REFLECTIONS
By Gordon Greenwood
A FEW fruit cakes left
j According to latest figures we have onlv a t
■fruit cakes left for sale at the NEWS office y 6W
* Those who plan to buy these tastv j i• •
cakes for the holiday season should come in t'SE?
don't delay, and pick one up before they are all gone.'
You'll not only have a fine dessert for
|but you will also help a worthy cause. stmas
—R—
SAM MILLAR GIVES EXCELLENT PROGRAM
A very interesting program was given bv Sam
.lillar of Warren Wilson college at the December mee?
gng of the Swannanoa Men’s club.
His slides of early American history in Colo
rado proved fascinating, but even better were his
pictures and comments on Ireland and Scotland A
native of Belfast, he knows the area well.
As related here once before, I came within an
ace (not literally) of freezing to death one night on a
boat going from Glasgow to Belfast across the Irish
Sea- The ship was so packed that there was standing
room only and that on deck. &
During the silent hours past midnight I never
thought I'd live to see the Emerald Isle but did and
found the experience worth waiting Tor.
It’s a beautiful sight coming into Belfast with the
3un (if) shining brightly on the green shores of Ire
land. That must be the greenest green on earth and
|©ne of the most breath-taking views.
We were met at the dock by what we would call
a hack and buggy and driven downtown in real style.
We loved Belfast and Northern Ireland with their
many places of interest worth seeing. But I never
did know what we did wrong when a clerk in a store
threatened to "take the back of me hand or the
sole of me boot to the likes of ye."
It had something to do with what one of the boys
gaid about the British Royal family.
We tried to explain to the lady that we were
on her side but we never did know whether or not
she was on ours.
On our way back to England we went up the
coast to Larne and sailed straight across to Stranraer,
Scotland, famous submarine base. This didn’t take
[long but we found when we got to this port city we
were several hours by train from Nottingham, our
lestination.
In Mr. Millar's slides I thought I caught a
glimpse of some of the famous hell divers which are
thick as hops in the sea between Ireland and Scot
land but I couldn't be sure.
i A club looking for an interesting program would
io well to invite Mr. Millar to show his pictures. His
program is interesting and informative.
—R—
(EVER MIND THE TRAIN,
THIS LADY WILL GET THROUGH
When Mrs. Floy Bowers of Radio Station WFGW
found a freight train stopped on the track and block
ig her way on Dec. 4, she didn’t get panicky and sit
and bite her nails.
Instead she looked up and down the long line
of freight cars that seem to reach to Asheville in one
direction and to Salisbury to the east. Then, her
mind made up, she drove over, parked her car at the
Western North Carolina Shopping Center, walked
back to the stalled train and calmly climbed between
the box cars. On the right side of the track, she
had no trouble getting to work.
The train was there an unusually long time and
|ad traffic, including a school bus, blocked at Blue
iidge road far past the time that the students should
tiave been in classes.
—R—
UNSIGNED CHRISTMAS CARD
If it had been a threatening letter I wouldn t have
hought it was a mistake but when a beautiful thrist
nas card arrived last week UNSIGNED I was sure
hat the sender didn’t mean it that way.
The card was mailed in Black Mountain and
had this verse:
t “Never a Christmas morning, Never the old year
nds, But somebody thinks of someone, Old day, old
lines, old friends.”
This is an excellent thought but as of this mo
ment I won't know whom to think of on Christmas
f morning.
Help! Help!
—R—
T'S GOOD TO HEAR FROM FRIENDS
We appreciate very much receiving a Christinas
aid from the Ned Straehlas, who are in Europe where
'led is teaching with the U. S. Armed Forces as a
tivilian.
This card shows the Straehla family before a
famous landmark in Paris.
Ned was on the faculty at Owen High and 5*®®
«veral county champions as coach of the oys
tall team.
Writing from Iceland where he is on the Hrs' e§
« a tour of Europe with a USO show, Glen L. Verno ,
* former member of the staff at Blue Ri 8e s ,,
ends along a card, a copy of Vernon’s Yearly Gazette,
md an Icelandic coin, 1 Eyrir.
The coin looks like solid gold but probab y
Anybody know how much it's worth? I might g
a tour of Europe myself if it's valuable enough.
i Vernon is now director of promotion for the; o
r°l°ny at Manteo. He has started a clu '
Jn plain English this means Keep Vernon
forever).
