PYCLs: GAIN A HIGHER, ACCURATE SPIRITUAL VIEW OF LIFE! RISE ABOVE DAILY DRAMA & EGO!
Possible Younger Class Lesson ideas for the Christian Science Quarterly Bible Lesson on
“ARE SIN, DISEASE, AND DEATH REAL?”
for Sunday, October 10, 2021
by Kerry Jenkins, CS, of House Springs, MO
kerry.helen.jenkins@gmail.com • 314-406-0041
Pycl #1: APPRECIATE BEING PREPARED TO GET A MORE ACCURATE SPIRITUAL VIEW OF LIFE!
I love the progression of our recent lessons. If you are not working with very young students, consider talking about how the lessons from “Substance” through this week’s subject, lead into each other, and why they work so well to prepare us to get a more accurate spiritual view of life!
We are getting to how the substance of reality is Spirit, man’s substance is spiritual, and matter has no true substance. So, each of these challenges that we face: sin, disease, and death, are suggestions or appearances to human sense, that we can regard not only with confidence, but with dominion.
Mary Baker Eddy suggests in citation S14/393:12-13, 32, that by being “calm”, “hopeful”, and best of all understanding what is real and what is not, we can each demonstrate the true answer to this week’s lesson subject: “NO!” The key to answering this question with conviction, however, resides in a regular demonstration of the Science of Christian Science healing. Discuss what this means.
Is our practice confined to having physical healings? Or can it be the conscious acknowledgement of God’s presence and power in this moment? We can see this in a multitude of ways: our needs being cared for (as simple as things like being served a meal, or having the ingredients to make a meal!), a moment of wonderful humor (bringing us joy in a time where we might be feeling down), or maybe an idea comes to us for solving a problem that we have been struggling with (an indication of Mind’s infinite resource and presence for us). If we are looking we can find ourselves “demonstrating” or finding healing often in a day. Discuss together ways that we are, or can be demonstrating this Science of healing throughout our days. Maybe the students will find that they do this already but haven’t heretofore been acknowledging that it is God that is at work in their lives. If that is the case, they can find a great deal more power in their demonstration as they recognize the source!
We humans can often accomplish quite a lot on “our own”. But when we recognize God/Mind, as the source of our creativity, endurance, joy, and so on, it then becomes inexhaustible, readily available, and independent of our talent, education, family or whatever. I think this can be shared with littler ones as well. Bring a bowl or a shoe box. Have them share qualities that they want to have or express, like intelligence, joy, skill, etc. Fill the box with slips of paper with these qualities on them. (This is not essential to the exercise, but gives them something to do and a way to think more deeply about their answers). Now, ask them if they already possess these qualities? If so, then where did they get them? If not, then what do they need to do to see them (because actually we are not ever lacking, as spiritually created ideas!)? Draw the qualities one at a time from the box and share how they already have that quality and how it is manifested. In this way we can see again, how healing is constant.
Pycl #2: “RISE” ABOVE DAILY DRAMA. LET HURT, ANGER, EGO* DISSIPATE in OUR ONENESS.
Much of seeing the unreality of things that seem very real to us, like sin, disease, and death, is about getting a higher view of things. Mary Baker Eddy mentions this is citation S16/242 (emphasis added) “…rise superior to the so-called pain and pleasure of the senses.”
And in cit. S14/394 (emphasis added): “Rise in the strength of Spirit to resist all that is unlike good.” This is, of course, symbolic, but also is illustrative in a literal sense because we can share this concept in terms of the greater view we get of things when we are looking from a height.
If we are very caught up in daily drama, whether it is social structures in school, gossip, anger at someone, hurt feelings, etc. we can take the “thirty-year view” or the view from a distance. How will I feel about this issue in thirty years? This sounds like a very human and logical thing to do, but it can be a stepping stone to understanding that the things that last are more spiritually substantial, rather than the latest gossip, hurt, or social issue in school!
What makes us hang on to feelings of hurt or loneliness, anger, or self-righteousness? It is 100% human ego. [W: My favorite acrostic for EGO is Edging God Out.] The belief that we are a separate entity from the one Mind, separate from others, an individual that has no connection to the one, divine, Good. If we know we are connected, we can allow the hurt, anger, self-righteousness to dissipate in the Truth that we are all one. Use the analogy of the sun with the younger children. The rays are all individual, but all connected to the one source of warmth and light! And, of course, the sun is certainly getting the view from above!
Pycl #3: A TRUER PICTURE CAN ALWAYS BE GAINED BY A HIGHER VIEW, LITERALLY & SYMBOLICALLY!
This is a “riff” on the last Pycl, and I have shared it before, but consider a story from Mouse Tales, a children’s book by Arnold Lobel that includes one story of two rocks on a steep mountainside. They are very happy with their situation, enjoying the flowers, butterflies, and occasional rabbit that comes by, until one day, they ask a bird what it looks like on the other side of the mountain. The bird describes amazing views of cities, trees, rivers and so on. They then become despondent for many years, thinking that they are situated on the wrong side of the mountain.
Sometime later, the rocks ask a mouse what he has seen on the other side of the mountain. The mouse replies that there are beautiful flowers, butterflies, etc. The rocks are then at peace, they decide the bird must have lied to them. They are again satisfied with their situation. The idea here is that the view from their side was equally lovely. There was nothing more extraordinary on one side of the mountain than on the other. Our view of things, the level at which we are looking, determines much about our experience. A truer picture can always be gained by a higher view, literally and symbolically!
Pycl #4: BRING 100% JUICE TO REPRESENT 100% LOVE!
Our Golden Text this week is from Eccl. “I know that, whatsoever God doeth, it shall be forever: nothing can be put to it, nor anything taken from it:” Try bringing a container of 100% juice of some kind to share (I know we have done this before, but it is a good illustration). Make sure it shows that it has no other ingredients. Talk about what they expect to come out of the carton/bottle? Do they expect peanut butter to come out? Crackers? Chicken soup? No!
If it is apple juice, there is only apple juice in the bottle. God is like the apple juice! Love is all Love, there is not a single ounce of hatred or fear in Love. Truth is all Truth, there is not a speck of dishonesty, or lack of integrity, because there is no fear of being judged, condemned, disliked, or taken advantage of in Truth! You can go through all the synonyms with the children, and then share the juice in cups.
Pycl #5: PRACTICE ADMITTING ONLY THOUGHTS WITH “TICKETS” FROM LOVE!
Think about how someone stands at the door of a movie in a theatre to take your admission ticket. You only get in if you have a ticket, right? Bring some “tickets” that you have made ahead of time. Look together at citation S6/167 where it says: “Our proportionate admission of the claims of good or of evil determines the harmony of our existence,–our health, our longevity, and our Christianity.” You may need to reword this passage for younger students, walk them through it carefully.
Talk about how we can “admit” thoughts or reject them. If a thought we get is not carrying a “ticket” from Love, or Truth, etc. then we should not let it in!! Angry thoughts? Not from Love, no admission ticket! Close the door to it! You could have the little ones act this out with a student representing a good or bad thought. The good ones have a ticket with that quality on it, the “bad” ones don’t have a ticket and the other student doesn’t let them “in”.
Have a great week in Sunday School.
