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9/18/2014 Christ Jesus' methodology in healing Where do we come from? Where are we going? And whose fault is it when we have problems? These questions confront us all at one point or another. Parents caring for a sick child might ask, "What did I do or not do to cause this?" A child struggling with performing a simple task that his friends might easily do could be asking, "Will I ever be like the other kids?" Tough questions like these naturally pull on the heartstrings. But finding answers may involve more than focusing on the problems in front of us. Jesus disciples once asked him about a case of physical disability - whose fault was it? Did the man do something wrong? Did his parents, that he was “born this way? Their prayers hadn’t been able to heal the man. We don’t know but maybe frustration and fear for the man’s future had set in. Jesus replied that neither were at fault. He turned them away from even considering fault and cause for the disability – away from the disability itself. He declared that the works of God, that is of divine Good, was all that was manifest in him. He shifted the focus from material disability to God’s divine ability to bring out perfection and goodness alone. Now the difference between the disciples approach and Jesus’ was as different as night and day. But Jesus’ viewpoint led to healing, while the disciples approach would have left the man mired in the problem.  The Christ perspective – the divine message of man’s spiritual origin and native goodness – heals. It doesn't teach to cope with or explain away problems. It completely heals them. I think that is what set Christ Jesus apart from the doctors and helpers of the sick before him. Through his method of turning to God, identifying God’s law of Good in each case, and overruling whatever the current material belief about disease was claiming, he never doubted his cases would be healed. He appealed to God’s law the way a mathematician appeals to math facts. He worked with solutions, not on problems. If you would like to learn more about Christ Jesus' methodology, check out these links:
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Easy. Just sign up in the sidebar. You may also wish to: VISIT MY WEBSITE HOME PAGE FIND LINKS TO MY OTHER PUBLISHED CONTENT LISTEN TO A COLLECTION OF MY "YOUR DAILY LIFT" 2-MINUTE PODCASTS 7/7/2014 Nothing can deter you from healing It is natural to want to help others through your prayers. Practicing prayer for others needn’t and shouldn’t be scary. Healing prayer is very fulfilling. It is motivated by love for God and man. While not every practitioner decides to advertise as a healer, taking out a listing in The Christian Science Journal can be a next step as the commitment to practice Christian Science healing matures into full-time availability to help others. But whether one is Journal-listed or not, the conditions and standards of practice are the same. Each one needs to do what is necessary to give effective help. To an early practitioner, Christian Science discoverer Mary Baker Eddy wrote, “Every day treat yourself that no evil suggestion nor argument can swerve you or frighten you--or deter you from healing and doing just what is needed here . . . Three times each day treat yourself for this temptation then watch that your house be not broken open.” [MBE to Alfred E. Baker, 2/2/1899, F00147] I remember a time when I felt totally blocked as a healer. Really stuck. I couldn’t see any progress in my cases and felt afraid. Maybe I shouldn’t be practicing, I thought. Then I confronted head-on that aggressive and false suggestion that I couldn’t heal. Three times a day I treated myself, my practice and my community to understand that God through Christ was the healer, and that as God’s reflection, I express His eternal, healing Christ.  Mrs. Eddy defined Christ as “the divine manifestation of God, which comes to the flesh to destroy incarnate error.” (Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, 583) She also spoke of this Christ as “voicing good, the divine message from God to men speaking to the human consciousness.” (ibid 332) She explained that this Christ is “the divine image and likeness, dispelling the illusions of the senses; the Way, the Truth, and the Life, healing the sick and casting out evils, destroying sin, disease, and death.” (ibid 332) I affirmed regularly that this very Christ is always a present and effective healer; that where I am, the healing Christ is manifest. As I did, I began to feel the authority that Christ gives each one to heal through prayer. I began to think of myself less as a personal healer and more as a perpetual witness to and expression of this healing Christ through every treatment I gave. I stopped being afraid that I couldn't heal. And then things started moving, really moving fast. Sometimes healing came so quickly that I asked myself if I had had the time to give the case a full Christian Science treatment. But my three-times-a-day prayer always showed me that its not a personal me doing something extraordinary in prayer. My role is to witness the Christ expressed in me and in the patient - to witness to the Christ-message of God’s perpetual care for His creation - the divine message of unending good that restores harmony where discord seems to be. I am trying to keep up a regular practice of treating myself three times a day “that no evil suggestion nor argument can swerve [me] or frighten [me]--or deter [me] from healing and doing just what is needed here.” It isn't always easy and sometimes I have to set an alarm to remember to do it. But I am striving to be regular about it, because, bottom line: Good healers are needed. And those of us whose love for God and man move us to want to lift up our brothers and sisters in healing prayer, have every right to be effective in our holy work. Let us lift up our hearts and our hands to God in heaven, and say... Not a subscriber and want to be?