From the VA hospital at Columbia, S. C., P
la‘n James E- Rogers, formerly chaplain a
hospitals at Swannanoa and Oteen, an m0 f
■v of Atlanta, sent along an interesting article that
V/e hope to use one of these days soon.
Need Homes For
Children In WNC
Adoptive homes for school
life children are urgently
needed in the Western North
Carolina area, Mrs. Pierry
DeSaix, supervisor of the
Asheville district of the
f hildren’s Home Society, said
today.
“Usually people think of a
tiny baby when they think of
adoption,” said Mrs. DeSaix,
“but there are many school
age boys and girls separated
from their families, and they
need the love and security of
a home. There are many
homes that want and need a
child’s presence to complete
the family’s happiness.”
Mrs. DeSaix said that fam
ilies interested in adopting a
school age child may start
the process by writing to the
Western District Office. Doc
tor’s Building, Asheville, or
to the Society’s main office
at 740 Chestnut Street,
Greensboro.
The society is experienced
at working with older child
ren and families that want to
adopt them. Those who apply
for older children need not
meet the same age require
ments as those who want to
adopt a baby, she added, and
may have children of their
own.
A trained caseworker is
assigned to every couple that
applies. Every child under
the society’s care receives a
complete physical examina
tion, and skilled caseworkers
study the child’s background,
talents, and handicaps, if
any. An attorney checks out
all the legal aspects of the
child’s background.
“Children who are making
such a tremendous change in
their lives need a lot of pre
paration,” said Mrs. DeSaix.
“A caseworker must spend
many hours talking it over
with them, seeing that they
are prepared and want to
make the change.
“The caseworker must al
leviate their fears and anx
iety, so they will go happily
to their new home. She stands
by the child and the family
during their initial adjust
ment.”
Both the society’strained
staff and legal and medical
experts are available for ad
vice and counsel. When the
right home is found for the
right child, the prospective
couple may take the child
home for a visit. This period
is long enough to assure both
the child and the grown-up
that their new family rela
tionship will be satisfying to
both.
“The Children’s Home So
ciety has helped scores of
couples and children find
each other in this way,” said
Mrs. DeSaix. “They know
this can be one of life’s fin
est and most enriching ex
periences.”
BLACK MOUNTAIN
BRIDGE WINNERS
Six and one half tables
were in play Thursday night,
Dec. 6, when the Black
Mountain Duplicate Bridge
Club met at the Monte Vista
hotel for its weekly session.
Winners were: North-South,
Mrs. John McGraw, Sr., and
Mrs. Carter C. Uzzell; 2nd,
Mr. and Mrs. Lawrence J.
Brady, 3rd, Mrs. R. T.
Greene and Mrs. Charles
Ross. East-West, Mrs. J. W.
Bergthold and Mrs. Albert
Jem; 2nd, Mrs. Max Wood
cock and William Costner;
3rd, Mr. and Mrs. J. C.
Bartholomew.
A Lecture
Christian Science
Entitled
How Christian Science
Can Help You
by
Arnold H. E*xo. C. S B.
of Evanston, Illinois
Member ot the Board ol Lectureship el
The Mothet Church. The First Church <4
Christ, Scientist, u Boston. Massachusetts
This lecture was delivered
in the auditorium of First
Church "of Christ, Scientist,
Asheville N. C. on November
29tb, 19B2.
The lecturer was introduced
by Mr. William P. McKibbin,
First Reader of the Church.
The lecturer spoke substan
tially as follows:
j
I
Pick up a newspaper on almost
any day of the week or tune in a
radio'or television newscast, and
you .are quite likely to read or
hear news items that sound
something like this (Luke 21:25,
26): '“'And there shall be signs in
the sun. and in the moon, and in
the stars; and upon the earth dis
tress of nations, with perplexity;
the sea and the waves roaring;
men's hearts failing them for
fear, and for looking after those
things which are coming on the
earth.”
News stories like this are not
unusual these days. What is un
usual ;&bout this one is that it
was written about nineteen cen
turies ago by Luke. He was re
porting what Christ Jesus said to
his disciples a few days before
the crucifixion. The Master was
pointing out to his disciples how
wars are caused by greed and by
strife for material things
Today mortals are just as dis
turbed by wars and rumors of
wars as they were in the Master’s
day. Today, as then, many are
fearful because of the acts and
threats of aggression by one na
tion against another nation. But
we do not need to be afraid. The
Master’s admonition to his dis
ciples (Matt. 24:6), “Ye shall
hear of wars and rumours of
wars: see that ye be not trou
bled.” is just as true for us today
as when it was first spoken.
