Editor’s Note: The following background information and application ideas for the Christian Science Bible Lesson for this week are offered primarily to help CedarS campers and staff see and demonstrate the great value of daily study of the C.S. Bible lessons year-round, not just at camp. If more information or the text of this Lesson is desired, please see the Director’s Note at the end. The citations referenced in the “met” (metaphysical application ideas) are taken from the King James Version of the Bible and the Christian Science textbook, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy. These two books are the ordained pastor of Churches of Christ, Scientist. The Bible Lesson is the sermon read in Christian Science church services throughout the world. Other reference books are fully noted at the end.)
Find full satisfaction at Soul’s spiritual quality buffet!
Lesson Application Ideas on “Soul and Body“ May 16-22, 2005
By Gary Duke, C.S., Saint Louis, Missouri
Imagine you’ve gone to an all-you-can-eat buffet. At the end of the line isn’t it amazing your plate barely resembles that of the next person in line? Now imagine instead of food, you’re selecting qualities which make up your individuality. And you can select only those qualities offered by Soul, the proprietor of the buffet. Bon appetit!
Golden Text: Satisfaction.
“I will always show you where to go. I’ll give you a full life in the emptiest of places ~ firm muscles, strong bones. You’ll be like a well-watered garden, a gurgling spring that never runs dry” (Isa.58:11 The Message).
What promises! Guidance, full life, strength, continually blooming like a garden fed by an eternal spring. This life of satisfaction is present NOW ~ any suggestion otherwise is mere illusion.
Responsive Reading: Wait on God.
Wait on God? Yep. Psalm 33 instructs us to “fear Him,” meaning to honor, listen to and serve God. In turn we receive eternal life, “To deliver their soul from death, and to keep them alive in famine.” And throughout this entire process we’re having a good time! “Praise the Lord…Sing unto him a new song; play skillfully…rejoice in him.”
What’s the alternative? Dead ends. Think of the times when you’ve trusted the counsel of so-called friends who turned out to be ~ “the counsel of the heathen.” We’ve all been tempted to think there is power in numbers ~ “There is no king saved by the multitude of an host.” When threatened, do we resort to animal courage or moral courage? “An horse is a vain thing for safety: neither shall he deliver any by his great strength.”
Section 1: Commandments.
Are you ever confused? Relationships, school, sports, work, free time, spirituality, etc. all include a smorgasbord of choices which seem downright confusing at times. The solution? Keep in thought that Soul, God has placed only qualities of good from which to select in the buffet of life. Obeying the first two Commandments puts us back on track letting us know there’s only one right idea of everything because there is only one God (no other gods before me). With the First Commandment clearly in focus we’ll more easily obey the Second Commandment (no graven images) avoiding the worship of and bowing down to person, place or thing as substitutes for God.
Obeying these commandments, even prior to their writing, helped Moses lead the Israelites out of Egypt and through the desert to the Promised Land (B4).
Obeying these commandments will also help free us from the bondage of our own Egypt experiences, guiding our exodus from and wanderings in the desert of sense testimony to the promised land of happiness and fulfillment in God, Soul. “Moses advanced a nation to the worship of God in Spirit instead of matter, and illustrated the grand human capacities of being bestowed by immortal Mind” (S4).
Section 2: Bones.
Think of some of the sayings we have about bones in our culture: “I’ve got a bone to pick with you” (a disagreement); “For that test I really need to bone up” (study thoroughly); “The building has good bones” (structurally or functionally sound).
In these expressions bones are referred to as being very important, the essence, and the framework. Hence when bones are broken or diseased, we might be frightened because it’s considered a structural problem verses something less serious.
What’s the antidote? “A merry heart doeth good like a medicine: but a broken spirit drieth the bones” (B6). One translation states, “A merry heart diffuses its influence through the body and preserves its vigor and health, or tends to restore it when it is lost; but a broken spirit crushes the frame of the body, enfeebles its powers, makes the flesh to wither and decay, and burns the bones like an heath (wasteland). The joys of God’s salvation will be a mighty antidote and strengthen the body and soul” (RBG).
But you might say, how can I be “merry” when facing this challenge with my bones? To the degree we deal with bones as purely thought, will we be free. “Ossification or any abnormal condition or derangement of the body is as directly the action of mortal mind as is dementia or insanity. Bones have only the substance of thought which forms them” (S8).
Section 3: True Strength.
Isn’t it exhilarating to watch a comeback in sports where one team is getting trounced, looking fatigued and then the tide turns with some great play? All of a sudden the team which looked so tired is energized and begins dominating. How does this happen?
Controlling fear ~ “Had Blondin believed it impossible to walk the rope over Niagara’s abyss of waters, he could never have done it. His belief that he could do it gave his thought-forces, called muscles, their flexibility and power which the unscientific might attribute to a lubricating oil. His fear must have disappeared before his power of putting resolve into action could appear” (S13).
Acknowledging God ~ “They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint” (B11).
Section 4: Praise and Rejoice.
Picture this. King David (great warrior, unifier of all tribes of Israel, the anointed one) was dressed in a loincloth (an ephod; priest’s ceremonial dress) and danced wildly, leading an entourage bringing the Ark of the Covenant into Jerusalem (B15). It’s hard to picture our nation’s president or church readers doing this! Though not in the Lesson, David’s wife couldn’t picture it either and criticized him harshly for his public display. David responded that he was appointed ruler of Israel “therefore I will play before the Lord” (II Sam. 6:21). In this instance, it’s apparent David felt God-impelled in his actions. “Mind is the source of all movement, and there is no inertia to retard or check its perpetual and harmonious action” (S20). And no doubt David danced well and soul-fully that day!
