Keep It Simple, Son (or Daughter)!

Keep It Simply Spiritual (Son or Daughter)!

CedarS Metaphysical Application Ideas for the Christian Science Bible Lesson on
“Ancient and Modern Necromancy, alias Mesmerism and Hypnotism, Denounced“

for May 27, 2012
by Rick Stewart, CS of Dresden, Germany

(+49-351 312-4736 RickStewartCS@aol.com)

 

[Bracketed italics by CedarS Director & editor of these notes, Warren Huff: These application ideas from a CedarS Camps' Resident Christian Science Practitioner are provided primarily to help CedarS campers and staff (as well as friends) see and demonstrate the great value of study and application of the Christian Science Bible lessons daily throughout the year, not just at camp! You can sign up to have them emailed to you free — by Monday each week in English; or by each Wednesday you can get a FREE TRANSLATION: in French, thanks to Joseph, Pascal or Marie-Helene; in German, thanks to Helga or Manfred; in Spanish, thanks to a team of Ana, Erick, Claudia or Patricio; and soon officially in Portuguese. YOU CAN ALSO SIGN UP for weekly emails from past CedarS staff of fun approaches & possible ways to teach lesson ideas to older and to younger Sunday School classes at www.cedarscamps.org/newsletters   Enjoy, and support please.]

 

Keep It Simple, Son (or Daughter)!

If you were reading the Christian Science Bible Lesson for the first time this week you might be just a little bit surprised by the subject. Your jaw might drop open. You might wonder about the big words and their meaning. You might find yourself scratching your head. Necromancy? Mesmerism and hypnotism, what does that have to do with me? And why study something that you are just going to deny, or denounce anyway?

 

Well the first thing I thought of with this week's lesson was a little advice or counsel that my dad often shared with me. It came in the form of an acronym. An acronym is a word that is formed from the first letters of a series of words. It is a handy way to remember something. (And happens to be a favorite tool of Cedars Director, Warren Huff.)

 

The acronym I thought of from my dad was, “KISS.” The words stand for “Keep It Simple, Stupid.” But because of the wonderfully supportive way my dad always communicated his emphasis was not on the “stupid” part, but simply the wisdom of keeping it simple. “Don't make things more difficult than they really are. Stay simple. Stay focused.   Don't get taken in by confusing beliefs. Stay with the simple facts.”

 

Since the goal of studying the weekly Christian Science Bible Lesson is always a better understanding of God and our relationship to Him then the simplicity we are talking about involves God's allness and oneness. It is holding to the “no other gods before me” facts of Life. It is not being confused by promises of secret or magical means to find good. It is remembering that there is only one God, Good, and there is no power apart from Him. So let's look at the wonderful examples in this week's lesson of the value of “keeping it simple.” And since we know we are God's sons and daughters, we can see how “Keep It Simple, Son (or Daughter)” helps us in everyday life.

 

Golden Text: Proverbs 21:30

“There is no wisdom nor understanding nor counsel against the Lord.” (King James Version )

“The Message” translation reads:³⁰ “Nothing clever, nothing conceived, nothing contrived, can get the better of God.” Amplified Bible (AB) translation reads, ³⁰ There is no [human] wisdom or understanding or counsel [that can prevail] against the Lord. Or we might simply say, “Don't think you can outsmart God!”

 

Responsive Reading: Matthew 4: 1-11    The story of Jesus temptations in the wilderness. 

This introduction to our Lesson [could be called “Devil worship Denounced”. When Jesus firmly refused the dualism of wanting any type of human power (personal, priestly, or political), angels came and ministered to him. And angels will care for and comfort us too, so that we like Jesus, can move joyously and confidently through life “in the power of the Spirit.” Luke 4:14] Jesus shows us how to chase away the belief that we need something other than God. 

