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The light of Christ shines in our hearts and minds
Metaphysical Application Ideas for the Christian Science Quarterly Bible Lesson on
“Ancient and Modern Necromancy, alias Mesmerism and Hypnotism, Denounced”
November 20–26, 2023
by John & Lindsey Biggs, C.S. of Maryland Heights, MO
541 418 1176 johnbiggscs@gmail.com<br />
541 460 3515 biggs.lindsey@gmail.com
INTRODUCTION
This week’s Lesson highlights the supremacy of light. The light of Christ, the healing power of Love, shines in our hearts and minds, vanquishing the darkness of error. The more we cling to the light, the more we align our thoughts with God, good, the more joy and harmony we experience. Let’s see how we can shine God’s light and bring healing to the universe.
GOLDEN TEXT
“I will love thee, O Lord, my strength. . . . For thou wilt light my candle: the Lord my God will enlighten my darkness.” Psalm 18:1, 28
Light is a major theme in this week’s Bible Lesson. Some thesaurus words for light are: unobscured, vivid, radiant, resplendent, ablaze, aglow, clear, luminous, bright.
What is darkness? Our lack of understanding, confusion about what is real and true. The opposite of the true, clear thinking which leads to healing.
And this is what God does! God illuminates our darkness – our obscurity or lack of understanding– showing us the path of life and light.
“God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.” (I John 1:5) Since God is light, there can’t be any confusion about what is real and true. There can only be the scientific, spiritual consciousness that Jesus had – where he knew the Truth instantly and clearly.
When the spiritual reality of things comes to “light” – becomes real to our consciousness – we have the illumination, understanding and enlightenment we need, and we experience the peace and assurance that flow from that.
This also shows us that this is God’s will for us – to be illuminated with Truth and Love, just as Jesus was, and demonstrate our victories.
RESPONSIVE READING
“…In God I will trust…” proclaims Psalm 91, verse 2.
This means reaching out for God, grabbing on, and holding on. Trusting that God is our rock gives us strength, stability, and steadfastness – the ability to accept Truth with clarity and certainty. Trust means we don’t have to rely on our human will or human minds. We can trust and rely on God’s strength and power. God’s will lifts us up as the human mind yields to the divine. We can trust that divine Mind – a Mind that is pure and holy – will never steer us wrong.
Psalm 91 is a law of protection. It shows us that we are indeed living in the secret place right now. We can trust and know we are “hid with Christ in God” and that a material ego or universe can never actually see or know us. Our identities are safe and secure in the arms of God – in God’s consciousness where there are no tares – only wheat. As we rest in this consciousness, we find our true selfhood – whole, secure, and unafraid – and we rest confidently in the freedom of God. Then, we are not tempted anymore and the error that was trying to tempt us disappears.
This Psalm also reminds me of the well-loved hymn which states:
“You are God’s purpose, His great design. / Beautiful, blameless, His child divine. / Holding your thought to the good and the true, / Spirit will form you anew.”
(Christian Science Hymnal, No. 565:1)
Spirit will reveal your whole, untouched, perfect selfhood. When we become convinced of this fact, temptation disappears. In one of Mary Baker Eddy’s biographies she says: “when fear is gone, doubt is gone and your work is done” – because you realize you always were and are the perfect child of God, always intact, perfect, and whole. See p. 396 of Mary Baker Eddy: Christian Healer Amplified Edition for the full quote.
We have to remember that every temptation is mental and that is why tucking ourselves in the Kingdom of Heaven – in that secret place – keeps us knowing what is really going on – that we are safe, whole, and protected as ideas of God. Aggressive mental suggestions cannot find us in this perfect, holy state. God’s perfect reality is filled with God’s rich, abundant, spiritual, ideas. Man possesses a consciousness of good and this consciousness is readily available to each idea of God. It is our universal and permanent identity.
Enjoy this compelling account of one man who prayed with the 91st Psalm and found immediate protection: Prayer of Surrender
SECTION 1 – Recognizing God’s complete control
According to The Interpreter’s One-Volume Commentary on the Bible:
“…the piety of Jehoshaphat and his military power are noted. Of special interest is his appointment of 5 lay princes, 9 Levites, and 2 priests to go throughout the cities of Judah and teach the people the law of God.”
Bible Lens Research adds this:
“Jehoshaphat, fourth king of Judah, ruled for 25 years. Considered a wise and pious monarch, he initiated a program of instruction in the law throughout his realm and worked to cleanse the kingdom of idolatry (see 17:6–9).
“At this point, the nation is under threat by invading armies…. Like Solomon and Asa before him (see II Chronicles 6; 14:9–12), Jehoshaphat appeals to God for help. After he calls for collective fasting and prayer (see 20:3, 4) and offers his heartfelt petition, the enemy is vanquished. The rest of his reign is peaceful (see vv. 22, 30).”
