Day 239: Is there no sin?

472:23-475:4

Two things immediately jumped into my mind with this question, before I read the answer. The first was the Trial where Personal Sense, and his attorney, False Belief, are trying to have Mortal Man committed to death. The second is the third tenet of Christian Science:

3. We acknowledge God’s forgiveness of sin in the destruction of sin and the spiritual understanding that casts out evil as unreal. But the belief in sin is punished so long as the belief lasts.

Before I started this year, I didn’t have a feel for false belief and personal sense in terms of Christian Science. I never focused on it before. The readings, broken up the way they are, unraveled that for me. So I probably never understood the 3rd tenet as much as I do now.

The last line of this reading stood out as the premise of the formula and the formula itself where sin is concerned:

To infinite Spirit there is no matter, – all is Spirit, divine Principle and its idea.

I also learned a lot about matter this year that I glossed over in years past. I think my teacher, during class instruction, tried to point this out but there was so much to learn that this point was lost on me.

Day 238: What is error?

471:22-472:22

I found the definition of error very enlightening. I changed this sentence:

Error is a supposition that pleasure and pain, that intelligence, substance, life, are existent in matter.

To this:

Error is anything that exists in matter.

I think I underlined something like this earlier in the book but I can’t remember where it was.

Day 237: More than one Mind

469:7-471:21

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?

Day 236: Life

467:1-469:6

I was out with the family last night, kids off playing, husband watching them, and I had a moment to stop and think about yesterday’s reading. I knew I marked only one phrase and it was about beliefs but I couldn’t remember the words idolatry and ritualism so I came up with all sorts of words like that. It turned out to be a very insightful and restful few minutes just think about human beliefs.

Today’s section is a great place for any one to learn about Christian Science, me included. The question What are the demands of Science of Soul? made me sit up and wander what I had missed in the previous 466 pages. I should probably have the answer memorized but I was happy to not be surprised.

The phrase I marked today is part of the answer for What is Life?:

Eternity, not time, expresses the thought of Life, and time is no part of eternity.

I’ve been praying about time lately so this was a nice thought to add to my thoughts.

Day 235: Idolatry and Ritualism

465-466:31
I spent some time yesterday thinking about single ideas not having an element of error. I thought about how we are all ideas and we aren’t old or new ideas just familiar (old) or unrecognized (new). I got caught up in the spiritual attributes of ideas and let my thoughts just take me to new places. It was nice to have a single, clear idea I could do that with.
Today is the first day of Recapitulation. If you have heard of class instruction or taken it, you know this is the chapter that is the basis for the class. When I figured out what Recapitulation meant, years ago, I was a little disappointed. So, no secret handshake will be revealed, just a summary of ideas already covered. The question/answer format is nice and easy to follow. [I wish class instruction was now just a private blog to read and make notes with links to the books.]
The idea I grabbed from today’s reading is something that has been nagging me anyway:

idolatry and ritualism are the outcome of all man-made beliefs

You could almost hear someone say: “Let’s not think, let’s just do it the way it was done before.” Now that I’m checking my thinking, I’m looking for those little spots in my thought-conclusions that are based on idolatry and ritualism – purposeless stuff that might keep me from listening to God.

Day 234: A New Idea

463:5-464:29

Something I thought was settled in my life has reared up again. It’s minor in the scheme of things but upsetting for its bad timing. Its regarding my son, a situation you may remember I’ve been praying about. So here is what I was happy to read today:

A spiritual idea has not a single element of error, and this truth removes property whatever is offensive. 

The other thing I thought about was that MBE would enjoy writing a blog. She could continue on her spiritual journey but be more visible.

Day 233: Inductive Reasoning

461:1-463:4

MBE says you must accept Christian Science by inductive reasoning which she explains as:

We admit the whole, because a part is proved and that part illustrates and proves the entire Principle.

Taken by itself, this statement is misleading. MBE has always started with God as all, so, to me this is the entire Principle and everything else comes from it. If you understand what she is saying, can you add a comment below with your thoughts?

MBE also lists for elements to demonstrate a healing:

1. self-denial
2. sincerity
3. Christianity
4. persistence