Day 38: New Ideas

67:30-69:30

It is funny how many times I have read this book and I still find new stuff:

Sometime we shall learn how Spirit, the great architect, has created men and women in Science.

and

Consider its [marriage] obligations, its responsibilities, its relations to your growth and to your influence on other lives.

In the first quote, Mary Baker Eddy uses we, including herself. She doesn’t know the answer? I doubt that but I’m not sure what she meant.

In the second quote, it’s the last idea that I find interesting – that marriage may reduce your influence and therefore marriage is not the right step.

2010

Day 37: Wait and Love More

66:1-67:29

I’ve heard complaints of how Christian Scientists don’t act, but wait --even under great duress. As a kid, I could see the outward evidence but the situation always resolved. Now, of course, I know they weren’t just waiting. There was a spiritual journey of prayer and understanding going on. I don’t know if I could pinpoint it to a specific page before today. Mary Baker Eddy’s instruction is clear on this here.

Anyone know what she meant by this:

Socrates considered patience salutary under such circumstances, making his Xantippe a discipline for his philosophy.

2010

Day 36: Friends and Relations

64:1-65:32

There are a couple points in this reading that could apply to a friendship as well as a relation.

The first is the idea that we should not condemn or criticize someone when they are helping someone else. Mary Baker Eddy listed pride, envy, and jealousy as the reasons.

The next point Mary Baker Eddy says about marriage is that honesty and virtue ensures stability. A good test of a friendship or relationship (even a business relationship) is to ask: are both parties asking and expecting honesty and virtue on all ways. How do you react when you think it is otherwise?

2010

Day 35: The Education of Man

62:4-63:32

Two thoughts on this page are interesting. They will be on my mind today.

1. the entire education of children should be such as to form habits of obedience to moral and spiritual law
2. we do not pass through material conditions prior to reaching intelligence

 

2010

Day 34: The Higher Nature

60:4-62:3

Mary Baker Eddy gives a list of reasons why Marriage is not improving man:

...the education of the higher nature is neglected, and other considerations, --passion, frivolous amusements, personal adornment, display, and pride, --occupy thought.

I think the only two words she really needed to use were the last two: occupy thought. In this day and age, talking about what you are thinking about, thinking about thinking, is common. I wonder how that idea was received in her day.

Also, this page uses the synonym, Soul, a couple of times. How would you describe capital S, Soul? I've always had a hard time with that one.


2010

Day 33: Union

58:5-60:3

I believe there are points in this chapter that would benefit any relationship, even a friendship or family relation. Aside from the specific marital points, Mary Baker Eddy is talking about how to sustain any relationship. She puts a good prerequisite on relationships that I use today:

A mutual understanding should exist before this union and continue ever after, for deception is fatal to happiness.

2010

Day 32: Human Affection

56:1-58:4

Last year while reading, I had a realization that Christianity, Spirituality, and God were really about how I interact with my fellow inhabitants on this planet and less about my internal composition. That would be the demonstration part of religion. Mary Baker Eddy writes:

Human affection is not poured fourth vainly, even though it meet no return. Love enriches the nature, enlarging, purifying, and elevating it.

Her follow-up:

…Love supports the struggling heart until it ceases to sigh over the world and begins to unfold its winds for heaven.

I like how this reiterates one of the lines of the spiritual interpretation of the Lord’s Prayer:

And Love is reflected in love

2010

Day 38

67:30-69:30

Yesterday's goals where to recognize God's Grace and Truth. It didn't go as well as I hoped. I was at a party, and in a matter of five minutes at the end, I could feel a wall of despair fall on top of me. It wasn't until I was home later talking to my husband about it. I talked for twenty minutes about the party until I figured out what it was. I was jealous but not of anyone's material possessions but of their calm state of mind. As thought a question that is weighing in my thought was really nothing since they had already answered it for themselves.

I haven't been reading or looking ahead so I was surprised to find that today is the end of the chapter on marriage. That fits because Mary Baker Eddy discusses the end of the need for marriage in these two pages. She also discounts agamogenesis.She links marriage with procreation so directly and I must say, I don't. I think of marriage as a state of monogamous thought. Not a legal condition, or a piece of paper. Not a house with little feet running around.

The one phrase that I underlined was:

"Christian Science presents unfoldment, not accretion;"

If a relationship, any relationship helps me to better understand man's spiritual nature, that's unfoldment for me.

