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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  There is a divine Principle in which we can have total confidence. It's an infallible, absolute, invariable, concrete and substantial Principle that provides security in life. In Christian Science, divine Principle is another way of describing God - not a man on a throne, a superhuman god - but that which is the cause and source of all that is true and good. If it doesn't meet the criteria of being true AND good, it doesn't correspond with the order of Principle. The divine Principle of life is powerful, strong, illuminating, liberating. Principle is real. It is a present help in any situation. Principle is just, impartial, available, universal, unconfined and glorious. Divine Principle is the fundamental basis of everything, the origin and ultimate of all that is real. Principle is stable, positive, precise and demonstrable. It commands obedience, integrity, health and harmony. Why? Because divine Principle reproduces its own characteristics. The divine Principle is perfectly reflected in its own creation. True law (that which under-girds human justice and is unassailable by variable opinions) is an attribute of this Principle. That is, the law that counts, the law that protects and enforces good is sourced in Principle. Two verses from the Bible shed light on this Principle: Thine, O Lord, is the greatness, and the power, and the glory, and the victory, and the majesty: for all that is in the heaven and in the earth is thine; thine is the kingdom, O Lord, and thou art exalted as head above all. Both riches and honour come of thee, and thou reignest over all; and in thine hand is power and might; and in thine hand it is to make great, and to give strength unto all. (I Chronicles 29) Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning. Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures. (James 1:17, 18)  The divine Principle of life is Love, universal and divine Love. If you feel the term Principle seems distant or cold, think of divine Love and you will have a good idea of it. One of my favorite things to think about is that Principle without Love would be like steel - cold, hard and unyielding. And Love without Principle would be like jam - lacking structure, stability or form. But Principle IS Love - perfectly balanced in strength and tenderness, in power and affection, in authority and support. Christian Science discoverer Mary Baker Eddy uses imagery that I think describes so well the tenderness of divine Principle, when she writes of the ocean, "able to carry navies, yet yielding to the touch of a finger." (The First Church of Christ, Scientist and Miscellany, 121) With an understanding of God as divine Principle comes a sense of the omnipotence, omniscience and omnipresence of the law of good. And with it we can begin to drop the sense of limitation in God or in his creation - the spiritual man and the spiritual universe. Divine Principle is expressed through its own laws, in its own kingdom - the kingdom of all that is real and permanent - the realm of Spirit. The concept of another realm or another control - ie matter or material law - is an illusion that a better understanding of the divine Principle erases. Christ Jesus walked on water in direct violation of material law, but in obedience to the spiritual law of Love. This gave him complete mastery over the wind and waves. Moses divided the Red Sea in disobedience to the laws of physics that would render the act impossible. But his obedience to Principle and His unswerving commitment to follow Love's leading out of Egyptian bondage opened the way to demonstrating the higher spiritual law that was in place and accessible to him. Matter and material law are not a real substance to be controlled, improved, healed, by turning to divine Principle in prayer. Prayer that reveals that there is only one true Principle or law, one true substance of life - Spirit - adjusts our reality view. Spirit is expressed in the spirituality that breaks the illusion of matter and its so-called laws, restrictions and problems. A miracle fulfills God's law, but does not violate that law. (Eddy, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, 134 )  Miracles aren't really exceptional. What many term a miracle is the natural activity of the divine Principle that is understood to be God in Christian Science. In the beginning of my public practice I had a case that resulted in a resuscitation of life from death. As it turned out, it wasn't more or less difficult a case than any other. I was on my knees hand-washing the kitchen floor when the call came explaining that a person had died. I was asked to pray by the nurse in attendance. I did. I knelt back down and continued washing the tile as I prayed. My prayer was a gentle, yet firm, affirmation that the divine Life that is God is manifest normally and continually - that is, that neither God nor his creation can be interrupted in being. The normal activity of man, under the perpetual control of the Principle of life, only includes the expression of the Life that is God, not death. I was aware of the ease with which I returned to washing my floor after the call. I hadn't been shocked by the news. I then realized that this man, too, could continue with his day without being shocked by the belief that life could suddenly end, when it couldn't. Life really is eternal. My words, here, seem somewhat feeble to explain the deep significance of what I saw of spiritual reality in that prayer. My prayer wasn't difficult or complicated. It was completely logical and natural. I wasn't a bit afraid. I didn't feel I was engaged in a great battle with death. My prayer was a simple witness to the divine Principle of life that holds all creation in Life, God, without rupture, without interruption. The patient revived. Ten or so minutes after his sudden decease, he sat up - and not in a state of recovery, but in a better state of health than before he passed. And he continued on in good health. This kind of things happens more often than we may realize. To go deeper as you consider Principle, remember that:
The divine Principle that is God holds you completely secure in life. Like? Please share. Let's spread the good.
