While reading the account of Moses and Aaron confronting Pharaoh with God’s demand to let His people go in order to worship Him—to remove them from the slavery of Egypt—I took note of Pharaoh’s response.  When Aaron—at Moses’ command—threw his staff on the ground to become a snake, or struck the waters of the Nile to turn them to blood, Pharaoh had his magicians do “the same by their secret arts” (Exodus 7: NRSV).

Now, I’ve certainly been aware of this many times before, but on this occasion it took on a different meaning for me—a meaning that you might want to consider also.

“And, what might that be?” you may well be asking.

Nothing less than the attempt by error to ape and invert the Divine—God.

We need to be very alert to the methods or “secret arts” of error that would try to convince, lull, and mesmerize us into believing that other systems of thought are the same as Christian Science.

Why?  Because if we aren’t, we’re falling prey to the illusions of error and thereby diminishing our capacity to heal.

Having spent a fair amount of my life prior to Christian Science being impressed by the “magicians’ staffs” of various eastern/western philosophies, esoterica, and religious denominations, I’ve naturally become very aware of how different, as well as how false, those “staffs” are—each being based wholly or in part on a material and fear-filled basis that parades in the guise of spirituality.  And make no mistake, these “staffs” can and do lure many individuals away from experiencing the all-encompassing power and love of God—a love which brings healing to every aspect of our experience.

Now, lest anyone be confused here, I am in no way condemning the individuals who are adhering to other religions/philosophies.  I am, however, clearly pointing to the need for us to be alert to the temptation to make or see parallels where in fact there may be none.

Mary Baker Eddy wrote of Moses’ staff and his obedience to God at the burning bush:

The serpent, evil, under wisdom’s bidding, was destroyed through understanding divine Science, and this proof was a staff upon which to lean. The illusion of Moses lost its power to alarm him, when he discovered that what he apparently saw was really but a phase of mortal belief. (Science and Health, p. 321)

Remember, it was this understanding—this staff—that Moses brought to Egypt and Pharaoh’s court which began the practical liberation of the Israelites.

Before drawing parallels, shouldn’t we be asking ourselves if the apparent fruits of other belief systems are based on the rock of Christ, or whether they’re based on the illusions of error?

In other words, are they the staffs of the magicians—the staffs of enslavement?  Or is it the staff of Truth—of God’s infinite freedom?

As the Apostle John wrote:

Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: (First John: 4)

It was late winter of 1990—about a month before I encountered the saving truth of Christian Science for the first time.  I had been practicing a particular technically difficult section of my Piano Sonata, No. 1—a passage that involved three different simultaneous and unrelated rhythmic subdivisions going on.  The differences in the occurrences of each melodic line’s rhythms were minute fractions of a second apart, and I had achieved the mental precision and clarity which led to the realization of it in my playing.

That day also happened to be my birthday and I thought that I would head into Harvard Square and get a nice meal—which I did.  And while there I decided to have a glass of wine in celebration of the day.  It was all very pleasurable.

But that pleasure was short-lived—as materially illusive pleasures inevitably are.  When I got home to resume my practice, I found that the clarity of thought and performance was no longer there.  That precision I had worked so hard for was off.  It was as if all that I was attempting to hear was out of phase with the production of the sound.  And no matter how I tried to focus my thought, it just wasn’t happening.  I resolved then and there to not consume alcohol again—it simply wasn’t worth it.  The next day, my playing had all the precision that was formerly there—the influence of the stimulant having left me.

I learned a metaphysical lesson that night and one which was to grow in my thinking as I began the study of Christian Science—and one that continues to resonate in my experience.

The question I frequently find myself asking is: Am I living in accord with my growing understanding of the omnipresence, omniscience, omnipotence, and omni-activity of almighty God—of divine Love?  Or, have I let the influence of mortal mind—the carnal mind, error, and evil—into my consciousness and thereby cause my thoughts and actions to be out of phase with God?

Am I truly striving to have all my footsteps in alignment with infinite Mind?

That concept of human footsteps is extremely vital to the successful practice of Christian Science.  Sadly, I have too frequently heard some of my fellow Christian Scientists speak of “human footsteps” in a derisive or derogatory manner—as if they shouldn’t be considered or were only to be tolerated.

But did you know that the mention of “human footsteps” occurs only one time in all of the published writings of Mary Baker Eddy, the Founder and Discover of Christian Science?

The divine demand, “Be ye therefore perfect,” is scientific, and the human footsteps leading to perfection are indispensable. (Science and Health, p. 253)

So, where is there a hint of any detrimental association with those footsteps?

