Experience Life anew! Sing all of life with new meaning and vigor!

Experience Life anew! Sing all of life with new meaning and vigor!
Metaphysical application ideas for the Christian Science Bible Lesson: “Life” for January 18, 2009 by Dan Carnesciali, CS of Ballwin, MO [with italic additions by Warren Huff]

Editor’s Note: The following application ideas for this week and Possible Sunday School Topics that follow are offered primarily to help CEDARS campers and staff (as well as friends) see and demonstrate the great value of daily study and application of the Christian Science Bible lessons year-round, not just at camp! You can sign up to have them emailed to you free — in English by Monday each week, or by each Wednesday you can get a FREE TRANSLATION in French from Pascal or in Spanish from Ana. (We no longer have a translator available for German.) JUST SIGN UP at www.cedarscamps.org/newsletters

If you feel like you have just been going through the motions lately, this Bible lesson is for you! It is invigorating, and challenging. Mary Baker Eddy’s challenge that there is life or intelligence in matter subjected her to quite a bit of criticism. Yet she persevered. “We acknowledge that the crucifixion of Jesus and his resurrection served to uplift faith to understand eternal Life, even the allness of Soul, Spirit and the nothingness of matter.” (S26)

Golden Text:
God is doing a wonderful thing in your life. He is speaking to you and you are responding. Your response is a beautiful song. It is not a vain [empty] repetition. It is fresh and inspired. Life is expressing regeneration, renewal and activity through you. [According to the Bible notes for the 1st section in myBible Lesson this week: “The ‘new song’ of the Psalmist is not necessarily one that he or she has just written but may be a familiar song made more meaningful by new experiences of God’s ‘lovingkindness’.” What familiar songs-chores, relationships, practices, statements of being-are you ready to “sing” with renewed meaning and enthusiasm? Consider going to www.spirituality.com for more on “Question of the Week” How does prayer help you maintain a sense of renewal during the winter months? Share your thoughts and see those of others.  If you feel that the past has killed your newness and your future, tune into this week’s chat at www.spirituality.com: Let prayer free you from the past Is it really possible to leave the past behind and make a totally fresh start? During this live chat our guest will be ready to answer your questions by showing you how prayer will free you from the past and open the door to a progressive future.-Tuesday, January 13, 2009, at 2 p.m. ET]

Responsive Reading:
The setting for Paul’s speech is ancient Athens, the intellectual center of the world at that time. The Epicurians and Stoics were the leading philosophical schools. (The Interpreter’s One-volume Commentary on the Bible) The word translated as babbler, the Greek word spermologos, literally means a seed picking bird. In Greek, the word means someone who is an empty talker, someone who gets a living by flattery and buffoonery (acting like a clown or jester). Even so, the Athenians had an insatiable hunger for fresh views, so they let Paul speak. On Mars Hill, Paul described a deity that is too big, too powerful to be worshipped in temples like the Athenian gods. Rather than describing a human-like personality, Paul described infinite, omnipotent Life. The setting of ancient Athens is important because Paul was speaking to people who knew nothing of the Christian message. Rather than use the style he used to talk to his typical audience, he adapted his style and content to one that worked for this audience. [Translators say that Paul instead of right off accusing the Athenians of being “in all things … too superstitious”, actually complimented them “and said: “Men of Athens! I see that in every way you are very religious. …” (Acts 17:22 NIV) In all your encounters this week how can you look for common ground to comment and build upon? Can you find a way to uplift your sharing to the point of stating the equivalent of the scientific statement of being: ‘For in him we live and move and have our being’? In Retrospection and Introspection (93:17) Mary Baker Eddy says: St. Paul said to the Athenians, “For in Him we live, and move, and have our being.” This statement is in substance identical with my own: “There is no life, truth, substance, nor intelligence in matter.” It is quite clear that as yet this grandest verity has not been fully demonstrated, but it is nevertheless true. If Christian Science reiterates St. Paul’s teaching, we, as Christian Scientists, should give to the world convincing proof of the validity of this scientific statement of being. Having perceived, in advance of others, this scientific fact, we owe to ourselves and to the world a struggle for its demonstration.” What convincing proofs do you owe to yourself of the allness of divine Mind and the nothingness of matter? What demonstrations of this scientific fact can you share with the world? How is the spiritual nature of Life proved by events described in the lesson this week?]

