GEMs shining within all of God’s “supremely good” creation– wherein only good is possible & expected!
Insights from Cobbey Crisler, Ken Cooper & others for The Christian Science Quarterly Bible Lesson on
“God the Only Cause and Creator"
for Sunday, December 6, 2020
by Warren Huff, CedarS Executive Director
warren@cedarscamps.org 314-378-2574
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GEM#1a: Feel the WOW of total transformation from a bad feeling of exiled aloneness to the “supremely good” feeling of being “Cared for, watched over, beloved and protected,” in God’s ALL-Oneness. (Hymn 279). After all, what could give one more “courage … and Grace to go forward” (Hymn 279) – or more “peace and joy and power…” than the all-oneness of God’s “gentle (ever) presence”! (Hymn 207)
[Warren:] I love that our Golden Text this week amplifies our understanding of the last verse of Genesis chapter 1, by sharing the Common English Bible translation of all of God’s creation as “supremely good”—not just “very good” as in the King James Version. “God saw everything he had made: it was supremely good.” (Genesis 1:31, CEB)
Now my transcribed notes from Cobbey Crisler talks on more of Genesis 1. (in citations B2, S2, S5)]:
[Cobbey:] “Genesis chapter 1 was written in response to the Hebrew people’s crisis of exile.
“Verse 2 attempts to explain how creation occurred as well as how a new beginning could occur out of the vacuity of the nothingness of the exile. To the post-exilic authors of Genesis 1 “the earth was without form and void” – or “Toe-who” and Boe-who” – the translated names of the Babylonian mythical leviathan-like, sea monster and their mythical behemoth-like, land monster. The modern-day myth is that we evolved from the sea to be dry land creatures with a further refined way of animal thought and life. Human thought was dark much like “darkness on the face of the waters.” … Spirit is the root of the whole word inspiration… No advance can occur in life without inspiration—so “the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.”… This happens also when Jesus is baptized, coming “straightway out of the water,” as part of a divine announcement. He sees “the Spirit of God descending like a dove and lighting upon him.” (Matthew 3:16) Consequently, one recognizes that if Spirit represents the motive of his career, it’s an inspired career…
“It’s how the entire Bible begins (Genesis 1:2) because “the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.” It’s almost as if in Jesus’ baptism, we’re getting this genesis of God’s creation, that first chapter, applied on earth. The Spirit is moving on those waters in which Jesus is standing. There is a Spirit genesis here. Look at what happened in Genesis 1 in those brief verses when creation is depicted for us.”
Verse 3 (from a bumper sticker that Barry Huff enjoyed seeing) “The Big Bang theory: “Let there be light” and BANG! It happened!”) “Light (“or” in Hebrew, “phos” in Greek) was created before the stars… The motif here is that of the creation of the world by the WORD and a differentiation between the light and light-bearers.” Theological Dictionary of the New Testament
Verse 4 records the first Quality Control-check—“it was good.”
Application ideas:
“Any lack of originality is only a lack of knowledge about your true origin.”
Compare the development of any right idea in business or otherwise to the mental model of creation in Genesis 1:
Verse 3 = the dawning of the light or idea
Verses 4-6 = the analysis (compare and divide as on the first day)
Verses 7-10 = the decisive, solid manifestation of the idea (dry land appears)
Verses 11-12 = investment in the idea and its productivity
Verse 13 = exposing the idea to light universally, marketing it
Verse 14-31 = diversification (lights for seasons, living creatures multiplying, male & female)
Verse 2:1-3 = rest (not inertia, but success of the idea and its continuing yield)
GEM#1b: Find satisfaction, not in a physical, Male-Female union, but only in our original, spiritual indivisibility! Cobbey Crisler on more of Genesis 1 (B2):
“Verse 26. Here in a book noted for its monotheism we find plural words relative to God. (“Let US make man in OUR likeness…”) Father-Mother (F-M) must be together indivisibly or we have more than one God. If there’s indivisibility in the original there must be indivisibility in the product.