It's easy! Just sign up in the sidebar. You may also wish to: VISIT MY WEBSITE HOME PAGE FIND LINKS TO MY OTHER PUBLISHED CONTENT LISTEN TO A COLLECTION OF MY "YOUR DAILY LIFT" 2-MINUTE PODCASTS 9/23/2013 Bow down to disease or bow before good? If you have ever found yourself caught in a battle against illness and have struggled to find peace and healing without making much headway, this audio blog post is for you. Christ Jesus was a master at turning water to wine. The wine they drank was not like the intoxicating drink of today. It was mixed with water, to make bitter, undrinkable water sweet and pure. This redirection from bitter to sweet, unhealthy to healthy, was a theme in all of Jesus works. Here you will find a 4-minute audio clip that discusses the healing of a woman whom Luke described as "bowed for 18 years." Listen to insights into how Christ - the spirit of Truth that Jesus expressed - transforms minds and bodies from a bitter battle with disease to the sweet worship and praise of the infinite and ever-present Good that heals. Now He was teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath. "We bow down to matter, and entertain finite thoughts of God like the pagan idolater. Praise ye the Lord. Praise God in his sanctuary: praise him in the firmament of his power. Did you enjoy this post? Did you find it helpful?
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Jesus made his first unique appearance as a baby born to a virgin. This indicated off the bat the special nature of his relationship to the Christ. He may have appeared to those around him to be a fragile infant, but he wasn’t weak. He came to this world with an already developing understanding of His nature as God’s Son. Where did this understanding come from? He later would explain what he knew of his eternity. He said, “Before Abraham was, I am.” See the switch? Where you and I might consider life as occurring on a limited human timeline – the was and will be line beginning with birth and ending in death – Christ Jesus lived on the is line of eternity, where existence isn’t broken down into was, is and will be, but simply always is. Jesus' well-developed spiritual sense allowed him to see his own eternity, and this gave him power and authority over fear, sin, disease and death. Christ Jesus experienced life - his and everyone's - as immortal. His sense of himself included the knowledge of life before human birth and the continuity of his forever life as God’s son. What Jesus explained about real life came from a personal knowledge of God, not only as his Source, his Father, but as the real Father and Mother of us all. Jesus was a revelator of the eternal Christ, the eternal expression of divine Life. The Christ-message to humanity, that life is eternal and that we had better get on with living our real life free of sin and sorrow and hate, is just as important to us today as it was when Jesus walked the earth. Jesus gave us an example to follow, through his words and life, that develops in us our innate spiritual sense and leads to the understanding of real life as eternal. "When mortal mind is silenced by the "still, small voice" of Truth that regenerates philosophy and logic; and Jesus, as the true idea of Him, is heard as of yore saying to sensitive ears and dark disciples, "I came from the Father," "Before Abraham was, I am," coexistent and coeternal with God, — and this idea is understood, — then will the earth be filled with the true knowledge of Christ." To be sure you don't miss something,
you can have new posts delivered to your email inbox. Simply subscribe in the sidebar. And if this post is meaningful to you, it may also help others. Please share! You may also wish to: VISIT MY WEBSITE HOME PAGE FIND LINKS TO MY OTHER PUBLISHED CONTENT LISTEN TO A COLLECTION OF MY "YOUR DAILY LIFT" 2-MINUTE PODCASTS  "O gentle presence." How many times I've thought of those words. They open a poem written by Mary Baker Eddy, Mother's Evening Prayer, which begins: O gentle presence, peace and joy and power; O Life divine, that owns each waiting hour, Thou Love that guards the nestling's faltering flight! Keep Thou my child on upward wing tonight. (Poems, 4) “O gentle presence” are words that affirm that God is with us. Now. Forever. I experienced this presence in a powerful way last year. It was the evening before a Memorial service for my husband who had passed on the week before. There were last minute decisions to be made. Some of our extended family had decided views that conflicted with mine. Sitting alone in the family room, I was mulling over the issues thinking I didn't need this problem. I heard my daughter in the next room gathering pictures from photo albums, making plans to frame them. This was one item of minor contention – whether, and which, photos should be displayed. After a short period of ruminating, a tender quietness suddenly settled over me and enveloped the room. I felt a palpable presence that could only be divine. I knew it was God's gentle presence making me calm. Peace reigned in my heart. I felt it. I sat very still in wonder.  