Section 1 – See a New View & New You!
“My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When can I go and meet with God? By day the Lord directs his love, at night his song is with me– a prayer to the God of my life.” (B1, NIV) What struck me about the first passage is that the psalmist refers to God as the “living God.” How can we become more aware of this living God? How about focusing on the way God is active? We must challenge the belief that God is static or stagnant or that “God is just an idea.” For example, think about how Life is active¬¬¬¬¬–it invigorates, it renews and enlivens. It is health and proper function. What does Life destroy? Life destroys stagnancy. It erases dead ends. It ensures that Christian Science cannot be marginalized. When it feels like we have fallen into a slump (pit), what is God doing? He is lifting us up and setting our feet on a rock, the Christ. He is putting a fresh song in our mouth. (B2) In the passages from Ezekiel, there are so many expressions of newness. God gives a new spirit, freshness. The Word of God has come to us again. One way to think of death is a lack of freshness, newness. (B3) God says, behold I will make all things fresh. (B4) “Life is, always has been, and ever will be independent of matter;” (S3) Christian Science dares to challenge that life is in matter or is dependent on matter. Through Science, the whole world, including you, is being transformed by Truth and the darkness of error will be chased away. (S4)

Section 2 – Soak up and radiate Fresh Ideas, New Life!
Deuteronomy is the fifth and final book in the Pentateuch. [The Pentateuch (Greek – “five-volumed”), known as the Torah (Hebrew -“law” in Judaism, is the word used to refer to the first five books of the Bible. (Pentateuch@Everything2.com)] It is a transitional book. It looks backwards to the exodus experience and forward to the Promised Land. The word Deuteronomy means second law. In the first four books of the Bible, the law was presented as the word of God to Moses. In Deuteronomy it is presented as the word of Moses to Israel. Traditionally Deuteronomy is written by Moses. Today, scholars agree that it was written by many authors, and edited over a long period, somewhere between the fall of the Northern kingdom in 721 BCE and the Babylonian exile in 587 BCE.
(The Pentateuch, Terence Fretheim) In this passage, Moses is surveying the land from a peak named Pisgah as he was told to in Deuteronomy 3. He is surveying the Promised Land that he will not be allowed to enter. No human eye can literally see all these lands from this peak, so the authors are recounting of how the lands were divided among the tribes. When Moses was 120, he was strong and his eyesight was clear. (B5) [About 1300 years later, on the mount of transfiguration, Moses was recognized by Peter as he (Moses) talked with Jesus and Elias about upcoming events. What do you think that Moses (the law) and Elijah (who ascended and represents the prophets) had to say to Jesus about his upcoming crucifixion, resurrection and ascension? Luke 9:28-36 Bible scholar Cobbey Crisler asked: Don’t you think that we would be radiant like Jesus was if we always kept our 6th Tenet promise to “watch and pray for that Mind to be in us which was also in Christ Jesus;”? (Science & Health 497:25)]
Life is not limited; it is deathless. It does not come to an end. It is the permanent state of being. Life is man’s origin and ultimate state. We already have eternal life. It is not obtained through death. Mary Baker Eddy refers to this understanding as the deathless reality of Life. (S6) She said that matter never sustained existence. We are continuously catching glimpses of the deathless reality. (S7)   Death and sickness seem real until Science breaks their illusion. (S8) Healing is possible! Mary Baker Eddy said that she never knew a patient who didn’t recover when the belief of sickness was removed. (S&H 377:19-20) She said never. Our perfect identity is already established. It is already present. Let’s embrace it. There are so many beliefs that hang off of the belief of age. Age is not a law; it is a belief, begging for consent. Spiritually considered, each year unfolds more beauty and holiness, not blight and age. (S9)