 

In the Bible narrative immediately prior to this temptation story [Matt. 3:17] is the place where Jesus and those around him heard a “voice from heaven” declare, “This is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased.” That sure might have made Jesus feel pretty special. “Wow, I am God's beloved son.” But that fact was something that not only Jesus accepted for himself, but he also identified it as the fact of our identity. And that fact is great ammunition in resisting the temptations or suggestions that constantly bombard human thought [to put to the test this divinely stated heritage of each of us]. The temptations that came to Jesus were prefaced with the taunt, “If thou be the Son of God.” Well of course Jesus was the Son of God. Have you ever been made to doubt if God loves you, or knows you as his son or daughter? Well of course God loves you. Of course you are God's child. So hold tight to that fact [like Jesus did in quoting the Bible] and chase the devilish temptations away. [Mrs. Eddy's definition of DEVIL ends with “animal magnetism or hypnotism” (S-12, S&H 584:19) that is denounced in every section of the lesson as God's omnipotence is affirmed.]

 

Section 1 – Don't be distracted [or double-minded]; stay focused! [Look where you are going!]

This section establishes the basis for our stability and unobstructed progress. “I am the Lord; and there is none else.” (B-1) Where do we start or begin? We simply know “God Spirit is All-in-all, and that there is no other might nor mind,…(S-1). We should not allow ourselves to be distracted!

 

The last few weeks, with beautiful May weather, our courtyard has been full of two, three, and four year olds demonstrating their new abilities at bicycle riding. They are having so much fun. Most are amazingly successful, only every now and then a little mishap or crash. I have noticed that most times the cause of the crash is a wandering eye. These little ones sometimes have a hard time looking straight ahead and not being distracted by looking to the right or left. If they look left, sometimes their bike just simply follows their eyes! Then boom, they run into something or someone. I spend a lot of time saying, “Look where you are going.”

Citation B-2 states: “Take heed to yourselves, that your heart be not deceived, and ye turn aside, and serve other gods, and worship them.”   Let's learn from these new bike riders. Don't “turn aside,” or you might find yourself bumping into things that aren't much fun.

 

 Section 2 – Daniel and his friends, in rapport with the one Mind.

The Bible is full of wonderful examples of those who have chosen to follow God and so been blessed. And usually they not only bless themselves but also bless all around them. [The B-7 story of Daniel and his friends refusing to bow to the king relates to Jesus refusing to aspire to or to bow to political power in his 3^rd temptation in the wilderness as related in the RR, Matt. 4:8.9 and the “greater development of power” in S-7, 82:31] Daniel, and his three young Hebrew friends, were faithful in hastening to worship the one God. (B-7) This was not always the easiest thing to do.   Sometimes they were punished for worshipping God and not worshipping the king. But the result of their faithful worship was that they were always tuned into God. The one Mind, God would reveal to them exactly that they needed to know.

The “Science of being” described in this section and specifically in citation S-10 is a source of understanding that blesses individual lives and can help bless our whole planet. 

 

My brother, Gary, and I were remembering a fun little example of this resource of being in “rapport” with Mind and its benefits. We were having a family Easter Egg hunt in our back yard and all the eggs had been found but one. Gary had just arrived after an hour long automobile drive. He had prayed the entire time during his drive. He arrived just at the point when somebody announced, “We've found all the eggs but one. ” Those of us who had hidden the eggs could not remember where we had hidden this last one. Without a moment's hesitation Gary walked across the lawn, went right to a low palm tree, reached up, and found the missing egg.   He had not “looked” for it; he simply knew where it was. 

 

Some years ago I witnessed another example of this presence of Mind. I was with friends canoeing on Juniper Run in the Ocala National Forest.   We stopped for lunch and I realized that my wallet was not in my trouser pocket. I climbed back into my canoe and said I was going back to find my wallet. Some of the friends were in disbelief that I planned to go back and simply “find” my wallet. But my cousin hopped into the canoe to join me. As we paddled back upstream I was praying and affirming the ever-presence of the one Mind. And a simple thought came to me. I realized that I did not personally have to find the wallet. Mind, God was governing all and would reveal the location of this idea in Mind. In a few minutes my cousin shouted, “There it is.” There it was floating downstream. I rejoiced to know that it was not my personal mind that did the finding, but the reflection of the one Mind that is God. I remember how proud my cousin was that he had been a part of “finding” the wallet. Each of us can practice and learn to listen to this Mind more effectively. [To claim this peace of God's guidance in the midst of a change or move, check out today's Daily Lift video by Chet Manchester at http://christianscience.com/prayer-and-health/inspiration/your-daily-lift/5-21-dove-at-the-door]

 

Section 3 – Jesus, the Light of the world.