I've nicknamed two of the chapters so I thought I would keep a list of those names here.

Day 37

66:1-67:29

So yesterday's goals were to think about pride and honesty in my life. Not an hour after I wrote those goals, did a business relationship gone bad I've been dreading for over tens years, full of pride, rear it's ugly head. I live in a small town so this isn't unusual, but regrettable. The other person doesn't know I'm still here but I doubt that will stay the case for long. I'm praying about how to handle this.

Going back over some of the posts, there have been typos or title corrections I've needed to make. Please bare with me.

Today's two pages deal with storms in a marriage. I'll broaden that to any difficulty in a relationship. The first sentence I marked was:

"Amidst conjugal infelicity, it is well to hope, pray, and wait patiently on divine wisdom to point out the path."  

AKA During relationship difficulties

1. Hope
2. Pray
3. Wait patiently on divine wisdom to point out the path

Hope assumes an expectation of good to follow. It also means hope is important and just as important as prayer. If I'm looking for understanding, and not blind belief, why hope? Hope implies it might turn out OK, not that it will. Or is that wrong? Does hope imply it will turn out OK and by hoping I'm changing my thought from fear or anger to good? What do you think?  

Mary Baker Eddy compares a fight between spouses to a boat in a storm at sea.

"Yet, acting up to his highest understanding, firm at the post of duty, the mariner works on and awaits the issue...Hoping and working, one should stick to the wreck, until an irresistible propulsion precipitates his doom or sunshine gladdens the troubled sea."

The last sentence is:

"Grace and Truth are potent beyond all other means and methods."

The Sentinel a while back had an article that talked about the rules of Christian Science. That wasn't the title, if you are looking it up. I don't remember if this exact sentence was mentioned but it did get me to thinking about how Mary Baker Eddy stated the rules. When she says "beyond all other means and methods," that sounds very much like something I need to take note of, which is why I underlined it.

I wonder if anyone has compiled a list of sentences like these from the book, somewhere on the web. Of course, taken out of context, they might confuse or mislead. But for me, I would find that very enlightening.

Grace is a word no one would ever use to describe me. Ever. And Truth, well, more of the painfully honest, why-the-heck-did-she-even-open-her-mouth variety. But I see they are capitalized so it's not my grace and truth that would be potent.

So goals for today: recognize God's Grace and Truth.

Day 36

64:1-65:32

Yesterday, I had a nice visit with a new friend. It was genuine and loving. It was nice to have a few minutes where I felt that life was good. I had a great day.


Today's two pages deal with helping others and the impurity of marriage. The first sentence that I underlined was:

"Pride, envy, or jealousy seems on most occasions to be the master of ceremonies, ruling out primitive Christianity. "

I thought about this list and, in years past, I have had relationships where those were front and center. I have only a few relationships now that have an element of pride. Or is it just being stubborn and unmoving? Is that a form of pride?

The next passage I marked is:

"Honesty and virtue ensure the stability of the marriage covenant."

So the listy thing:

Stability of marriage covenant:

1. honesty
2. virtue

Those, in general, are easy for me. It's when my feelings get hurt or I don't think anyone is listening anyway that being honest feels like being naked. Virtue seems like a fluid concept across the landscape of relationships. One person's virtue is another person's waste of time. My own sense of honesty and virtue are definitely not were I want them to be.

The last quote:

"Experience should be the school of virtue..."

This caught me because I wasn't sure what Mary Baker Eddy meant by that. Its almost vague in that I could go a million different ways with the meaning. Do you have any ideas for me?

And at last, I did have to look up "lees:"

the sediment from fermentation of an alcoholic beverage

So goals for today: evaluate by pride and honesty in relationships. I had a good day yesterday relationship-wise so I hope today's goal will bring even more happiness.

Day 35

62:4-63:32

These two pages cover at least 3 subjects. This is unusual so focusing is hard. The three topics are: raising children, the higher and lower nature of man, and civil law. The word 'happy' in its various forms, doesn't appear in these two pages which sort of tells me the tone changed. Mary Baker Eddy is now on a path of warnings and concern.

The sentences I underlined are:

"The divine Mind, which forms the bud and blossom, will care for the human body, even as it clothes the lily;"

"Our false views of life hide eternal harmony, and produce the ills of which we complain."

"In Science man is the offspring of Spirit."

I haven't been focusing on a physical healing in my daily reading but these, taken together, seem to say different. The phrase "false views of life"  seems to stick out there for me the most. I'll examine my views of life today as I go about my routine to see what comes to thought.