Section 3 – Walk the Unlimited Life with God
The commandment to love the Lord and keep His commandments is a classic Deuteronomic theme. The authors of Deuteronomy were part of a reform movement to bring the Israelites back into an authentic relationship with God. I think they would be pleased that we are thinking about why it is important to have a relationship with God and follow His laws. The purpose is to live and prosper (multiply). (B7) This theme is not unique to Deuteronomy. Genesis 1, which was probably written later than Deuteronomy, tells us that God commanded man to be fruitful and multiply. Enoch, a descendant of Adam, “walked with God,” which means he had a very close fellowship with God. The result of walking with God was Enoch left earth without experiencing death. Sometimes we choose the way we think is right, only to find out that it was actually the harder way, or maybe a dead end. One time while running in the forest, I got lost. It was getting dark, so I prayed for direction. I heard that I should go left. However, I reasoned that the best way was to go downhill to the right toward a lake. So, I headed to the right. After a minute of heading in that direction, I realized that I had ignored what God had told me what to do. I turned around and went the way God told me to and within about 5 minutes I found a road that lead back the way I needed to go. If I had continued the other way, it would have taken me a few more hours to get back. There are other instances of walking with God in the Bible. “Walk in the truth” (3 John 1:3) – prayerfully walk in obedience to God’s commands. There is, “Walk in the Spirit” (Galatians 5:16) – when we walk in the Spirit, we do not crave or give into our so-called sinful nature. “Walk in love … walk in obedience to his commands” (2 John 1:6) – The greatest commandment, according to Jesus, is to love God with all your heart, soul and mind, your neighbor like yourself. “Walk in the light” (1 John 1:7) – This is to have true fellowship with Christ Jesus, to walk in his footsteps. [When “thought walks enraptured” we are “winged to reach the divine glory.” (S&H 323:9, S14) When have you felt most divine and winged?]

Section 4 – Don’t Worry, Be Happy [God always sustains you too!]
God is doing a fresh thing in our school, our Sunday School, our church, our family, our marriage. Does this seem impossible, like a river in the desert? (B10) Witness what God-good is doing. What would hold you back from seeing this? Sometimes we outline how God should work in our lives rather than understandingly declaring that the law of God-good is already present, already in operation, always active. In obedience to Yahweh, the prophet Elijah predicted a drought to the evil king Ahab. Elijah then had to flee beyond Ahab’s reach. Elijah obediently followed God’s direction and hid out by a brook. Over time the brook dried up. If you were Elijah and you were praying consistently, would you have been troubled by the brook drying up? If Elijah had been bothered by lack, he would have missed the presence and action of Love in his life. Sometimes we think we are waiting for God to act, waiting for God to heal us. Let us witness that there is nowhere where Life stops and our life begins. We should witness God’s presence, the Comforter, right here and now. “God is our refuge, a very present help in trouble.” (Ps 46:1) God directed Elijah to a widow. God had directed him to a woman who was starving and preparing to die. Instead of giving his consent to the outward picture Elijah affirmed the presence of God and rebuked the fear. His consistent focus on what God was seeing brought healing. (B11) God’s love for you will not fail. It is not failing. “We should remember that Life is God, and that God is omnipotent.” (S17) Our Leader further guides us that we should “never” doubt or deny the everlasting harmony of Soul just because to the mortal senses there is seeming discord. (S18) Are we attempting to use Christian Science to get rid of a problem? Harmony and perfection are present and permanent facts. What the Christ does is it strips away thoughts that hide harmony, healing and proper function. Christian Science is not changing reality. It is revealing it! Leaning on God we get the real (divine) news report. Today is not full of burdens. Our Life is good and is full of blessings. (S20)
|[Given that your God “commanded the ravens” and “commanded a widow woman to sustain” Elijah (B11), you can be confident that if you remain “allied to the deific power, … all that is good will aid your journey.” Unity of Good, 5:7 How can you keep yourself “allied to the deific power”? Can you recall examples of all that is good aiding your journey as if commanded by God to do so? Hourly look for ravens and such examples.]