Christ Jesus taught his fol
lowers not to ignore evil, includ
ing the evils which cause wars.
He taught that the unfailing
remedy for the aggressive evils
which lead to wars is the spirit
ual understanding that God is
the supreme All-in-all. The
Master quoted the Scriptures to
support his teaching. He said
(Mark 12:29, 30), "Hear, O
Israel; The Lord our God is one
Lord: and thou shalt love the
Lord thv God with all thv heart,
and with all thy soul, and with
all thy mind, and with all thy
strength: this is the first com
nandment.’
The First Commandment,
‘Thou shalt have no other gods
jefore me” (Ex. 20:3), is the
nost important rule ever to
lawn within human conscious
ness because it gets at the root
:auses of strife, aggression, and
;ickness. In the Christian Sci
ence textbook. “Science and
Tealth with Key to the Scrip
:ures,” Mary Baker Eddy, the
Discoverer and Founder of
fhristian Science, makes this
datement (p. 340), “The First
Commandment is my favorite
ext It demonstrates Christian
science.” Then Mrs. Eddy ex
plains why the First Command
nent demonstrates Christian Sci
ence. She says, “One infinite God,
>ood, unifies men and nations,
institutes the brotherhood of
nan; ends wars; fulfils the
Scripture, ‘Love thy neighbor
is thyself;’ annihilates pagan
ind Christian idolatry,—what
?ver is wrong in social, civil,
•riminai, political, and religious
-odes; equalizes the sexes; an
iuIs the curse on man, and leaves
rothing that can sin, suffer, be
junished or destroyed.
One God is Basic
“Thou shalt have no other gods
before me.” Eight short words.
The longest is only six letters.
Yet packed into this First Com
mandment is the basic spirit
ual truth which casts into ob
livion every lying suggestion
that there is or can be more
than one God; that there is or
ran be a power apart from God,
able to nullify God’s intelligence
and presence, and create in such
a supposed vacuum ai. opposite
state of existence, a state wheie
good is temporary, where wars
rage, and where disease afflicts
Mrs Eddv wrote (Science and
Health, P 340), “The divine
Principle of the First C ommand
ment bases the Science of being,
hv which man demonstiates
health, holiness, and life eter
niThe divine Principle of the
F,,st Commandment which
“bases the Science of being is
that God, Love, is the only power
and presence, the supreme All
in-all This divine Principle of
the First Commandment also
bases the nine other command
merits of the Ten which God
gave mankind. Each one of these!
niue commandments, in its own
distinctive way, amplifies the
spiritual logic and practical ap
plication of the First Command
ment. God's commandments
are not laws of restriction. They
are unerring guides to redemp
tion and freedom for everybody.
For example, the second com
mandment (Ex. 20:4. 5), "Thou
shalt not make unto thee any
graven image . . . Thou shalt not
bow down thyself to them, nor
serve them” — this command
ment makes it clear that God
does not need some kind of a
graven image such as a drug, or
some kind of a food fad, to heal
ms.
If God required matter in any
'form to heal, then His second
(command of the Ten would read
something like this: Thou shalt
not make unto thee any graven
image except a potion or a pill
containing a drug. Then, when
you are sick, you must bow down
and take this material medicine,
because a drug is greater than I
am.
In the spiritual account of cre
ation—the account set forth in
the first chapter of the Holy
Bible—it is recorded that God
gave man the earth's abundance
for food. He did not give it to
man for medicine. (See Gen. 1:
29, 30.) There is no mention that
God gave man drugs for healing
because God knew that His work
was perfect, and would always
remain so. Giving medicinal
power to plant, animal, or min
eral extracts or compounds to
make and keep man healthy—
this notion started with prim
itive superstitious peoples. It
never started with God.
Is it reasonable to believe that
if God needed any kind of ma
terial remedy to heal, He would
have withheld it from Christ
Jesus? God’s medicine is Truth,
not a graven image of mortal su
perstition such as a pill or a drug.