Suddenly, all the preparations and decisions were irrelevant to me. All I wanted was to hold onto this divine presence. All that mattered was this feeling of God with me. I encouraged my daughter to go ahead with her plans, assuring her that everything would be fine. This peace stayed with me throughout the service the next day. And, of course, the display of family pictures was perfect, pleasing and comforting to everyone. The peace, joy and power of God’s presence is the Christ, God's action of revealing Himself in unmistakeable ways we can understand, giving us just what we need, bringing healing. This divine presence doesn’t come and go. The Christ is always here with us all, all the time bringing peace and joy and power. To be sure you don't miss something,
you can have new posts delivered to your email inbox. Simply subscribe in the sidebar. And if this post is meaningful to you, it may also help others. Please share! You may also wish to: VISIT MY WEBSITE HOME PAGE FIND LINKS TO MY OTHER PUBLISHED CONTENT LISTEN TO A COLLECTION OF MY "YOUR DAILY LIFT" 2-MINUTE PODCASTS 7/30/2012 The simple theology that heals Christian Science has this beautiful, clear, pure, spiritual simplicity to it. The entire theology can be boiled down to a few basic points: 1) God exists. 2) God is good. 3) God is all. 4) The universe, including man, is the reflection of God. 5) There is no evil. Mary Baker Eddy, the Discoverer of Christian Science, explained that her work consisted of 2 parts: 1) Discovery of this Science – of these five basic points 2) Proof by present demonstration that this is the Principle by which Jesus healed. We can’t have the discovery without the proof. Mrs. Eddy discovered the action of the divine Mind on human minds and bodies. But limited mortal thought patterns have worn a groove in collective human consciousness, probing, diagnosing and picking apart matter as both cause and effect. Hence we are drawn into thinking that problems are material and thus complicated or difficult to heal. For Christ Jesus, theology and medicine were one. Jesus’ theology is simple and clear. God is all, Good. Evil is nothing, unreal. What we face in every case is a challenge to the simple theology of the Christ. Can we depend on the fact that God is good? Can we prove it? Is man really reflection – the image and likeness of God? Can we demonstrate it?  Every case touches on a theological question. The task of a Christian healer is to simply answer the question and watch the proof appear. The work should always be this simple. But it isn’t without opposition. That which Mrs Eddy named mortal mind – limited, matter-based reasoning that generates doubt and fear - would make the task of healing seem complicated, unclear and difficult. Fear and doubt impel us to overwork, or underwork the healing activity of prayer, to doubt our experience with the Christ, to change methods repeatedly and ultimately let the problem run the case. I received a phone call from a father whose child had jumped from a tree house and injured his calf. It appeared to be broken. I was asked to pray for him while the family sorted out the practical care. When I hung up the phone I immediately thought, Well, God, what do you have to say about this? I had Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures open on my desk. My eyes fell on a statement of Jesus found on page 45, “Spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have.” Looking up from the book, I thought, Don’t be fooled by the picture of flesh and bones. That is not who this child really is. His substance is Spirit. All that he is and has comes from the Spirit that is God. It seemed such a simple response to the theological question, Is this boy the image and likeness of God?  