Light is such a powerful attractant. Whether the spiritual light of our Master or the light shining in the darkness. As I wrote in the middle of the night, a very large mosquito came in through the open balcony door.   Rather than chase him down, I simply turned off the overhead light and the light from the computer screen. Then I placed a small portable light out on the balcony. In a few minutes the mosquito found his way back out the open door. Door closed, lights on again, and back to work.

 

The Christ, the “light of the world,” is the truth that “makes free”. (B-9, John 8:12 and S-15, 227:19) The Christ comes to heal [every theologically-dualistic, good & evil “lie”, every “belief in sin, sickness, and death”, all “animal magnetism or hypnotism” as Mrs. Eddy defines the DEVIL. (S-12, 584:17)]

 

Section 4 – The Christ, the ultimate TED, (Turtle Excluder Device), keeping us out of the nets of error.

“The man who saved sea turtles” is the way many people back home in Florida know Dr. Archie Carr. Archie was perhaps the one man most responsible for finding ways to protect the world's sea turtles. In his career of 57 years Archie was always based near Gainesville, Florida. He educated the world about the dangers facing sea turtles that had as a species outlived the dinosaurs and had been around at least 100 million years. He helped establish areas where the turtles could nest in safety and also in encouraging the use of TEDs, (Turtle Excluder Device.) This is a device placed at the top of trawler nets that keep turtles from being captured with shrimp..” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archie_Carr http://www.southernfriedscience.com/?p=9037

Isn't this similar to the activity of the Christ in human consciousness? The presence of the Christ helps keep us from getting caught in the nets of error “Mine eyes are toward the Lord; for he shall pluck my feet out of the net.” . (B-10, Ps. 25:150

As the “woman taken in adultery” was awakened to her real identity as a child of God, she was protected from the nets of those that accused her. [Just so was Jesus protected from the priestly power of the scribes and Pharisees who tried to catch him in their net using a quote from Moses so that they “might have to accuse him” (like the “net” the devil used in the wilderness to catch Jesus by using a quote from Ps. 91) (RR)] As Jesus spoke with the woman he asked where her accusers were. As we individually begin to respond to the Christ we find that our accusers disappear. We no longer face condemnation and we begin to see ourselves in the light that God always sees us in. And then the most tenacious “accusers,” we ourselves, are silenced. 

 

Simply learning to know ourselves in the light of Christ, keeps us out of the nets of error. I remember my mom pointing out how important it was to handle all forms of condemnation, “There is therefore now no condemnation” (Romans 8:1). And one of the constant suggestions that tries to pull us into the net is “self-condemnation.” There is a great deal of power in the willingness to see ourselves as God has made us, and to refuse to indulge in self-condemnation. True humility is seeing one's selfhood as God's son or daughter.

 

Section 5 – Life, the simple fact of being.

Citation B-13 relates the call to the Master from a ruler of the synagogue. (Matt. 9:18) Accounts in Mark and Luke identify him as Jairus. This is an interesting version of the Jairus story because Jairus comes to Jesus after the death of his daughter. Such faith, a willingness to reach out to Jesus when to mortal sense there appeared no hope. But what did the Master say? “give place: for the maid is not dead but sleepeth.” (B-13) [Cobbey Crisler stated that Jesus used this line about the girl not being dead but asleep to make the paid mourners laugh and so more easily put out them out to raised the atmosphere as well as Jairus' daughter from the dead. Note this as an example of Jesus casting out the “death” part of Mrs. Eddy's definition of “DEVIL.” (S-12, 584:19)]

 

One of the key elements in destroying the influence of animal magnetism, or hypnotism is awaking to the fact that “truth cannot be reversed, but the reverse of error is true.” (S-24) Also citation S-25 calls us to awaken to the fact that, “death is but a mortal illusion.” Many events in the career of our Master, Christ Jesus, point to the fact that Life is not in and of matter, but Life is God, “whom nothing can erase.”