David’s son, Solomon, was brilliant. How? Through study under great tutors? No, through humbleness as a little child and asking for divine guidance. “And God gave Solomon wisdom and understanding exceeding much, and largeness of heart, even as the sand that is on the sea shore” (B16). “Mind is not necessarily dependent upon educational processes. It possesses of itself all beauty and poetry, and the power of expressing them” (S17).
Do you want to express more beauty? “The recipe for beauty is to have less illusion and more Soul…” (S19). Newspaper accounts and photos verify the beauty of Mrs. Eddy in her sixties and beyond ~ quite a contrast to her frail appearance as a sickly young women prior to her discovery of Christian Science. “Beauty is a thing of life, which dwells forever in the eternal Mind and reflects the charms of His goodness in expression, form, outline, and color” (S19).
Section 5: Eternal Mind-Faculties.
A testifier said her eyesight was restored when she finally realized her eyes saw no more than her big toes! An author of a secular book wrote about his deaf son born with no ears but after much prayer by the dad, his son could hear to the amazement of medical authorities.
What sees if not eyes, or hears if not ears, or speaks if not tongue? Consider the qualities expressed by Jesus in his healing of the man who was deaf and dumb (B19, 20): compassion, spiritual understanding (teaching), acknowledging God (looking up to heaven), dominion (commanding “Be opened”), humility and wisdom by not proclaiming his Messiahship too publicly or too early (“tell no man”).
Mrs. Eddy answers the question of healing by, “Knowing that Soul and its attributes were forever manifested through man, the Master healed the sick, gave sight to the blind, hearing to the deaf, feet to the lame, thus bringing to light the scientific action of the divine Mind on human minds and bodies and giving a better understanding of Soul and salvation” (S21). And, “There is more Science in the perpetual exercise of the Mind-faculties than in their loss. Lost they cannot be, while Mind remains” (S24).
Section 6: Happiness.
What often happens to little children after they’ve opened their presents on Christmas? They’re miserable! Why? Because their mistaken source of happiness (presents, attention, anticipation, etc.) is over. Now we as adults aren’t that way…or are we? Are we happier before going out to dinner or afterwards? Happier before getting that car or afterwards? Happier courting or married?
Conversely, when we truly acknowledge God as the source of our happiness, what happens?
B21 ~ salvation (see definition S&H 593:20); righteousness; praise before all nations;
B22 ~ blossoming in the desert (whatever is barren in our lives); strengthening of weak hands and feeble knees (literally and with moral courage); healing of blindness, deafness, being crippled, dumbness, feeling lost; obtain everlasting joy where sorrow and sighing flee away;
B23 ~ triumph; singing praises;
S26 ~ finding infinite resources with which to bless mankind;
S27 ~ unselfish love bathing all in beauty and light; meek inheriting the earth; man’s dominion;
S28 ~ likeness of God revealed; having that Mind which was also in Christ; man reflecting God;
S29 ~ divine Love manifested; joy can’t be turned into sorrow; good never producing evil; eternal life; perfection; sinless;
S30 ~ knowing Truth compels us to exchange the pleasures and pains of sense for the joys of Soul.
All of these represent a very good return on investment!
Section Summary Benediction:
Real satisfaction is found only in God and in waiting on Him for rewards of joy and eternal life. Obeying the Commandments leads us to right identity of person, path and purpose. The structure of bones is really the substance and expression of thought. True strength is realized by controlling fear and acknowledging God. Praise God artistically, intellectually and in our appearance. Our faculties are found and maintained in Mind. Acknowledging God as the source of happiness reveals healing in every facet of life.
Resources:
Researched Bible Guide, 561-776-5711 or e-mail DayBreakPlease@cs.com
The Message: The Bible in Contemporary Language by Eugene H. Peterson, NavPress 800-366-7788, website www.MessageBible.com
The One Volume Bible Commentary, by J.R. Dummelow
Camp Director’s Note: The above sharing is the latest in a long series of CedarS Bible Lesson “mets” (metaphysical application ideas) contributed weekly by a rotation of CedarS Resident Practitioners and occasionally by other metaphysicians. This document is intended to initiate further study as well as to encourage the application of ideas found in the Weekly Bible Lessons as printed in the Christian Science Quarterly and as available at Christian Science Reading Rooms.* Originally sent JUST to campers, staff and CedarS families who wanted to continue at home and in their home Sunday Schools the same type of focused Lesson study and inspiration they had felt at camp, CedarS lesson “mets” are in no way meant to be definitive or conclusive or in any way a substitute for daily study of the lesson in the books. The thoughts presented are the inspiration of the moment and are offered to give a bit more dimension, background and daily applicability to some of the ideas and passages being studied. The Lesson-Sermon speaks individually through the Christ to everyone, providing unique insights and tailor-made applications for each one. We are glad you requested this metaphysical sharing and hope that you find some of these ideas helpful in your daily spiritual journey, in your deeper digging in the books and in closer bonding with your Comforter and Pastor.)