Section 5 – Be Raised From Death!
[Bible Scholar Cobbey Crisler shared several insights on Jesus’ raising of Jairus’ daughter from the dead. They appear within the brackets in italics.]   Let’s look how the author of gospel of Matthew framed this healing of Jairus’ daughter. The setup is that the Pharisees asked why Jesus would eat with publicans (excommunicated tax collectors) and sinners. (B14) The word Pharisee means someone who keeps themselves separate. [Remember Mrs. Eddy’s Pharisee definition in last week’s lesson? S&H 592:27]  They felt that to hang out with sinners, drunks and traitors was totally wrong. The self-righteous Pharisees felt that holiness, goodness, came from staying clean, that is away from anyone or anything that was not holy like them. They didn’t think of helping those that were sick or in need of care. They were blind to the Messiah that was right in front of them. The Pharisees preached that everyone should strictly follow the Mosaic Law. They felt that those who did not live up to these standards were unholy. What was Jesus response? Love. He didn’t avoid sinners and outcasts, he sought them out. He loved them. This was unconventional/new and the Pharisees could not accept it. The old idea must be cast out for the new idea. Perhaps we can be more willing to let go of the old and especially love those society has marginalized so that God’s fresh thoughts, plans and healings can come to fruition. (S22)
[The healing in the middle of this chapter (that’s not in the lesson) shows how Jesus embraced outcasts and those deemed ritually unclean. Cobbey pointed out that according to the Hippocratic oath taken by medical physicians today, Jesus should have rushed to the bedside of the ruler’s dying daughter. (The Mark 5:22 and Luke 8:41 versions say she was “at the point of death”.) However, “the rest of the story” between the markers, tells how Jesus, instead of rushing ahead on a non-stop, priority mission, paused in a bustling crowd to ask “Who touched me?”  Although he was touched, and so rendered unclean, by the unclean woman with a 12-year issue of blood, he gave her a compassionate treatment that’s a model for us. “The very first thing the Master healer does is relate her to God by addressing her as ‘Daughter’ (of God). He then says, “be of good comfort” which must be an important element or he would not have stated it. He finally tells her that her faith made her whole (not fragmented or divided) and she was made whole. The next verse states that Jesus arrived at the ruler of the synagogue’s house and saw “the tumult and them that wept and wailed greatly.” Cobbey Crisler suggests that Jesus’ next statement was perfectly thought out to give him a reason to throw out this crowd of paid mourners and so establish the right atmosphere for healing. When they laughed him to scorn for saying that she was not dead but asleep, they violated their customary job of crying and mourning and so had to go. See the Possible Sunday School Topics to follow for ways to make this healing come to life by a scripted reenactment with follow-up questions.]
The understanding that disease cannot destroy life brings newness of life. (S23) If God, not matter, is admitted to be the only Life, thought is turned into new and healthy channels. (S25) Our master demonstrated Life, so we could understand how this divine Principle heals and overcomes death. (S21)
[How can God raise you from dead hopes and from belief in the termination of good? As Joel Osteen says: “When you’re down to nothing, God’s up to something.” God is sending you angel messages about what seems like your “mess” to show you a better door that’s opening as another one’s closing.]