Wouldn’t it be just like the carnal mind to suggest to us that human footsteps aren’t indispensable—in a blatant contradiction of Science and Health—to cause us to hesitate and/or not “… follow the leadings of truth” (Science and Health, p. 151)? To cause us to devalue the importance of taking those steps—those steps that are indispensable to obeying the divine demand to be perfect?

If our healing practices for others as well as ourselves are to be increasingly effective then we need to make sure—through prayer—that our footsteps are aligned with God.  And then we need to take them!

One section of this week’s Christian Science Bible Lesson on the subject “God” relates the biblical account of the prophet Daniel’s response to a decree which King Darius was manipulated into signing by those co-workers and subordinates of Daniel who couldn’t stand his goodness and sought his destruction.  The penalty for disobeying the royal decree—a decree which prevented anyone from petitioning any god or man other than the king for thirty days—was death.

What was Daniel’s response?  Did he cower and obey the command?  No!

Now when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went into his house; and his windows being open in his chamber toward Jerusalem, he kneeled upon his knees three times a day, and prayed, and gave thanks before his God, as he did aforetime. (Daniel 6:10)

Talk about spiritual courage and conviction!  He knew full-well that in doing so, his accusers would quickly rush upon him and force his execution, yet it didn’t dissuade him from doing what he knew was right—to continue to turn in prayer and gratitude to God.

As we probably all know, his understanding of the allness of God saved him from the literal jaws of death in the den of lions.  He knew he was innocent and could not be harmed by the beasts because he knew that God also held him innocent.  He knew how he had been living his life.

It led me to ask some questions:

• Are we each willing to take the same stand as Daniel did?
• Do we really recognize our inherent innocence as a child of God?
• Do we understand that God maintains all of His creation in that perfect innocence?
• Are we alert to the wiles of error as Daniel was?
• Do we see that there is no power that can oppose God and that we are always protected by the awareness of His Allness?
• And are we actively striving to live our lives accordingly and thereby prove and demonstrate each of these?

Now, you may be thinking “That’s quite a tall set of orders!”   And, yes, to mortal sense it certainly is, because mortal sense, or the carnal mind, is the accuser—the accuser that claims we aren’t innocent.  The accuser that claims we’re ill.  The accuser that reminds us of past failures.  The accuser that engenders fear or insists that we don’t know enough to be healed or to heal others.

The accuser that works to erode our confidence in the omnipresence and omnipotence of God.

But that requirement to live our lives according to God’s dictates, and according to how God knows and has already created us, is achievable by each and every one of us.

Mary Baker Eddy wrote in Science and Health (p. 233):

Every day makes its demands upon us for higher proofs rather than professions of Christian power. These proofs consist solely in the destruction of sin, sickness, and death by the power of Spirit, as Jesus destroyed them. This is an element of progress, and progress is the law of God, whose law demands of us only what we can certainly fulfil.

If we are striving to be alert and are faithfully applying our ongoing understanding of the truths of Christian Science—an understanding that comes directly from our Father-Mother God’s love for us—then we will see that progress fulfilled.  We will see and experience our innocence and freedom.

But we must take a stand.  What shall it be—Daniel’s or the accuser’s?

The title of today’s post is taken from Robert Burns’s famous poem so often sung throughout the English-speaking world as the New Year is rung in.  The entire first line reads:

Should auld acquaintance be forgot, and never brought to mind?

It’s a rhetorical question about bringing to mind those who are no longer with us or of times gone by.

But as I was thinking about that famous line, I saw it in a very different light.  A light that made me answer a resounding “Yes!” to his question.

Now, to be clear, I’m not talking about callously forgetting old friends or times, but about another type of “acquaintance.”

Let me explain.

Perhaps, you’ve had too long an acquaintance with some form of illness, or behavioral problem, or you’ve been dealing with employment or relationship issues that just don’t seem to get better.  And you’re not receiving the healing that you want and that you deserve.  That’s right—the healing that you deserve.  As God’s precious idea you deserve to see and experience who you really are—His image and likeness!

Don’t let that supposed acquaintance with whatever the situation appears to be take on any sense of your identity.  Don’t let it become comfortable.  Don’t let it cozy up to you.  And don’t let it in any way, shape, or form feel normal or natural, or something that you can “live with.”

Error—in any form—is no part of you.  It has never been part of you.  It will never be part of you.  And you can never be made to believe that it is!

