worse. Mobility then became a major issue, as I could barely walk through my house without needing to sit down and rest along the way. Climbing stairs was out of the question. Fear crept into my thinking.

A dear friend had recently had a hip replacement, so I asked him about the symptoms which led up to his obtaining the surgery. The symptoms mirrored my situation exactly. Even more fear flooded into my mind, and I started imagining how I would be able to cope with surgery and the recovery. But I put my foot down and refused to accept the suggestions flooding my thinking.

Instead, I called my Plainfield practitioner, and she agreed to pray with me. One thing she told me was that mobility was God-bestowed and nothing could take away anything that God had given me as His child. I began to challenge each suggestion of pain and, at the same time, gave gratitude that I was God’s image and likeness, and that God didn’t need a new hip, so neither did I!

During this three-month experience, I also planned to attend a gathering in another state. I had considered canceling my plane ticket and travel plans, as I would not be able to even walk through the airport without help. My purpose of attending was to bless others and reconnect with old friends. But more importantly, I wanted to view and photograph a portrait of Mary Baker Eddy that had recently been removed from archival storage and put on display, due to my efforts to see her reinstated in a public forum. After relating this to my practitioner, she handled the resistance to my planned trip. Overnight, I had great improvement, and every day from then on, progress was made. My trip was totally pain-free. I walked one to two miles every day, and even climbed stairs without pain. The healing was complete.

Mrs. Eddy was quoted in Dr. Lyman Powell’s biography of her: “I can never express my full appreciation of the loving care which prompted the dear church in Baltimore to give a portrait of me to the world. I have often wondered, when thinking of the indifference that other churches have shown on this point, which does concern the history of Christian Science at present, and will in the future more than to-day.” We are in that future today.

I am ever so grateful for Christ Jesus, Mary Baker Eddy, my practitioner, and Plainfield Church Independent.

from Bertrand in France

I am grateful for the help I received yesterday. A huge fire was threatening a village nearby. There were three hundred homes in its path. There were also three other fires around.

I couldn’t ignore it even if there was a temptation to do so or to feel incapable of treating it. With the help of my Plainfield practitioner, I did my best to know that God doesn’t send any destruction and that man and his home cannot be destroyed by anything in the realm of God. The great smoke cloud on the horizon finally lessened, and the fire stopped right before the homes. The press called it a miracle. As far as I know, no one was hurt. Thanks to God and Christian Science.

from Candy in Wisconsin

Last week in the early evening, the tornado sirens were going off repeatedly. I looked out, and I saw a lovely sunny sky with billowy clouds. It was a beautiful sight. But just before the church service was to begin, the sirens went off again. This time when I looked out, the south sky was still beautiful, but coming from the north was a dark, ominous sky. The two weather systems were converging. As I looked at this picture, I realized it was just an attempt to keep me from church. I told it, “No way! God, Mind controls the weather, and there are no extremes. The winds are always in God's fists.” I realized, as one of our hymns, number 382 states, “Thou hast the gift of God” which is dominion. Slowly the dark clouds dissipated, and the winds began to flow from north to south, and I was able to attend church. I feel great gratitude for this church, which teaches us to use Christian Science in our daily lives.

from Ernest in Missouri

First time caller, but we've been listening for a while and I found you years ago on the internet and I want to thank you for allowing me to give a testimony and that testimony is within the last week or so. I woke up one morning and of course it's been hot outside and I told my wife, “Man, it feels like I'm being cooked from the inside like a microwave.” And I felt like that over the years on certain days where it just felt like it was a different kind of heat. I'm older and I know what heat feels like and it's not normal to feel that way. So I resolved to deal with it this particular morning and I went to my little office area. I don't really remember the types of thoughts that I had to deal with it, but I do remember dealing with fear and angst that these problems were causing this situation. And it honestly didn't take very long. I'll bet you it didn't take more than a minute till that heat dissipated within my body. I felt literally all of my body cooling, which is the first time that's ever happened when I addressed that situation. As I said, it's happened before.