Whether it is awaking Lazarus, or in this case the young maiden, God is never involved in the conspiracy to see man as dying. Man lives because God is Life.

 

Section 6 – Simply holding to the Truth, lifts us out of error's dreams.

Paul in his letter to the Philippians sounds a powerful and effective call to watch what we think.Paul gives valuable guidance to the Philippians and to us when he says: “whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.” (B-16, Phil. 4:8)

Mrs. Eddy echoes this call in citation S-29, “We must form perfect models in thought and look at them continually, or we shall never carve them out in grand and noble lives. Let unselfishness, goodness, mercy, justice, health, holiness, love, — the kingdom of heaven – reign within us, and sin, disease, and death will diminish until they finally disappear.” (Science and Health page 248)

 

My hometown, Ocala, Florida, began in 1984 to reclaim a section of the town that was designated the Ocala Historic District. The eventual result of this designation of an official Historic District was a renewal, or restoration of a part of town that in some places had begun to decline and to house activities such as drug trafficking.   It is now an attractive area filled with homes that are well maintained and add a wonderful atmosphere to the town. But that was not always the case.

 

A resident of Ocala happened to remark to my brother, Gary, that he was concerned about his daughter because of a prevalence of drug use in this old part of town. So my brother, at that time the Public Works Director of Ocala, met with other city officials. They came up with a plan to renew this area and take it out of the hands of evil influences. Soon other citizens joined in. The resulting designation on January 12, 1984 of the Ocala Historic District as an official U.S. Historic District was the result. Another active participant in this reclaiming effort was Jim Tatom, a successful architect and also an active member of our local Christian Science church. With the renewal, restoration, and appreciation, the area became home to families and a beautiful part of the city. The illegal activities no longer found a home in that area. 

 

So what began with the concern of a father and was answered by active, constructive thinking resulted in a bettered neighborhood atmosphere. The neighborhood became more representative of the kingdom of heaven and less of the hellish elements. 

 

Can't this same kind of renewal, restoration, and renovation take place in our lives, our families, neighborhoods, cities, countries and world? It can and will as we learn to care for and appreciate where we live. As we simply take better care of what we have been given, we can save sea turtles like Archie Carr did, or save neighborhoods like Jim and Gary helped to do.

Let us simply lift up the standard that the Lord, God, Good is all and there is none else. The result will be more of heaven and less of hell in our lives.

Simply magnifying the good often results in a natural purification process, in preserving, restoring, renewing human experience through an appreciation of the good already present. 

 

Keep it simple, sons and daughters. Simply be the manifestation of all the Good that God has made. No room for error of any kind. No room for evil's claim to have a hold on anything or anyone. As our lesson concludes with Mrs. Eddy's statement on page 471 of Science and Health, “God is infinite, therefore ever present, and there is no other power nor presence.” (S-30)

 

What do we find then? Simply the best.

[Ruth Huff Memorials: CedarS has “simply the best” supporters on the planet!  We are humbly grateful to daily receive both memorial thank you notes (to be posted on a special “Remembering Ruth” website) and memorial donations for a Matched “Ruth Huff, Founder's Campership Endowment Fund” as well as for a “Ruth's Run Zipline” to CedarS Bible Lands Park (CBLP)!  Click here to read my tribute to Mom and a fuller desriptions of both fitting memorials to further her legacy. Sending a gift to either fund  will support Ruth's enduring love of CedarS and will bring to full bloom in coming generations of Christian Scientists and Bible-lovers (of all ages) the perpetual petals of “an appreciation of spiritual sense and an abundance of wholesome, joyous activity.” (Ruth's stated purpose of CedarS)]

