God is the Truth

By Anthony Whitehouse CS

Taken out of a metaphysical context the statement, “God is the truth," seems like one of those overarching edicts which sound nice but don’t seem particularly relevant to day-to-day living. Even Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor given the job of examining Jesus’ guilt seemed totally non-plussed by the whole question.

The issue of truth arose, as we read in the Gospel of John, in the following exchange which took place between him and Jesus.

John 18:37 Pilate therefore said unto him, Art thou a king then? Jesus answered, Thou sayest that I am a king. To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth. Every one that is of the truth heareth my voice.
John 18:38 Pilate saith unto him, What is truth?

As one says in today’s parlance: Pilate just did not get it. He did not understand the significance of Truth in its metaphysical context. To be honest neither did I appreciate the real importance of Truth until a rather remarkable healing occurred recently.

At the end of 2014 a lady (not a member of our church) visited our reading room. We had several discussions about Divine Science and how it effects healing. She was assiduously reading and studying both the lesson sermon and Mrs Eddy’s text book, Science and Health with key to the Scriptures. On one occasion she remarked to me that she was concerned for her daughter. Despite being very well qualified she was unable to find work. My response to her was quite simple. “Your daughter has qualities given to her by God, so someone is going to find those qualities attractive.” And that is where the conversation ended.

A few weeks ago she reappeared in the reading room, her face covered smiles, indicating that she had some good news. I assumed that her daughter found a job. “Not at all”, she replied. “She became pregnant, and she is thirty-seven.” I rejoiced with her and marveled at this news but then she added “But you have no idea how much of a blessing this is. The doctors had told her that it was physically impossible for her to conceive”.

Again I rejoiced, but after she left the reading room I began to consider carefully the whole unfoldment that had just taken place, the sharing of truth and the subsequent blessing which had occurred. My quandary was that the sharing had been effortless, without any intent on my part save to share the truth as I knew it. I knew this daughter had to be blessed but I had not outlined what the blessing would be, but the healing nonetheless occurred. Furthermore none of actors on this stage could claim it was «their» healing because it had occurred without a specific directed effort to overcome sterility. That it was God’s work was very clear to all!

For several days I prayed hard to understand the lesson of this healing because this blessing had occurred whereas other issues I had been working on had not been resolved. What lessons could I take away from this occurrence which I could apply in the future?

After a couple of days I was able to see this healing in its correct light. It became clear to me that Truth had been shared and Truth had implemented itself. I had not been concerned with its implementation because I had no consciousness of the challenge of infertility. I was uniquely concerned, as was her mother, with the Truth of this daughter’s true being and her God given talents as they were bestowed by God.

But I then had to ask myself “Why is just the knowing of Truth so powerful”. Immediately the answer came back “Because God is Truth”. Then I understood: when we know Truth we know God. If we have the Truth, we have God. This is the point that Pilate had not been able to see. Neither had I , up until this point. The widow of Zarapheth understood the importance of truth when she saw her child healed by Elijah declaring “Now I know by this that thou are a man of God, and that the word of the Lord in thy mouth is truth” 1 King 17:24.

Up until the arrival of Jesus on the human scene God was seen as some superhuman mensch who appeared from time to time to effect miracles and behaved in a somewhat mysterious manner. Jesus however cast God is a very different light indicating that God was entirely spiritual and not the slightest bit human or whimsical. He was a perfect state of Mind which just did not countenance error in any form. All of which help us understand Jesus’ admonition «Be ye perfect , even as your Father in heaven is perfect». Mrs Eddy, the founder of the Christian Science church defines God in her textbook Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures as Life, Truth and Love. A man is not Life Truth and Love but he reflects Life, Truth and Love. We are like musicians who play music but in our spiritual construct the music we express is these spiritual qualities. And guess what? If we are to be children or expressions of God that is exactly what is required of us, the expression of Life, Truth and Love.