The only medicine sanctioned
by Christian Science is God’s
Christ, Truth, that God, good, is
supreme — a supremacy pro
claimed in the First Command
ment, “Thou shalt have no other
gods before me,” and amplified
in the second and third com
mandments, “Thou shalt not
make unto thee any graven
image,” and (Ex. 20:7), “Thou
shalt not take the name of the
Lord thy God in vain.”
Spiritual Man Has Perfect Body
One way to take the name of
God in vain, that is one kind of
a wrong concept of God, is to be
lieve that God is a glorified mor
tal with a physical body. God
no more requires matter to give
identity to either Himself or to
His reflected image and likeness,
spiritual man, than He requires
a drug to heal. But God’s man
always has had, and always will
have a perfect God-fashioned
and God-sustained body. But
this perfect body is not an iden
tity made up of such material
elements as brain, blood, and
bones. Reason and logic tell us
that God expresses Himself only
in that which He reflects, such as
wisdom, beauty, joy, health, and
right activity.
To the five physical senses our
identity appears to consist of a
matter body in which we seem
to be confined. But the fact that
we include in our consciousness
the world about us, the sun, the
moon, and the stars, proves that
we are not confined to a material
body.
Christian Science shows that
man’s God-given identity is in
corporeal, that is, not fleshly.
That is why a Christian Science
treatment is not aimed at making
more or better matter. A Chris
tian Science treatment consists
of so clearly seeing the spir
itual, incorporeal nature of God.
and man’s consequent perfect
selfhood as God’s reflected image
and likeness, that the fleshly be
liefs about ourselves and our
bodies or identities fade away
for the want of a believer. I do
not mean that you will fade
away. I mean that the sickness,
and "the lack, and the inharmony
will fade away. And you will be
healed.
wnat appears to numan sense
to be a physical healing in Chris
tian Science is, in fact, the effect
of the spiritual redemption of
thought, a spiritual rebirth.
Jesus said to Nicodemus, “Ye
must be born again” (John 3:7).
This spiritual redemption of
thought can never be accom
plished or speeded up by a drug
or a surgeon’s knife. The only
true healer is the Christ, the
Truth, which flows from God, re
vealing what God and man really
are. This revelation from God
destroys the lies about God and
man which we have been ac
cepting as true, and the physi
cal body, the objectified state of
mortal thought, is healed.
That is why the third com
mandment, “Thou shalt not take
the name of the Lord thy God in
vain,” is so useful in the prac
tice of Christian Science. God’s
third commandment is God’s
constant reminder to us that He
is Spirit and infinite, with no
element of matter or finiteness
.about Him. Our understanding
of this fact supports our efforts
to demonstrate man’s perfect
identity as the reflection of God,
regardless of how aggressively
the five physical senses may push
forward the lie that both man
and God are material and im
perfect.
Worship God Every Day
How better can we put into
practice the deep spiritual mean
ing of the First Commandment
and its amplification in the sec
ond and third, than by putting
into practice each day of the
week the fourth commandment
(Ex. 20:8), “Remember the .sab
bath day, to keep it holy”?
When we keep each day
Sabbathlike by following God’s
guidance given in the first three
commandments, we find that our
days consist less and less of the
passage of time ,pnd more and
more are periods-—pf spiritual
ascension. In Science and Health
Mrs. Edd.v writes (p. 509), “The
periods of spiritual ascension are
the days and seasons of Mind’s
creation, in which beauty, sub
limity, purity, and holiness—yea,
the divine nature—appear In
man and the universe never to
disappear.”
Days of spiritual ascension are
days in which we rise so high in
the spiritual understanding of
God and man that the lie that
man, God's image and likeness,
can be separated from God is no
longer believed. In the propor
tion that the lie of separation is
no longer real to us, we car.
demonstrate more and more what
it is like to be at one with our
Maker—demonstrate that the
“beauty, sublimity, purity, and
holiness,” which constitute our
real selfhood, are God’s expres
sion of His own “beauty, sub
limity, purity and holiness.”
This right sense of day—that
it is not a passage of time, but
a period of unfolding good—
makes it possible for us to so
successfully apply God’s first
three commandments that fear,
sickness, lack, and a gnawing
sense of insecurity will find no
lodging place in our thought, and
from that vantage point objec
tify themselves in our bodies and
experiences.
