Mary Baker Eddy says the rule is established and our task is to work out the solution. Here is some of the work I need to do:
The thought came to me today that while reading this chapter, I need to remember the first tenet, the inspired word. It is all to easy to get very literal and what-if the text when that isn’t what I’m reading it for.
Mary Baker Eddy writes the same thing several different ways in this reading but I underlined them all:
No supposition of error enters there.
God creates neither [1] erring thought, [2] mortal life, [3] mutable truth, nor [4] variable love.
Immortal Mind makes its own record, but [1] mortal mind, [2] sleep, [3] dreams, [4] sin, [5] disease, and [5] death have no record in the first chapter of Genesis.
This is a great support for the beginning/only idea of yesterday.
In the definition of Mind, there are several nuggets of thought to work on. The main point is that there is only one, divine Mind:
The supposed existence of more than one mind was the basic error idolatry. This error assumed [1] the loss of spiritual power, [2] the loss of the spiritual presence of Life, as infinite Truth without an unlikeness, and [3] the loss of Love as ever present and universal.
I think the last point, the loss of Love, is the most immediate issue for me. How about you?
This reading still deals with sin. MBE informs us that our porter at the door of thought is our sign post of Character:
The first impression, made on a mind which is attracted or repelled according to personal merit or demerit, is a good detective of individual character.
Her instruction is pointed:
Christian Scientists must live under the constant pressure of the apostolic command to come out from the material world and be separate. They must renounce [1] aggression, [2] oppression, and [3] the pride of power.
Her first statement sums up why:
The wrong done another reacts most heavily against one’s self.
I seem to be either totally on topic with Mary Baker Eddy in the readings (granted, this is rare) or on my own train of thought, working through my own issues. Today is the later for me. I’ve been contemplating harmony lately as my life seems to not have much of it at this point. I assume this is a momentary period that will end but it seems to be going on for a while. Here is what I marked in the readings:
“Take no thought for your life.”
And:
The poor suffering heart needs its rightful nutriment, such as peace, patience in tribulation, and a priceless sense of the dear Father’s loving-kindess.
In the first quote, instead of thinking about life as an infinite state of being, I was just thinking about my day-to-day thoughts, actions, feelings. And that I shouldn’t take thought of those at all. Sort of a code phrase for “Don’t worry.”
The second quote was a list of things I needed and didn’t know it until I read the sentence.
Comeliness and grace are independent of matter.I have matured and found I gravitate to people with these qualities. I would add happy (or calm or a balanced life) and the center of harmony in that person's circle of friends:
the unchanging calm and glorious freedom of spiritual harmonyThe last thing I underlined:
We must form perfect models in thought and look at them continually, or we shall never carve them out in grand and noble lives. Let [1] unselfishness, [2] goodness, [3] mercy, [4] justice, [5] health, [6] holiness, [7] love -- the kingdom of heaven -- reign within us...Whenever I read the above section, I stopped at grand and noble.That was for fairytales and movies and heros. But now I have a different idea about who can be grand and noble and someday I might get there. The list of attributes helps me recognize what I need to work on -- uh, most of them. But I'm working on the model in my thought continually.and standing porter at the door of thought. Reading S&H every day helps with that.
The last paragraph of the section discusses the idea of God in matter as pantheistic then goes on to list what will happen as long as these mistaken belief continues. The items in the list that caught my attention was sinning without knowing it. In some ways I do this but in a lot of ways, I know and I just don't stop. Why?
Spiritual perception [1] brings out the possibilities of being, [2] destroys reliance on aught but God, and so [3] makes man the image of his Maker in deed and in truth.
Our beliefs about a Supreme Being contradict the practice growing out of them.There are lots of good ideas in these two pages but they seem normal, run of the mill, if there is such a C.S. thing as that. But this statement seems packed with issues -- at least for me.
In the Science of Christianity, Mind -- omnipotence -- [1] has all-power, [2] assigns sure rewards to righteousness, and [3] shows that matter can neither heal nor make sick, create nor destroy.
Mind is all that [1] feels, [2] acts, or [3] impedes action.It's the last point that caught my attention -- impedes action. Why would God impede action? What action would God impede?
Right now, this journal is guiding my thought. But I want to quiet my thought so I can hear the Truth. So peace, be still.
Whatever guides thought spiritually benefits mind and body.
We need to [1] understand the affirmations of divine Science, [2] dismiss superstition, and [3] demonstrate truth according to Christ.Understanding the affirmations isn't as easy as understanding the negations, at least to me. So I totally see why Mary Baker Eddy made the first point here. Superstition comes in a wide variety. Some are obvious but most are not. I have to be diligent about what I let into my thought and whether I immediately know the truth about it.
The logic is lame, and facts contradict it.
Our Master said to every follower: "[1] Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature!...[2]Heal the sick!...[3] Love thy neighbor as thyself!"When I read the first point, I focused on preach and totally ignored the first part. Then I took class instruction and here is how I heard someone else read the sentence:
Our Master said to every follower: "[1] Go ye into all the world, and [2] preach the gospel to every creature!...[3]Heal the sick!...[4] Love thy neighbor as thyself!"The idea of the new first point is that you can't hide your head in the sand and still obey the command. It also means that to be a Christian isn't to be alone or solitary but to have relationships with people that include the other points. I've been working on being in the world this last year but I would rather be alone - so at this point, the letter but not the spirit. Another thing to work on.
[1]Adhesion, [2] cohesion, and [3] attraction are properties of Mind.
Neither organic inaction nor overaction is beyond God's control;I always look up organic just to remember it meant our organs so long ago, not a farming style. So this sentence is also about harmony.
Reflecting God's government, man is self-governed.This self-government was probably at this point of the page meant to be a physical self-government but I think it applies well to any part of man.
The three great verities of Spirit, [1] omnipotence, [2] omnipresence, [3] omniscience, - Spirit possessing all power, filling all space, constituting all Science, - contradict forever the belief that matter can be actual.And -
The Principle of divine metaphysics is God; the practice of divine metaphysics is the utilization of the power of Truth over error; its rules demonstrate its Science.
equipollence
theosophy
millenarianism
to go from the use of inanimate drugs to the criminal misuse of human willpower, is [1] to drop from the platform of common manhood into the very mire of iniquity, [2] to work against the free course of honesty and justice, and [3] to push vainly against the current running heavenward
The medicine of Science is divine Mind; and [1] dishonesty, [2] sensuality, [3] falsehood, [4] revenge, [5] malice, are animal propensities and by no means the mental qualities which heal the sick.
It is imperious throughout all ages as Christ's revelation of Truth, of Life, and of Love, which remains inviolate for every man to understand and to practise.
The way through which immortality and life are learned is [1] not ecclesiastical but Christian, [2] not human but divine, [3] not physical but metaphysical, [4] not material but scientifically spiritual.Then:
Christian Science is unerring and Divine, the human sense of things errs because it is human.
The calm, strong currents of true spirituality, the manifestations of which are health, purity, and self-immolation, must deepen human experience, until the beliefs of material existence are seen to be a bald imposition, and sin, disease, and death give everlasting place to the scientific demonstration of divine Spirit and to God's spiritual, perfect man.