This section talks about handling animal magnetism and knowing that it cannot trick us or tempt us into forgetting about God or who we are as the image and likeness of God.
Animal magnetism is the decoy that tries to take our thoughts off of Christ, Truth.
Christ, Truth, is our power and our protection. By keeping our thoughts totally on Truth, Life, and Love we overcome the antiChrist.
Christ, Truth, is the opposite of a.m. (animal magnetism) Christ is the attraction to good. Christ is the voice of good. Christ guides us, leads us and impels us with harmony, love, and peace. Christ enables us to counteract error and bring healing to the universe. Christ is the activity of Truth and Love. Christ destroys that serpent, revealing the supremacy of God, good, and restoring the natural law of harmony.
We can look to Jehosephat’s example here. When faced with this challenge, he fasted and prayed. He fasted from the material sense and realized the total supremacy of God. He recognized that God was the complete power and was able to govern the situation for the protection and deliverance of everyone. When he appealed to God, his enemy was vanquished.
We can each follow this example of fasting from sense and feasting on Soul – not letting mortal mind deter us from realizing God’s power and supremacy. This will allow our our minds, bodies, and the global challenges we face to come under God’s complete control.
SECTION 2 – Joseph and the river of life
God was with Joseph. No matter how many upsets he faced, no matter how many things tried to get him off-course, he always oriented and reoriented his course to God. Nothing could take him off his divine path. God was working with him and causing him to bless many.
I think the analogy of a river can be helpful here.
God was like a river flowing through him, and Joseph was always adjusting his course to get back to God.
Mary Baker Eddy defines RIVER as “Channel of thought. When smooth and unobstructed, it typifies the course of Truth; but muddy, foaming, and dashing, it is a type of error.” (Science and Health, p. 593:14–16)
No matter what rocks or debris fall in the way, the water in a river keeps moving forward eventually wearing away the rocks and debris to clear the path. The water always finds a way to travel from its headwaters to the ocean.
There may be many crooks and bends in our river, but as we let the “water of life” steer us and flow freely through us, we will feel God adjusting our course to harmony and keeping us on-track with Christ.
SECTION 3 – What’s really going on here?
Today as I’m reading this section and this familiar story from John 9, I’m actually quite struck by the unobtrusive passage that our Lesson uses to lead into the story. Bible citation 11 from Luke says, “Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit into Galilee:” (Luke 4:14) There’s a sense of intentionality there, which certainly characterized Jesus’ entire ministry, and which serves as a really neat counterpoint to the wandering thought which tries to define Jesus’ encounter with the man in John 9 Bible citation 12/John 9 (verses1-7).
The disciples wonder, “Where did this problem come from?” The thrust of that question – where does evil come from, why is this happening, what’s going on here – is not unfamiliar to anyone who’s really considered the dichotomy between the promise of Christianity – the allness and omnipotence of God – and the evidence presented by the material senses. If we have to factor that evidence in to our Scientific approach, we are going to come up against a pretty unsolvable conundrum, because the Allness of Spirit simply doesn’t allow for something unspiritual – namely, matter or a material report.
“Returning” – and staying! – “in the power of the Spirit,” Jesus knew that he did not have to explore or include the material sense report in his premise and conclusions. (cit. B11/Luke 4:14) God, good, does not know evil; why should we insist that WE, His beloved children, need to know evil? Now, this may seem puzzling sometimes – indeed, doesn’t God need to know what’s wrong, so He can help us? But again, the answer is to remain with the allness of Spirit, to see what Spirit is doing here – this replaces the discordant lie, appearing to our sense, with a clearer view of the truth, resulting in healing.
I wrote an article about these sort of ideas for the Christian Science Sentinel; you might enjoy it: The truth about our situation (July 3, 2023 Issue)
SECTION 4 – God’s light illuminates each of our paths
This is a section that really speaks to me about the individualized nature of all God’s creation. As I was considering what to write here, the first thing that occurred to me was to consider all the things that could be considered works of darkness, and then how to handle those as children of light. But as I tried to write that list – what was essentially turning into a list of instructions – I kept feeling more and more that this wasn’t what was needed at this time. So, I paused, deleted that list, and listened again. And what I realized was how wonderful it is that the living Word of God speaks right to us.
What does it mean to you, to be deceived? Is it just to be lied to by a person? Or perhaps being deceived, is that state of being where we think we cannot “prove what is acceptable to God…” (cit. B14/Ephesians 5:10)
WE are what is “acceptable” to God! We are the work of God! Darkness is not our state; the message of Jesus’ Gospel has indeed shown us the Way, walking in the light. How are YOU the light of God? This is not egotistical, or unduly personal, to consider.
