The Bible is full of symbols and metaphors, and in her writings, Mary Baker Eddy teaches students of Christian Science how to look far beyond a literal interpretation to find the deeper spiritual meaning of the Scriptures.
Many of the metaphors in the Bible are really object lessons the spiritual lessons available to us when we look at material images or objects from a spiritual point of view. Apparently one of the main object lessons in this weeks lesson has to do with a cup. There are over 20 references to cup in the lesson this week, starting with the cup of salvation in the Golden Text. This thorough emphasis on the cup offers us the opportunity to give the topic some deeper thought.

If we had asked just about anyone before the days of Christopher Columbus if the world was flat, they would have said, Of course! So it is these days when we approach the question, Are sin, disease, and death real? Most folks will answer that question with a resounding yes!
There are plenty of times in life when the truth is the exact opposite of popular opinion. Have you ever noticed that popular opinion is usually based on a material sense of things? Long ago, people thought the earth was flat because it LOOKED flat to them. As far as they could tell, earth stretched to the horizon and thats where it ended. In fact, many old maps labeled uncharted areas especially in the ocean with the warning, Beyond this point there be dragons. Its an apt metaphor for a common belief about the so-called timeline of mortal life. The mortal senses argue that life only extends to a certain point, and then it stops, and then its as though we find ourselves in an uncharted place surrounded by dragons. (Check out the 6th section of this weeks lesson and then well talk about dragons!)
But, just like the world has always been round despite material sense testimony and popular opinion, so it is with the fact that sin, disease, and death are unreal. Of course its one thing to say this, and its another to feel and know and prove this in our own lives. How exactly are we going to reason through the question in this weeks subject and get the right answer? Speaking of maps and charts, Mrs. Eddy tells us that the Bible is our chart of life. (See Science and Health, p 24:4)
Remember Jesus example? When he was tempted by the devil in the wilderness, he answered every false suggestion with a statement of truth, of divine law directly from Scripture from Gods own Word. Mrs. Eddy did the very same thing. They did this because they both knew that theres no arguing with Gods Word. Its simply the absolute truth.
We need to deal with a question like Are Sin, Disease, and Death Real? in exactly the same way. This weeks lesson sermon offers us a very solid approach. Here are some study questions to help us dig in and do our own work on this important topic. You will want to have your lesson sermon close at hand as you read through these questions.

Ah, love. Poets, musicians, artists, filmmakers, philosophers, theologians, and just about everybody else has been trying to define love for a long, long time. The Bible and Mrs. Eddy help readers to understand that God is Love that indeed God is our ever-present, all-powerful, all-wise Father-Mother.

The ancient Greeks didnt recognize one God, let alone see that God is Love. Maybe thats why they ended up with so many different terms to describe the kinds of things that they thought of as love. A number of these terms for love were used in the original text of the New Testament because much of the original text was written in ancient Greek and later translated into English.

Lets take a quick look at three ancient Greek terms for love that appear in the New Testament. As we go, open your Science and Health to pages 115-116 and look at Mrs. Eddys Scientific Translation of Mortal Mind and see if you can relate each of these terms to a particular level in that translation. That may lend additional clarity to the definitions below, and help to lead thought from a purely physical concept to a more spiritual view of love.

ros (έρως rōs) is generally used to describe physical passion or sensual so-called love and longing. You might recognize ros as the root of our modern word, erotic. (Can you see the connection between this term and all the things that Mrs. Eddy lists on the First Degree on page 115?)

Philia (φιλία phila) usually refers to the kind of love you have with your family and friends. Philia is full of morality and is the kind of brotherly love that includes compassion and loyalty not only for family, but also for community, and humanity in general.

Agpe (αγάπη agpē) Agpe is usually regarded as the word that describes a more spiritual kind of love. Agpe is how/what we feel when we have a good clear understanding of Gods love. We can best express agpe with what Mrs. Eddy would call unselfed love which she puts alongside a spiritual understanding of God as essential for effective prayer and healing. (See Science and Health, p 1:1).

You may have heard that old story that says, Give someone a fish and you feed them for a day. Teach a person to fish, and you feed them for a lifetime. This old story kind of illustrates the difference between philia and agpe. Philia is essential and meets human needs in very helpful and practical ways. Its the kind of love that rightly impels good deeds and makes us so happy to share good things with our neighbor.

But agpe is what we feel when we really understand that God is the one infinite, and ever-present, completely trustworthy source of all love. Agpe is the kind of love that helps us see that good doesnt actually need to come through or in the form of matter, i.e. through a person or a thing or any kind of physical sense. Rather, all good actually comes directly from God to each one of His beloved children in the form of spiritual understanding and right ideas that help, heal, uplift, comfort, guard, guide and truly bless.

To be clear: in the same way that theres only one God, theres only one Love. God gets expressed in lots of different ways, and so does Love. Being aware of what caliber of love were looking at helps us more clearly identify and understand the presence, power, activity and effect of the Love that is God.

Speaking of the caliber of Love, you will see an unmistakable and descriptive thread of Gods tender mercies running throughout the lesson this week. As you read, you might find it interesting to keep a running list of the things that divine Love is doing: i.e. how it tenderly Mothers and Fathers all of us, how it comforts, and provides mercy, ensures justice, and so on. It should be a pretty long list by the end of the week! Leave some room to also make note of what it takes for us to fulfill the law of Love. Youll notice lots about that in this lesson as well.

Start your list of what divine Love is and what it does with the beautiful description in the Golden Text and the Responsive Reading. As always, be sure to take the inspired word of the Bible (S&H 497:3) and resolve things into thoughts (S&H 269:14) as you read those scriptural texts. When you read the Bible and Mrs. Eddys writings, remember youre not just reading words, youre reading the meaning.

Clearly, there is something about Soul that is absolutely essential for us to understand and love because Mary Baker Eddy included Soul as one of her seven synonyms for God [and as a Lesson sermon topic for us to study for 4 weeks of the year, including both Soul and Body lessons as well.] This week’s Bible Lesson Sermon on Soul talks a lot about beauty, the beauty of the Lord, and the beauty of holiness [all waiting to be found, and loved, within you and all. Whats not to love about Souls reflection? And, discovering Soul in everyone will deliver to you everyday at least a dozen rose(s), smile(s) of God! S&H#22, p. 175:9 Think what Fathers smiles are thine CS Hymnal#166:2]

This weeks lesson on Sacrament sets what we learned in last weeks lesson in motion. We all know that actions speak much louder than words, and sacrament is all about putting our money where our mouth is, spiritually speaking. The 1st edition of Websters Dictionary says that sacrament is an outward and visible sign of inward grace. Moses brought the laws of God to mankind. Jesus expressed the letter and spirit of the laws of God so fully, so sincerely, and unselfishly that it can truly be called a profound outward and visible sign of inward grace. Jesus life work showed us how to actually live our committed and faithful love of God to let our lives attest our sincerity as Mary Baker Eddy would say. (Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, p 15:23)

This weeks lesson gives us lots of important examples of how to let what we do with our lives express our sincere love of God.