Verse 27. To have Male-Female (M-F) in the product means that it’s in the original.
On IMAGE, Clemet of Alexandria wrote: “In our view, image of God is not an object of sense, but a mental object, perceived not by the senses, but by the mind.” But in Genesis 2:7 the mental model is dropped and in the material account of creation God forms man out of dust—the very OPPOSITE view.
This mimics the opposite view of male and female that is widely promoted in which sex promises us all satisfaction in a physical union —but does it deliver? The very definition of sex is division, not indivisibility. “The sensualist’s affections… and pleasures” would put one through lots of fitful, mental contortions that Mary Baker Eddy describes as “imaginary, whimsical, and unreal” (Science & Health, p. 241: 8).
(Transcribed from notes taken during Cobbey Crisler talks by Warren Huff in the margins of his Bible)
GEM#2: Start & stay in the absolute with affirmations &denials! [Scientific Statement of Being also does, SH 468] Cobbey Crisler on John 1:1-3 (citation B1): “In the beginning”
“John 1:1. John starts off unlike any of the preceding gospels. "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” He starts off, as a matter of fact, as only one other book of the Bible begins. Notice Genesis 1:1: "In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. " Do you think the early readers of his gospel would have recognized that? Do you think that was John's intent? That it should be recognized?
“There is something that is a major clue to studying the Bible. That is, when you get the remotest hint of an Old Testament verse in the New Testament, don't ignore it or put it aside. It’s there for a very deep reason. It probably holds the key to the meaning of the New Testament event, or the author would not have included it. By no means make the mistake which Professor Davies, Professor Dodd, Professor Albright and many others of our top New Testament scholars say we often make. That is, when you find a verse in the New Testament which comes from the Old Testament, either an exact quote or a paraphrase, don’t just go back to that verse. Read the context around it. Study the environment; get deeply involved in the thought and intent of the Old Testament passage. You may be more closely at-one with what the author in the New Testament means. In other words, what do you have? You have a blend of the whole Bible that way. You find that Old and New Testaments become inseparable, which is virtually the view, I think, that the authors of the New Testament take. The account of the "Walk to Emmaus" in Luke 24: 13-35 shows how much Jesus and the apostles used the Old Testament to show how much the New Testament fulfills Old Testament prophecies.
“It also seems clear to me that Jesus, in his approach to mankind, from his outlook, his acts, his attitudes, his words as well as works, embraced universal humanity. You'll find hints of it passed down from his early students to their students, and so forth. But more than this, Jesus of Nazareth was a Bible student to surpass all Bible students. Therefore, if he knew in his own thought when an event affecting him or others of his period were the fulfillment of the Old Testament prophecy, or a lesson should be learned from a new/old truth that came out of the reservoir of the Scriptures, then he would so state it.
“But sometimes he allowed it to remain hidden. It would force his hearers, as well as his readers in this century, to become Bible students with him if they wanted to understand what he was saying. He embraces universal humanity. He addresses and communicates particularly to Bible students. As far as Jesus' comprehension of the word "Christian" is concerned, it probably would be fair to say that he would insist that Christians become Bible students just to comprehend what the word meant. What does that say to us today? Does that mean we should be reading these books, this collection, this library called the Bible? Specifically, our focus today is on the New Testament and one of the gospels? Should we be reading it as if it were a novel? Is that how Jesus felt his life and mission should be conveyed?
“Should we weep real tears because of the suffering and the lack of understanding and the persecution that occurred to him? And then wipe our eyes and go about our business because we've read a very deeply moving story, as we might have turned on a televisions set? Is that the kind of surface research that Jesus expected of his followers? When he said in John 5:39, "search the Scriptures,” I doubt you could ever apply that to television. Who wants to search television? There is obviously an object in view which Jesus knew would not benefit him, but would be enormously rewarding. The yield on that kind of investment would leap out of the page into the lives of those who did it. Therefore, "the word would be made flesh,” (John 1:14).