Day 34

60:4-62:3

Since it's February now, I'm getting lost in the day numbers of The Journal. If you are too, you can find a day number calendar online, like this one.

While thinking over the equations from yesterday, I realized they weren't coming to mind easily which generally means I was avoiding something. I wasn't going to make the same Love mistake again. So I went back to look at the list and find which words caused me to want to not think about them. They were 1) unselfish ambition and 2) noble life-motives. OK, more goals to work on but these two seem big.

Today's passage dealt with children but I'm ignoring that for now. I know that will probably come back on me but my whole attitude of any kind of relationship is what I'm working on.

The first sentence that quote my eye was:

"Kindred tastes, motives, and aspirations are necessary to the formation of a happy and permanent companionship."

There she goes with more happiness. These two pages were covered with it. I feel like a dolt to never have made the connection between happiness and relationships before. Anyway, I did the listy thing:

1. Kindred tastes
2. Kindred motives
3. Kindred aspirations

That does seem to sum up a successful relationship. Tastes maybe not so much, but the other two are definitely important for a successful union of any kind.

The next quote:

"The scientific morale of marriage is spiritual unity."

So, I wonder if it's wrong of me to change this to: "

"The purpose of relationships is spiritual happiness."

What do you think? Not exactly the same thing but not too far off the mark I hope.

Day 33

58:5-60:3

These two pages are about the relationship between husband and wife. I bristle at the idea of "domestic economy." In so many ways, she led a life different from the one on these two pages.

The first chapter has a quote that I changed into an equation:

"Unselfish ambition, noble life-motives, and purity, - these constituents of thought, mingling, constitute individually and collectively true happiness, strength, and permanence."

Then the equation:

unselfish ambition + noble life-motives + purity

=

true happiness + strength + permanence

Again, a correlation between marriage [any relationship] and happiness.

Other relation quotes:

"There should be the most tender solicitude for each other's happiness, and mutual attention and approbation should wait on all the years of married [relationship] life."

I can think of several relationships with friends and family where I haven't given my share of attention. I need to work on that.

"Tender words and unselfish care in what promotes the welfare and happiness of your wife [friend, business partner, etc] will prove more salutary in prolonging her health and smiles than stolid indifference or jealousy."

"After marriage [friendship], it is too late to grumble over incompatibility of disposition. A mutual understanding should exist before this union and continue ever after, for deception is fatal to happiness."

I named the last chapter Jesus; I think I'll call this chapter "Relationships Equal Happiness." What do you think?

Day 32

56:1-58:4

Today, I'm starting the chapter on Marriage. There is the obvious moral connection between a husband and wife but I apply aspects of this chapter to all relationships since that's really what it is about. So if I mention something that seems beyond the bounds of a traditional marriage, that's what I mean, any kind of relationship between two people.

So on to what stuck out to me. The word 'happy' seemed to pop out several times in two pages. MBE makes a connection between marriage and happiness. Again, I think of it as relationships and happiness.

So here is what stuck out for me:

Chastity is the cement of civilization and progress.

Since I'm reading to progress on my spiritual path, the word progress struck me. Chastity as a way to progress seems obvious for someone not married, but as I am married, I want to see how this definition applies to any relationship. Chastity signifies purity. In a existing relationship, I think of that as honesty and truth.What would you say is chastity between friends or even strangers?

Two quotes that seem to be linked are:

Happiness is spiritual, born of Truth and Love. It is unselfish; therefore it cannot exist alone, but requires all mankind to share it.

To happify existence by constant intercourse [communication] with those adapted to elevate it, should be the motive of society.

One of the goals I've set for myself is to broaden my friendship horizons instead of being self-absorbed, and inverted.

As a stay-at-home mom, the women I meet are wrapped up in being moms themselves. A large part of them are focusing on the physical aspects: allergies, growth rates, balanced diets, skin care. This is just the beginning. Then there are opinions about what children should or should not do and how they should do it. There's a lot of negativity and looking for problems in this kind of thought so it makes looking for friends in my most obvious peer group difficult but not impossible. I seem to be gravitating to people who are best described as a shining light. Not necessarily the life of the party but the reason for going. These are the people that I think elevate my thinking. They are happy because that's what they want to be and they look for those bright moments and hold on to them and ignore or laugh at everything else.

That's were I'm trying to get to.