Overcome each Limit and Regret!

[Overcome each Obstacle, Limit and Regret! See Section 6 & 3]

CedarS Metaphysical Application Ideas for the Christian Science Bible Lesson: “Matter” for September 19, 2010
by Dan Carnesciali, CS of St. Louis, MO [with bracketed italics by Warren Huff]

[Editor's Note: The following application ideas for this week, and the 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 thanks to Pascal, in German thanks to Helga or in Spanish thanks to a team of Ana, Erick, Claudia and Patricio. YOU CAN SIGN UP at www.cedarscamps.org/newsletters]

This week we are looking for new views and new understanding.  What if nothing in your thought ever changed? Then it would be stagnant and unproductive. God is singing a new song, always making things new. Spirit is dynamic, always unfolding the wonder of Creation in new ways. God, Your creation is wonderful (full of wonder), just like you. God, open our eyes and ears so we see and hear only what You want us to see and hear. 

 

Golden Text:

This passage is from the book of Revelation, sometimes called the Apocalypse or the Revelation of Jesus Christ “unto his servant”–“St. John the Divine” (KJV). [“Jesus dictated this book to John on the island of Patmos, a Roman penal colony. If you can get revelation at Patmos you can get it anywhere. John's clarity of vision came in the privation of Patmos.” Cobbey Crisler in a 10-13-1981 talk in Tulsa, OK called “What the Spirit saith to the Churches”.]  Revelation means to reveal, to uncover.  St. John witnessed something that some would say is impossible. He witnessed a purely spiritual world. The writings of this John are so unlike that of the Gospel according to John and the Letters of John that some scholars think that this John must be a different John [or one taking dictation or writing in code symbols known to readers so as to avoid their persecution or written by a new John who was totally changed by spiritual insights.] Since he frequently refers to the Old Testament prophets Ezekiel and Daniel, most scholars say that this John likely was a Jew. Due to his style of Greek, it's thought that he was a native of Palestine. (The Harper Collins Study Bible) Revelation is what is going to happen this week. God is going to reveal Himself/Herself to you in new ways. [“with inspiration guaranteed fresh daily” (Crisler, ibid).]

 

Responsive Reading:

Let's see what kind of new song God wants us to sing. He wants us to be fearless through major challenges and changes. In Pakistan, many families have nowhere to go. They need our prayers.   And what about the huge changes that the world is experiencing economically, technologically, socially and in religion? The healing effect of prayer is needed in each of these areas. The type of change we are seeing sometimes feels like the mountains have been carried into the ocean. In the NRSV translation, Ps 46:2 is “Therefore we will not fear, though the earth should change, though the mountains shake in the heart of the sea;” The intent of these passages from Psalms is to give you confidence in the protecting power of God, even when it feels like the world, or your world is melting. Sometimes it feels like too much, like you are in the bottom of a well. This is illusion and confusion parading as your own thought and parading as reality. At one Wednesday evening meeting, the reader asked, “How do we pray about things that seem too big to pray about?” A lot of hope and practical examples were shared that night.

 