“John 1:1 starts his gospel off, "In the beginning was the Word.” The Greek is, en arche hin ho logos. Does arche look familiar to you? It is the root word in "archeology." It's an exciting word. It doesn't just mean when things begin or when they have started in a human way, so much as, translated by some scholars, as "the first principle" of things.
“For instance, when Jerome, in about 400 A.D. translates the Greek Bible into Latin, here’s how he does those opening words. "In principio," which, of course, is our root of our word "principle," in principio. He could have used another Latin expression which is "ab initio, " which would have meant at the initial phases of things, but instead he chooses a Latin word which has a dual meaning which could be "principle," the first principle, the origin, the basis of things.
“If we choose that particular Greek meaning for the opening of both Genesis and John, then it gives it an entirely different connotation. If, in principle, God created the heaven and the earth, or in principle, was the word, it starts out like many mathematical or scientific textbooks which start out with the statement of principle. Everything else derives from it.
“But then we come to a word which John uses in the first chapter and uses again in successive chapters but never with the same connotation. It stands out in its uniqueness and it is so emphatically important to the author that we have to just dwell on it somewhat and see what it might mean.
“Let me give you a partial history of the word. What automatically occurs to you as the meaning of logos? We take this word, "Word," and identify it with logos. This is likely being written at some point during the 1st century A.D. Way back in the 6th century B.C., Heraclitus at Ephesus was attempting philosophically to explain continuity amid all the flux around him. He resorted to logos as the eternal principle of order in the universe, the kind of reliable, unchanging law and order. This is several centuries prior to John's use of it. (Interestingly enough, people think that the Gospel of John may have been written there.)
“From that period, we can trace the word logos through many, many different concepts. Zeno (of Elea, c 490 – c 430 B.C.), a Greek philosopher used it in the connotation of right reason, of reality within the mind, pure thought. Which leads me to what Professor Dodd has said, "It is only in Greek that a term is available which means both thought and word, and that's logos." Only in Greek have you that term that can convey both thought and word. So, when you’re talking about logos, even from the standpoint of word, if we are not giving to it what really is behind it, we're losing something of the message, aren't we?
“Why does the additional concentration on thought add to the definition of word? When you go behind the word to the thought, you're dealing with ideas, concepts, and the meaning. It is where all human languages finally give up their fragmentation and meet, and become one, in a Pentecostal day of infinite communication. The "word" is but an instrument which we must meet at the thought or at the meaning. Then, no barriers, especially language barriers, can stand between us and comprehension of one another, of the universe, its laws, and the source of those laws.
“Dodd continues: "In Origen’s commentary on the 4th gospel which is being written, again very early in the history of the Christian church. In reading Origen's commentary, there are interpretations in there, in the Greek that he's writing, which absolutely depend upon taking logos not only in the sense of word, but it alternates without warning with the other sense of rational principles. So, the continual indication of this word principle is something that is significant."
“Do you know where we use logos in the English language? Biology, physiology. Logos is the one that has been used to define the sciences in the English language. This was the comprehension at least of the lexicographers who developed our own language of the Greek term. Look how it's lasted even in our language. We use it all the time without realizing it, taking it for granted. Is there a scientific connotation, then, that "In the beginning,” "In the first principle of things,” there is a scientific unvarying, inalienable, order that's ruling. And that it's not only being uttered as an expression or word, but behind it is the immense thought that also must be based on the same principle. Notice in Verse 1of Chapter 1 that it all related with and to God.
“John 1:3 continues with a statement that is quite absolute, "All things were made by him, and without him was not any thing made that was made.” Is there any reservation for qualifications? "All things were made by him. That is [an] enormous commitment to make at the beginning of a book. The theology of this book is therefore committed right squarely on what principle if we're now defining the theological principle on which the Bible is based? Not only oneness of God, but the fact He's one, also means He's all. "All things were made by Him.” Everything is created by Him. That also poses problems, because all we have to do is open our eyes and look around us. And what we see, we'd rather not think was created by God. But as of now, we've just started the book. So, let's see what the style of the author is and his theological commitments. "All things were made by Him.”