What makes the expression and understanding of Truth especially important and critical to healing is that it enfolds the operation of divine law. Mrs Eddy came to understand that if you understood the nature of God it would displace, as a matter of law, the apparent claims of evil which appear as sin , sickness and death. Why? Because Mrs Eddy realised that these errors could not stand in the place of God, Truth as a matter of law. For example, if you know you have money in the bank no one could ever convince you that you were poor. The truth is that you are wealthy and no counter argument could prevail precisely because you knew the truth about your financial situation.

You can take the same logic and apply it to metaphysical facts. If, for example ,you understand the truth that God is the exclusive power in your life ( which is a divine truth ) then you not only understand that no other power can operate to your detriment but you understand this as a matter of divine law. A conviction then appears which is supported by truth and by law and this necessarily heals. Many find this difficult to take on board because it appears to be slightly strange but it is no more strange than the truth that boats float. There is a law of buoyancy there to support boats even though it is somewhat curious. But why question the existence of the law? The point is that we should take advantage of it.

Hence we begin to understand why Truth is a vital element in the healing process. The object of Christian Science practice and healing is to understand or figure out the particular truth or nature of God which displaces error. Sometimes we are only too well aware of the truth because we have encountered the problem before. Sometimes it appears to be a novel issue we have not come across before but we have at our disposal two great books in the Bible and Science and Health which help us unpack the truth we need to know. Anyone who has ever read the fruitage section of Science and Health will realise that there are few problems which have not been healed in these pages.

However in all travails we must never forget that the understanding of God ,which necessarily involves the truth about His nature, is what we are really all about. If we understand God then we necessarily understand the nothingness of sin, sickness and death because they have nothing to do with His nature. It is for this reason Jesus advised «3 And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.» John 17 Jesus understood the truth about God’s nature and it was this understanding which made him the Christ. By the same measure it is our understanding of Truth of the nature of God which also blesses and gives us the kingdom, free from sin, sickness and death.

Are you a Planet or a Plan-It?

By D. Michael Day

When I was in elementary school our report cards not only captured our grades, but also listed social skills that were monitored by the teacher. These included items such as being neat and clean; tardiness; being prepared; listening; etc. They were not “graded” but simply had a small box for the teacher to add a checkmark indicating, “Needs Improvement”. My dad teased me when I got a check mark next to “Whispering in class”. He said, “Don’t you know how to whisper?” I recall receiving a lot of checkmarks in the column, “Using free time wisely”, an indicator of things to come because I was pretty much on my own schedule of things I wanted to do and the time I felt was available for me to achieve them.

Fast-forward to this past weekend when many of us were able to observe an unusual event called a “Super Blood Moon Eclipse”. This rare occurrence is when the moon is closest to the earth at the same time as a full eclipse and because of light refraction causes it to have a reddish glow. We knew the exact time the eclipse would start and stop, from where it could be seen and what to expect. We were also cautioned not to be late and miss it because this would not occur again until 2033. The exact date and time can again be precisely calculatedMrs. Eddy tells us the, “Suns and planets teach grand lessons.” (240:7), but also reports, “The planets have no more power over man than over his Maker, since God governs the universe; but man, reflecting God's power, has dominion over all the earth and its hosts.” (102:12)

Does it seem strange that we can learn grand lessons from the things over which we have dominion? The teacher can learn from the student since the demonstration of principle is the same in each. But how about the word planet (plan-it); is there a difference in the controlled and the controller?

Here I will insert one of Mrs. Eddy’s writings (Mis 230:1-21) entitled IMPROVE YOUR TIME:

     “Success in life depends upon persistent effort, upon the improvement of moments more than upon any other one thing. A great amount of time is consumed in talking nothing, doing nothing, and indecision as to what one should do. If one would be successful in the future, let him make the most of the present.

     Three ways of wasting time, one of which is contemptible, are gossiping mischief, making lingering calls, and mere motion when at work, thinking of nothing or planning for some amusement, — travel of limb more than mind. Rushing around smartly is no proof of accomplishing much.