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?
The readership of this blog is growing by leaps and bounds due to readers like you - sharing, emailing, tweeting, and posting the link so that others can find it. If you wish to subscribe, simply scroll up and submit your email in the box shown 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  The Daily Lift for this weekend was inspired by the prodigious, loving men in my life (my dad, my first and second husbands, my brothers and many others) whose lives reflect such rich and generous love for others. Based on Christ Jesus' parable of the prodigal son, this two-minute podcast recounts a familiar story with a new twist. Find the Lift in English and in French. And if you would like to read the full parable, here it is:  Luke 15:11-32 King James Version (or you can read it from the New International Version): And he [Jesus] said, A certain man had two sons: And the younger of them said to his father, Father, give me the portion of goods that falleth to me. And he divided unto them his living. And not many days after the younger son gathered all together, and took his journey into a far country, and there wasted his substance with riotous living. And when he had spent all, there arose a mighty famine in that land; and he began to be in want. And he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country; and he sent him into his fields to feed swine. And he would fain have filled his belly with the husks that the swine did eat: and no man gave unto him. And when he came to himself, he said, How many hired servants of my father's have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger! I will arise and go to my father, and will say unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before thee, And am no more worthy to be called thy son: make me as one of thy hired servants. And he arose, and came to his father.  But when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him. And the son said unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in thy sight, and am no more worthy to be called thy son. But the father said to his servants, Bring forth the best robe, and put it on him; and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet: And bring hither the fatted calf, and kill it; and let us eat, and be merry: For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found. And they began to be merry. Now his elder son was in the field: and as he came and drew nigh to the house, he heard musick and dancing. And he called one of the servants, and asked what these things meant. And he said unto him, Thy brother is come; and thy father hath killed the fatted calf, because he hath received him safe and sound. And he was angry, and would not go in: therefore came his father out, and intreated him. And he answering said to his father, Lo, these many years do I serve thee, neither transgressed I at any time thy commandment: and yet thou never gavest me a kid, that I might make merry with my friends: But as soon as this thy son was come, which hath devoured thy living with harlots, thou hast killed for him the fatted calf. And he said unto him, Son, thou art ever with me, and all that I have is thine. It was meet that we should make merry, and be glad: for this thy brother was dead, and is alive again; and was lost, and is found. Happy Father's Day! 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 6/6/2013 Spiritual sense: You are equipped A number of years ago, I spoke to an association of atheists on Christian Science. I’ll admit, I was prepared for a debate. Instead, I encountered a thoughtful, respectful audience cherishing the universal desire to experience lasting good. While the word “God” was loaded with too many unhelpful connotations for them, we could dialogue on intelligence, on Life, Principle, Truth, Love— all terms used in Christian Science to describe the universal Good that is God. I learned from that encounter that we all have spiritual sense – the capacity to break through restrictive barriers and beliefs to discover and understand God as He really is. Mary Baker Eddy called this spiritual sense “a conscious, constant capacity to understand God.” In the Glossary of Scriptural terms in the Key to the Scriptures part of Science and Health, Mrs. Eddy gives a definition for God that exposes the divine from many angles. “God. The great I AM; the all-knowing, all-seeing, all-acting, all-wise, all-loving, and eternal; Principle; Mind; Soul; Spirit; Life; Truth; Love; all substance; intelligence." p.587  That one definition alone gives everyone a jumping-off point to understand God. The Bible speaks of God as an unchanging power, or law, in whom is “neither variableness nor shadow of turning.” (James 1). In Christian Science, the term divine Principle describes the invariable law of Good that is God. Principle is always expressed in good. Good doesn’t end. Love never quits. Scripture also identifies God as