“He doesn't leave it there. The very next sentence adds, “Without him was not any thing made that was made." Why is he saying that? Doesn’t “all things were made by Him” take care of the other part? What is the difference? What’s the distinction that he is implanting in his readers' thought right at the beginning of the book? "All things were made by Him.” What would you call that? That kind of statement is an absolute, but is it also an affirmation. It's a real solid plus. This is a plus of the theological view of John. "All things were made by Him."
“What have we got now? Denial. Here is how we're going to deal with the minus element. The minus element is without Him, "without him was not any thing made that was made.” Any hint of a minus existing after the all-things-were-made-byhim being declared, is removed, because it is the other side of the same coin.
“The plus, the minus, the affirmation, the denial is a mathematical approach. Dealing with the plus, dealing with the minus and ending up with one, not dualism. One, so there’s no doubt that the key to the gospel is monotheism. It challenges the reader’s thought to see if he’s there at that altitude before he continues any further in the gospel. It forces the reader to get to that height in order to remotely communicate with what's in the gospel.”
“Book of John, A Walk with the Beloved Disciple,” by B. Cobbey Crisler**
GEM#3: “…as in heaven, so on earth”– see ALL you do as flowing with divinely perfect placement and timing – for God’s glory! (SH 17:2) An Answered Prayer (A.P.) History application of Eccl. 3:14 (B1) will work for you!
[Warren:] When CedarS Director of Operations, our daughter, Holly Huff (now Bruland), was on the Principia Upper School basketball team they made it into the district semi-final tournament. They were up against a highly favored Orchard Farm team that featured a very tall, dominate post player.
During the Principia School team prayer session before this game Holly shared one application idea from the Bible lesson that she had been trying to apply to her three-point shooting. She also shared another idea about Jesus’ knowing the thoughts of his opponents that she was hoping to demonstrate to a greater degree in her defensive work as well as her knowing when to pass and shoot in her work as a point and shooting guard.
The Spiritual Application idea that relates to shooting appears again in this week’s Bible Lesson. The citation is from Ecclesiastes 3:14 (B1): “whatsoever God doeth shall be forever…”
- (It goes on…) “nothing can be put to it,”—as in an “air-ball” (or a short) shot would need to have more “put to it” to score —
- “nor any thing taken from it”—as in a “brick” (or a long volleyball spike out of bounds) that would need to have something “taken from it” to make it count.
The key to shooting such a perfect, “nothing-but-net” shot in basketball (soccer …) is to make sure that it is “whatsoever God” is doing— to acknowledge it is being done through God and for His/Her glory.
The other Spiritual Application idea had to do with each player’s reflected right to have and to follow “all-knowing” Mind’s intuitions. This was “seeking first the kingdom of God” and among the many “added-unto” blessings that followed would be both seeing and making perfect passes as well as anticipating and intercepting your opponent’s passes. This application idea was based on a Bible story in the Lesson in which “Jesus knew their thoughts”. [This is from Matthew 9:4 where Jesus detected opposing elements in thought before he healed the paralyzed man.]
With just 5 minutes to go in the 4th quarter of this District Basketball Tournament, Principia, as the “Cinderella” or “David team” against the “Goliath team,” was down by 12 points. Coach Norm Purdy called a time-out and reaffirmed those application ideas as they applied to having a strong finish for this game and the season – all of it for the glory of God.
When these inspired young women came back out on the court, it was like a different game. Principia players anticipated pass after pass from their opponents to make great steals, passes and lay-ups – as well as a flawless series of perfect three-point shots. As the clock clicked down to the final buzzer, “Prin” was still down by two points. The play that had been drawn-up wasn’t open. So, Holly had to “put up a prayer” from well beyond the three-point arc. Just as the buzzer went off it “swished” through the net – all for God’s glory—all as part of “whatsoever God” was doing. With that amazing 1-point win, Principia advanced to the district championship.
