“We’ve got Spirit! How ’bout you?”
Lesson Application Ideas for Feb. 2-8 by Corde Hanzlik, CS (Austin, TX)
Here we are in the middle of winter when the trees and plants are dormant and the Lesson speaks of fruit! Obviously the fruit it very different! It is not fruit to eat, but fruit to be, to experience, Spirit’s fruit. As the fruits are stated in the Golden Text – goodness, righteousness, truth.
There is more fruit in the Responsive Reading – life everlasting, love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, faith, meekness, temperance. We are also given counsel to be alert to not give up (verse 9), do good to others, wait with hope, not to be fooled by lustful (wrong desire for anything material). As we are of Spirit, God, we live and walk.
Section 1: As usual we start the Lesson with proclamations about and to God, the Source of all good. Not only is His work good, there’s lots of it! A renewable resource! Forever! (Bible 2) So why did God create everything? For Himself? No. He made it to be inhabited! We are promised all right things are ours, forever. Everyone is included, even on Mars too! Who are we? The children of God (B5) made for His glory!
Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures tells us in the first marker again, God does it all as the big Ego. Our definition of Spirit is clear (S&H 2) Let’s learn this definition as sometimes explaining Spirit seems difficult or intangible. What are the 3 omni words? (S&H 3) Take them apart. What do you have? How big is the ‘allness’ of God? Marker 4 is especially important to us. It tells us who we are. Replace the word ‘man’ or ‘his’ with ‘I am’ or ‘my’. Actually, study the whole paragraph in the book. One sentence is missing from the Lesson. There is a group of Christian Scientists in California who have memorized this paragraph as their motto. What an all inclusive motto! Marker 5 dittos that motto.
Sect 2: Gosh, the theme of this section is …? Could it be strength? Strong? Where does it come from? Muscles? Look in your Bible concordances to find the superheroes listed in marker 8 and all of the things they did in more detail. Where did they get their strength – God, of course. Haven’t we known, heard? (Hymn 246) Everyone is strengthened through God! (B 9)
Science and Health What’s a key to our strength? Faith. With our faith and trust in God, not ourselves, we can add to strength, divine energy (remember renewable resource), newness and power. Mortality tries to lie and limit (S&H 8), but it can’t. We can’t sink. (S&H 9) Find out who Florence Nightingale was. Why would Mrs. Eddy have mentioned her specifically? Marker 10 is another one to memorize. The Peanuts cartoon version of it: Lucy tells Charlie Brown to play baseball anyway, after he has just told her of all of his aches and pains. She then adds as she leaves him on the pitcher’s mound, “Don’t let your body push you around!”
Sect 3 Where does our faith take us this time? We have had faith in our Source of Being, His giving us Strength, now, defense and protection under His Law. Probably none of us has been in the intense fiery furnace literally like Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, but we have all had our ‘trials’ that seem pretty hot and real to us. God does care for us. Although the 3 men were in that furnace, they were not consumed mentally or physically by it as the Christ (the 4th ‘man’) was present (centuries before Jesus). The trio was free from bonds – literally, while demonstrating faith in God and His Son. (It is always good to go to the Bible to read the whole story. See how hot the fire was. Also, the trouble we can get into through false ego like Neb.)
S&H Did the guys love God supremely? You bet they did. Do we? Marker 13 sure has a list of bad traits that can get us into the fire, blind us to God, but God holds us. The Christ is our ideal – indestructible. (S&H 14) Interesting to note, marker 15, God gives us the faith to be ourselves. We don’t conjure up the faith. It is part of us as our birthright.
Sect 4 And woman too. In this section the Motherhood, womanhood, of God is established. The generic term, man, is inclusive of all ideas, but we have many specifics in marker 15 that woman is included. Aren’t we all the male and female of God’s creating? Yes. So the qualities of the ‘virtuous’ woman sets a standard for all of us. The qualities – virtue, value, business sense, hard work, recognition of her worth, persistent, generous, care giver, doesn’t settle for second best, honor, smart, active,… The fruit, the payoff, is hers, ours.
Science and Health clarifies the man and woman standard. All ideas have the uniqueness and fullness to be the whole of God. How elastic are we? Are we willing to be flexible in mind and body? When we are outside of self, look at the promise of marker 18. Continuing, marker 19 says our capacities are boundless, enlarged, perfected as the idea of God. (It is interesting to consider the ‘proportion’ concept)As we understand our completeness, we gain the fruits of completeness.
Sect 5 Who is the me in B 16? It is the prophecy of Christ Jesus. But couldn’t it be each of us, too? Hmmm. So Jesus came upon a man full of leprosy. Full of it – not so full that the man couldn’t see the Christ. He did see and reached out, trusted. Jesus healed that innocent man. The man was then obedient to Jesus to go to the priest to be ceremoniously cleansed of the sin according to Mosaic law. Not rite and ritual, God does it all.
Science and Health Isn’t the lesson that as Mosaic law would claim man as a prisoner of mortal law? Today human theories, sickness, error still assert the claim. Still looking for human approval for reality. (S&H 22&23) Mortality is an imitator, a fake, not a real creator. What is it that claims to carry contagion? Mental consent and mesmerism as fear dictates. Mrs. Eddy’s use of the word ‘cherish’ (S&H 24) is interesting. How do we cherish error, but through sympathy, agreement with error presented through the news, sitcoms, virtual reality? We are totally ‘numbed down’. But, what is our instruction? RISE! Our conscious strength overthrows. We are not fooled. (S&H 390)
Sect 6 Remember the fruit that we are after, so how do we walk? (Is there really a choice?) After the flesh or spirit? Never condemned. Liberty is with God. (B21) We are called to it! Rejoice, quench not, prove, hold fast – definite commands. It’s our job description. Why? Freedom from mortal selfhood. Isn’t that the freedom that we want and truly have?
Science and Health God made man free! (S&H 26) What more could we want? We have the heritage of freedom. Nothing can take this freedom away. It’s one of our greatest fruits as we follow and adhere to God, Spirit. No illusion can bind, no enslavement is able to hold us as we hold thought to Spirit, God.(S&H28 There’s that proportion again) “God’s being” (therefore our being) “is infinity, freedom, harmony, and boundless bliss.” (S&H30) Amen and amen!