Section 6 – Jesus Shows the Way
“As adherents [followers] of Truth, we take the inspired Word of the Bible as our sufficient guide to eternal Life.” (S26) Inspired means animated (active), full of a quickening exalted influence, full of the Spirit, affected or guided by a divine influence. What inspires us is spiritualization of thought! And, that just happens to be the definition of resurrection. Resurrection is a new and higher idea of spiritual existence. (S27) (There’s that newness and freshness again.)  If the Bible is the inspired Word of God, it should be transformational. The Word of God transformed Paul. Not only did Paul listen to God, he boldly declared that Jesus of Nazareth was the Christ, that he died for our sins and was resurrected.  Clearly, not everyone believed that Jesus had been resurrected. Paul believed that without the resurrection our understanding of God is empty (vain). (B15) “… just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.” (B16)  “Let us feel the divine energy of Spirit, bringing us into newness of life and recognizing no mortal nor material power as able to destroy.” (S&H 249:6-8)  Have you made any New Year’s resolutions?  Here are three suggestions. 1. Love yourself as God does. 2. See others as God sees them. 3. Enjoy the newness and freshness of Life.
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Camp Director’s Note: This sharing is the latest in an ongoing, 8-year series of CedarS Bible Lesson “mets” (metaphysical application ideas) contributed weekly by a rotation of CedarS Resident Practitioners and occasionally by other metaphysicians. (To keep the flow of the practitioner’s ideas intact and to allow for more selective printing the “Possible Sunday School Topics” come on a following page or subsequent email.) This weekly offering is intended to encourage further study and application of ideas in the lesson and to invigorate Sunday School participation by students and by the budding teachers on our staff. Originally sent JUST to my Sunday School students and 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, application 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. The thoughts presented are the inspiration of the moment and are offered to give a bit more dimension, background and new angles on daily applicability to some of the ideas and passages being studied. The weekly Bible Lessons are copyrighted by the Christian Science Publishing Society and are printed in the Christian Science Quarterly as available at Christian Science Reading Rooms or online at eBibleLesson.com or myBibleLesson.com. The citations referenced (i.e. B1 and S28) from this week’s Bible Lesson in the “met” (metaphysical application ideas) are taken from the King James Version of the Bible (B1-24) and the Christian Science textbook, Science and Health With Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy. (S1-30) The Bible and Science and Health are the ordained pastor of the Churches of Christ, Scientist. The Bible Lesson is the sermon read in Christian Science church services throughout the world. 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 the ideas helpful in your daily spiritual journey, in your deeper digging in the books and in closer bonding with your Comforter and Pastor. Enjoy!
Warren Huff, Camp Director, director@cedarscamps.org (636) 394-6162
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Possible Sunday School Topics from CedarS by Steve Henn [& Warren Huff]
for the Christian Science Bible lesson: “Life” for Sunday, January 18, 2009

Golden Text -Ask your students: Who is willing to stand up and sing a solo right here in Sunday School?  It’s sort of a joke, but it has a significant message – ask them: How terrified would you be to sing solo in front of a large group? Then you can launch into a discussion of what it takes to sing to God – to sing openly of your love for God. What conviction, love, and courage must be required for someone to sing out their love for God? Do we have that conviction? What is required of us to have it?

[Why does it seem easier to sing with or for those you love? (like at camp) Why not love everyone you’re with? In what areas of your life lately do you feel like you have just been going through the motions? How has the Bible lesson helped you sing a new song, or a familiar song (chore, relationship, …) with renewed meaning and joy? Is it really possible to leave the past behind and make a totally fresh start?]

Responsive Reading – Who was Paul? None other than one of the strongest persecutors of early Christians who turned into one of the strongest proliferators of Christ’s message. His transformation was so complete that he went on to declare God’s actuality. Ask students: What does it takes to completely transform/reform an opinion? Discuss the transformation from Saul to Paul and then the blessings Paul brought. Ask them: What blessings do you have to offer when you change from persecuting or judging others to loving and blessing them? Paul says that the “Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with men’s hands.” Where then does he dwell? He continues “Neither is worshiped with men’s hands, as though he needed any thing…” How is God worshipped?

[Do you know of empty talkers, flatterers or clowns (others or yourself) who you should really give a spiritual ear to? (Athenians accused Paul of these characteristics and yet listened to him on Mars Hill.) Can you seek to establish common ground with others who hold opposing views? President-elect Obama will be inaugurated Tuesday and is trying to reach out in this way to solve problems.  He needs our prayers and support–as do those he seeks to partner with for the good of all. What can we all do to help with this positive change in the climate of politics, the economy, race relations and more? From this week’s met: Can you find a way to uplift your sharing to the point of stating the equivalent of the scientific statement of being: ‘For in him we live and move and have our being’? In Retrospection and Introspection (93:17) Mary Baker Eddy says: St. Paul said to the Athenians, “For in Him we live, and move, and have our being.” This statement is in substance identical with my own: “There is no life, truth, substance, nor intelligence in matter.” It is quite clear that as yet this grandest verity has not been fully demonstrated, but it is nevertheless true. If Christian Science reiterates St. Paul’s teaching, we, as Christian Scientists, should give to the world convincing proof of the validity of this scientific statement of being. Having perceived, in advance of others, this scientific fact, we owe to ourselves and to the world a struggle for its demonstration.” What convincing proofs do you owe to yourself of the allness of divine Mind and the nothingness of matter? What demonstrations of this scientific fact can you share with the world? How is the spiritual nature of Life proved by events described in the lesson this week?]