[A RECENT CEDARS MATCHING-GIFT CAMPERSHIP FUND!  Each NEW campership donation to CedarS will be matched (up to $50,000!) so that no Christian Science Sunday School student need be “un-camped” this summer!  (Even transportation costs can be covered as needed!  Donating your frequent-flyer miles or even offering car rides or gas money can make the critical difference to otherwise “uncamped” children and families!)  Daily applications for this aid are being met by daily supply from friends of Christian Science Sunday School pupils like you! Click on http://www.cedarscamps.org/giving/campership-fund.htm for links to all ways to give.]

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 ^{[Camp Director's Note: This sharing is the latest in an ongoing, 11-year series of CedarS Bible Lesson “Mets” (Metaphysical application ideas) contributed weekly by a rotation of CedarS Resident Practitioners and occasionally by other metaphysicians.  (Ask and look for “Possible Sunday School Topics “and “Possible Younger Class Lessons” in subsequent emails.) These weekly offerings are 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 “and Sunday School ideas 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 and background as well as new angles (and angels) on the daily applicability of 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.B-1 and S-28) from this week's Bible Lesson in the “Met” (Metaphysical application ideas) are taken from the Bible (B-1 thru B-24) and the Christian Science textbook, Science and Health With Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy (S-1 thru S-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!

CedarS PYCLs–Possible Younger Class Lessons for:  
“Ancient and Modern Necromancy, alias Mesmerism and Hypnotism, Denounced”
The Christian Science Bible Lesson for May 27, 2012
by Kerry Jenkins, CS, House Springs, MO (314) 406-0041
 

Wow, what a mouthful! You can always start by decoding this subject, defining the words in ways that make it more contemporary and useful to kids. See if you can come up with a much shorter way of saying this and with the older kids, see if they can come up with their own shorter version. All those big words boil down to different ways that evil presents itself to your thought as something to listen to and act upon, so it is especially interesting to look at the Golden Text (G.T.) and take it one step further. If there is no wisdom, etc. against or opposed to the Lord, to God, can there be any opposed to me? If we are inseparable, reflections of God what does this opening passage say about us? What does it say about the seeming appearance of evil in our lives in whatever form?

 

You can do a quick scan of the lesson together finding each story to see how these evils present themselves in the Bible, and how they are “shot down” by Truth. You have the story in the Responsive Reading (R.R.), you have the “vain philosophy” in section 1, you have Daniel and his interpretation of the king's dream in contrast to the failed attempts by other “philosophers” of the day, you have the attempt in section 3 by the Jews to say that evil can beget good, the woman in the next section getting rescued from a false sense of herself and even helping the accusers to see things more accurately, and in section 5 the raising of Jairus' daughter from death. All this is wrapped together in the sixth section with an affirmation of the entirety of Good in our recognition and praise of God's presence and power. While this scan may take a few minutes of time to sort and synopsize, you can then look at them together and see how they fit with the lesson subject. See if the students can see the application of these stories and the circumstances surrounding them in terms of their own lives. So they aren't prostitutes, what could they do today that would be outside moral law, the Ten Commandments and how might they see themselves or maybe even more importantly, someone else in a more accurate light. Where else did Jesus say something similar to “…He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her.”? How about when he said to “…cast the beam out of thine own eye…” etc.? How can we take this to heart daily and improve our own view of others? This section emphasizes that our redemption comes from a truer sense of Love, God! (S17) Everything else is so much false evidence (S19).

