Prove that “Love alone is Life”! (Hymn 30)

[PYCL: Prove that “Love alone is Life”! (Hymn 30)]
CedarS PYCLs–Possible Younger Class Lessons for:  
"Life"
The Christian Science Bible Lesson for January 20, 2013
by Kerry Jenkins, CS, House Springs, MO (314) 406-0041 [Bracketed inserts by Warren Huff]

[PYCL G.T. – Section 1:  Share spiritual living afresh “until we awake in His likeness.” (S4)]
I realize you will have just read this from the Golden Text (G.T.) in the Quarterly, but ask them to tell you what eternal life is and see what they say in their own words.  (Many, if not most, will not just repeat the Golden Text, as they will either not notice it, or they won't want to just repeat it verbatim).  Look at this subject with really fresh eyes, eyes that have never contemplated the idea of life as God Herself/Himself.  If you think about that in a really fresh way you can talk about the fact that Life then, has nothing to do with a long period of time living in a mortal body.  Then you can begin to understand why it is so important to learn about and understand God and man; this understanding is Life eternal.  This lesson really gives us so many insights into all the ways that we can experience actual eternal Life as expressions of this Life, not as mortals.  For example, citations S4 and S5 may not seem at first to be statements directly related to this subject until you see that they are pointing out ways that we can act and see ourselves as actual expressions of Life's being.  Spiritual living is true existence; there is no other kind of existence that we are biding our time in before we figure things out!

[PYCL Section 1:  Live the 2 Great Commandments to show the true nature of God & man.]
On the heels of this discovery you can discuss the Two Great Commandments in Section 1. (B4) These are key to recognizing our nature as immortal (deathless/eternal) beings.  Why would that be?  Because they tell us about the nature of God and man.  How do they do this?  Jesus was the one who distilled these two commandments for us, from the Ten.  And Jesus is linked to our experiencing eternal life.  What is this link?  Isn't it because he explained God to us better than any man up to that point?  And now we know through this lesson that understanding God and man is key to experiencing eternal Life.

[PYCL Section 2: Spiritualize the body, “heal the heart” & “feed the famished affections” before Valentines’ Day.]  You might discuss the body and how it is actually a spiritual and real thing, just not made of matter.  Each organ represents something spiritual, but matter is a cheap and illusive imitation of the real thing.  Science and Health in Section 2 really gives some good answers about the heart and mind and so on.  Look at citation S7 where she says that we have “overwhelming proof” that mortal mind, or in this case, brain, claims to govern everything in the body.  She acknowledges that this is the appearance.  But understanding the all-power of Life makes us glimpse the truth, that our body is spiritual and obedient to Mind and that our human body cannot make separate “decisions” from God and “live” separately and mortally from the one divine Creator.  Smaller kids can get a head start on Valentine's Day and cut out hearts and write (or dictate) on the hearts what they represent spiritually.  You can come up with many qualities and “duties” that the heart symbolizes.  It symbolizes love, of course, but also strength, regularity or steadiness and dependability, courage, and the MyBibleLesson explains that heart in Hebrew and Greek can mean both “inner self, mind, and feelings” as well as “heart”.  Perhaps if they enjoy this activity and are learning things from it, you could expand it to share these “valentines” with all the classes in the Sunday School.  This could extend over the next few weeks.

[PYCL Section 3: Bring & fill a toy barn, not with self, but w/ love, unselfishness, kindness… ]
Section 3 contains the story of the man building barns to make himself rich rather than working on his spiritual well-being.  Read this parable together and talk about what it means to the kids.  Is it simply a cautionary tale about not accruing excessive wealth?  What does it mean for a child?  I like to think of each of us as having a “barn”; and if we are filling that “barn” with self, we are not contributing anything lasting to the universe.  We are living in matter, in a temporary and sometimes pleasant mortal experience.  If we are filling our “barns” with love, unselfish activity, kindness, intelligence, wisdom, and so on, then we are living eternal Life right here and now.  If we love God with all our soul, or spiritual sense, we are not then filling our human senses up with matter, leaving no room for the kind of expansive experiences that come with understanding God better and better.  You could bring a toy barn or draw one on paper and “fill” it with lasting spiritual ideas from God.  Why are these ideas you discover eternal?  What's an example of a temporary or mortal idea?

[PYCL Section 4: Celebrate Life by waking to its healing power. Leap and praise God!]
One thing about eternal Life is that it is surely satisfying, joyous, worth celebrating.  It can never be depressed, dissatisfied, corrupt, diseased, worthless…  I love the way the man celebrates life and healing in Section 4 where he leaps up and praises God.  We should all be as awake and alive to the healing power that we have been blessed with each day and do our share of leaping and praising.

[PYCL Section 5:  Foretaste the blessings of immortal living vs. the curses of material living.]
I heartily recommend the CedarS metaphysical for further lesson ideas.  Christy shares some great comparisons with the idea of eternal, immortal life vs. the eternity in matter that the ever popular vampires experience in novels and movies, especially popular in recent years.  This may be a way to access the difference between eternal life in matter and how unsatisfying and unrewarding that would be, and eternal spiritual life which must ever be rewarding, new and vibrant.  It could be an especially helpful and humorous way to jump into this subject.

[PYCL Section 6:  Discuss how a Dorcas life of tangible giving leads to eternal existence.]
The final section drives home the simple fact that a life devoted to loving others as God loves them, expressed in tangible and tender ways, leads again to eternal Life.  While Dorcas experienced it as extended life in the body, we can be sure she equally experienced it in a deeper understanding of God/Life.  As we demonstrate the qualities of Love, we understand our eternal existence.  Obviously divine Love never dies!

Have a great Sunday!