Mary Baker Eddy wrote:

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

And you, dear friends, are the reflection—the image and likeness—of Truth, of God.  That’s why you have no home in error and it has no home in you.  None!

In his letter to the Philippians, the Apostle Paul stated:

… forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.

We are each and every one of us empowered by our Creator to cast away the false beliefs of the dream of material existence as we press on to that high calling that Paul referred to.  We can forget the lies of the past.  We can see their nothingness.  And we can understand and experience the ever-present harmony of our all-good Father-Mother God.  In fact, we are authorized by none other than God to do so.

In her Miscellaneous Writings (p. 151), Mrs. Eddy stated:

Brother, sister, beloved in the Lord, knowest thou thyself, and art thou acquainted with God? If not, I pray thee as a Christian Scientist, delay not to make Him thy first acquaintance.

And He’s the only acquaintance that we should never forget!

No, this post is not a book review of the novel of the same name by Charles Dickens.  Instead, it’s about what are we expecting in our lives.  I’ve been asking myself these questions in the past year, and especially on this Christmas Eve.  Perhaps, you’re thinking about them, too.

• Are we expecting joy, peace, and divine Love to be manifested in our experience?
• Are we expecting to witness and experience right now our God-given inheritance of health, holiness, and harmony throughout every aspect of our lives?
• Are we expecting our church services to be truly healing services?
• Are we expecting to be healed, and of greater importance, are we expecting to heal others?
• And are we expecting the same for everyone else?

In short, are we expecting to see, feel, and witness the ever-present reality of our all-good, omnipotent and omni-active God everywhere we are?

Or:

• Have we expected that newcomers won’t be coming into our churches to be healed?
• Do we think that no one will come into our Reading Rooms based on so-called empirical or historical evidence?
• Have we come to an agreement with error in which we feel comfortable with it—perhaps not being fully healed of some ailment, financial situation, relationship problem, or “character” trait?
• Have we expected fear to be part of our lives?
• Have we accepted the lie that we don’t know enough to be healed, let alone to heal others?
• And have we expected that we, as Christian Scientists, aren’t required and don’t have to heal others—that someone else will take care of that?

In short, have we made peace with the devil?

Too often, I’ve seen more of the second list manifested in many of our fellow-members.  And if I’m honest, I have to watch out for that downward drag also in my own thinking—such is the aggressiveness of the carnal mind on each of us.

But more often than not, I’ve also seen firsthand what right spiritual expectations can do in my own life and in those that have contacted me for help.

Let me tell you about one that happened about six years ago when I was ushering at The Mother Church.  I had as usual been praying along the lines of “Here I am, Lord. Use me.” when a woman with a service dog came up the long stair case to the auditorium level of the Original Edifice.  I noticed that her dog was having great difficulty climbing those stairs and was clearly in pain.  I mentally refuted that lie about that sweet animal.

The service was extremely uplifting and as the woman came out with her canine companion, I asked her if I could help her and her friend down the staircase.  As we walked, she told me that her dog had just been given a death sentence by the veterinarian—the spine was collapsing and crushing internal organs.  And, indeed, all of the physical symptoms of that condition were evident.

I asked her if I could talk to her chocolate “Lab” when we got to the bottom.  She happily agreed, and I proceeded to tell the dog of God’s love for him and how God—his Creator—was always there and was always maintaining him in perfect health.  But of greater import was the fact that I felt so inspired and imbued with the palpable presence of divine Love—a presence that had firmly been established in my thinking from my prayers, the power of that service, and their subsequent expectations—that this sweet dog immediately responded.  The spine instantly straightened into its normal position!  And the dog was free—moving about joyfully and unencumbered!

Now, I’m not generally a “dog-person,” but I was delighted when that sweet pup started licking my face in gratitude!

And that’s not the end of the story.  The next day the woman contacted me and told me that she had brought the dog back to the vet, and there was not a trace of the problem.  The dog, in fact, had been romping and frolicking like a puppy!

Isn’t this the type of experience that we all should be expecting to take place at each of our services, in our Reading Rooms, and in every aspect of our lives as we are willing to turn whole-heartedly to God to be healed and heal others?

Mary Baker Eddy wrote in Science and Health (p. 304):

This is the doctrine of Christian Science:  that divine Love cannot be deprived of its manifestation, or object; that joy cannot be turned into sorrow, for sorrow is not the master of joy; that good can never produce evil; that matter can never produce mind nor life result in death. The perfect man — governed by God, his perfect Principle — is sinless and eternal.