Thanks be to God for every time you feel a foretaste of “a new heaven and a new earth” in a divinely flowing rhythm with perfectly accurate anticipation, timing and execution of “whatsoever God is doing” through you—all for His/Her glory! (Rev. 21:1, 3, 4, SH 91, 573:29)
GEM#4: Enjoy on YouTube Ken Cooper’s insights on citations shared in this week’s Christian Science Quarterly Bible Lesson. To help make these familiar passages and their stories easier to visualize and relate to, Ken freely offers a custom prose piece called “” and a moving monologue called “”.
[Ken writes:] “The lesson gives, inter alia, two beautiful examples of Love’s creation understood and demonstrated. The story of Abigail is one of the treasures of the Bible, signifying the loyalty of unconditional love. This love led to the error of Nabal’s selfish attitude being self-seen and destroyed. It led to David witnessing what was the nature of honesty and fealty. It uncovered in David the impact of love, yielding obedience to God’s law, turning him away from violence, and giving peace. The story is shared in the prose PDF format, not yet on YouTube.
Demonstrating God as the only cause and creator was the mission of Jesus, and in the healing of Peter’s wife’s mother , (read by Sue), we see the complete naturalness of healing, the simple and inevitable result of knowing the Allness of God and Gods’ power. There was no recuperation required for those who Jesus healed, for as he knew, there was never anything from which to recover. This knowledge of God is for everyone, and brings its own recognition of the power of Love, all embracing and God-given. With this healing, and seeing the effect of Jesus’ ministry, Peter’s wife’s mother had her sense of Love greatly multiplied.
Love is indeed reflected in love for we are what God is, we all reflect Love as the proof of what God is. Hence the wonder and beauty of man, the wonder and beauty of God, the Only Cause and Creator.”
PDF copies of the poem “In the Atmosphere of Love” and the monologue, “Under His Shadow”— in color and B&W— are available on the top right of this week's ONLINE metaphysical article for CedarS Camps
GEM#5: Grow Priceless “*Pearls*” from Grit! — Turn Trash into Beautiful Treasures of Truth and Love!
CedarS 2020 Theme partially in citation S22 in Science & Health, by Mary Baker Eddy, page 265:3-15:
"Man understands spiritual existence in proportion as his treasures of Truth and Love are enlarged. Mortals must gravitate Godward, their affections and aims grow spiritual, – they must near the broader interpretations of being, and gain some proper sense of the infinite, – in order that sin and mortality may be put off. This scientific sense of being, forsaking matter for Spirit, by no means suggest man's absorption into Deity and the loss of his identity, but confers upon man enlarged individuality, a wider sphere of thought and action, a more expansive love, a higher and more permanent peace."
We invite you to join us in "gravitat[ing] Godward." A CedarS-like camp setting, whether actual or virtual, is the perfect place to discover and enlarge your treasures of Truth. Every "met" (inspirational sharing before activities), every breakfast Christian Science practitioner talk, every Bible Lesson study, every Hymn Sing, every Sunday School class, and testimony meeting offers campers nuggets of Truth to make their own. And each activity offers opportunities to apply these Truths and prove their value – to really turn them into treasures for life!
The list in this passage is such a beautiful promise of the blessings realized through spiritual growth:
-Enlarged individuality
-A wider sphere of thought and action
-A more expansive love
-A higher and more permanent peace
We see this list as so contemporary, as so on-target, and as so timeless. This is as exactly what today's youth needs – and exactly what today's world needs.
*Pearls* are wonderful examples of the “treasures of Truth” and how they grow. A pearl grows in an oyster only because an irritant has entered its shell and the oyster responds by secreting on it layer after layer of an irritant–soother (the way that spiritual sense and love heal whatever irritates us and others). Let’s take that as a challenge to be like the oyster and turn everything that looks negative and ugly into a string of beautiful pearls by applying layer upon layer of love and spiritual sense to grow our treasures of Truth and Love!