Section 1 – Matter isn't Matter – It's a Belief System

While you are seeing illusion and feeling confusion, what is God seeing? God sees Himself/Herself. When God sees you, God sees Godself. When God blesses you, He/She blesses Herself/Himself.  God is continuously rejoicing over you, blessing you. God is revealing the wonders of heaven through you. God is manifesting the wisdom of the Universe through you. God is renewing your face and the face of the earth. God sees no mortal face. (B1) God sees no flesh. (B2)   Some Christian theology says that God created man and gave him free will. This implies that flesh can overcome fleshliness. But we know that desire of the fleshly mind is for more flesh. It is solely self-centered and self-aware.  [The unattractiveness and self-destructiveness of only getting and never giving is illustrated by the Dead Sea in CedarS Bible Lands Park. As the lowest place on earth it represents the crystallized limitation of all selfish, matter-based thinking. The fleshly mind–like a crystallized inhabitant of the Dead Sea's Sodom and Gomorrah–] desires all sorts of things that are self-destructive. (B3) Everyone is different, for some it is cigarettes, for others it is pornography, drugs, liquor, pride. For others it's greed or egotism. However, these desires (lusts) don't own you.   When God looks at you, She sees Herself. She sees omnipotence and freedom. What really defines you is not this thing you call you, it's God. (B4) When the public talks about matter, they tend to mean that which is solid. They use matter and reality pretty interchangeably. Realizing that this is where the public or newcomers to Christian Science are at, the statement there is no matter doesn't make any sense. Because of their current sense of substance, what they would hear is, “You don't exist.” Or, “There is no life.” (S1) A friend of mine who studies Christian Science told me he just didn't believe that matter was unreal. We talked for a while about discoveries that are taking place in the area of physics as to the nature of matter. For example, physicists don't see matter as solid – they see it as whirling energy. The basic particles of matter are so insanely small and the distances are so great between them, that it implies that the core of matter is space. To me that implies that its base it is nothingness. I turned to my friend and said, “See, matter isn't even matter.”   I was telling him that in effect, what we call matter isn't as solid and dependable as the human mind says it is. This friend said, “Thank you. You've given me a lot to think about.” (S3)

 

Section 2 – Matter Is a Mistake [or mis-statement of being vs. a state of being]

The prophet Jeremiah could have gone along with the status quo. It sure would have been easier to stay home and enjoy a comfortable life. But God told him to be critical of the House of David (King David) and the royal religion.  Jeremiah said that “God's covenant with the dynasty of David, so central to the royal religion in Jerusalem, was ‘false'” and would fall.  (Harper Collins Study Bible) How do you think the Israelites liked that? Sometimes, He wants you to speak the Word of God boldly, regardless of the reception. (B5)

In ancient times it wasn't clear what caused good and bad weather, so it was believed that gods governed everything.  If in doubt, it was a good idea not to anger the god of crops or the weather god, or the god of love. Today, we think we have given up idol worship.   But humanity still worships material things, especially high-tech things. (B6)   “Let me tell you about my iPhone, or Pandora, or YouTube.” There is so much going on that dazzles the mind today [that if not alert] one could go a whole day, maybe a week without a thought about God. [“Technology-striking a balance” is the topic of the 9-20-10 Christian Science Sentinel and of this week's Sentinel Radio program. “Do you feel almost enslaved to using a computer or hand-held device? Or do you try to avoid modern technology altogether? Many people have found prayer to be a wonderful help in overcoming either enslavement to technology or an underlying fear of it, and finding the right balance. Hear about this on the next Radio Edition of the Christian Science Sentinel.]
 Today material science, medical science, psychology, etc. seem to have all the answers.  The worship of gods and idols has been replaced with the worship of matter. And that seems to leave little time or need for God. (B8)  That's what matter is, a Godless belief system.   “What is termed matter manifests nothing but a material mentality.” (S9) Mary Baker Eddy advises us not to publicly declare there is no matter, but to declare that there is no life or substance in matter. Mortal mind worships itself. It believes its own dream. It is the dream. (S11) Ready, set, surrender. Please God, open my eyes and ears. I'm ready [with peaceful moments prioritized and set aside] to wake up and LIVE. (S13) [Check out Tomorrow's spirituality.com chat: Busy life? There's a way to make space for peaceful moments “If you find your days packed to the top, and you're longing for time just to catch your mental and spiritual breath, you may find genuine refreshment in taking some quiet moments alone with God. Not possible, you say? Then join this chat and bring your questions to experienced Christian Science healer, Barbara Vining, CSB. -Tuesday, September 14, at 2pm EDTor recorded”]

 