How have YOU seen and known and “handled the Word of life”? (cit. B15/1 John 1:1)
Whatever appears as tempting darkness to you, is shown to be a misapprehension of Life by the light of Love. We can’t be legitimately prevented from our right to walk as children of light. What does that say to you?
Enjoy and respond to your own resonance with these ideas. You are responsive to God – the instruction given in this section, about not being deceived and about leaning into and declaring the tangibility of the Word of God, is able to spark a natural, healing response in you. God’s Word is alive, vibrant, and never hidden in darkness. We can celebrate this and magnify God in our lives, declaring His presence and showing it with our actions and thoughts.
SECTION 5 – The face of an angel, consistent and faithful
Why do bad things happen to good people? This is a question very close in theme to an underlying question in Section 3 of this week’s Bible Lesson, when the disciples ask Jesus essentially, “Why is this man blind?” Both questions presuppose the legitimacy and existence of discord in the first place. And once something exists, there must obviously be a cause or reason for it.
I’ll return to the above ideas, but now I want to switch to Stephen specifically. As I was considering the story of this section and the descriptions given of Stephen’s experience, I kept being drawn to the adjectives given about him. “Full of faith and power…the face of an angel…steadfast…kneeled down…” and of course his act of forgiveness. (cit. B18/Acts 6:8-15) This is a story of promise – hinted at throughout the story, and more explicitly stated in the bookended citations surrounding the story in our Lesson. Promise, faith, and consistency. These are essential qualities related to light, aren’t they. If you’re in the wilderness in the dark, and you see a light ahead, you may not be able to see much around the light, but you know that light promises warmth and safety. You can act with faith in those promises – promises which are undergirded by the understanding you have of what comes along with light – and you walk, perhaps slowly, but consistently and steadfastly toward that light.
Now, this is not ignoring evil. I opened my consideration of this section with those questions about the nature or legitimacy of evil. We don’t ignore evil – ignoring something never healed it. But, there’s a difference between ignoring, and freely choosing what we will engage with. If someone offers me a blueberry pie or a pizza, I am going to choose the pizza. I’m not ignoring the pie; I just much prefer pizza, and so with my free choice of lunch, I am engaging with that. I’m so full with my interest in the pizza, that I just don’t have time, desire, or opportunity to engage with something that would take me away from the pizza.
Here, we are not being asked to ignore evil; we are being given the invitation to engage with the allness of God – the awareness of which, filled Stephen’s entire countenance and actions – and let this insistence on the allness of God, good, move us.
There aren’t answers, easy or hard, as to why bad things happen. Mary Baker Eddy writes in Science and Health, “Mortal existence is an enigma. Every day is a mystery. The testimony of the corporeal senses cannot inform us what is real and what is delusive, but the revelations of Christian Science unlock the treasures of Truth.” (SH 70:1–5) The mysterious nature of this claim of mortal existence does not need to cause us to throw up our hands in dismay. It just means that we shouldn’t look to it for answers, or incorporate its reports into our conclusions.
We don’t have to come up with all the answers ourselves. That’s what the angels do – they show us what God is doing here. But we can avail ourselves of our right to choose where we look, and to have our faces so fixed on God that we too shine like the angels, showing what it’s like to be entirely about God and assured of our capacity to feel His safe, loving, guiding care.
SECTION 6 – Magnify good
We are children of light. We are children of the day. We are not of evil; we are not of the darkness. There is nothing in us that can respond to darkness. So it is natural to turn our thoughts towards the light; it’s natural that we accept light, live light and magnify the light. We are naturally good. Free, happy, and holy is our natural, normal state. Magnifying good will help us continually keep our thoughts on good. This is important because the more good we magnify, the more good we multiply.
Don’t let animal magnetism put a bushel over your light! Be watchful, alert, awake, and you will bring goodness “into your experience proportionably to their occupancy of your thoughts.” (Science and Health, p. 261:4)
“Let us watch, work, and pray that this salt lose not its saltness, and that this light be not hid, but radiate and glow into noontide glory.” (cit. S32/367:17)
Then we can usher in the Kingdom of Heaven – the everpresent goodness of God – as a constant and continual reality on Earth.
Have a blessed week!
GEMs of BIBLE-BASED application ideas (from Cobbey Crisler & others) will be emailed by midweek. You can always check for GEM contributions in progress before then at CedarS INSPIRATION website, whether or not you’ve SUBSCRIBED here for this free, inspirational offering.
Also later in the week, look for Ken Cooper’s
”POETIC POSTLUDE”
contributions related to this Bible Lesson.
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