English
Español
Français
Deutsch
Português“One”
Metaphysical Application Ideas for the Christian Science Quarterly Bible Lesson on
“God”
for the week ending January 3, 2021
Prepared by Christie C Hanzlik, CS Boulder, CO
ccern@mac.com • christiecs.com • 720.331.9356
Here’s an AUDIO LINK to enable you to hear Christie Hanzlik, CS, read “One.” That’s the title she has given to her metaphysical application ideas on this week’s Christian Science Bible Lesson. Below is the full url address to the audio version of Christie sharing her Met aloud: www.cedarscamps.org/metaphysical/audio/play/christie-s-audio-met-one-on-the-1-3-2021-cs-bible-lesson-on-god/
One of my ongoing prayer projects is to see more and more clearly that there is one Truth uniting, governing, and guiding us all. As Mary Baker Eddy states in Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, “One infinite God, good, unifies men and nations…” (cit. S14, 340: 23) It is tempting to see a world consisting of millions of human opinions, warring media reports, racial strife, class warfare, tribalism, gender inequity, political personalities, family disagreements and even conflicts within ourselves. The singular answer to this seeming divisiveness is the oneness of Truth, the oneness of good, the oneness of God. God is indivisible. And therefore we, as the outcome of God, are also indivisible.
This week’s Bible Lesson provides an undeniable affirmation of the oneness and all-ness of God. In a quick count, I found over 60 references to the one-ness of God in this week’s lesson. I think this is a record! In this Met, I’ll underline references to “one” just to make this theme even more obvious.
GOLDEN TEXT and RESPONSIVE READING
The Golden Text, or main idea, of this week’s Bible Lesson states the theme up front: “. . . The Lord our God, the Lord is one!” (GT, Deuteronomy 6:4)
The Responsive Reading echoes this idea that the “Lord is one,” explaining that nothing and no-one can be compared to God, and we see the term “Holy One.” Until this week, I had never really contemplated what “Holy One” means. But the significance of the term makes so much sense in the context of this week’s lesson. God is the Holy One, as in the only one. There are not multiple gods warring for control. There is one Holy One. In many ways, the whole of the Old Testament is about establishing this point….God is the Holy One.
SECTION 1: One-ness
Section one continues the theme of one-ness. Here are some examples:
• “the Lord shall be king over all the earth: in that day shall there be one Lord, and his name one.” (citation B1, Zechariah 14:9)
• “I the Lord am thy Saviour and thy Redeemer, the mighty One of Jacob.” (Cit. B2, Isaiah 60: 19)
• “God is one.” (Cit. 5, Galatians 3:20)
In Science and Health, Mary Baker Eddy defines God. God is “incorporeal, divine, supreme, infinite Mind, Spirit, Soul, Principle, Life, Truth, Love.” Each of these terms to describe God are not bits and pieces of God that form a whole. Instead, she explains, each of these terms describe the one-ness of God. As Mary Baker Eddy explains,
“Question. — Are these terms [for God] synonymous?
Answer. — They are. They refer to one absolute God.” (citation S1, 465: 8-12)
Elsewhere in Science and Health, she explains, “God is one. The allness of Deity is His oneness.” Later on this page, she describes the “white and glistering” (sparkly) robes of Spirit, and, to me, this is a description of how much the oneness of God stands out—like a sparkly robe—to outshine the murky dream of division. (cit. S2, 267, 5-6, 25-27)
God’s sparkly-ness is so complete and ever-present that we cannot even “tell whence it cometh.” The sparkly and all-encompassing God heals, comforts and reforms. As Mary Baker Eddy writes, “These are the effects of one universal God…” (cit. S3, 78:28)
Perhaps in her most succinct statement of the oneness of God, Mary Baker Eddy poses the question, “Is there more than one God or Principle?,” and answers, “There is not.” (cit. S5, 465: 16-17)
SECTION 2: One creator, knower, strengthener, provider, and maintainer
The second section highlights the Holy One, God, as the one Creator—the cause of all creation, with creation being coexistent and eternal with the Creator, meaning that neither the Creator nor the creation ever had a starting point.
The Bible verses in this section emphasize many ways in which we see evidence of God, the Holy One, as the strengthener and provider and maintainer of all creation.