Enlarging your treasures of Truth and Love will soon make you “debt-free” by cancelling the debt — “cancel culture” with a God’s eye view! St. Paul simply describes this higher view of ultimate “debt-forgiveness program” of Love that freed him—as it will free you. It is to: “Owe no man anything, but to love one another” (Romans 13:8). Saul voiced this as one who “owed” Christ and all Christians BIG-time by being known as their most enthusiastic enemy and persecutor. Saul made up for it as Paul by becoming Christianity’s most advent advocate and most eloquent missionary after he was converted by a “virtual” meeting with Jesus. (So, don’t underestimate the power of virtual camp sessions, hymn sings or church services when the Christ is welcomed in!)
If you visit Saul’s road to Damascus in CedarS Bible Lands Park, you will be reminded to be like Ananias of the Damascus Christians. Like Ananias, you will be asked to stop “owing” any former enemy or persecutors and to stop “bearing false witness against” any and all Saul-characters in your life—and instead to see them as if they’ve been on their “road to Damascus” and changed for good by the Christ. In the words of a young Sunday School student “Forgive us our “trash-passes” as we forgive those who “trash-pass” to us.”
Had Ananias held Saul in a position that he’d outgrown after his “virtual encounter” with the Christ – if he had NOT obeyed God’s command to forgive Saul’s trash-passing and to restore his sight, the born-again Paul would not have become the most productive, treasure-passer of Christianity that the world has known. “Those unpretentious, yet colossal characters, Paul and Jesus” both did all they could to pass along the rich treasures of their resilient spiritual sense of oneness with God. May we each do the same with all the treasures of Truth that spiritual sense constantly gives us!
GEM#6: Don’t leave unsolved any relationship problems or any church or world health problems!
Cobbey Crisler on Ps. 67:2 (cit. B15) & “saving health among all nations”… “working together for good”
“Verse 2 of Psalm 67 is the prophecy that God's “way will be known upon earth," and this is what we all said together at the beginning of this session. "Thy saving health among" what? A limited number? ''All nations." No wonder the Bible could not close without that magnificent reminder that the leaves of the tree were not just for healing individuals, but for all nations. The medicine for international discord is on that tree.
Just as it is for our own relationship problems. What's a relationship problem [other] than a disease? Something's not relating in our body. Look to our thought. Have we left relationship problems unsolved? Do you know when Jesus would not accept worship from his Christian followers when they (we) bring a gift to the altar? If you remember ought that you have against your brother or ‘vice versa,' don't even bother to give your gift in the environment of church.
Church stands for healed relationships. No relationship problems. All things working together for good. [Jesus said Leave your gift behind. It's imperfect. It’s incomplete. Go solve the relationship problem with your brother first, then bring your gift to church. That shows that healed relationship problems are the only satisfactory gift to church endorsed by the founder of the Christian Church.”
“Leaves of the Tree: Prescriptions from Psalms,” by B. Cobbey Crisler
GEM#7a: Like Jesus, stick with the only real power, the power of the Spirit! When Jesus had finished 40 days of “sheltering in place” in the wilderness, he “returned in the power of the Spirit into Galilee… and… their synagogues (churches) and laid his hands on everyone (at least symbolically) and healed them.” (Luke 4:14…, B18) Let us, like Jesus, as we come out of our wilderness, waiting experiences, stick with the only real power, the power of the Spirit!
Cobbey Crisler on Luke 4:14, 40 (B18)
“Luke indicates that he understands that this [Jesus’ period of temptations in the wilderness has been a power test for Jesus. In Verse 14 he uses that word, "Jesus returned" not in any form of power that Satan had tried to impose upon him [“to take personal power, political power, and priestly power”]. But rather, "in the power of the Spirit into Galilee"— [“in the law that relates man directly to God, the source of the only power there is.]