Spirit. So God that is Principle and Love, is also everpresent Spirit. This means that God’s creation – you and I and everyone, really - are spiritual – that is, we are made by, and of, the substance of Spirit. Love equates to unlimited goodness, Principle to invariable law, Spirit to true substance. Do you see the expansive nature of the God vocabulary of Christian Science? And it is practical, too. The facts of God are like the facts of math. You just can’t know too much. The more math facts you know, the less of a problem you find in daily calculations. Who is afraid of a multiplication problem, when they have learned their multiplication tables? A kid who knows his 9’s table isn’t afraid of 9 x 9. Just the opposite. He can’t wait to use his 81 every chance he gets! Considering the true nature of God from so many angles, can actually change the way one deals with life problems, because an expansive sense of God gives ready answers to any issue that may arise. Now some may be tempted to think, “But I have always been bad at math!” Whether it is the truth of math or the Truth that is God, we are all equipped with the spiritual sense necessary to know what is true. Christ Jesus used the term “kingdom of God” to describe spiritual sense. "The kingdom of God cometh not with observation: Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you." Luke 17:20,21 "This kingdom of God 'is within you,' — is within reach of man's consciousness here... In divine Science, man possesses this recognition of harmony consciously in proportion to his understanding of God." Science and Health 576:21  The kingdom of God describes God’s revelation of good to His creation. Spiritual sense is a term used in Christian Science to convey our capacity as God’s children to understand what God is. Spiritual sense lets us experience the divine in everyday life. We all have it, but we don’t all use it. Why? Jesus answered that. He knew that we often become buried in, preoccupied with, material sense – what I call the “Eat, Drink, Clothing syndrome” of a focus on material comforts and discomforts. Material sense pulls the attention to externals, instead of to seeking the kingdom of God within. Material sense is the backward, downward drag of the perpetual, mistaken belief:
Jesus challenged this: "No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon. Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment? ... But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you." Matthew 6, King James Version In The Message, I think Eugene Peterson has a helpful take on Jesus' words, showing the contrast between the masters of material sense and spiritual sense, when he paraphrases: “You can’t worship two gods at once. Loving one god, you’ll end up hating the other. Adoration of one feeds contempt for the other...There is far more to your life than the food you put in your stomach, more to your outer appearance than the clothes you hang on your body...People who don’t know God and the way he works fuss over these things, but you know both God and how he works. Steep your life in God-reality, God-initiative, God-provisions. Don’t worry about missing out. You’ll find all your everyday human concerns will be met." Matthew 6, The Message  And the rest of Jesus teachings show that when you put first things first, and exercise your spiritual sense, human needs are met without the drag of limitation, risk or fear. “Take no thought” is not a Pollyanna approach to life that ignores problems. It’s work. Hard work! Christian Science makes strong moral and ethical demands on one. It’s not enough to know God’s law of good if you don’t obey it. It’s not enough to know math facts if you never work an equation. We must take what we learn of God and live it through honesty, purity, selflessness and love, even when it is difficult. This is the spiritual and moral sense that gave Jesus the power to heal sickness and sin and to supply human needs. It can do the same for us. Mrs. Eddy once wrote – “The talent and genius of the centuries have wrongly reckoned. …They have not accepted the simple teaching and life of Jesus as the only true solution of the perplexing problem of human existence.” Unity of Good, Eddy, 9 Jesus taught that the kingdom of God is within us. God’s kingdom of health and harmony is with us, within all of us, already, right now. We all have the spiritual sense that allows us to understand and experience God and His marvelous creation. 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 6/4/2013 Coming soon: Angry no more Blog readers are always the first to know. A new lecture is under development. Keep your eyes peeled for the announcement on my LECTURES page of when the new lecture "Angry no more" will be available. Here is a synopsis: From hurt to health through forgiveness.This one hour lecture introduces Christian Science and healing through prayer for emotional, mental and physical issues stemming from unhealed anger. For those who have felt victimized by their circumstances, trailed by a sad past, or who are marked by abuse, this lecture offers insights that neutralize perpetual reaction to pain and anger. The spiritual reasoning through prayer, taught in Christian Science unlocks ones potential for peace, forgiveness, restoration and progress. This lecture presents the life of Mrs. Eddy in the context of her personal journey from grief and disappointment to the spiritual insight and healing that led to her becoming a world-renowned American religious reformer. It addresses common questions about Christian Science and its practice:
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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 5/26/2013 Walking and talking to Jesus' beat Walking the streets of Neuchatel, Switzerland, our small group encountered two Mormon missionaries. One, a young man from Spain, said, "Hi! We are Mormons, and we are here to share the Book of Mormon with anyone who doesn't have it." I replied, "Wonderful! I am a visiting Christian Scientist, here to give a lecture on finding God." "Really?" the second missionary, a young man from England, asked. "What time is the lecture, and where is it?" Several hours later they came. Those with me were interested in how easily I conversed with the missionaries and how readily I invited them to the lecture. I just followed Christ Jesus' example. Mary Baker Eddy wrote, "Jesus beheld in Science the perfect man..." (Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, 476) He didn't limit his encounters to those of a singular religious order; he embraced those around him in the family of man and the science, or true knowledge, of God's good creation. He classified men by their inherent spirituality, by their inclusion in the family of Spirit, not by their nationality, color or creed. He spoke to men's hearts. And their hearts beat in rhythm with his. "Did not our heart burn within us, while he talked with us by the way?" (Luke 24:32) Our Mormon friends acknowledged that it was a good lecture - that they were touched by what they heard. They gifted the sponsoring church with a Book of Mormon and happily received a copy of Mary Baker Eddy's Science and Health in return. What's not to love when we encounter others, and allow them to encounter us, '"in Science"? "Deeds, not words, are the sound test of love... " (from a letter by LEWIS D. STRANG, reprinted in First Church of Christ, Scientist, and Miscellany, Mary Baker Eddy, vii.) 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 8/7/2012 A faith that isn't blind What makes the healing prayer taught in Christian Science distinct from other types of prayer for healing? Mary Baker Eddy devotes an entire book - Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures - to this question. Specifically, page 12 clears up some of the fog and mystery surrounding Christian Science prayer. Interestingly, the discussion begins with a statement of what it is not. The healing prayer practiced in Christian Science is not a human “mind over matter” blind faith-cure method. Mrs. Eddy writes, “‘The prayer of faith shall save the sick,’ says the Scripture. What is this healing prayer? A mere request that God will heal the sick has no power to gain more of the divine presence than is already at hand.” If we use prayer something like a balloon or emergency flare we send up, - “Hey, I could really use some help over here on my problem,” - where is God in this prayer? Circling around somewhere outside the problem, needing our help through prayer to find it and fix it? Holding sickness at the center of a case and bringing God to it indicates a misunderstanding of the Everpresent One. Spiritual healing involves correcting misperceptions of the who and what and where of God. God is the infinite All – the one reality, power, presence. If we are holding onto a problem, or a disease, to be one fixed reality, which we hope another reality, our God, will come to heal – this is a human “mind over matter" blind faith-cure attempt.  Sometimes faith-cures have positive physical results and sometimes very negative. It all depends on the strength of the human will of the healer acting through his blind belief. But whether the results are good are not, there is no guarantee they will be permanent. And if one’s spiritual understanding of the one reality as God, or Good, isn’t growing, the case can be left in a worse state than before, vulnerable to any new belief – regardless of the appearance of a physical improvement. As Mrs. Eddy says, "The common custom of praying for the recovery of the sick finds help in blind belief, whereas help should come from enlightened understanding. Changes in belief may go on indefinitely, but they are the merchandise of human thought and not the outgrowth of divine Science." When it comes to the healing prayer taught in Christian Science, Mrs. Eddy makes an important distinction between a blind belief - holding limited human thoughts about God - and the total yielding to divine Principle, to the Science of God and man, in the human understanding. Mrs. Eddy puts blind belief completely outside of the practice of Christian Science when she explains, “It is neither Science nor Truth which acts through blind belief, nor is it the human understanding of the divine healing Principle as manifested in Jesus, whose humble prayers were deep and conscientious protests of Truth, - of man’s likeness to God and of man’s unity with Truth and Love.”  