The correlating ideas from Science and Health echo this point: “There can be but one creator, who has created all.” (cit. 6, 263:20) Here is what an understanding of this one-ness gives us: “Spiritually to understand that there is but one creator, God, unfolds all creation, confirms the Scriptures, brings the sweet assurance of no parting, no pain, and of man deathless and perfect and eternal.” (cit. S7, 69:13)
Mary Baker Eddy is clear about the oneness of the Creator. She writes, “There is but one creator and one creation.” She follows this statement by explaining what our relationship is to this Creator. “This creation consists of the unfolding of spiritual ideas and their identities, which are embraced in the infinite Mind and forever reflected. These ideas range from the infinitesimal to infinity, and the highest ideas are the sons and daughters of God.” (cit. S8, 502:27)
As I understand it, when Mary Baker Eddy describes us, man, as the “highest ideas” of the Creator, this does not mean we are better than the rest of creation and the rest of creation is somehow inferior to us. Instead, it means that man is most consciously aware of God, most aware of the Christ-truth.
SECTION 3: Let all the nations be gathered together
Section 3 emphasizes the unifying nature of the one and good God, the only cause and creator and power. The section opens with Isaiah’s proclamation, “Let all the nations be gathered together, and let the people be assembled…” (cit. B8, Isaiah 43: 9) In what appeared to be a fractured and divided society with multiple languages, religions, and deities, Isaiah’s prophesies spoke of unity…the prophetic and true view saw beyond the outward appearance to see the unifying one-ness of God. And those prophesies are just as true now.
God is inherently indivisible and this indivisibility has always been true and will always be true. God and man are one. While there are infinite individualized expressions of man, just as there are infinite points on a sphere, these expressions are all expressing the same source, good, the Holy One. In other words, the mathematical principle that there can be infinite points on a sphere gives us a glimpse of understanding how there can be infinite expressions of God’s one-ness. (If you’d like to see a video that explains mathematically how there are infinite points on a sphere, go to the 8 minute mark on this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s86-Z-CbaHA) The infinitude in oneness was true in Isaiah’s time and just as much true today. As the Psalmist said, “Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!” and “Lord, thou hast been our dwelling place in all generations.” (cit. B9 and B10, Psalms 133:1 and Psalms 90:1)
A simple form of prayer can be to turn away from the false image of division and multiplicity toward the Holy One—the reality of oneness and all-ness. The acknowledgement of God’s oneness is a central tenet of Christian Science: “We acknowledge and adore one supreme and infinite God.” (cit. 10, 497: 5-6) As we understand God, good, to be infinite and all and we see the one-ness of God, there is no room for anything but God and God’s expression (us).
We cannot divide God. I’m trying to sort out the logic of one-ness mathematically….and I’m sure there are some mathematicians out there who could describe this logic of one-ness using more precise terms, but here is my best try…. God is not a part of a number line. God is one. But God is also all, so there is no number two, three, four… And we need no placeholder for 0 because there is no void, no such thing as nothingness, and there is therefore no need for a placeholder for non-existence. In truth, there is only one because God is all. And because God is all, there is only one. So, there is nothing to divide God by.
With the logic of one-ness in mind, consider Mary Baker Eddy’s statement of the power of one-ness: “One infinite God, good, unifies men and nations; constitutes the brotherhood of man; ends wars; fulfils the Scripture, ‘Love thy neighbor as thyself;’ annihilates pagan and Christian idolatry, — whatever is wrong in social, civil, criminal, political, and religious codes; equalizes the sexes; annuls the curse on man, and leaves nothing that can sin, suffer, be punished or destroyed.” (cit. S14, 340: 23) For me, this one statement (pun intended) is the core of this week’s Bible Lesson.
Understanding the one-ness of God is central to applying and demonstrating the Science of the Christ. The power inherent in an understanding of God’s oneness and all-ness enabled Christ Jesus to heal, and is “the same yesterday, and to-day, and forever.” (Hebrews 13:8) As Mary Baker Eddy states, “From the infinite One in Christian Science comes one Principle and its infinite idea, and with this infinitude come spiritual rules, laws, and their demonstration, which, like the great Giver, are ‘the same yesterday, and to-day, and forever;’ for thus are the divine Principle of healing and the Christ-idea characterized in the epistle to the Hebrews.” (cit. 15, 112: 16)
I’ve experienced so many healings from the simple realization that Truth cannot be true for one individual and not for another. There cannot be both discord and harmony. There cannot be both light and darkness. There cannot be both unlimited and limited. Infinite Love cannot love one individual and not love another individual. There is no opposite of one. There is no opposite to God because God is all. Tuning into one-ness even for just a moment, resets our ability to see the all-ness of good, and enables healing. Healing is a restoration of a clear sense of our at-one-ment, our perfect relationship to infinite Love, Life, Truth, Principle, Mind, Soul, Spirit.