Section 3 – Brainless Wisdom

What is the best way to solve a problem? The tried and true way is to focus on the problem. Probe for its source. Know the truth. Work. That approach often comes up empty because you can't solve the problem by focusing on the problem. “Will you set [your] eyes on that which is not?” (B9) Don't beat yourself up about focusing on the problem [and staying stuck in the past]. We all do it. Let's talk about waking up from the mesmerism, the dream state of matter [. The mortal mind fixates on problems, so we have to learn to let them go [and move on as on CedarS new Tire Traversal where you have to let go of the tire you are swinging on to move on to the next one. A beautiful song by Desiree Goyette with this message is “Let It Go”. It is the awesome original title track of her latest CD that Lightchild Publishing can send for $12 each. At http://www.lightchild.com/listen.html you can listen to teasers for each song in all 7 CDs by Desiree and feel the quality of “beautiful music, heavenly words” before you order online or call 866.236.5459.] 
One of the very best ways to let problems go is to see what God is seeing. (B10) When Moses was a shepherd for his father-in-law Jethro, he had a lot of quiet time. God spoke to him and said he wanted him to go and challenge the Egyptians. The Egyptians were the world's superpower. The Egyptians had a powerful army. They had slaves. They had a mighty pharaoh.   Yet, God asked Moses to go to Pharaoh to get the release of the children of Israel. (B11) At least that's what the story looks like on the surface. The Egyptian royalty were well-educated and religious. They ruled their country with an iron fist. God was actually sending Moses to challenge a giant belief system that had enslaved His people. Who among us wouldn't say, “You want me to do what? Why? Things don't seem so bad.” But God wants you to be free of a thought system that makes you a slave of disease and lack. Moses surrenders and obediently journeys to Egypt to boldly challenge evil as represented by the snake. Does he wait to see what the snake's plans are? Does he wait to see how big the evil belief will get?  Does he try and figure out where the snake came from? Moses is not passive like that. He grabs the snake  [–obediently and fearlessly in the most dangerous way–by its tail.] Yes, he grabs the snake and it becomes a harmless rod. Christ, the true idea of God, doesn't wait to see how big evil will become; it pursues evil and destroys it.   When Moses [again obediently obeyed God and] put his hand into his shirt, it came out with a terrible disease. Yet, he wasn't afraid because he knew he wasn't viewing something real. We can be [instantly obedient and] fearless, too. It is possible. (B12) [Those attending the Midwest Bible Conference hosted at CedarS later this week will have an opportunity to instantly be obedient and fearless in dropping old, matter-based thought systems and seizing the now of spiritual vision during each workshop and, in a hands-on way, at our new “10-Tire Traversal” during Saturday and Sunday tours of Bible Lands Park.]

 

Section 4 – Ready, Aim, Heal!

Jesus healed a man who was demon-possessed, blind and unable to talk. The same man could then see and talk. He was no longer under the control of a power unlike God. (B14) [The new Supplement Hymn 453 “Rise up and walk” reinforces the “Spirit will form you anew” message of this section and of citation S17.] Disease is the belief of a mind separate from God. Delayed healing, stagnancy, obstruction to progress are beliefs, false beliefs. Should you bow down to them?  Give them power? Believing they are realities is bowing down to them.  But, we will never knowingly bow down to these gods (beliefs). Here's the passage from Matthew from a fresh translation called the Common English Bible that was just released. “All the crowds were amazed and said, ‘This man couldn't be the Son of David could he?'  Because Jesus knew what they were thinking he replied “Every kingdom involved in a civil war becomes a wasteland.  Every city or house torn apart by divisions will collapse. If Satan throws out Satan, he is at war with himself. How then can his kingdom endure? And if I throw out demons by the authority of Beelzebul, then by whose authority do your followers throw them out? Therefore, they will be your judges. But if I throw out demons by the power of God's Spirit, then God's kingdom has already over taken you.  Can people go into a house that belongs to a strong man and steal his possessions, unless they first tie up the strong man? Then they can rob his house.” (CEB) (B14) When the crowds asked if Jesus were the son of David, they were asking Jesus whether he was the Messiah that the Israelites had been waiting for. Christian Science brings about healing by destroying false beliefs, which reveals God and the present perfection of God's children. Speaking of belief systems, when I was studying in Russia, they believed that vitamin C would give you a cold, whereas the belief system for many people in the U.S. is the opposite.