 

The littlest ones can kind of do a more strict interpretation of the story of Jesus being tempted. You can have a silly costume for the “devil” if you wish. You can ask them if there are any things out there that tempt them the way Jesus might have been tempted by those offers of food, safety, and fame. Make sure you touch on why those things were tempting to Jesus, though they may not be tempting to you! Jesus had just previously heard (along with all those present), a voice from heaven saying that he was God's beloved son, in whom He was well pleased. That's got to be impressive! Discuss what the devil is. Is it a “person”? Is it a power? How do we rob it of the power to tempt us? What did Jesus do? What can we do? With the very littlest ones it can be effective to make a “gate” with your hands and simulate opening the gate to good thoughts and keeping it closed to devilish thoughts such as grumpy, sad, mean, angry or sick thoughts. Play a little game with them linking their fingers together to show the closed gate, and being strong about holding it shut to bad things. With the dramatization you can also add a bit of humor by being the “devil” yourself and teasing them about things you want them to do. Use a wheedling voice (like they might do when begging for something from their mom), they will almost surely find this funny and may then want to try that role in a drama themselves.  Hopefully they are left with the impression that the “devil” might be tempting, but can't give them what they really want.  What they really want is Love, joy, peace, etc.  Where do those things come from?

One thing that I'm really enjoying about this week's lesson is the way that it emphasizes that God is revealed to us through the “simplicity that is in Christ”.  We hear God's voice, “see” and understand God's activity from the Christ that He has given us.  Jesus revealed this to us most clearly and so we have several examples of this in the lesson this week.  We are encouraged not to be fooled by other impressive theories, complicated methods, etc.  Can the kids think of what these might be in today's world?  Might we tend to think of medical science as somehow impressive and more complicated and reliable somehow than a simple reliance on an all-good God?  Maybe this is not a topic for the younger grades, I'm not sure that they are thinking about the medical options and we certainly don't need to be the ones to introduce this thought in Sunday School, but you would know by looking at your class.  But there are other ways in which we might be tempted to think that our prayers and reliance on God might be “quaint” or simplistic in some way.  That is until you see this reliance heal… in this lesson it rescues a woman from certain stoning, raises a young girl from death and saves a whole slew of people from execution by revealing to Daniel the king's dream (you have to read a bit more of the story to get this angle).  Can you come up with some potent examples in your life to share?  Can any of the kids?  It is great to know that even the Bible declares that “I have not spoken in secret, in a dark place of the earth… I declare things that are right…”  We sometimes get fooled into thinking that Christian Science is complicated and difficult, that it is mysterious and hard to practice.  Let's help kids see: that Christian Science is none of these things; that God, and His Christ are accessible and readily available; and that it is the suggestions of evil that are complicated and that lie to us!  “The maximum of good is the infinite God and His idea, the All -in-all.”  I love that, the maximum of good is infinite in nature; it has no end to it.  Where does evil ever tell us that? (S3)  Look for all the ways that God's simple goodness shows its power in this lesson.  What does Jesus do when the elders want him to tell them to go ahead and stone the woman in the fourth section?  He simply takes the time to think and draws in the dirt.  Do we take this kind of simple time when we feel cornered by evil?  Do we calmly look away from the evil suggestion and pray in our own quiet to hear God?  Surely if we do we will hear what we need to hear!!

 

Another interesting note is in section 5 where citation S22 tells us that Jesus triumphed over material beliefs through Science.  We often talk of the need to be educated so that we don't think, for example that everything we see is what it looks like.  The obvious example, the world is flat, or the sun comes up in the East and goes down in the West.  Just as we can't always draw correct conclusions from a simple look around, so we can't draw correct “…spiritual conclusions regarding life from matter.” (S22)  This speaks to the right kind of education and how we can trust what we are learning.  What is the source?  Jesus talks about this source in the second section.  We can check on our thoughts as Mrs. Eddy points out in citation S26 by seeing if we are looking at another “reality”.  The way to heaven she says, “…is to know no other reality-to have no other consciousness of life-than good, God and His reflection,…”  What we must shut out is the claim of error that things are much more complicated than this.  Look to citation B16 for a good passage to memorize in support of this idea!

 

One final idea is to look into Mrs. Eddy's passage in citation S4 about how “The only power of evil is to destroy itself.  It can never destroy one iota of good.”  Why is this true?  What makes good indestructible?  How does evil destroy itself?  Can they come up with examples?  Think in terms of light destroying darkness for one idea.

 

Have a wonderful Sunday!