As I’m writing this, I keep hearing over and over the part of the hymn, “Onward Christian Soldiers,
“We are not divided,
All one body we,
One in hope and doctrine,
One in charity.
(Christian Science Hymnal, No. 264:3)
Ha! Now it’ll be stuck in your thought too. J
SECTION 4: Christ Jesus teaches and demonstrates at-one-ment
Even after we grasp the one-ness of God, it could still be tempting to see ourselves as separate from this one-ness…as if God and man are separate, as if God and man could be two. But how could this be possible if God is all? The Science of the Christ teaches that God and man are one, just as the sun and its rays are one, or the ocean and a drop of water in the ocean are one.
Christ Jesus’s followers were often confused about who Jesus was, and whether or not he was a god, or God Himself. They wanted to understand how Christ Jesus was connected to God. As Christ Jesus explained, “Believe me that I am in the Father, and the Father in me.” (cit. B14, John 14: 8-11) In this statement, Christ Jesus shares the inseparability between him and God, while also emphasizing oneness—like a drop of water is in the ocean.
The special role of Jesus was to demonstrate the Christ—the awareness of our oneness with God. Christ-truth is what makes us aware of our oneness with the Holy One. In other words, the metaphorical drop of water is inside the ocean, but that drop of water would be inanimate and unaware of its surroundings (the ocean) without the Christ-Comforter. Likewise, man is at-one with God, but without the Christ-Comforter man would be unaware of this one-ness. It would not be enough for God and man to be at-one…the Christ-awareness is crucial to our being and experience. Our awareness of our at-one-ment with God is what makes our experience powerful and meaningful. We must have an awareness of at-one-ment. Christ makes us aware. And Christ Jesus was the man who more than any other man was aware of and demonstrated the facts of our at-one-ment.
Mary Baker Eddy explains, “Jesus of Nazareth taught and demonstrated man’s oneness with the Father, and for this we owe him endless homage.” (cit. 17, p 18:3-5) Christ Jesus demonstrated the relationship between God and man and the necessary awareness (Holy Ghost) of this relationship. He encouraged his followers to share the good news of this three-as-one relationship: “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:” (cit. B16, Matthew 28:19) I often visualize this Father-Son-Holy Ghost relationship as the sun (symbol of Soul), the rays (symbol of Soul’s expression, man), and the radiant glow (the Holy Ghost, or Science of Christ). All three are necessary and connected, and yet have distinct and discrete roles.
Here are some ways that Mary Baker Eddy presented this idea of the sun as a metaphorical representation of our relationship to God:
• “When Jesus said, ‘I and my Father are one,’ and ‘my Father is greater than I,’ this was said in the sense that one ray of light is light, and it is one with light, but it is not the full-orbed sun. Therefore, we have the authority of Jesus for saying Christ is not God, but an impartation of Him. (Message to The Mother Church for 1901, Mary Baker Eddy, p. 8:7)
• “If we say that the sun stands for God, then all his rays collectively stand for Christ, and each separate ray for men and women. God the Father is greater than Christ, but Christ is ‘one with the Father,’ and so the mystery is scientifically explained. There can be but one Christ.” (The First Church of Christ, Scientist, and Miscellany, Mary Baker Eddy, p. 344:3)
Understanding the relationship between the Father, Son and Holy Ghost—God, God’s idea, and the awareness of this relationship—is crucial because otherwise we could be tempted into thinking there is more than one. God is one, there is none else. For me, it helps to remember that we are not working with the number scale. There is only one. God is not divide-able. There are not three parts to God. God is one. As Mary Baker Eddy states, “The theory of three persons in one God (that is, a personal Trinity or Tri-unity) suggests polytheism, rather than the one ever-present I am. ‘Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God is one Lord.’” (cit. 18, 256: 7-12)
For me, as long as I’m thinking in terms of two-ness or three-ness, I cannot grasp the relationship between the Father, the Son and Holy Ghost. Only by starting with an understanding of God’s oneness and all-ness can I grasp the unity of God, God’s idea, and the Christ-awareness of this unity.