Fifth Through tne renin
Commandments
The fifth through the tenth
commandments are God’s de
tailed instructions in how to
make and keep each day so
Sabbathlike that the basic First
Commandment, and its ampli
fication in the second and third
commandments, will always be
as vital and practical to us as
God intended them to be.
Now then, what is the first in
struction in making and keeping
our days Sabbathlike? It is the
fifth commandment of the Ten
(Ex. 20:12), “Honour thy father
and thy mother,” which has as
its promise, “that thy days may
be long upon the land which the
Lord thy God giveth thee.”
This commandment makes it
clear that our love for those
around us and cur demonstra
tion of longevity, including
health, go hand in hand. How
can this be? Because, as the
Bible declares, and Christian
Science explains, God is both
Love and Life. Therefore to
demonstrate longevity we must
watch that we love.
To love means much more than
to like somebody or something.
To love means that we deny,
whenever there is need for de
nial, that evil can be either per
son, place, or thing, regardless
of how aggressively evil, through
its various manifestations, may
seek to offend us. But true love
does not stop with the denial of
evil. To love means that we fol
low through in our denial of evil
and affirm the reality and power
of good, that we see past the evil
as nothing and unreal, to the
perfect man of God’s creating.
Such love brings health and
longevity not only to ourselves,
but also to those upon whom our
thoughts rest.
In what better place could we
lay such groundwork for lon
gevity than right in our own
homes, honoring each other, and
then let that kind of love grow
to include all mankind—let it
expand to become more and
more the reflection of the Love
which is so infinite that it is the
Life which is eternal? It is in
this way—loving both those who
are afar as well as those who are
near—that we make and keep
our homes the center though
not the boundary of our own
demonstration of the Love which
is Life.
when we love all mankind and
not just a few select persons, it
is natural for the young and the
adult alike to follow God’s guid
ance given in the sixth com
mandment (Ex. 20:13), '‘Thou
shalt net kill”; the seventh (v.
14) , “Thou shalt not commit
adultery”; and the eighth (v.
15) , “Thou shalt not steal ” These
guiding rules of God are neces
sary. They lead us into paths
where there is no temptation to
our young people to lapse into
delinquency, or for parents to
have cause for divorce. The child
will have been taught through
parental love, and that love
backed up by parental example,
how to follow God’s guidance
given us in the Ten Command
ments, and thus keep out of the
alleys of waywardness.
Just as the sixth, seventh, and
eighth commandments guide us
in keeping our acts towards
others a practical expression of
our love for God, the ninth and
tenth commandments alert us to
the necessity to watch our words
about and thoughts of others.
Of the ninth commandment (Ex
20:16), “Thou shalt not bear false
witness against thy neighbour,”
Mrs. Eddy writes (Miscellaneous
Writings, p. 67), “‘Thou shalt not
bear false witness;’ that is, thou
shalt not utter a lie, either men
tally or audibly, nor cause it to
be thought.”
To bear true witness in
thought, word, and act to what
the man of God really is, is the
best way to help another over
come his shortcomings.
If we accept another’s short
comings as real, and then make
matters worse by criticizing him
for his shortcomings, we are
bearing false witness Malicious
criticism is like a millstone
around our own necks. It bogs
us down in our own attempts to
demonstrate well-being for our
selves. Christian Science reveals
that since the body is but thought
made manifest, any error which
we accept as real for another
finds expression in our face,
body, and life. In his letter to the
Romans, Paul wrote (2:1), “For
wherein thou judgest another,
thou condemnest thyself.”
If we should ignore the spir
itual guidance set forth in the
tenth commandment (Ex. 20:17),
"Thou shalt not covet," we would
be saying, in effect, I am not the
son of God. Therefore 1 do not
have the bounty which God be
stows on man. All I can do is
wish for that which belongs to
someone else. When such mental
swaddling clothes bind our
thought, God’s limitless good for
everyone can never find outward
expression in our own life. These
mental swaddling clothes must
be stripped away by the Christ
Truth. Then God’s ever-present
riches of supply, health, and
companionship will be just as
available for us as they are for
anyone else.
We need never covet another’s
good We need only to recognize
that our own God-reflected self
hood already is complete, already
is God’s expression of all His
goodness Christian Science, the
Science of the truth of God.
helps us to understand and to
demonstrate this fact of our com
pleteness.