“In Luke 4, Verse 40 as healing increases, we find that many healings occur, especially around the Sea of Galilee. Is it any more difficult for Jesus to heal collectively than it is individually? It doesn’t seem to take much more time, does it?
Who does Jesus say is responsible for the healing? If God is responsible for the healing, does He love all His creation as instantly as he loves each individual part of His creation? Can that love reach collectively? Is it present collectively? If that's the basis for Jesus healing, then we see that healing a multitude was just as normal and natural as breathing, and as healing an individual.
What is the atmosphere there? If the Holy Ghost is there, then we all can breathe that same air simultaneously.
The healings were apparently permanent. There was no standing in line. Jesus didn't say, "All right, all the ears, eye, nose, and throat people over here." He didn't deal with them as a specialist would deal with them. He dealt with them as a general practitioner, as if he could be consulted and he could join with others in prayer and to be at-one with God, whether it was one individual or hundreds or thousands. Remember, he fed thousands from that same point of view.”
“Book of Luke: Luke the Researcher,” by B. Cobbey Crisler**
BONUS GEM#7b: Mark’s version of Peter’s mother-in-law’s healing (Luke 4:38-40, cit. B17 & Mark 1:29-31)
[Cobbey:] Jesus "comes out of the synagogue." He's just established healing as part of his definition of the church. Healing as a regular activity of the church. If we are not witnessing healings, we are not fully within Jesus' definition of his church. Coming out of the synagogue, he goes to Simon Peter and Andrew’s house, one which has apparently been discovered by archeologists in Capernaum.
Verse 30. “Simon’s mother-in-law.” You have to be married to have a mother-in-law, "sick of a fever.
Verse 31. Notice the church's healing activity is not confined to the four walls we call synagogue or church. That same healing aspect of the ever-presence of God comes into the humble home of Peter and Andrew, "healing Peter’s mother-in-law."
“What Mark Recorded,” by B. Cobbey Crisler**
BONUS GEM#7c: Matthew’s version of Jesus healing Peter’s mother-in-law of the flu. He put all aside for the priority of healing in Matt 8:14-16.
[Cobbey Crisler:] "(Verse 14. We come to the third healing [in Matthew's series of 10 of Jesus' proofs after the Sermon on the Mount of his Messiahship by his works, the healing of Peter's mother-in-law. To have a mother-in-law, Peter had to be married. Peter had a wife. It's on the Sabbath day, too. But does Jesus consider women that important? Would he break the Sabbath for a woman? One may think that he might for a man. But would he do it for a woman? He does.
Whatever business he had in Peter's house, he puts all aside and gives priority to the mother-in-law's needs. Despite the fact that it was the Sabbath. (Verse 15). He heals her of fever. [W: So much, for the supposed length and severity of the flu—as well as for its being communicable… "and she arose and ministered unto them."]
(Verse 16). "Many come, when the even was come to be healed." Why the evening? Because then the Sabbath is over and they could all come without any fear of recriminations from the Jews.”
“Book of Matthew, Auditing the Master: A Tax Collector’s Report”, by B. Cobbey Crisler**
GEM#8: “Take to the bank” an example of “with God all things are possible!” (cit. S29, SH 180:25) An Answered Prayer (A.P.) account of divine abundance quickly demonstrated!
Here was the problem or set of unique circumstances presented:
(Warren: While the particulars of every fable always vary, the lie of lack is always negated by the law of divine abundance which remains unchangeable and provable by all!)
“The situation at CedarS Camps in early May of 1993 was that we made a critical and costly discovery just as a major project looked to be right on budget and on time to complete right before camp. This wonderful “home improvement” to our Dawn Lodge was adding-on a new Basketball Pavilion beyond a first-floor dining room addition along with several new rooms in a shed-dormer loft above it. Just as it was being created by literally “raising the roof” – or a 20ft by 120ft section of the roof just east of a beamline, the workmen made the costly discovery that the original, cedar-shake roof over the rest of building had started to deteriorate. In order to make the roof leak-proof in the immediate short term before camp as well as more problem-free in the long term, it all would need to be replaced with a new, insulated metal roof. We were told that would cost an additional $100,000—and that these unbudgeted funds were needed right away in order to be able to finish the job before the Opening Day of camp.
