Michelle Boccanfuso Nanouche, CSB Christian Science Practitioner & Teacher
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2/21/2013

Perking up Bible Lesson study

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I recently received this request:  "Help me find understanding in the [weekly Christian Science Bible Lesson], as when I read it I feel confused. People will say to me, 'Oh, wasn't that a wonderful lesson on happiness?' or something, and I can barely remember what it was about. If I read it 4 times I still don't get it... I feel stupid."

RESPONSE: Nah, you aren't stupid. Like anything, Bible study takes practice and tools can help.  When I first attempted a regular study routine, I didn't think I got much out of what I read either.  But actually, good stuff was getting in (and coming out in my life) without my realizing it. The discipline of sticking with it, even when it was difficult, helped me became more familiar with the layout of the Bible. And although I, too, often couldn't pinpoint an overriding theme from the Lesson, certain passages did tend to stick with me or pop back into thought when I needed them.

But to begin to really enjoy the study, I tried different things that helped me find more substantial meaning. I learned off the bat that it's not important what the lesson may mean to others. It's important that it mean something to me.  If your Bible study is in a rut or if you are having difficulty staying focused, you might try one or more of these ideas which helped me to perk up my study life.

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Appendix B
  • In the back of the big Complete Concordance to the Writings of Mary Baker Eddy is an Appendix B that list the Bible citations Mary Baker Eddy used in her other writings (Prose Works, Poems and the Church Manual). There is an appendix B for the Science and Health part, too, but often those passages appear in the Bible Lesson already. I found it helpful to look up whatever Bible Lesson citations appear in other places in her writings. This further reading can help expand the application of a Scriptural passage in new ways.

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Www.bible.cc
  • Online comparative Bibles can be very helpful, too. I have worked with many over the years. But my current favorite is www.bible.cc.  If there is a verse that seems "Greek" to me, I look it up on that website and find another translation that is more understandable. It's fun to look up well-worn passages, too, for a fresh take on the familiar. A lovely feature of this site: When you click on the translation you like, it takes you into the text so that you can read the entire passage in context.  At the bottom of each individual citation page there is a collection of highlights from various Bible commentaries that sometimes offer helpful background and context for the passage, too.

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Mybiblelesson.com
  • One of my favorite tools for studying the Bible Lesson is the mybiblelesson.com version available by online subscription (you can get individual Lessons, too) through the Christian Science Publishing Society. My Bible Lesson is designed for youthful thinkers and readers - I figure that alone counts me in. It is colorful and has sketches and captioned photos and research that I find helpful to expand on the ideas.  I also like the format of having the Bible passages appear to the left of the page, and correlative passages from Mary Baker Eddy's Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures on the right. I find this layout particularly helpful when I try to identify why and how a particular passage from Science and Health illumines the spiritual sense of a Bible passage or story.

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Mark the books
  • Much as I enjoy the tools available for reading the Bible Lesson in printout form, nothing beats putting in my metal markers and using blue chalk to prepare my books for study. There is something about glimpsing what I will get to study during the week that gives me a feeling of anticipation and expectation of good. And that half hour I give myself on Sunday afternoon to prepare the books pays big dividends all week long. The ideas that have most meaning for me from the study often aren't even in the lesson. They are in the verses above or below the marked passages, or on the opposite page, that leap up and smack me with insights that meet my need. That's when the study stops being "the" Bible Lesson, but becomes "my" Bible Lesson - God's Word speaking to me.

I frequently receive questions from readers of this blog concerning Bible study.  How do you keep your study fresh and alive? Feel free to share in your comment below.

I hope you enjoy this blog. And if you do, I doubly hope you will share it!

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Katie Brotten
2/21/2013 01:29:46 am

Lovely! Very helpful.

Michelle Nanouche
2/21/2013 01:59:37 am

Good. Glad!

Sue
2/21/2013 04:14:11 am

Many thanks for these really helpful tips. Especially about marking the books. Food for thought there!

Michelle Nanouche
2/21/2013 06:29:09 am

Great! You are welcome.

Kim
2/21/2013 05:21:21 am

Thanks for the great ideas, Michelle! So nice to see you in my inbox again.

Michelle Nanouche
2/21/2013 07:04:49 am

That's the fun of subscribing to the blog. You get these things hot off the press - typos and all! I am happy to be blogging again, too. Thanks, Kim.

Cassie Coston
2/21/2013 06:43:58 am

Beautifully conceived and helpful sharing! This blog posting will be a catalyst for a lot of good. What a lovely way of being open to God's infinite grace and "allied with the deific power" where all that is good "aids our journey. " (Unity of Good 17:4) Thanks Michelle!!

Michelle Nanouche
2/21/2013 07:06:29 am

Yes! I hope the tips will keep rolling in. Thanks!

Lea
2/21/2013 06:46:36 am

Thanks for info about bible.cc. It has so much in it.
I like to read the Lesson for one or two days to see what I can get out of and then read the article in the C.S. Sentinel about that Lesson. I make notes in my Quarterly so that I'll be reminded of the main points in the article as I continue to read the Lesson through the week.