The way in which Christian
Science unlocks and makes prac
tical the healing guidance of the
Ten Commandments is only one
example of how Christian Sci
ence makes practical the healing
Christ, Truth, found in the in
spired Word of God throughout
the whole Bible. In Science and
Health, Mrs. Eddy states (p. 406),
“The Bible contains the recipe
for all healing.”
Mrs. Eddy ordained the Bible
and “Science and Health with
Key to the Scriptures” to be the
pastor of the more than three
thousand Christian Science
churches and societies through
out the world. The first tenet
of the Christian Science church
is (ibid., p. 497), “As adher
ents of Truth, we take the in
spired Word of the Bible as our
sufficient guide to eternal Life.”
Christian Science in the
Space Age
Will God's healing guidance,
found in the inspired Word of the
Bible, such as in the Ten Com
mandments, be as useful to man
out in space as it is here on
earth? When the astronaut
stands on the surface of the moon
or on the control deck of his
space ship cruising millions of
miles out from earth, will he see
about him evidence of the fact
that God is the supreme and
only power, as the First Com
mandment sets forth? When the
space traveler looks upon the
ordered procession of the stars
can he believe that God is a
puny god, one of many gods, one
whose order can be turned into
disorder?
Let a Presbyterian churchgoer
answer these questions for us.
He is well qualified to do so.
He is the first American to orbit
the earth. His name is John
Glenn. He says in an article
(John Glenn, “Why I Know
There Is a God,” The Header’s
Digest, July, 1962, p. 38): “Now
what is the point I am making?
It is the orderliness of the whole
universe about us—from the
smallest atomic structures to the
most enormous thing we can
imagine: galaxies millions of
light-years across, all traveling
in prescribed orbits in relation
to one another.
“Could this have just hap
pened? Was it an accident that
a bunch of flotsam and jetsam'
suddenly started making these
orbits of its own accord? I can't
believe that. It was a definite
Plan. This one big thing in
space shows me there is a
God. Some Power put all this
into orbit and keeps it there.”
In their orderly courses even
the galaxies of stars respond to
God’s order and law. And so
does every organ of the human
body respond to the supreme
commands of God. God is the
only governor there is; and the
orderly stars and an orderly
body hint the supreme order
of God’s supreme government.
Referring to God as divine, in
finite Mind, Mrs. Eddy has writ
ten (The People’s Idea of God.
p. 8), “Mind, that governs the
universe, governs every action
of the body as directly as it
moves a planet and controls
the muscles of the arm.”
Then why is it that sometimes
people get sick, sometimes are
poor, sometimes disheartened,
and afraid? Aren’t God’s laws
big enough to go around? They
are. God’s laws are not only
powerful enough to hold the
galaxies of heavenly bodies in
their precise orbits, but God’s
laws are big enough to embrace
every individual on earth. The
only trouble is that we sometimes
disregard God’s laws. We be
come lawbreakers. The Bible
tells us (I John 5:3): “For this is
the love of God, that we keep his
commandments.” In other words,
God does not indulge our mis
takes, but through His Christ,
Truth, corrects our shortcomings.
The point is, are we willing to
accept His truths? Christian Sci
ence helps us do so by explaining
God to us. Then understanding
Him. we can intelligently follow
His guidance.
This love of God. expressed in
His support of each one of us.
is never limited or absent. If
things are not going right we
should ask ourselves questions
like these: Am I forgetting God’s
First Commandment, “Thou
shalt have no other gods before
me”? Am I believing that God
needs some kind of graven image
of matter to heal me? Do I
have vain ideas about God, such
as that He is a big mortal know
ing good and evil instead of being
what He is, incorporeal Life,
Truth, and Love, the creating and
supporting Father-Mother of the
whole universe? Am I keeping
every day a Sabbathdav by loving
all mankind; that is, am I seeing
past the shackles mortals impose
upon themselves to the great
spiritual fact of being—the fact
that the real man, the spiritual
man, is the peifect and limitless
son of the perfect and limitless
God? Do my actions and my
words prove that my thoughts
are godly thoughts?
If we are honestly keeping
God’s commands we will reap
the rewards of spiritual healing.
Our love for God which we prove
in our love for our fellow man—
such love is not a puny personal
love. It is the majestic reflected
evidence of God who is Love;
and God expresses His love by
holding you and me in perfect, or
dered being, just as He holds the
stars in their orbits. In that per
fection, in that order, there can
be no error of sickness, no sor
row, no pain. That is the way
God heals us, not by punishing
us, but by flooding our con
sciousness with the Christ. Truth,
of being. Then we stop believing
in lies about God and ourselves,
and we are healed. Redemption,
not punishment, is God's plan
for you and me. whether we re
side on earth, on the moon, or
on a planet of some distant star.