 

Section 5 – Exemption from All Evil

When we are really clear about our true nature, we are clear that we can do no harm and we cannot be harmed. We are confident in our exemption from evil. That's the operation of the law of Love. Evil has never touched the real you. The Word of God, Christ, hunts down evil and destroys it. Mind is not subject to evil. Mind's Mind is your Mind. (B15) We are not beings sometimes coming into and out of divine protection. We are not separate beings. We are reflections of the One. As Science and Health says in two places, there is only one I or Us.  Life's Life is your Life. [You will love today's “Daily Lift” from Nigeria called “God is our life” and the powerfully and genuinely-told healing of so-called “inevitable death” from a ruptured appendix.]  Mind's Mind is your Mind. On that basis you can see and know that you have no life in matter, and no life to lose!

The apostle Paul demonstrated this for us. A ship he was on shipwrecked and he and the others on the ship swam to the island of Malta. One evening he was putting sticks on a fire and as he did a venomous snake, driven out by the heat, latched onto his hand. When the islanders saw the snake hanging from Paul's arm what made sense to their superstitious belief system was that Paul was being punished for being a murderer. But Paul shook the snake off into the fire and did not suffer any ill effects. The story continues that Paul was guest at an estate owned by a man named Publius. Publius' father was bedridden and Paul healed him. Paul was conscious of that exemption we've been talking about. He didn't doubt whether he had exemption. He didn't buy into the belief that God's creation can harm or be harmed. “The serpent of God's creating is neither subtle nor poisonous, but is a wise idea, charming in its adroitness, for Love's ideas are subject to the Mind which forms them, – the power which changeth the serpent into a staff.” (S&H 515:5) The marginal heading for this passage is “The serpent harmless”.

 

Section 6 – Every Valley Shall Be Exalted

The hills melting like wax in the presence of the Lord tells us that no matter how big a problem is or how long it has lasted (like mountains do), it melts in the presence of the Lord. What we fail to realize is that since we are the very reflection of God, we are the presence of God wherever we go. (B18)   Every sad chapter in life (valleys) shall be overcome. Every obstacle (mountains and hills) shall be overcome.   God's purpose and healing power is revealed and all humanity shall see it. (B19)  “All of us are looking with unveiled faces at the glory of the Lord as if we are looking in a mirror. We are being transformed into that same image from one degree of glory to the next degree of glory. This comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.” (CEB) (B20) “Matter, sin, and mortality lose all supposed consciousness or claim to life or existence, as mortals lay off a false sense of life, substance, and intelligence. But the spiritual, eternal man is not touched by these phases of mortality.” (S27) “He uttered His voice, the earth melted.” This Scripture indicates that all matter will disappear before the supremacy of Spirit.” (S30) At some point, we will all recognize who we really are as children of Spirit. Then, all limited sense of life, of love, of intelligence and substance will disappear. We don't have to wait for heaven. Jesus said that the kingdom of heaven is at hand. He told us that we are the light of the world. 

We are much more spiritually-minded than we think we are. He has brought us this understanding for a great purpose.

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Special Announcements:
1) Registration has now opened for Cedars 50th anniversary jubilee over the August 19-22, 2011 weekend, and all Cedars alumni and supporters are warmly invited! To learn how you can participate in this special celebration, please visit www.cedarscamps.org/50th

2) You can now click on the pdf symbol (at the right) to download a pdf version of CedarS Lesson mets for easier printing and for better reading from mobile devices.

3) You now can and we hope you will use your Visa and Mastercard as well as Discovery Card and American Express and virtual checks directly (without going through PayPal) to make monthly and one-time donations and to submit tuition payments for programs.
Your support is always tax-deductible and welcomed–but during the economic downturn, your help has been and continues to be especially needed and appreciated! To support CedarS work you can make a charitable donation to our 501C-3 tax-exempt, charitable organization in many wonderful ways.

Thank you for considering writing a monthly check payable to CedarS Camps and mailing it to: CedarS Camps, 19772 Sugar Drive, Lebanon, MO 65536;

or for calling Warren or Gay Huff at (636) 394-6162 to discuss gifts of securities or property you are considering giving to benefit CedarS.

[Camp Director's Note: This sharing is the latest in an ongoing, 10-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 “Possible Sunday School Topics” come in a subsequent email.) 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” 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!
Warren Huff, Executive Director director@cedarscamps.org]