The Christian Science Prayer or Treatment given to this case of lack:
Instead of panicking, I again felt the radiant joy, inspired by many demonstrations of God’s abundant love as well as by my mom, Ruth E. Huff’s wonderful, automatic response at such times. I can always hear (in my thought) her classic, smiling reply to almost any issue—"It will be fun to see how God works this one out!"
With this joyous confidence and love, I was led to turn to the opening chapter of Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures called "Prayer." I needed go no farther than its first sentence to re-open in the depths of my being its awesome, healing power: "The prayer that reforms the sinner (like a project manager who had majorly “missed the mark”) and heals the sick (like a leaky roof and the sick feeling of any lie of lack) is an absolute faith that all things are possible to God, — a spiritual understanding of Him, an unselfed love.” (SH 1:1, bolding and underlining added) I’ll NEVER forget that simple, radiant, confident feeling of effective prayer and divine care as I simply cherished each of those three elements – along with some of Jesus’ awesome examples of it.
In that week’s Christian Science Bible Lesson, were two of Jesus’ demonstrations of divine, ever-present abundance—the feeding the multitudes with five loves and two fish AND the sending of Peter to get the money to pay taxes for the two of them from the mouth of the first fish he caught (Matt. 17:27). It’s not a mere coincidence—but “the human and divine coincidence” that God brought those examples to thought then – and brings these examples to our attention now in the face of aggressive fear and evidences of lack during a global pandemic.
Right now, we too can “love into view” a growing, glowing faith in divine Love and its abundance that never fail.
The Answered Prayer (A.P.) History: a West Coast phone call came just minutes later.
A voice I’d never heard before—from an "as-in-heaven, so-on-earth" angel of a friend who I’d never met before— said: “As I was praying this morning, I sensed that CedarS Camps had an urgent need. Would $100,000 help?” Before I could call anyone, God sent that speedy answer—and in the exact amount needed! This is a literal example of what we should spiritually understand 365/24/7 from Isaiah (3)65:24 (/7): “Before they call I will answer, and while they are yet speaking I will hear.”
A fun, recent, bonus P.S.
I had the inspiring joy of going on a January 2020 Principia Lifelong Learning "Journey through the Holy Land" led in by professor, Dr. Barry Huff—the dear son God sent to bless us all. On the trip, I purposely invested in items to share and help inspire CedarS outreach and work in our Bible Lands Park. At a gift shop I bought a spoon holder to serve as a daily Biblical reminder of how God meets every human need. You can see in the picture in the upper right “Download” part of the webpage, I placed it on top of a T-shirt with this classic message:
LOVE IS LIKE 5 LOAVES AND 2 FISH.
ALWAYS TOO LITTLE UNTIL YOU START GIVING IT AWAY.
As we give, give, give with a sense of divine Love and Her abundant supply, we find that we can never “out-give” God who constantly gives, Gives, GIVES back to us from an infinitely renewable resource! Jesus illustrated this law of divine abundance—even super-abundance –by quickly feeding the hungry multitudes with only five loaves and two fish and then symbolically taking up twelve baskets of left-overs (one basketful for each disciple in three Gospel accounts, Mark 6:38, Luke 9:13, John 6:8)
(A rough draft of what is being sent to the CSPS periodicals.)
To see a 2-minute video of gratitude from Sunday School students who attend CedarS thank you for clicking on or pasting the address below into your browser.
https://vimeo.com/485544329?fbclid=IwAR2nXWp7x90sT-egcO2bZh_zCHiAv4XOnO9jC7SfaZiF9rktQr_QI5jhy44