Section 1 – See a New View & New You!
Who is the source of all Life? What does it mean for God and not matter to be the source of Life? Look at the confidence expressed in B4 (Write: for these words are true…) and S1 (God is what the scriptures declare Him to be…). In fact, Mrs. Eddy is confident throughout her writings. Where did Mrs. Eddy gain such confidence from? Is her confidence well-placed?

[As adapted from Dan Carnesciali’s met: “… the psalmist refers to God as the “living God.” How can we become more aware of this living God who is ever active, invigorating, it renews and enlivens. It is health and proper function. What does Life destroy? Life destroys stagnancy. It erases dead ends. … One way to think of death is a lack of freshness, newness. (B3) God says, behold I will make all things fresh. (B4)” Where are you feeling a lack of newness (death)? How can a spiritual sense of that dead-end activity or relationship change everything?]

Section 2 – Soak up and radiate Fresh Ideas, New Life!
What does it mean to say God’s “compassions fail not” and furthermore that “They are new every morning”? (B6) What then should be our demeanor?   MBE uses the word “understand” or some form of it very frequently. What is she calling for in both S6 and S7 when using the word “understanding” or “understood”? What does it mean to really understand something? Consider equating this to understanding a concept from school or sports.

S9 suggests that a 70-year-old person can be youthful and fresh. Is Mrs. Eddy being literal in her comment? Ask: If so, do you take exception to this claim, or do you support it? What does society these days say of getting older? What can we do about it? Should our students, as teenagers, even yet be worried about the lies of old age?

[Is there any area that you feel less confident and competent in now that “when you were a kid?” That’s a belief in aging that need a Christian Science treatment. Can you find citations and ideas in this section to handle it? Quoted from CedarS met: “When Moses was 120, he was strong and his eyesight was clear. (B5) [About 1300 years later, on the mount of transfiguration, Moses was recognized by Peter as he (Moses) talked with Jesus and Elias about upcoming events. What do you think that Moses (the law) and Elijah (who ascended and represents the prophets) had to say to Jesus about his upcoming crucifixion, resurrection and ascension? Luke 9:28-36 Bible scholar Cobbey Crisler asked: Don’t you think that we would be as ageless as Moses and Elijah and as radiant as Jesus if we always kept our 6th Tenet promise to “watch and pray for that Mind to be in us which was also in Christ Jesus;”? (Science & Health 497:25)]

Section 3 – Walk the Unlimited Life with God
What does following God’s law and loving God have to do with long life? (B7) Explore the idea of newness throughout this lesson. It not only appears in B9, but in B6, B3, S5, S9, S10, S15 and probably even more. Ask your students: Do you ever take the time to “pause, – wait on God” before acting? How might that order of events change your students’ actions/perspectives?

[Quote from CedarS met: “When ‘thought walks enraptured’ we are ‘winged to reach the divine glory.’ (S&H 323:9, S14) When have you felt most divine and winged?]” I have felt the most invigorated when walking on water-waterskiing!]

Section 4 – Don’t Worry, Be Happy [God always sustains you too!]
Ask your students: Do you see how remarkable the life of Elijah is? (B11) In a world where supply seemed to be literally drying up, his absolute faith and trust in God’s direction led him to a practical source of supply that met his daily needs. How can we have this faith in our lives today? If it’s not specifically food and water that we need, what else can we expect to be supplied with? 
“Is life sustained by matter or by Spirit?” (S16) Answer this question with your students. Ask for specific examples. Explore the little areas in life where this question might apply, areas that may not appear to be of big significance but still prove the rule to be true. Look through the rest of the section to see Mrs. Eddy’s answers. Relate S17, 18, 19, and 20 back to the original question. How are each of these citations in their own way answering the question posed in S16?