SECTION 5: One-ness and healing
In the fifth section we find the example of Christ Jesus healing the man at the pool of Bethesda who had suffered for thirty-eight years. In the context of this week’s Lesson, perhaps we could say that the man had suffered from feeling separate from good, like a divided man, for thirty-eight years. When Christ Jesus asks, “Wilt thou be made whole?” It is as if he’s saying, “Are you willing to accept your at-one-ment with God?” There was no reason to carry the man to reach the pool of Bethesda in order to make him whole (at-one); he is already whole. Christ Jesus’s conscious awareness of this fact stirred thought and made the man aware of his wholeness. (cit. B19, John 5: 1, 5-9) Metaphorically, the drop of water (the man) became aware of his at-one-ment with the ocean. And that’s a whole lot better than touching a mere pool.
Healing events like this seemed to make the disciples wonder about Christ Jesus’s nature…was he the promised one? Was he a god? To the disciples’ questions, Christ Jesus stated simply: “I and my Father are one.” (cit. B20, John 10: 24, 25, 30-32)
Mary Baker Eddy offers insights into what Christ Jesus meant with that answer. She writes, “That saying of our Master, ‘I and my Father are one,’ separated him from the scholastic theology of the rabbis. His better understanding of God was a rebuke to them. He knew of but one Mind and laid no claim to any other. He knew that the Ego was Mind instead of body and that matter, sin, and evil were not Mind; and his understanding of this divine Science brought upon him the anathemas of the age.” (cit. 21, p204: 20)
The statement “I and my Father are one” is clear when we start from the premise of oneness: there is only one Ego, not many. God is the “great I am”—there are no other I am’s. (cit. S12, 587: 5-6) Mary Baker Eddy defines “I” or “Ego”: “Divine Principle; Spirit; Soul; incorporeal, unerring, immortal, and eternal Mind. There is but one I, or Us, but one divine Principle, or Mind, governing all existence; man and woman unchanged forever in their individual characters, even as numbers which never blend with each other, though they are governed by one Principle.” (cit. S22, 588: 9-15)
I find Mary Baker Eddy’s definition of “Ego” useful when I start to feel upset by a personality conflict with someone, or when I start to feel offended or even appalled by someone’s actions. I reverse my upsettedness by realizing there is only one Ego, divine Mind. Suggestions of conflict, feeling offended or appalled arise from a false sense of two-ness, that there is more than one source, or more than one ego. There is no force other than God, good, and thus there can be no unnatural friction. Suggestions of strong personalities, exaggerated egos, human opinion, and willfulness are overturned as we understand that there is only one Ego, Mind.
Mary Baker Eddy explains that an understanding of the one Ego is not only effective for overturning so-called personality conflicts, it also enables us to heal the body. She writes, “The understanding that the Ego is Mind, and that there is but one Mind or intelligence, begins at once to destroy the errors of mortal sense and to supply the truth of immortal sense. This understanding makes the body harmonious; it makes the nerves, bones, brain, etc., servants, instead of masters.” (cit. S23, 216: 11-16, 30-1)
An understanding of one-ness, and the impossibility of two-ness or separation is “the great point of departure for all true spiritual growth.” (cit. S25., 91:5)
SECTION 6: Our mission is to understand our one-oneness
The sixth section again encourages us to see the relationship of God-man-Christ, and to see Christ Jesus’s role in showing us this relationship. The truth of this relationship was true before Christ Jesus taught it and it is true now. It is our mission to follow in the footsteps of Christ Jesus is seeing and understanding the one-ness of God, and the relationship of God-man-Christ. The letter to the Ephesians summarizes this mission well. Here is the New Living Translation of Ephesians 4:
“Therefore I, a prisoner for serving the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of your calling, for you have been called by God. Always be humble and gentle. Be patient with each other, making allowance for each other’s faults because of your love. Make every effort to keep yourselves united in the Spirit, binding yourselves together with peace. For there is one body and one Spirit, just as you have been called to one glorious hope for the future.