I hope, dear friends, that on this Christmas Eve, and on every day and moment of the year, these are each of our expectations.  They are truly great!

Rather than write my own blog on the tragic events of last Friday, I’m going to direct you to the most helpful post that I’ve seen out there.  It’s written by my good friend, Christian Science teacher and fellow practitioner, Phil Davis.  The post is titled “Holding crime in check” and here’s the link: http://www.phildaviscsb.com/?p=893

As you’ll see, it’s both uplifting and immensely practical.

My latest JSH-Online blog post “Taking off our sandals” 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/taking-off-our-sandals

Enjoy!

I’m sure that we’ve all had individuals say to us “Rest assured…”—in the context of a pledge of accomplishment or, perhaps, as a means of guaranteeing an outcome.

But have we thought about it as the perpetual promise of our Father-Mother God to each of us—His/Her spiritual children—that our God is always with us?  Always available?  Always there as divine Love to lift us from the dream of life and intelligence in matter to the reality of all-encompassing Spirit?  A promise that never fails?

Mary Baker Eddy wrote:

The relations of God and man, divine Principle and idea, are indestructible in Science; and Science knows no lapse from nor return to harmony, but holds the divine order or spiritual law, in which God and all that He creates are perfect and eternal, to have remained unchanged in its eternal history. (Science and Health, p. 470)

And King David realized (Psalm 139):

8  If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there.

9  If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea;

10  Even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me.

Just the other night I was once again able to experience these blessed ideas firsthand while praying.  I heard those sweet, healing, and reassuring words “Rest, assured”—words which took on a new meaning to me right there and then.  I had been having difficulty sleeping due to a physical problem that was trying to assert its false sense of reality on my thought.  When those words of comfort came, I immediately realized that I could rest—rest in God, rest in Truth, rest in Love—and feel the absolute assurance and security that, indeed, I was in God’s care and that all was well.

You might well ask how I had been praying and thinking just prior to that healing message coming.   Well, I was focusing my thought and prayers on this statement from Mrs. Eddy’s No and Yes (p. 26):

God holds man in the eternal bonds of Science, — in the immutable harmony of divine law.

I was striving to gain a deeper spiritual understanding of the reality of God holding me and everyone in those “eternal bonds of Science.”  In those bonds which are unchanging harmony.  In those bonds which are a supreme law to all of God’s creation. To gain a deeper understanding that would not only heal me, but increase my ability to heal others.

And as so often happens, as we’re willing to take a deeper spiritual dive—a willingness that is God-impelled, whether we realize it or not—we do grasp a more substantial spiritual understanding of the absolute, omnipotent, omnipresent, omniscient, and omni-active Truth that Mary Baker Eddy brought to the world in her writings.  The Truth that is the Word—the Word of God, Christian Science, that saves and heals humanity of all the ills that the flesh is heir to!

Those healing words brought to me an immediate and palpable sense of assurance and healing—as I rested in Truth, Life, and Love.  In God!

And the same is true for you.  Rest, assured!

The other day, my wife, Carolyn, and I popped into a bookstore in Concord, Massachusetts—a very well-to-do and well-educated community.  While browsing the various shelves, we happened upon the “spirituality” section.  Aside from only three Bible translations (none well-known), the shelves were filled with books on New Age, spiritualism, occultism, eastern and western esoteric philosophies, Buddhism, and meditative practices.  Yoga/meditation and mindfulness training each had their own display cases. No doubt you may have witnessed the same phenomena in your local bookstore, too.

But here’s a question: Are we just brushing it off as a sign of the times, or are we actively dealing with it metaphysically?  It is essential that we be standing “…porter at the door of thought…” (Science and Health, p. 392) and be alert to these trends that would attempt to enter our consciousness—mental trends that are sourced in the carnal mind and which are seeking to erode the successful practice of Christian Science both for ourselves and our patients.

Take “mindfulness” for instance.  This is a meditative/”spiritual” practice—a secular form of Buddhism—that has become quite popular.  The medical and psychological establishments are actively taking note of and researching this practice, as well as beginning to employ it as one of their therapies.  Now, at first blush this could seem to be a good thing since it might appear to indicate that these matter-based institutions are investigating how thought—meditation—could affect health.

But that’s at first blush!

A couple of years ago, I attended a lecture presented by a neurological researcher/psychologist from Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School who was also a practitioner of mindfulness.  She espoused the benefits of mindfulness techniques to an extremely receptive audience—an audience comprised of what appeared to be very well-educated individuals.  An audience that considered themselves spiritually-minded as well.

