OK—a little recipe/cooking analogy!

Let’s say that you were making a cake and the recipe called for 1 cup of sugar. If the thought came to you to use a cup of salt instead, would you say “Sure thing!  That makes sense to me!”

Not if you wanted the recipe to yield a sweet cake you wouldn’t!

Now, what if another recipe called for vinegar?  And this time the idea came to you to use a salad dressing that contained a small percentage of vinegar, would you go ahead and expect the same results?  I don’t think so!

So why then would you accept the suggestions of error that would try to undermine your successful outcome for healing?  Why would you accept the evidence of the material senses—in any of their guises—as fact, and then wonder why you’re not being healed?

Just as you would quickly dismiss the clearly erroneous idea that you could exchange salt for sugar, why not do the same when error tries to suggest to you that you can mix or substitute other ideas for Christian Science?  Or, even more absurdly, that you somehow don’t have the power to resist the lure of such suggestions in the first place?

Paraphrasing the Apostle James’ admonition (James 4:7), Mary Baker Eddy wrote:

Resist evil — error of every sort — and it will flee from you. (Science and Health, p. 406)

Each of us, as God’s image and likeness—and we are nothing less than that!—does innately have the ability to see through the lies and temptations that the carnal mind, error, evil, is suggesting to us, and then to recognize and experience the healing realities of Truth, of God.

In Rudimental Divine Science, Mrs. Eddy stated:

A Christian Scientist knows that, in Science, disease is unreal; that Mind is not in matter; that Life is God, good; hence Life is not functional, and is neither matter nor mortal mind; knows that pantheism and theosophy are not Science. Whatever saps, with human belief, this basis of Christian Science, renders it impossible to demonstrate the Principle of this Science, even in the smallest degree. (p. 12)

If we persist in thinking that we can substitute anything—“even in the smallest degree”—for the rules and truth of Christianly scientific healing as laid out in complete and comprehensive detail in Science and Health, as well as the author’s other writings, then we are not only working against ourselves, but also those who call us for help.

To take it one step further, wouldn’t we be—ignorantly or otherwise—working against Mrs. Eddy’s revelation and demonstration?

And that, my friends, would be a recipe for disaster!

No—this isn’t a post about the harvesting of maple syrup!

It’s about our need to protect our thought—to be truly vigilant about what may be influencing us erroneously.   To be watching as Mary Baker Eddy instructed John C. Lathrop:

To watch is to become conscious of your danger. (We Knew Mary Baker Eddy, Expanded Edition, Vol. 1., p. 262).

That’s a remarkable statement and one that’s quite different from what ‘watching’ is normally associated with in reference to “watch and pray.”  Yet it’s one that is essential to our healing practice as well as our spiritual progress.

So what does “sapping” have to do with any of this?

Actually, quite a lot!

Sapping is a military technique that has been used at least since the Middle Ages in siege warfare.  In essence, it involves a method employed by the attacking forces to breach the walls of a fortress, not by a direct ground assault, but by digging trenches or mines below the soil to the foundations of the walls.  The assailants then packed the foundation with gun powder, exploded it, and caused not only the foundation but the walls it supported to collapse, which in turn gave their forces access to the citadel.

The defenders—often preoccupied with the obvious above-ground attacks that had been going on—were more or less oblivious to the deeper and more dangerous threat to their position coming from beneath, that is until it was too late.

There’s a metaphysical lesson to be gleaned from this—one that can aid us in uncovering the specific error underlying sin, disease, and death, rather than misdirecting our healing “fire” at the superficial.

Did you know that Mrs. Eddy referred to “sapping” twice in Science and Health and both were in the context of undermining foundations—clearly indicating its military usage?

The first describes what would happen if we give up our false sense of God:

If mankind would relinquish the belief that God makes sickness, sin, and death, or makes man capable of suffering on account of this malevolent triad, the foundations of error would be sapped and error’s destruction ensured… (p. 357)

And the second tells of evil’s assault on our true identity as the reflection of Spirit:

Error begins by reckoning life as separate from Spirit, thus sapping the foundations of immortality, as if life and immortality were something which matter can both give and take away. (p. 539)

How often have each of us—like the defenders in a fortress—been misdirected by error to only look at the surface of a problem (symptom) rather than detect the underlying fear that would attempt to sap us from the foundations of Truth upon which each of us, in spiritual reality, stand?

Perhaps a healing has been eluding you, try as you may to handle the beliefs that have been assaulting and attempting to overwhelm you.  Maybe you see so many mental attackers in the guise of symptoms, reactions, and obligations occupying your thought and attention that it seems like the enemy is coming at you from every direction.

Take heart—by using your God-given spiritual discernment, you can see what’s going on.  You can see what needs to be rooted out, exposed, and destroyed by the truth of being.  By the truth as revealed in Christian Science.  By the power of Almighty God!