[CedarS met: “Given that your God ‘commanded the ravens’ and ‘commanded a widow woman to sustain’ Elijah (B11), can you be confident that if you remain “allied to the deific power, … all that is good will aid your journey.”? Unity of Good, 5:7   How can you keep yourself “allied to the deific power”? Can you recall examples of “all that is good” aiding your journey as if commanded by God to do so? Hourly look for raven examples.]

Section 5 – Be Raised From Death!
What made Jesus so cool was that he was one of the biggest rule breakers around.  Ask your students: How many rules did Jesus break? Why was it okay for him to break the rules he broke? When is it important for us to follow the rules (remember B7), and when is it okay for us to break them? (Consider that there are two different sets of rules being presented here, God’s and those of mortal mind, or mortality in general).  What is the true “entity” of man? (S24) Look to S22 and S23 to help with this answer.

[Consider helping this section come to life for the students by having them and a teacher or two reenact the healing in it together as 9+ characters. Feel free to use or adapt the following modern language script as well as our PSST questions.

SCRIPT for THE RAISING JAIRUS’ DAUGHTER FROM DEATH (& HEALING HEMORRHAGING TOO)
First, mentally set the stage. Tell the students that on his way to raise Jairus’ daughter from the dead, Jesus healed a hemorrhaging condition that is defined by thefreedictionary.com as: 1. excessive, non-stop bleeding; or 2. “losing (something valuable) rapidly and in quantity.” Point out that today’s rapid loss of money, market value, sales and jobs-can also be healed by seeking to touch Christ’s presence and fullness. Now, line up your cast!

Characters: (7-9 plus paid mourners, who could be unpaid teachers)
Ruler of the synagogue named Jairus
Daughter (lying on a cot desirable, but very optional)
Jairus’ wife
Jesus (robe desirable, but very optional)
Disciples-Peter, James, & John (alternate lines, or 1 reads all w/small cast)
Woman who was hemorrhaging (bleeding nonstop) for 12 years
Narrator (the most lines)
Mourners (could be teachers)

Narrator: Jesus and his disciples have just returned by boat across the sea of Galilee to Capernaum. A large crowd is gathered to greet him. Jairus, the leader of the synagogue, is in the crowd, as well as a woman who was hemorrhaging.

Jairus: (falls to his knees in front of Jesus and begs): My dear daughter, who is 12 years old and my only child, is at death’s door. Come to my house and lay hands on her so she will get well and live.

Jesus: Of course I’ll come.

Narrator: The whole crowd comes, too, pushing and jostling him without meaning to. But one of them, the woman who was ill, is purposely trying to reach him through the crowd.

Woman: If I can just touch the great healer’s robe, I can get well.

Narrator: The moment the woman reached through the crowd and touched his robe, the flow of blood dried up. She could feel the change and knew her plague was over and done with. At the same moment, Jesus felt energy leaving him.

Jesus: Who touched my robe?

Disciple(s): What are you talking about? With this crowd pushing and jostling you, you’re asking, ‘Who touched me?’ Dozens have touched you!

Jesus: Someone touched me. I felt the call for help. Who did this?

Woman: Master, forgive me for touching you. But I have suffered a condition of hemorrhaging for twelve years. I have been treated by a long succession of physicians who have taken all my money and left me worse off than before. But I heard about your healing works, so I came in the crowd and touched the hem of your robe. And I have been healed!

Jesus: Courage, daughter. You took a risk of faith, and now you’re healed and whole. Live well, live blessed! Be healed of your plague.

Narrator: While he was still talking, some people came from the leader’s house and spoke to him.

Mourners: Your daughter is dead. Why bother the Teacher any more?

Jesus: I heard what they were talking about to you. Don’t listen to them; don’t be upset. Just trust me and everything will be alright. Come with me. Peter and James and John-come with me.