As I considered the implications in prayer – that he was in fact spiritual and that anything pro or con going on with flesh and bones didn’t touch him – a doubt cropped up. I wanted to be sure I was getting the message correctly. I wondered, But wasn’t Jesus just talking about himself? Then I turned the page and read, “The divine Spirit, which identified Jesus thus centuries ago, has spoken through the inspired Word and will speak through it in every age and clime. It is revealed to the receptive heart, and is again seen casting out evil and healing the sick.” (46) OK, I thought, so Spirit knows this child the same way it knew Jesus - as perfect, spiritual, whole, unbroken, invulnerable, unfallen. The same Spirit voicing truth through Jesus' words to his disciples was communicating to me in the inspired Word of Science and Health in this age. My receptive heart was accepting the message. Then up popped a fear. Can it be this easy? What about the broken bone? Don’t I have to do something about this in my prayer? I looked down once again at the book and read the next phrase as though it was being spoken with force, “The Master said plainly that physique was not Spirit…” I remembered Jesus’ instruction in the Sermon on the Mount and thought of it in relation to prayer, “Let your statement be, 'Yes, yes ' or 'No, no'; anything beyond these is of evil." Matthew 5:37 I needed to say Yes, Yes to the plain and simple reality of unbroken, uninterrupted spiritual being. And I needed to say a direct and clear No, No to the physical belief that the child was material and breakable.  That was it. I consented and said YES, YES. In fact, I was so taken by what I was saying YES to, that I forgot the case entirely and continued reading. The phone rang about 30 minutes later. It was the mother. She told me that two minutes after they placed the call, she was holding her son and praying to know what to do next. They had discussed calling an ambulance or driving him to the hospital. Then they heard a distinct sound coming from his leg “like the sound of a zipper.” And he was healed just like that. The pure simple theology of the Christ is revealed. And it heals. Love it? Please share it for others to enjoy.
Let's work together to share the love. Also, if you aren't yet a subscriber, a full-text version of the blog can be delivered to your email inbox. It's easy to sign up in the sidebar. You may also wish to: VISIT MY WEBSITE HOME PAGE READ MORE BLOG POSTS FIND A LIST OF MY OTHER PUBLISHED CONTENT  One time years ago I was laid up in bed with back pain. I was home alone and really needed to get up. With no one to help me, there was just one thing to do. I rolled out of bed and began to crawl across the bedroom floor. As I did, I thought, This is really dumb. If Jesus were here, he’d heal me. He would say "Get up and walk!" and I would be able to.
Sometime before, when I was first learning about spiritual healing, I read in an article, “There is no real healing without the Christ.” I thought, Wow. I need to look into this. So I talked to a friend - a Christian Scientist - about it, and he told me to always think of the Christ as God’s activity. That explanation led me to my next question: What is God’s activity? 2/15/2012 Cancer healed On Wednesdays throughout the world, people gather in churches and in groups to share what they have seen and experienced of God's, Truth's, healing power. You hear some pretty amazing things at a Wednesday evening testimony meeting in a Christian Science church. It's not who is speaking or even how the story is told that makes this sharing so special. One feels the power and presence and love of God, through Christ, that heals. In the Church Manual, Mary Baker Eddy wrote, "More than a mere rehearsal of blessings, it scales the pinnacle of praise and illustrates the demonstration of Christ, "who healeth all thy diseases" (Psalm 103:3)." Here is my testimony.
In 2001 I began exhibiting symptoms of breast cancer. My mother had a mastectomy a few years earlier. My aunt also had a mastectomy, but she passed away from the disease. I had a young daughter. I had no intention of going anywhere, nor did I wish to see her become a victim of this disease. So when I began developing symptoms, I felt I had no choice but to stop this epidemic of fear and disease in the family.  Hello 2012! Who says each day has to be more of the "same old same old?" Why not try something new, experience something grand, each day? W.O.W. = Walk on water.
Peter did it. He stepped out of the boat. He was willing to master limitation. Fear might have tried to sink him, but Peter did walk on water with a helping hand. This time my resolution is a little different than in past years. No more thinking small. Sure, I would like to eat better, move more, and drop off unecessary habits that waste my time. But rather than focus on the minnows of limitation nipping at my toes, I would like to go after the big fish of fear that would tell me I can't get out of the boat and express my unlimited potential for good. And I think I can do this in four steps.  A glorious day is dawning, and o'er the waking earth...