There we have Mary Baker Eddy’s statement of what constitutes the Christian Science practice of healing prayer, “the human understanding of the divine healing Principle as manifested in Jesus, whose humble prayers were deep and conscientious protests of Truth, - of man’s likeness to God and of man’s unity with Truth and Love.” Jesus’ theology of the perfection and spirituality of man as the likeness to perfect Spirit who is God, and of man as inseparable from Truth and Love, heals. When one protests for, affirms with well-reasoned understanding, the truth of God and man, healing is the natural outcome. Health is the outward evidence of an inner truth. Prayer doesn’t change reality, or exchange one form of reality for another. It is the confirmation of Truth’s, God’s presence and the permanence of health in God’s creation. Healing prayer affirms what is real and true, and physical, mental, emotional and spiritual healing confirms the truth. Jesus said, “To this end was I born… that I should bear witness unto the Truth.” (John 18:37)The same goes for each one of us. Healing is normal to the Christ. It is not a special talent or unique dispensation given to some and denied to others. Christian healing – Christian Science healing - is the natural confirmation of God’s presence and power – His Christ - here and now reflected in us. Helpful? Can you think of someone who could be helped by this blog? Please share.
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 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  There is a "don't miss" conversation going on at Time4thinkers.com. "Radical Acts" is a summer project - online and ecumenical - inviting anyone and everyone to take one of 18 of Jesus' toughest teachings and to live it this summer. One of these teachings is to befriend lepers, prostitutes - so-called undesirables or untouchables - and the comments and stories being shared on this subject are unbelievably powerful. Melody Colliate is one who has committed to living this radical act. She blogged: "What makes someone undesirable? Their physical appearance? Their actions? Does God see people as undesirable?  "I once had a roommate who I thought was 'undesirable.' This girl had a strong, opinionated attitude, and she was not afraid to show her full emotions and judgments toward people. I was quick to judge too and our interactions included many eye rolls and snotty glares. "I did what I could to change the situation and we ended up in separate rooms. But a week later I heard an angel voice telling me that I needed to befriend this girl so that I could grow..." What she did next was pretty remarkable. And the sharing in the comments section after her post will warm your heart and impel you to stretch your love muscles - finding no one is out of reach. I left a comment, too. I told a story that I also shared last Christmas in a post - an unforgetable experience of reaching out and touching someone who hadn't been touched in a long time.  About ten years ago I was scheduled to lecture in Vero Beach, Florida. Sunday morning before the lecture, I attended a local church. As we rose to sing, a homeless man entered the auditorium. Looking around, he spotted me sitting on my own and made a bee-line to sit next to me. It was clearly his first time in this church. I helped him with the hymnal and showed him how to follow the order of service. A few minutes into the worship, he became very restless and agitated. He smelled strongly of alcohol and appeared to be struggling with withdrawal. I reached out and took his hand. He became very still as he clutched mine. For the rest of the hour he barely moved. I had the sense that he hadn't had such human contact for a really long time and was afraid that I might let go. I couldn't let him go. My heart wouldn't let me. I held his hand for the entire service. At the end, he turned to me and said, "I love you." Then he made his way to the lobby where he was greeted by the church members.  