Narrator: They entered the leader’s house and pushed their way through the mourners and neighbors bringing in casseroles.

Mourners: (Crying and wailing)

Jesus: Why all this grief? This child isn’t dead; she’s sleeping.

Mourners: (Laughing and scorning him.)

Jesus: Leave, all of you mourners, leave the house.

Narrator: When he had sent them all out, he took the child’s father and mother, along with his companions, and entered the child’s room. He clasped the girl’s hand.

Jesus: My dear child, get up.

Daughter: (gets up and walks around-everyone cheers.)

Jesus: Give her something to eat. And don’t tell anyone what happened in this room.

Jairus and wife: Thank you! Thank you!

Debriefing questions from CedarS PSSTs by Warren Huff: Q. How did Jesus break the Pharisees’ laws twice in this role play? A. He had contact first with a diseased person and then with a dead one, which in their eyes made him as ritually unclean as these individuals were. But, instead of Jesus catching their uncleanness, they caught his perfection. Q. How can you handle the feared contacts and contagions of today (such cold, flu, salmonella, skin diseases, …) and reverse them like Jesus did? A. Cobbey Crisler pointed out that: “The very first thing the Master healer does is relate the girl to God by addressing her as ‘Daughter’ (of God).” So establish in thought that you and all around you are ever-perfect children of God, not vulnerable mortals. “Jesus then says, ‘be of good comfort’ which must be an important element or he would not have stated it.” Courageously claim your comfort as harmonious and “all glorious within.” (Ps. 45:13) He finally tells her that her faith made her whole (not fragmented or divided) and she was made whole. Q. Why did Jesus refuse to rush to the ruler’s house when he detected a need for healing? Q. Will you remember to have Jesus’ moral courage to pause in the midst of your next deadline push to acknowledge the primacy of healing? Q. Will you stand up to the “in-your-face” pressure of your crowd to give your full attention to loving each individual in the now? The next verse states that Jesus arrived at the ruler of the synagogue’s house and saw “the tumult and them that wept and wailed greatly.” Q. What do you think were the reasons that Jesus put the crowd of paid mourners out of the house? A. Cobbey Crisler suggests that Jesus’ statement that the girl was not dead but just sleeping was perfectly thought out not only as a treatment but also as a reason to throw out them out and so establish the right atmosphere for healing. When they laughed him to scorn, they violated their paid job of crying and mourning and so had to go. Q. Why did Jesus ask the parents and disciples not to tell anyone? Q. How can a Christ view raise you and others from dead hopes and from belief in the termination of good?]

Section 6 – Jesus Shows the Way
Christ risen. What does it mean to say that Christ rose from the dead? Do your students believe that this actually happened? If so, why? What proof do they have? If not, why not? What is the source of their skepticism?
Look closely at S28 and the choices Jesus had to make. Ask your students: Would you have the same kind of faith and fortitude given the opportunity?

[Quote from CedarS met: ” “As adherents [followers] of Truth, we take the inspired Word of the Bible as our sufficient guide to eternal Life.” (S26) Inspired means animated (active), full of a quickening exalted influence, full of the Spirit, affected or guided by a divine influence. What inspires us is spiritualization of thought! And, that just happens to be the definition of resurrection. Resurrection is a new and higher idea of spiritual existence. (S27) (There’s that newness and freshness again.)” Are you willing to come alive with spiritual sense and bring fresh enthusiasm and a new song into all you do? … “Let us feel the divine energy of Spirit, bringing us into newness of life and recognizing no mortal nor material power as able to destroy.” (S&H 249:6-8) Have you made any New Year’s resolutions? Here are three suggestions. 1. Love yourself as God does. 2. See others as God sees them. 3. Enjoy the newness and freshness of Life.”]

Discussion questions on the topic of “Life”:
Ask your students: If Life were really infinite, would that change the way you live each day? Think about it for real – if you knew 1000 or even 200 yrs from now you would still be lively and free, would you make different choices? Would you treat your neighbors differently? Would you seek after friendships differently? Would you approach examinations differently in school?