In the same reminiscences by Lathrop, he related how Mrs. Eddy told him:

Christian Scientists do not close their eyes to evil, but open them.  They open their eyes, spiritual discernment, and awaken to the true nature of evil or sin, to its false claims, methods, subtlety, etc., and then realize its nothingness, its utter powerlessness to control or to harm. (p. 269).

There’s no doubt that we need to be vigilant sentinels on the parapets of consciousness—alert to any and all attempts of error to have us fall for its illusory traps, whether they’re on the surface or below.

And the duty to do so is one that we dare not forsake if we expect to victoriously sap the foundation of error instead!

JSH-Online just posted on its Putting it on Record section a new audio podcast of mine titled “Defending our agelessness.”  Rita Polatin interviewed me about this topic that’s so important for all of us—regardless of how many or how few cycles around the sun we’ve seen!

You can hear it at: http://journal.christianscience.com/audio/putting-it-on-record/defending-our-agelessness

Enjoy!

“Know the truth, and the truth shall make you free” (John 8:32)—the immortal utterance of Jesus, the Master Metaphysician—is familiar to most Christians as well as many others.  It is profound to its core.  Yet are we equally familiar with the requirement—yes, requirement—that precedes it in this gospel?

31  Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed;

32  And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.

Suddenly, his statement takes on a new meaning—not just one of ‘simply’ knowing the truth, but that the knowing, the understanding, of the truth is the outcome of becoming one of Jesus’ disciples which can only be arrived at by continuing in his word.

And continuing in his word can be summed up in the Master’s own direct command to each of us:

Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils. (Matthew 10:8)

Really, can any conclusion be reached other than to be a Christian means that we must strive to achieve each of these demands?

Mary Baker Eddy wrote in her Church Manual (p. 92):

I recommend that each member of this Church shall strive to demonstrate by his or her practice, that Christian Science heals the sick quickly and wholly, thus proving this Science to be all that we claim for it.

Notice that she states “the sick,” not only our own illnesses.

“But,” you may be saying, “I don’t have enough experience.” Or “I don’t have enough time given my family and career.”  Or “I have my own problems to take care of first!”  Or “It’s only for those who have a ‘calling’!”

Ah—how mortal mind tries to find escape routes!

In referring to Jesus’ parable of a man inviting guests to a great supper (Luke 14:16-24), Mrs. Eddy stated:

When all men are bidden to the feast, the excuses come. One has a farm, another has merchandise, and therefore they cannot accept. (Science and Health, p. 130)

So, does this mean that in order to be obedient every Christian Scientist must become a Journal-listed practitioner?  Not necessarily, though it does mean that we all have to be ready and willing to heal others—not just our family and fellow church members, but the public.

You may be wondering, “Well if that’s the case, what should I do?”

The first step and most basic step is that we each need to embrace in our thought Jesus’ requirement, as well as our God-given abilities as students of Christian Science, to be the healers that he and Mrs. Eddy expected us to be.  This simple act will open the door for us—a door that God tells us “behold, I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it.” (Revelation 3:8)

And that door opens to blessings for humanity—beyond any mortal conception—that we dare not resist walking through!

One of my blogs was just posted on christianscience.com’s Church Alive site.  You can read “Healing: at the center of everything” at: http://christianscience.com/member-resources/for-churches/church-alive/blogs-and-audio-chats/blogs/healing-at-the-center-of-everything

Enjoy!

You might be asking what does yoga have to do with Christian Science?  The answer, of course, is “Nothing!”  However some of our younger Church members, as well as those not so young, seem to be getting confused about this and are promoting it as something that can lead to peace and God.

This position is fraught with peril.

Why?

Let me explain.

Yoga is rooted in the religious/philosophical practices of Buddhism and Hinduism—both of which are antipodal to Christian Science in every conceivable way.  They present a false sense of spirituality whereby their adherents, many of whom are no doubt well-meaning individuals, think they are following a spiritual path by gazing inwardly through the brain/body (human consciousness) for enlightenment—something that neither can provide since they are material concepts and thereby inherently false—instead of looking outwardly to God, the one and only Mind in Whom “we live, and move, and have our being.” (Acts 17:28)  The sensations produced upon the devotees feign bliss and peace while actually causing the individual to fall more deeply into the dream of mortal existence.

Now you might be thinking: “Well, I’m just doing yoga for exercise.  There’s nothing wrong with that!”

That’s your choice, of course, but you need to be aware of the fire that you’re playing with.  Each of the movements/gestures is imbued with millennia of so-called spiritual significance and thought—thought that millions around the globe are still investing it with.  Thought that cannot be divorced from it.  And thought that can wrongfully influence you away from the ability to experience and practice the healing power of Christian Science.

The biblical tree of the knowledge of good and evil has many fruits—all of which we would do well to avoid!