In dark and hidden places there shines the blessed light; The beam of Truth displaces the darkness of the night. Christian Science Hymnal, #2 As Christmas comes again, I find it interesting that we celebrate Christmas in December, even though Bible scholars generally agree that Jesus was probably born in the spring. Those of us in the northern hemisphere are experiencing the darkest of days, yet, in the Christian, Gnostic and Jewish traditions, we're commemorating and celebrating the presence of light.  When the Christmas season arrives, I’m always reminded of the phone calls my granddaughter and I had many years ago. She was a toddler just learning to put words together, and she loved it when her mom would let her talk to me on the phone.
During that Christmas season, I would end our conversations this way: “Good bye. I love you. Merry Christmas!” It wasn’t long before little Hannah caught on and would repeat, “Goodbye, I love you. Merry Christmas!” This is how we concluded all our calls during the month of December. 12/9/2011 How would I pray about ______? How would I pray about video game addiction? Yesterday's blog post generated this question from a reader. A couple of week's ago, a reader asked if I would address the the subject of motivation. How can we keep our motives on track? What motivates effective prayer and action?
When his disciples asked him to teach them how to pray, Jesus didn't ask them the subject of their prayer. He told them the subject. "Our Father." Jesus' teachings on prayer, as recorded in Scripture, are not exhaustive. But, they succinctly illustrate an important point. God is the subject of prayer that leads to healing in any case. Prayer and action motivated by the simple desire to understand God heals. 12/8/2011 7 Comments Follow the star out of darkness Have you ever found yourself in such a dark place that you have wondered if there was truly a way out?
I have been thinking about the Bethlehem star. On the blackest night, a beam of light illuminated the place where the Christ child lay. Was it Jesus’ star? I think I have always thought so. But it was the prophet-shepherds and wisemen who saw it and followed. I believe that star belonged to them and it belongs to each of us. 11/13/2011 Hanging on and letting go Moving from a 2000 square foot (186 m2) home in New Jersey, USA to a 700 square foot (65 m2) apartment in France wasn't so tricky. I left pretty much everything behind. And in doing so, I discovered that all those lovely appliances I thought I couldn't live without (which all had the wrong plugs anyway) could be replaced by a big spoon and a sharp knife.
Now, almost seven years later, I am dealing with all that stuff I apparently don't need as I empty my house to get it ready for sale. Funny thing though. While logic says I don't need these things, I am having to deal with an emotional argument that says "I want them!" But do I really? What is this tendency to hang on to stuff that no longer fits in one's life? 10/18/2011 A certain form of prayer Me, back in my lecturing days. Many years ago I developed symptoms of laryngitis during a weekend of constant speaking engagements. Saturday, I lectured six hours nonstop in a noisy environment. It seemed to put a strain on my vocal chords. I couldn't make a sound on Sunday morning and I had another important presentation to make at three in the afternoon. As I often do when confronted with crises - health problems included - I turned to the prayer system of Christian Science for help.
The Christian Science method of prayer involves spiritual reasoning that follows very closely the elements included in the Lord's Prayer that Christ Jesus gave to his followers. Each prayer is original, unfolded through inspiration, and starts with understanding God's true nature as Love, Life, Spirit - our true and only Father or Source. It hallows the Christ as the link, or divine message of good, that brings to humanity the capacity to heal and be healed. It takes a look at the true nature of God's creation, including man, as spiritual reflection, and of God's will of good for all on earth and in heaven... |
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I have practiced Christian Science professionally in some form since 1979. But my journey with Christian Science started in a Sunday school where as a young child I was taught the Scriptures and some simple basics of Jesus' method of scientific Christian healing. A significant experience at the age of twelve opened my eyes to the great potential of this practice. After impaling my foot on a nail, I prayed the way I had learned in Sunday school. Within moments the pain stopped and healing began. By the next morning the wound had disappeared completely. Having experienced the great potential of Christian Science, there would be no turning back. |
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© 2011-2024 Michelle Boccanfuso Nanouche, CSB. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy. Site updated November 25, 2024
© 2011-2024 Michelle Boccanfuso Nanouche, CSB. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy. Site updated November 25, 2024