Mary Baker Eddy writes in Sci
ence and Health (p 146), “Di
vine Science derives its sanction
from the Bible, and the divine
origin of Science i demonstrated
through the holy influence of
Truth in healing sickness and
sin. This healing power of Truth
must have been far anterior to
the period in which Jesus lived.
It is as ancient as ‘the Ancient
of days.’ It lives through all
Life, and extends throughout
all space.”
God’s healing Christ, Truth,
brought by the Bible and made
practical by Christian Science,
belongs in this Spacr Age. The
Christ heals throughout all space.
Man must have it on this planet,
or on any other habitable planet,
wherever it may be.
Treatment Based on Bible
I should like to tell you of a
Christian Science healing in
which the inspired Word of the
Bible was the basis of the prac
titioner’s treatment. While in his
office one day a business execu
tive, a Christian Scientist, was
suddenly stricken with a heart
attack His body was partially
paralyzed and he was unable to
speak coherently. He was taken
to his home, and at his request
his wife called a Christian Sci
ence practitioner who lived in a
distant city. The wife asked the
practitioner to give her husband
Christian Science treatment.
The practitioner recalled the
Master’s words (Matt. 5.48),
“Be ye therefore perfect, even as
your Father which is in heaven
is perfect.” The practitioner saw
clearly that since God is always
perfect, He does not cast Himself
down. Therefore man, God’s
image and likeness, could never
be cast down. The practitioner
knew that the businessman
never could be cast down by
office politics, envy, or jealousy.
The practitioner declared that
the man w'as continually upheld
in his honest work, since God,
and not envy or jealousy, is the
only power.
The practitioner continued his
treatment. He maintained that
the Christ, Truth, is fully able
to wipe out all false mortal be
liefs relating to heart attacks, in
cluding the belief that because
heart attacks i re so widely be
lieved in they must be true. The
practitioner declared that the
world-wide acceptance of any
lie, and specifically lies concern
i ing heart attacks, could never
make heart attacks real or known
to God. The practitioner fol
! lowed through in his reasoning
; by declaring that since the pa
I tient’s only Mind is God, the
business executive could not
and did not believe in heart at
tacks, or any of their attendant
beliefs such as pain, or delay in
healing.
Within a short time the pain
stopped. In a few days the man
was up and about the house, and
continued to improve under
Christian Science treatment. Be
fore long he was healed. During
the whole experience the man,
supported by ihe Christ, Truth,
as the practitioner’s treatment
declared, w'as not afraid.. By
putting and keeping God first,
as the First Commandment re
veals, the man was abie to keep
his days Sabbathiike, free of
fear, the prime cause and in
gredient of all disease, pain, dis
order, and delay in healing.
Christian Science metaphysical
treatment and Christian Science
prayer are one and the same
thing. The Christian Scientist's
prayer is much more than a
verbal petition to God asking for
help. Christian Science shows
that our prayers, in order to be
effective, must include the recog
nition of the infinite goodness and
supremacy of God, and the con
sequent nothingness of evil.
Since God’s goodness is infinite,
our prayers must have a big
ness about them. Just to pray for
| our own body, home, and per
sonal affairs is not enough. Our
j prayers should embrace the
; whole world in the recognition
; of God’s all-embracing love.
Mary Baker Eddy
Mrs. Eddy knew that the power
of divine Mind, God, to heal was
not persona] with Jesus—or with
herself, or with Christian Science
practitioners. Mrs. Eddy under
stood the Master's teaching that
the healing power can come only
from God. our loving Father
Mother. This healing power,
flowing from God, constitutes
God’s Messiah.
The Christ, the Son of God,
enabled Jesus, the human son
of the Virgin Mary, to heal.
Today the Christ, the spiritual
idea of God and man which
Christ Jesus exemplified and
practiced, enables students of
Christian Science to demonstrate
man's perfect, God-fashioned
being.
Mary Baker Eddy knew that
she discovered Christian Science,
the Science of healing through
prayer after the mannei in which
Christ Jesus prayed and healed.