     All successful individuals have become such by hard work; by improving moments before they pass into hours, and hours that other people may occupy in the pursuit of pleasure. They spend no time in sheer idleness, in talking when they have nothing to say, in building air-castles or floating off on the wings of sense:  all of which drop human life into the ditch of nonsense, and worse than waste its years.”

Apparently moving around smartly (over planning) can be just as bad as moving around foolishly (bad planning). This is another name for scheduling. Can you imagine the moon rushing ahead smartly so it wouldn’t be late for the next eclipse, or the sun changing the revolution of the planets so the days would be longer in summer or shorter in winter? The planets are in perfect alignment and perfect operation. So why is it one man never seems to have enough time, while another has time on his hands? Isn’t it the way we artificially fill our calendars with human to-dos rather than letting spiritual assignments unfoldment? We set our own timetables, our “Alarm” clocks (who wants to be motivated by constant alarms and crises)? Do we fill our days or fulfill our daze (adding unnecessarily to the commotion demanding our attention)?

At the end of the day can we look back and see how much material good we’ve accomplished compared to the spiritual progress we have made. Are we (and those we strive to bless) any better off for the time and effort we expended? If God is planner of the planets, shouldn’t we allow him to be the planner of our existence and schedule? He is a time and planning efficiency expert, par-excellence!

When we take our rightful place as a planet, revolving effortlessly, without friction, around the central sun (divine Mind) in the heavenly universe (the kingdom of heaven/harmony) operating entirely under the direction and omnipotence of God (not our own self-propulsion or false deadlines) we are experiencing perpetual motion, which can only be achieved when there is no resistance. We give up the false concept of ourselves as a plan-it, trying to regulate our own needs, speeds and course, trying to accomplish a self-imposed and often impossible material goal with little or no degree of success. Insistence is futile.

A well beloved and often repeated poem goes:

I am in the spot where God shines through (he assigns a time and space for me, my appointed place)

for He and I are one, not two. (not two conflicting, opposing minds debating on overlapping agenda items)

He wants me where and as I am (I am properly suited and prepared for every task He delegates to me)

so I’ll not fear nor fret or plan. (I will exclude outside interference or influence in my thinking or experience)

If I’ll just be relaxed and free (the moon reflects what it receives. It doesn’t create anything itself nor do we)

He’ll carry out His plan for me. (He carries us, we don’t carry the burden, we don’t “achieve” anything)

Jesus asks, “Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature?” (Matt 6:27). It follows that we cannot reduce our stature by thought, neither can we accomplish or eliminate any material activity based on personal expenditure of time, effort, physical gyrations or mental machinations. We accomplish nothing of ourselves for we are simply the mirror, the reflection of God’s calendar of events. We cannot move time ahead by moving the hands of the clock, neither can we, by our own hands, accomplish anything God has not ordained for us. Accomplishing an erroneous task is no accomplishment at all.

So let’s think a little bit about predestination or fate. Some religions believe that God has given man “free will”. This is described as the power of acting without the constraint of necessity or fate; the ability to act at one's own discretion. Here, man has the freedom to act as he chooses, but is subject to retribution in retaliation for making wrong choices. What do Christian Scientists believe? Are we under the same positive and absolute control as the planets or is there some latitude for self-determination? Do you think Jesus was controlled by God, was his preordained fate sealed even though he asked that it be removed from him? How about Saul/Paul, Moses, Noah to name just a few? Were they not given specific assignments and timetables to achieve God’s plan for humanity as His representatives on earth?

Aren’t we governed the same way, perhaps unseen and unknown, but the still small voice is always there, whether hidden by cloud or human comment, we are always being directed along our pass in a timely progression. Does traffic slow us down, a rainstorm, a stoplight, an indecisive driver ahead of us, a detour, an event seemingly out of our control? This is not an impediment to our schedule, but part of God’s infinite plan for us to be at the right place and at the right time of His appointing. It is up to us to a knowledge the opportunity and express the truth that we of been freely given to bless others in need around us. Perhaps it delays us from our self-appointed schedules, but we are never too early or too late for God’s expression where it is needed. For the love we express brightens the path of others whom we may not know and is either reflected back or shines forward as part of our continuous expression of God. His will, His schedule, His plan is all that exists and nothing on our agenda can ever interfere with the divine expression, infinite, omnipresent and omnipotent. As a child I needed parental approval before acting. Nothing has changed.   