There is one Lord, one faith, one baptism,
one God and Father of all,
who is over all, in all, and living through all.” (cit. B25, Ephesians 4: 1-6 NLT)
The correlating ideas from Science and Health have a similar tone of affirming our mission to understand God’s one-ness. Mary Baker Eddy writes, “Be firm in your understanding that the divine Mind governs, and that in Science man reflects God’s government.” (cit. S28, 393:16–18)
Mary Baker Eddy explains that, “By the truthful arguments you employ, and especially by the spirit of Truth and Love which you entertain, you will heal the sick.” (cit. S29, 418:22)
Healing is the restoration of a clear sense of our at-one-ment, which results in harmony we can feel, hear, see, touch, and know in our whole experience. “Your mission is to heal.” (Christian Science Hymnal, 5, Irving Tomlinson)
SECTION 7: “Adorable One.”
The seventh section puts an exclamation point on the whole Bible Lesson’s ideas about one-ness. Recall that a central tenet of Christian Science states, “We acknowledge and adore one supreme and infinite God.” (cit. 10, 497: 5-6) Each of the significant words in this sentence are worth looking up. According to the 1828 Webster’s Dictionary, to “acknowledge” means “To own, avow or admit to be true, by a declaration of assent; as to acknowledge the being of a God.” The same dictionary defines “adore” as “1. To worship with profound reverence; to address with exalted thoughts, by prayer and thanksgiving; to pay divine honors to; to honor as a god or as divine. 2. To love in the highest degree; to regard with the utmost esteem, affection and respect…”
And the words “supreme” and “infinite” are interesting too. In a past CedarS Met, I delved into the term “supreme” because it is important to see that describing God as supreme means more than God being comparably better than other so-called powers…it means that nothing compares to God, that nothing can challenge God’s supremacy. And, of course, as we acknowledge God to be infinite, this means that there can be no other power, no other substance, because God’s all-ness fills all space.
This Bible Lesson helps us dig deeper into this tenet of Christian Science. As we are truly able to “acknowledge and adore one supreme and infinite God,” we are doing well. We find a similar statement in the book of James, “Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well.” (cit. B26, James 2:19)
It only makes sense that this Bible Lesson, which has highlighted and expanded upon the way we can understand God’s one-ness, concludes with the word “One.” Already from studying this Lesson while writing this Met, my concept of one-ness has been elevated. I doubt I will ever hear Mary Baker Eddy’s spiritual interpretation of the Lord’s Prayer without remembering the inspiration I gained this week. So, I’ll conclude the Met with the two words that conclude the lesson:
“Adorable One.” (cit. S32, 16: 26-29)
CLICK LINKS below for more APPLICATION IDEAS from CedarS-team for this Lesson:
- CedarS ONLINE GEMs will be sent soon with insights and application ideas from Cobbey Crisler and others to help you feel a spiritual sense of oneness and so welcome and experience your best year yet in 2021!
- Hear on YouTube a Ken Cooper poem and monologue customized for this week’s Bible Lesson. This week’s audio links to YouTube are called:
“I have set before thee an open door”
“Wilt thou be made whole?”
CLICK below for ONGOING OPPORTUNITIES for SPIRITUAL ENRICHMENT!
Invite family, friends and even neighbors to join us by Zoom every week for CedarS Sunday Hymn Sings: To start each week we’ve loved singing our prayers and praise to God for 30 minutes with friends of all generations. To date, we have had log-ins from all 50 of the United States as well as 20 more countries, including Australia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Democratic Republic of Congo, England, Germany, Ghana, Ireland, Italy, New Zealand, Pakistan, Paraguay, Philippines, Puerto Rico, Scotland, Spain, South Africa, and Switzerland.
- GIFTS to grow CEDARS ENDOWMENT will be MATCHED up to $1-MILLION!
- And, UNRESTRICTED & OTHER GIFTS WILL BE MATCHED UP TO $100,000 by year-end! We’re getting close to that goal, and send our special thanks in advance for clicking here to electronically share your tax-deductible support that is especially needed during this reduced-income year to help “keep our oil lamps burning.”
- Here’s our camp office address to MAIL gifts to:
The CedarS Camps Office 410 Sovereign Court #8, Ballwin, MO 63011 - or call CedarS support team at 636-394-6162 (Gay, Kim or Jennifer) to share your credit card support over the phone.
- CedarS is a not-for-profit, 501-C-3 organization with a Federal ID # 44-0663883.