And then a few days later, I noticed that there were three other things going on with my body which were resolved. One was a back problem that I've had on and off for the last few weeks and it would come and go and I would deal with it and things would be fine. But this time it feels different. It feels perfectly well. And then there were a couple of things with my feet that also were resolved without my trying to do anything. I mean, you hear about that and a lot of Christian Science testimonies where people are praying about one situation and many things resolve. Sometimes it's people in the home or one lady was in a hospital and some other person was getting a healing from them working on their son. So, it's very incredible. I would also like to say – as it is the 250th anniversary of America – ever since I was a kid, I've always been really grateful to be born here because it truly is the best country on the face of the earth. It might not be always portrayed, but the ideals of America are certainly Christian Science, the Science of God. And I always feel that in the Lord's prayer that America is mentioned in there when it says, “Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven.” And I think that's what everybody thinks about America – that it is a beacon of hope and truth and life and love … and I can't help but be grateful.

from Dale in Virginia

I would like to share a quick and powerful healing which occurred one night when suddenly I experienced bleeding, which I could not stop. Because it was late at night, rather than call, I texted my

practitioner for help. I knew that because I was reaching out to God for help, an answer would be forthcoming. The bleeding which had been profuse did not gradually stop; it stopped like a faucet had been turned off. I texted the practitioner with thanks for immediate help. With great gratitude I spent a couple of hours reading Science and Health, drinking in the truths I was reading. As I felt God’s loving, caring presence, I did not want to go to bed. The problem was gone, like it never happened. John 14:12 says, “…He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father.”

In this church these words are lived; also, knowing that it is the Father doing the works, as it says in John 14:10: “…the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works.” I am very grateful to have found this remnant church, which is following Christ Jesus, and Mary Baker Eddy’s 88th Edition of The Church Manual, that Word of God which she left for us in 1910.

from Mara in Mississippi

For most of my life, I have been extremely sensitive and often felt hurt by other people’s actions or comments. Since finding the Plainfield Christian Science Church and through prayer plus the loving guidance of my practitioner, I have learned that I don’t have to be affected by the thoughts or actions of others. This is something we can recognize and stop through spiritual understanding.

There were many times when I felt hurt or disrespected by friends, acquaintances, or family members. It had been a habit that was very hard to break because I had been doing it for so long. My practitioner encouraged me to study Mary Baker Eddy’s articles “Taking Offense” and “Love Your Enemies,” both from Miscellaneous Writings. She patiently listened every time I shared a situation that had hurt my feelings or offended me.

As I prayed and studied, I would always eventually find peace, but often those old incidents would come back to my thoughts, and before I realized it, I would be reliving them and obsessing over them for long periods of time. Even though I recognized that I was only hurting myself, it would still happen. It almost felt like a form of torture that I was inflicting on myself.

Then, at one of our Roundtable discussions, someone shared a simple idea that has been a huge help for me. They said that we should never look back at the past unless we are looking back to learn something from it. That thought has really helped me. Every time I am about to think about a negative situation from the past, I remind myself of this. Combined with prayer and the spiritual understanding I have gained through Christian Science, it has brought me a wonderful sense of freedom.

Another thing that has helped me is being grateful for my own life instead of comparing myself to others. As I have prayed, I have learned to feel love and understanding for those who once seemed to hurt me. Rather than dwelling on their actions, I prayed for them, knowing that they are all God’s children and that God is caring for each one of us.

I have found that when I stay in the Father’s house, which basically is staying close to God and filling my thought with what is loving and good, it is so much easier to find peace.

One day, I realized how peaceful I had been feeling and recognized that I was no longer so affected by other people’s thoughts or actions. Instead, I was able to respond with love and understanding, pray for them, and leave them in God’s care.

These are things I continue to work on every day. I also find the Unity Watches, where we all pray together for the world, helpful because they remind me to see everyone equally as God’s children.

from Cristina in Mexico

Several years ago, a practitioner in Mexico once told me that I needed to recognize harmony within myself. She was very emphatic about that. Although I tried to do so in a way through prayer, I didn’t succeed. In some way, at that time harmony seemed very far from me. It was just theory, not practice. Then I forgot to work on this within myself.

The wonderful thing is that the Christ never forgets anything. Never forgets a good idea. Years later, when I became a member of this holy church in Plainfield, I recovered that idea and began to understand its meaning and bring it to life within me. I am very grateful to God and His Christ to make me recover something I thought was lost. And with that restoration has also come a beautiful feeling of joy. I started recognizing myself as a daughter of God, something that had been very difficult for me in the past. That, too, is no longer just a theory and started becoming a reality. Now my days are brighter, and I have more faith in Life, Truth, and Love. And every little detail of goodness around me holds deep meaning for me.

