[PYCL: When frustrated, rely on oneness w/ Mind! Don’t shut down or put yourself down!]
CedarS PYCLs–Possible Younger Class Lessons for:
"Mind"
The Christian Science Bible Lesson for February 24, 2013
by Kerry Jenkins, CS, House Springs, MO (314) 406-0041 [Bracketed inserts by Warren Huff]
[PYCL #1: A dream & interpretation with a complete set of instructions to implement a plan!]
I think that we could have a lot of fun with the story of Pharaoh's dream. We can look at the more complete story of what Pharaoh dreamed and how he had consulted all the usual sources for answers, finally turning to Joseph having heard that Joseph was able to interpret such things. Make sure you take the time to talk about ruling a country, the responsibilities of knowing how to wisely govern and to make good choices that help people. You can explain that in those days people listened to dreams and such things more often than perhaps today. In this case it turned out to be a wonderful message of wisdom from Mind. Not only that, but it brought Joseph out of prison and into a position of great authority and united him with his family again. The thing that stood out to me on this reading of the story was that the dream and its interpretation came with a complete set of instructions for implementing a plan that would work to save not only Egypt from famine, but also many from other countries (such as Joseph's family). It is an amazing illustration of how Mind gives us complete information. Make sure you discuss the terms “dearth”, “famine”, and anything else that might not be familiar.
[PYCL #2: Put stories in your own words to make the point! Fill boxes with plenteous ideas.]
My favorite way to read these stories to my kids is to do so in my own words. I look at the story as I read and just kind of interpret it in a way that I think that they will understand. You can also spend some time talking about what famine and “plenty” represent spiritually. How can we “store up” the plenty for times of “famine”? Maybe you could bring a box in for the littler ones and fill it with some of the ideas that represent plenty. Each could have a box of their own. It might be full of healings we have had, or things we are grateful for. Then when we are feeling like we aren't as close to God and we are sad or sick or grumpy, we can go to the box and read those grateful thoughts and healings to remind ourselves of all the plenty in our lives. This always brings us back to those “fat years”. For the littler kids it could be pictures that remind them of things they are grateful for, or healings, since they may not be readers yet. These thoughts of plenty are readily available at all times from our one Mind.
[PYCL #3: When frustrated, don’t shut down! Rely on oneness with Mind! Take easy bites.]
Where does intelligence come from? The Golden Text (G.T) and section 3 are full of thoughts on this question. It is very easy at an early age for us to categorize ourselves as “good at this, bad at that”. I know I did when I was in school. It seemed like I always had trouble with math. Now that I've had the opportunity to teach math to my kids over the years, I can see the beauty, sense, logic and yes, even the fun at times, of this subject. But I still run into roadblocks with how to teach it in a way that is easy to understand, how to keep ourselves (my son) from thinking that this is something he just isn't “good” at. This takes more than a casual statement to heal I think. I can see the way that when something frustrates him, he can just sort of shut down his rational thinking and not lean at all on Mind! Yet, I know that he is capable, he has learned so many complicated things on his violin and I watch how his violin teacher makes everything that is hard into easy “bites”. With steady practice and appropriate challenge, he continues each week to play more and more difficult things with ease. It is exciting to watch how a good teacher can make everything seem “easy”. I know that this is the way that a compassionate Mind supplies us with understanding. He would never make a creation that cannot comprehend. Mind will present us with good, joyous, helpful ideas to tackle any problem. We get hung up when we turn to our “own” thought and make determinations about ability that are not based on an infinite Mind. How often do we really pause to ask God for ideas? It's not that God does our math (or whatever) for us, it is that His wisdom is readily available and complete for us to turn to for the peace, wisdom, clarity, understanding, creativity and so on to complete whatever we need to complete. Perhaps you can come up with an example of this kind of direction in a healing of your own that illustrates such divine guidance? I was a bit surprised that my kids early on identified themselves as capable or not in certain areas. Often it was completely misguided even in a teacher's eyes, but to them it was nonetheless a certainty. So this may be a helpful thing to discuss with some of these early grades in school. Can we come up with some ideas that will help them think differently about their intelligence? Does it come from matter under their skull? If it does, then what happens if that stuff under the skull gets injured?
[PYCL #4: Don’t give in to mood swings (mountains to tombs bi-polarity, political gridlock..)]
There is another good story in the lesson that illustrates this point: the story of the insane man that lives in the tombs. [Former lecturer Geith Plimmer said that this man commuted between highs and lows, having frequent horrible falls before Jesus healed him and sat him down to learn and use the 10 Commandments as a kind of a “graded stairway” to traverse life with control.] You may want to explain some of the details in that story. What was the man doing there in the cemetery? What did other people do to him to keep him safe presumably from himself as well as from harming others? Apparently he was a well-known town fixture. Some of the students may be familiar with people that are mentally ill, but most probably will not have experience with that, so it bears a bit of explanation. I find the pig herd part of the story to be a bit of a distraction, especially after reading why it was included. So I would say focusing on the healing and the man would be more productive. The point of including the pig story was that others came to witness the man's healing after the pig herders came and told the villagers. Did Jesus take a man's sick brain and make it healthy? Citation S16 explains that all the complicated things about matter are untangled by Christian Science. To stick with the truth that we learn in Christian Science brings clarity where before there was victimization or heredity or any number of causes for mental illness. The same principles involved in this man's healing hold true for healing any seeming lack of skill or understanding in a school subject or any activity.
[PCYL #5: Mind's inclusivity wins over the no-go ego of a priest’s & Levite’s “wisdom”.]
We can't leave this lesson without looking at the story of the Good Samaritan. There are so many angles to this story that we can approach it from. The inclusion in this week's lesson on Mind is interesting and you may enjoy asking some of the older kids why they think it was included under this subject, and not under the subject Love? Jesus was sharing a pretty revolutionary view of loving one's neighbor in this story. It was a view that would have been most unpalatable to any great “mind” of the church in those days. The Jewish view of the wisdom of the Levite and the priest would have been one of great honor and respect, while their view of a Samaritan was one of quite the opposite. It was especially important that Jesus had the Samaritan helping a Jew here as that would not have been a normal thing to do. This maybe is an example of citation B8 where it says “…I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent.” Also it can be seen as a beautiful example of how there truly is one Mind governing all mankind. There is no difference between men, only God's beloved children. It's important to think of the modern implications of this story because we are being asked to do something that might be very uncomfortable to us actually. You may enjoy discussing this aspect of the story.
Have a great Sunday!