Michelle Nanouche
2/21/2013 07:09:39 am

Great idea. Sometimes when I get super excited about an idea, I save that quaterly and use it for blogging ideas. The blog is my filing system for inspiration. But before I blogged, I used to tuck those notes in a loose leaf Bible under the citation or story.

Kathleen
2/21/2013 06:46:52 am

Reading the Bible Lesson daily is like going to class, a time to commune with God. Sometimes I don't get very far into reading the Lesson when I come upon one citation that really resonates with me. I may ponder it for a long time until moving on with the rest of the Lesson. Sometimes, that one verse is as far as I get. That one thought may stay with me all day, and, I believe, is an idea from God pertaining to what I am working on metaphysically at the time.

Another tool readers may find helpful is biblegateway.com where one can type in a Bible citation, and read different versions in modern Bible translations. I especially like reading The Message and The Amplified Bible's interpretation of Bible verses.

I, too, mark my books, and I can't imagine reading the Lesson any other way. It gives me the opportunity to continue reading an entire chapter for a fuller account of the parable or Bible story. Or my eyes may fall on another verse or citation on the same page that speaks to me.

Often, before reading the Lesson, I pray for divine guidance, and I thank God, Mrs. Eddy and the Bible Lesson Committee for their gift to us. And thank you, too, Michelle, for highlighting this important subject.

Michelle Nanouche
2/21/2013 07:11:05 am

Yes, Bible Gateway is another terrific free resource. Such great ideas and sharing from you all!

Lisa link
2/21/2013 08:34:33 am

When I was a soloist I had to read the Lesson discerning that one idea or phrase (that I could then find in a solo!) that would encapsulate the entire message of the Lesson. I felt that the solo set the stage for the congregation to slip right into the Lesson and know from the start what they were hearing, even if the Lesson was new to them. It was sometimes a challenge, but it really made me dig in each week to find out what that one overarching idea might be.

Michelle Nanouche
2/21/2013 08:51:39 am

Good one, Lisa. Goes to show that sometimes reading the lesson with an eye on helping others, we see things clearly. Thanks!

Ginny link
2/21/2013 09:32:22 am

When I specifically read the lesson out loud to the whole human family along with the reading the Christian Science Daily News Brief, God's loving perfect truth about nations, peoples, solutions to conflict, environmental harmony and revelations of peace, unity, understanding and harmony become clear to me and I can say, "All is well; "all is under the control of the one Mind, even God." S&H

Michelle Nanouche
2/21/2013 09:45:24 am

Unselfed love opens up the reading. Thanks, Ginny!

Tamara
2/21/2013 09:57:29 am

I started studying the Bible Lesson daily when I had to prepare myself for a very difficult exam to get into college. At that time God sent me a very clear message: "Girl, if you want to pass that exam you should start studying the Bible Lesson every day." This preparation lasted a whole year and produced great results, far beyond the expected.
Studying the Lesson for me was like playing a game: My role was to find the messages that God had prepared me for that week, which was not always easy. If I didn't find the messages on the first day, I still had 6 days to find them!
After that, studying the Lesson turned into a natural daily habit. Today I still playing my games with the Lesson; the difference is that they have become more creative!

Michelle Nanouche
2/21/2013 12:56:41 pm

You are proving that Bible study can (and maybe should) be fun.

Betsy
2/21/2013 08:27:19 pm

Such helpful ideas! I also enjoy reading the "Met" notes(short for metaphysical) from The Cedars Camps (CS camp in Missouri) Every week one of several practitioners gives a helpful "commentary"(?) on the lesson, explaining to young people some of the key points, explanations of Bible stories, etc. I've been reading it for years along with MyBibleLesson. However, three weeks ago I started marking and reading the lesson out of my books and it has felt like "coming home". It has been possibly 20 years since I've read from the books. It just feels good and so open. I can read before and after and inbetween to get the full context.

Michelle Nanouche
2/21/2013 10:46:34 pm

Hey Betsy, do you have a link for that Met notes?

Michelle Nanouche
2/22/2013 01:17:33 am

I found it! http://www.cedarscamps.org/metaphysical/

Nancy
2/22/2013 10:30:41 am

This is wonderful, Michelle. I'm so glad i found it on fb yesterday and left it open on my screen to get back to today. Love the B section idea...don't think I've thought of that much. My favorite thing over the decades has been to highlight the absolutes/spiritual facts if I'm using the Full Text, a PDF or a printout. But it is always nice to mark the books... thanks so much all of you for such really good ideas!

Michelle Nanouche
2/22/2013 10:48:19 am

Another good idea to stay focused. Thanks for sharing, Nancy!

Brenda DePersico link
2/25/2013 06:00:25 pm

Just found this,Michelle. Loving it! Tks commenters! When I use full text I use a green highlighter to mark all that God is doing. a diff color for what I am asked to do and then compare. I also read and ask "what does this heal/reveal?" I agree about reading from the books!!


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    Michelle Nanouche, Christian Science teacher, spirituality, healing, prayer

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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
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    After impaling my foot
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    I prayed the way I had learned
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    Within moments
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    By the next morning the wound had disappeared completely.
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