Studying Christian Science has been wonderful for me, but the Roundtables in Plainfield, the Sunday services and testimony meetings, the Bible lessons, the Unity Watches, the readings from the Early Workers, and of course the support of my dear practitioner have all contributed to this healing. The call of so many angels around me finally awakened me. And I am so grateful for that. It has dissipated like a shadow of sadness and depression that was covering me since my childhood. Today, when symptoms of sadness seem to be on the horizon, it’s much easier for me to get rid of them, and replace them with the joy of Life, the reality. This sort of animal magnetism has no power over me anymore.

I am deeply grateful to God, the divine Soul whose law is harmony, to the wonderful Christ, who is working all the time in us, to the Holy Spirit, to Jesus, and to Mary Baker Eddy, the discoverer and founder of Christian Science.

From Triumph and Other Poems, page 72

Not much that earth could give was there

Within those walls: a table, a chair,

A Bible with its holy leaven,

A woman writing—and a light from heaven.

From Triumph and Other Poems, page 72

Dear God, that I might prove Of some worth to You.

The SECRET Challenge Gregor Collins

A 21-day spiritual rewire that will change your life — and the world

Inspired by this excerpt found in Lessons of The Seventh Day, Compiled by Richard Oakes, pages 339-340

“I have learned a great secret, I have learned how to demonstrate, I have learned how to make Science a thing of life and not of words. I am going to tell you what the secret is, and it is wonderful. It is this; Not to see or hear or repeat any kind of imperfection. It is seeing and hearing and repeating good only, at all times and all circumstances, and in spite of everything that appears to the contrary.

“I make this resolve every morning when I first open my eyes, and I renew it every hour of the day. I see perfection in myself, in my friends, and in my so-called enemy, in my affairs, and in world affairs.

“I take my radical stand for the perfection of God and for everything and everybody He has created. I look upon the world with God's eyes, and I see it just as He sees it, and I refuse to see it in any other way. “I stop a dozen times a day, and renew the resolve, and make sure that I am not repeating error or giving way to criticism. I watch my thoughts about people, the lame, the old, the unloved to sense that I pass in the street, stray animals, I except nothing.

“I have taken my radical stand for perfection and I will not, absolutely will not, relax this perfect standard.

“The result has been simply marvelous. Try it and you will find that you forget your glasses; they will become unnecessary.

“You will be seeing with God's eyes, His perfect sight, and you will behold a perfect universe, the outward condition of your inward thinking. To change the picture you must change the sight that produced the picture.”

The Challenge

After stumbling on this amid a recent spell of what felt like infinite inactivity in my life, a 21-day challenge was born based on the theory it takes 21 days to make or break a habit. Since all right activity (good) originates not from out but from in— meaning from God—I knew I had to zero-in on the IN. Now if God was limitless good, my supposed stagnancy was but the mere effect of foggy vision, and that could only be the fog of human will—the constant claim we’re separate from God. We can’t fight the fog but we can shine through it with the Mind of Christ, our inner beam that sees true reality not as material (flawed), but spiritual (perfect). As we outshine the fog we find good (God) everywhere. Irving’s daily stand to see past mortal personality into our actual divine identity reveals present goodness is a spiritual fact. As our Christ Mind animates us, we start noting other discords in our lives —mental, physical, financial—fading away. I erred a lot, but swift rebounds were key. Each day saw more patience, more presence, more love, directly leading to unanticipated activity. A month removed and my “quicker shifts to good” are permanent, proof that spiritualizing thought is a law that locks in outward harmony. Jesus healed by seeing perfect God + perfect man—stating we can do “likewise.” The cool part: since God is the 1 Mind of everyone, your work not only transforms you and those you meet, but all in the world attuned to spiritual consciousness.

3 steps:

1. Wake up: Read/internalize this article. Pray to adopt the Christ Mind. Allow only good to take root in thought.

2. Set hourly alarms as prompts to “renew resolve.” When you err, quickly shift to good/move on. No dwelling/ self-condemning: God isn’t aware of either (He’s 100% love). This is hard at first but trust that it gets easier.

3. Record all unanticipated good from the day. No phones before sleep. 1 down, 20 to go!

   
   
   

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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”