Meeting this man was a gift. I thought about his courage. He broke through the resistance to attend a service at a church he had never visited before, to leave the bottle and his shopping cart full of his belongings outside, to enter even though he was unbathed and didn't know what type of reception he might receive. This man entered the church, sat next to me and gave me the gift of his presence. He loved me and gave me an opportunity to love him right back - simply by taking his hand in mine. This experience changed forever how I think of loving one's neighbor, and of the healing impact of touching the so-called "untouchables." Matthew tells of Jesus healing a man of leprosy simply through breaking cultural and religious laws that restricted human contact with a person in that state. The Message (Eugene Peterson) says, "A leper appeared and went to his knees before Jesus, praying, "Master, if you want to, you can heal my body." Jesus reached out and touched him, saying, "I want to. Be clean." Then and there, all signs of the leprosy were gone." Fear of contagion or of critics was nothing to Jesus when it came to loving and healing. No one was beyond his touch. Jesus was a true friend.  If you are interested in this, or other Radical Acts we're focusing on this summer, check out these links: 1. BE childlike. 2. BEFRIEND lepers, prostitutes, “undesirables.” 3. CAST the beam out of your own eye. 4. CHALLENGE Pharisees. 5. DO GOOD to people who hate you. 6. FEED the hungry, clothe the naked, shelter strangers, visit prisoners. 7. FORGIVE 70 x 7. 8. HEAL the sick, cast out evil, raise the dead. 9. LIVE more abundantly. 10. LOSE your life to find it. 11. LOVE your neighbor as yourself. 12. MULTIPLY loaves and fishes. 13. SEEK the kingdom first — don’t worry about food/drink/clothing. 14. SELL what you have - give to the poor. 15. TAKE up your bed and walk. 16. TRAVEL without a wallet. 17. WASH someone’s feet. 18. WALK on water. Love it? Please share it. 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 3/16/2012 Salt is good Did you know that pure salt cannot lose its savor? The saltiness may be diluted when it is mixed with other ingredients, but the salt itself remains pure and powerful. According to Christ Jesus, "Ye are the salt of the world." You are a pure and essential manifestation of good.
In Jesus' time, salt had many uses. It gave luminosity to a lamp when added to oil, prevented food from spoiling, and was sprinkled on sacrifices. 3/12/2012 Pearls, swine and judgment Are there people in your life who are not worth the time of day? Some who just don't deserve to be loved, prayed for, given a helping hand?
If you can imagine, that is how Christ Jesus' words about not casting one's pearls "before swine" are sometimes interpreted. His exact words according to the King James translation are: "Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you." Matthew 7:6 So who or what are the swine?  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? 12/1/2011 Contagion. Is hand washing the answer? A blog reader asked, "Is hand-washing to eliminate potential sickness-causing germs an expression of divine wisdom ?"
"'Tis the season to be jolly," goes the Christmas carol. But I know someone who pre-plans sick days for the month of December because he expects to get sick every year about this time. The airwaves are full of recommendations on prevention - from shots to hand-washing. Yet every season many of those who follow all the latest medical recommendations contract whatever cold or flu is passing around. Christ Jesus was a master healer. But his healing work wasn't accomplished through following human health codes. He touched the untouchables and healed them of their diseases. (See Matthew 8:2-3) When his disciples were accused of breaking a religious requirement to wash their hands before eating, Jesus explained, "Not that which goeth into the mouth defileth a man; but that which cometh out of the mouth, this defileth a man." (See Matthew 15:1-11) 11/15/2011 "Stomp your foot" prayer Sometimes you just have to put your foot down when you pray. At least that is what I learned when our Labrador puppy started showing the symptoms of detached retina and hip dysplasia - two conditions apparently associated with her breed and bloodline.
I was pretty overwhelmed at the prospects of life with a blind, crippled "horse" of a dog in my home. I wanted to pray about this - wanted to see it healed through prayer. But I was finding it difficult not to be pulled down into the problem. So I did what I often do when I feel stuck. I went back to the basics and studied Jesus' approach to praying - The Lord's Prayer as recorded in Matthew's gospel. Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures takes a line-by-line look at the underlying spiritual message of this prayer that emphasizes God's sovereign power over creation and our right and ability to pray with authority.  This post was published online by the Christian Sentinel and can now be read on the JSH online website. Don't forget this blog is for you! Your questions and ideas that you would like to see addressed in future posts will be gratefully received! You may also wish to visit my: WEBSITE HOME PAGE TOP OF MAIN BLOG PAGE LINKS TO MY OTHER PUBLISHED CONTENT |
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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