; (But Mrs. Eddy never claimed
that she originated Christian
Science. She knew that the heal
ing laws of God and the rules
; for their application can come
j only from God. Therefore Chris
tian Science has always existed,
and will always continue to exist
because God has always existed
and will always continued to
exist. It needed only the pure
perception of one who had risen
high enough spiritually to dis
cover this healing Science of
God, and to make it available to
•lankind. Mrs. Eddy was the one
who did rise high enough spir
itually. For her great work man
kind owes her a deep debt of
gratitude.
Mrs. Eddy wrote “Science and
Health with Key to the Scrip
tures’’ to record her discovery,
and to explain Christian Science
and how to use it. Mrs. Eddy,
Christian Science which she dis
covered and founded, and her
textbook have had, and still do
have, many imitators and detrac
tors. How can we tell Mrs.
Eddy’s original and genuine
Christian Science from its imi
tators and their imitations?
Genuine Christian Science at
tributes all intelligence, life, and
power to God. It denies the re
ality, power, life, and intelli
gence of matter and evil.
Mrs. Eddy had no fears of de
tractors of either herself or of
Christian Science. She knew
that in the Master’s day the heal
ing Christ, Truth, was not
eclipsed in spite of the gather
ing and onslaught of evil’s
forces against it. And neither
will Christian Science ever be
eclipsed. In Science and Health
Mrs. Eddy writes (p 341), “The
facts are so absolute and nu
merous in support of Christian
Science, that misrepresentation
and jenurciation cannot over
throw it.” Christian Science will
abide forever, just as the Master
said it would. He said (John 14:
16, 17), “I will pray the Father,
and he shall give you another
Comforter, that he may abide
with you for ever; even the
Spirit of truth.” v
How Christian Science Helps
Mankind
Christian Science, the ever
abiding Comforter, helps anyone
who turns to it. How does it do
this? By unlocking and making
practical the inspired and heal
ing Word of the Bible. For ex
ample, as I have endeavored to
bring out in this lecture, Chris
tian Science reveals the deep
spiritual meaning of the Ten
Commandments. It shows how
they interlace, each supporting
the other in guiding us out of the
web of lies which lure us into
wars, strife, sickness, and want.
The divine Principle of the
First Commandment, “Thou shalt
have no other gods before me,”
bases the whole Science of being
by which mankind is saved. The
second and third commandments
amplify and make more specific
the spiritual meaning of the First
Commandment. The , second
commandment shows us that
God’s medicine is divine intelli
gence, the Christ, Truth, which
needs no graven image of matter
to heal. The third commandment
shows us that God is not an en
larged mortal, but is infinite
power, Life, and Truth. There
fore our identity is perfect and
eternal, God’s individualized
glory. The fourth command
ment, “Remember the sabbath
day, to keep it holy,” shows us
the value of putting into prac
tice each day of the week all
that the first three command
ments reveal of God’s supremacy
and power, and of man’s perfec
tibility. <
The remaining six command
ments are God's instructions to
help us to keep each day Sab
bathlike, “that thy days may be
long upon the land which the
Lord thy God giveth thee.”
These instructions are based
upon the First Commandment,
love for God They impress upon
us that we m ist make our love
for God more than a thing of
words. We must make our love
for God practical by keeping
each day holy. To do this we
must love our fellow man as our
selves. And we must begin that
love for our fellow man right
in our own homes, and then
let that love expand to include
our thoughts of others and our
acts. ' _ j
The Christly method of heal
ing through understanding and
applying the inspired Word of
God, such as in the Ten Com
mandments, should be sought
above any other method of heal
ing ever practiced by mankind.
Why? Because such healing is
the ultimate method, God’s:
method. It was the method used
by the Master. It is the method
which Christian Science makes’
available to us here and now,
enabling us to heal ourselves and
others, and to overcome the root
causes of war.
Anyone can be healed. No one
is excluded. The health and well
being imparted by God through
His Comforter, divine Science,
constitute heaven on earth for
I everybody.
This spiritual understanding of
God. brought to you and me by
Christian Science, is like a bene
diction — a benediction which
| rests like a halo on each un
folding day, keeping each day
Sabbathlike, crowning each
hour with "beauty, sublimity,
purity, and holiness,” which
never disappear. Truly the
Psalmist has written (91:1),
“He that dwelleth in the secret
place of the most High shall
abide under the shadow of th*
Almighty.”