The researcher showed slides of brain scans that depicted areas of increased activity in various regions of the brain as a result of regular and repeated mindfulness practices—areas that were supposed to produce beneficial health effects.

What were those practices?  In essence, breathing techniques combined with the repetition of mantras.

The researcher said that these techniques produced a form of pain management, yet when one member of the audience asked if these changes in the brain had a lasting effect on the patient if there was a cessation of repeated daily chanting, the lecturer reluctantly replied that it lasted no more than a few months.  This response, however, didn’t diminish anyone’s enthusiasm for mindfulness.

As a demonstration, each attendee was asked to repeatedly chant a mantra while focusing on their body—including any pain they might be experiencing—and then embrace both their body and their pain in their focused thought.  Having spent 20 years prior to Christian Science in the deep study and practice of western and eastern esoteric systems, I did not participate—knowing full-well where this exercise was going.

Let me be clear here: these types of techniques are a form of self-hypnosis and are therefore the antithesis of Christian Science.  Any form of hypnosis or mesmerism—and that’s what mantras are—is animal magnetism.  It creates a false sense of peace which engulfs the individual in a wave of mental drowsiness and distractedness instead of watchfulness and spiritual receptivity.

The advocates of mindfulness are in effect prescribing a mental form of drugging—a drugging that enslaves its adherents through ritual.  A drugging that thwarts real spiritual growth by misdirecting mental energies from the awareness of the health-giving omnipresence and omnipotence of our all-good God to the material consciousness—to mortal mind.

A drugging that parades itself in the robes of spirituality while at the same time disavowing any belief in God!

My friends, we need to be alert to these practices which—if unguarded against—could easily seep into our own thinking and diminish our capacity to heal.

And that’s something that none of us can afford.  Let’s be mindful of that!

About 18 or so years ago, my wife and I became friendly with a woman who was a Christian Science practitioner.   In addition to Christian Science, the friendship was also based on a love for classical music and art.  This individual had a deep interest in these fields and regularly held musical soirées at her home.  She knew that I was in the market for a new piano and at one point—about 6 or so months into this friendship—she told me after a church service that one of her patients would be passing on shortly and that I should approach the family about purchasing the patient’s Steinway grand.

To say that I was taken aback by this suggestion would be an understatement.  I asked her if she hadn’t realized that her suggestion was in fact malpracticing against her own patient.  She didn’t seem to grasp what I was saying and the friendship quickly faded.

Now outwardly, her idea might have seemed like an eminently practical and helpful one, but it was in fact an admission that she had already given up on her patient being healed—being lifted from the seductive dream of death.

I have to say, that this practitioner’s remark has stuck with me as a blatant example of a Christian Scientist giving in to death.  Yet there are far more subtle ones—ones that we all need to be awake and alert to. Here are just a few:

• Are we accepting for ourselves, our relatives, friends, and fellow church members the supposed inevitability of death?
• Are we looking at ourselves or them in terms of aging—observing the physical signs of that lie?
• Or are we reminding ourselves—or letting others remind us—of our or others’ age status, and accepting the supposed ever-increasing activity limitations associated with it?
• Do we accept the physical appearance of anyone who is dealing with a serious illness as an indicator of their progress—good or bad?
• Are we buying into the lie of a material body as our identity and its subsequent and inescapable decay?
• Have we accepted the medical establishment’s aggressively insistent views of death—including giving a fatal prognosis to a patient in the misguided attempt to be “honest” with them?
• Have we allowed a “death-watch” to pervade—in any way, shape, or form—the atmosphere of thought surrounding those who appear to be facing death?
• Are we allowing any of these and more to go unchallenged and undefeated in our thinking—in our consciousness?

The pressure to believe in and submit to death—in all of its various guises—is enormous and is everywhere.  It has become its own religion—a faith in death.  Yet Mary Baker Eddy wrote (Science and Health, p. 426)

The relinquishment of all faith in death and also of the fear of its sting would raise the standard of health and morals far beyond its present elevation, and would enable us to hold the banner of Christianity aloft with unflinching faith in God, in Life eternal.

If death is the last enemy to be destroyed as the Apostle Paul stated in his First Epistle to the Corinthians (15:26), then shouldn’t we be actively seeking its destruction by uncovering its lies and recognizing the immortality which we each possess and reflect as the image and likeness of divine Life—of almighty God?

Shouldn’t we be acquiescing to Life?