Why is it important to recognize and understand that Christian Science is unique? This is such a vital question!  Read Phil Davis’s, C.S.B., blog post for the answer. Just click on the title below:

Empowered by the uniqueness of Christian Science

Recently, and to my surprise, a life-long Christian Scientist told me that all new ideas in our churches get immediately squashed by those members who want to pray and focus on healing!  He went on to say that the desire to heal others has never helped our churches prosper.

Unfortunately, this view is not isolated to this one individual.  And without a doubt it is nothing less than animal magnetism—evil, error, the carnal mind—mesmerizing and engulfing those folks’ thought.

Think about it for a moment.

How could that which is at the very core of Christian Science and the most significant aspect that makes it unique—Christianly scientific healing—in any way hamper our churches’ growth?

It is the basis upon which Mary Baker Eddy founded Christian Science, the rock upon which churches were organized, and the primary reason that people flocked to those churches.

People that were already healed by Christian Science of the diseases, injuries, and illnesses that the medical fraternity had said—and still says—were either incurable or that material-based remedies alone could cure (or at best manage).

People who knew firsthand of the potency of Christianly scientific healing.

And people who were living witnesses to the power of Truth which thoroughly lifted them out of lives shackled by illness and sin into selfless lives of healing and blessing humanity.  Their reformed and regenerated lives, and their subsequent dedication to healing others, in turn drew newcomers seeking the same salvation from evil’s terrors of the flesh.

Tell me then, in what possible way could healing hamper the growth of Christian Science or squash new ideas?

The answer is that it can’t.  In fact, Christianly scientific healing fosters growth and inspires and frees us with new spiritual ideas—not new human strategies and opinions.

So what’s happening here that some members would express such absurd observations?

These individuals are being used by evil to voice the larger claim of material thought—of the secular and sensual that asserts a separation from God’s immediate and complete healing presence.  A thought that would try to efface our true and only identity as God’s spiritual creation.  A thought which claims that Christianly scientific healing is irrelevant in the 21^st century because of all the advances of material medicine.  A thought that places all value in matter, pleasure, and worldly satisfaction and validation.

A thought that is aggressively promoted everywhere we look.

Yet, a falsity can be nothing other than false.  By its very nature, it cannot—under any circumstances—voice the truth.

Mrs. Eddy wrote:

The so-called laws of matter and of medical science have never made mortals whole, harmonious, and immortal. Man is harmonious when governed by Soul. Hence the importance of understanding the truth of being, which reveals the laws of spiritual existence. (Science and Health, p. 273)

To those dear ones who are falling into this trap of error—of thinking that focusing on healing is a hindrance to our churches’ growth and prosperity and/or is no longer relevant—I would ask one question:

Where can you find any such assertion in Science and Health and Mrs. Eddy’s other writings?

Search though you may, you will never see a justification for such erroneous claims.

Christianly scientific healing is and always will be at the center of all God-inspired growth—individually and collectively—in Christian Science.

The two cannot be separated.

My latest JSH-Online blog post “A tale of two speakers” was just posted today on the Christian Science Journal’s “Practice, Practice, Practice” Blog.

You can see it at: http://journal.christianscience.com/blogs/practice-practice-practice/a-tale-of-two-speakers?s=sc

Enjoy!

Sounds absurd, doesn’t it?

You could go to the nearest Sherwin-Williams paint store and buy the costliest paint, the most vibrant color, the finest quality brushes and rollers, and if you tried to paint the air, then what?

Nothing!

It can’t be done.  It’s impossible.

There is nothing in the properties of air that would allow paint to adhere to it.

So why would any of us, as the image and likeness of God—our only true identity—think that we could be painted with the anti-spiritual lies of error?  How could we possibly be made to agree to such a fabrication?

And, yes, “agree” is the right word.  Why?  Simply because if we are experiencing any form of inharmony,  we must have acquiesced in some way—consciously or otherwise—to the falsities that would claim that any of the ideas of God could be subject to anything other than His goodness and love.

But the good news is that there is simply nothing in the properties of our identity—properties that are entirely spiritual—that error, a wholly material and therefore an utterly false and powerless concept, can adhere to.

Mary Baker Eddy stated:

Truth has no home in error, and error has no foothold in Truth. (Science and Health, p. 282)

Since each of us is the reflection of Truth, of God, we must have no home—no consciousness—in error, and likewise, error has in reality no power or ability to attach itself to us.

The carnal mind—evil or error—may try to claim otherwise, but this does not make it so any more than the absurdity that the moon is made of green cheese could be a reality.

So, put down those paint brushes and instead see, acknowledge, accept, and yield to the true image and likeness of God—spiritual man, endowed by his Maker with health, holiness, and harmony—as your present immutable, immortal, and completely tangible and demonstrable identity.

It’s an entirely different picture!