As I studied this Lesson filled with ideas about seeing and experiencing the kingdom of God, I was reminded of a recent conversation I had with someone asking if I thought Christian Science would have been discovered if the medicine of that time had been as advanced as it is today.  That gave me the opportunity to share my understanding that Christian Science is far from being just an alternative medicine.  It is the Science that reveals the universe to be entirely spiritual, rather than being constituted of particles of matter. 

This week’s Bible Lesson couldn’t be more timely!  It seems that our world is under attack from all sides.  It’s tempting to be taken in by an overwhelming sense of despair — that everyone (regardless of how “good” a person may be) — is subject to disaster in one form or another.  But, Christ bears the message to us from God (repeated throughout the Bible, demonstrated by Jesus, and explained in the teachings of Christian Science) that God, good, is supreme.  And the suppositional opposite of this good — called evil (Satan, the devil, necromancy, mesmerism, hypnotism — aka animal magnetism) is powerless to overthrow God’s goodness.  We can and must not be “overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good”! (Romans 12: 21)

Jesus’ words and deeds made the Word (or divine manifestation) of God practical.  The saving power embodied in Jesus’ works illustrated the divine nature of man, and man’s inseparable relationship to God.  The authority with which he spoke came directly from the life-giving Spirit which he taught and demonstrated. … How important it is to be alive to God’s presence — and to affirm, “I SEE my Saviour!  I HEAR the glad sound!  I FEEL the power of the Word!”   

Continuing our series of lessons focusing on the synonyms of God, let’s explore how understanding Truth enables us to discern and be cared for by the reality of being, as revealed through Christian Science — the knowledge of Christ, Truth!  We must keep walking forward!

This week’s lesson talks a lot about the eternal nature of the Word of God, and the power of that Word.  It came to me that the Word is Truth’s revelation of itself to the human consciousness — Love’s communication to man, revealing the reality of being and bringing healing.   It is the Christ.  The first verse of the familiar Communion Hymn asks, “Saw ye my Savior?  Heard ye the glad sound?  Felt ye the power of the Word?”  And then it elaborates on what this Word is: “’Twas the Truth that made us free, And was found by you and me In the life and the love of our Lord.”   Jesus demonstrated the practical power of the Word of God and Christian Science gives rules to make it practical throughout all time. Mary Baker Eddy wrote: “Christian Science healing is …  the Word and the wedding of this Word to all human thought and action, — that says: Come, and I will give thee rest, peace, health, holiness.” (My. 153: 27-30).  As you read the Lesson, discover more about the nature of the Word of God and how Christian Science makes it known. Remember … Christian Science truly is a Science : ”knowledge attained through study or practice,”  (Webster’s New Collegiate Dictionary.)  It’s not just another religion in a series of religions.  It is the truth of being — demonstrable in daily life.  It reveals the reality of  limitless Life (God, Good) right where the physical senses present a view of limitation and frees us to be all that God made us to be —blessing the whole world, and everyone in it!

In this week’s lesson we learn that we don’t have to wait for circumstances to change in order to quiet the warring influences, and build. Rather, as we put our complete confidence in God, abiding in the consciousness of God’s omnipotent care, we discover that He is our “rock and fortress” and is forever saving us from the attacks of evil. Psalm 71, which makes up the Responsive Reading, is believed to have been written by David when faced with adversity in his later years. It is been helpful to anyone struggling with affliction. David begins the psalm with prayers that God would deliver him and save him and not be far from him. The idea of not being “put to confusion” can be translated as not being “made ashamed.” Are we ever tempted to feel uncomfortable maintaining our trust in God when that trust isn’t shared by others in the group? We must be alert never to let our faith and gratitude be shaken by whatever is happening — or being said — around us! David prayed that his enemies would be confounded (ashamed, disappointed) — and so turn and run. He expresses his confidence in God and expresses his determination to go in the strength of God. We have here a wonderful model for prayer if we ever start getting discouraged. Turn to God!

As we consider this lesson on Christian Science to be read on Christmas morning in churches all over the world, it gives us an opportunity to lift up the Christmas story and see what qualities of thought we see represented in the “players” and how we can nurture these qualities in ourselves in order to receive God’s great gift — the Christ — that comes to us daily and has been fully revealed today as a living, demonstrable Science. Let’s look for messages that will free thought from personal sense and the material trappings that can sometimes overwhelm the spiritual essence of Christmas. And let our thought be lifted up to welcome the ever-present Christ. I love the last verse of hymn 222, “O little town of Bethlehem.” It reads: ‘How silently, how silently, The wondrous gift is given; So God imparts to human hearts The blessings of His heaven. No ear may hear his coming, But in this world of sin, Where meekness will receive him, still The dear Christ enters in. Approaching the lesson with a sense of meekness, we can expect great inspiration!

Golden Text: The message is simple … hold to good, resist evil. Trust God to destroy all that is unlike Him. Petersen paraphrases the Golden Text this way in The Message: “I want you also to be smart, making sure every “good” thing is the real thing. Don’t be gullible in regard to smooth-talking evil. Stay alert like this, and before you know it the God of peace will come down on Satan with both feet, stomping him into the dirt.” No need to fret or be afraid. God’s got it under control!