There is no detour nor distraction for God so there can be none in our experience either. Diversions to human planning are often expressed as God’s direction superseding our man-made agendas. Obviously if we have not left sufficient time to respond as a “Good Samaritan” when needed along the way (to demonstrate the allness, the all-in-oneness, the all-inclusiveness of God and man) God intervenes for us.    

We experience great relief, rest and can be completely at peace when we accept, as Jesus did, the inevitable, “Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done” (Luke 22:42) which is a fulfillment of Mrs. Eddy’s Manual requirement of the Sixth Tenet, “And we solemnly promise to watch, and pray for that Mind to be in us which was also in Christ Jesus; to do unto others as we would have them do unto us; and to be merciful, just, and pure.” It is useless to carry someone else’s cross and we could not if we would. Our sole duty is to God. Listening to his agenda will take the fret, frenzy and worry from our experience and false, self-imposed burdens completely disappear.

Jesus’ observation, “I can of mine own self do nothing” (John 5:30) will help us “do more” than was ever humanly possible before. It is a divinely authorized and completely attainable agenda for all mankind.

God's Emergency Plan

D. Michael Day

We have great proof of God’s dear care for each beloved child.

He holds each one of us so near, the prodigal, the wild.

God has a plan to get us home if we have gone astray,

Desire in an emergency will help our find our way.

Immersing is like stepping down into Bethesda’s pool,

its waters stirred by angel’s touch, but you must heed the rule

to be the first one stepping in to have your ailment cured.

Imagine waiting there for years, your malady endured.

Submergence is the second step as John the Baptist did

to purge the heart and soul of sin, your consciousness to rid

of every thought and deed impure, to wash your garments clean,

to agitate the dust and dirt, removed it can’t be seen.

Emergence is the second birth, we must be born again

of water and of spirit if we wish to enter in

the kingdom of our God and of his Christ, and of our Lord.

When Love reigns in our consciousness it shows in deed and word.

Insurance or Assurance, which policy is yours?

God’s tides of Love flood human sense and beat upon Life’s shores.   

Immerse, submerge, emerge our thoughts, reveals the perfect man.

Nothing else could e’re replace God’s Emergency plan.

D. Michael Day 9/19/2015

Author’s note:

We often hear that everyone should develop an emergency plan, a hurricane or tornado plan, an evacuation plan, a disaster plan, a recovery plan, etc. It includes the preordained steps we intend to follow in the event of an emergency or accident.

Man’s definition of “emergency” is quite unlike God’s and is usually only invoked in dire straits.

It occurred to me that God probably has an emergency plan for man, where men can reach out in his extremities and constantly be assured that God has a secure preordained plan for His child’s protection.

God’s definition of “emergency” is like an ongoing three-step process of baptism by the Holy Ghost.

First we must immerse ourselves, stepping into the purifying pool of divine science with confidence, similarly to the Israelites as they stepped into the Red Sea, the first ones getting their robes wet before the waters divided.

Second we must submerge ourselves completely in the substance of spirit, washing every nook and cranny to free materialistic imperfect thought, dust to dust or the Adam man and leaving man cleansed and free of impurities.

Finally we must emerge, as Jesus told Nicodemus, we must be born again of water and of spirit. To be as a ship borne upon the water is to be carried above the water, to float above the material senses and emerge into the spirit, the atmosphere of Truth and Love. During this continual process of imerging, submergence and emergence (entering, being enveloped and rising “leavening”) we are daily cleansed and washed clean. This is the only “Emergency” Plan God recognizes, the constant, ever-present purification or baptism of mankind (no accidental start or heroic finish involved).

A Letter Home

D. Michael Day

On page 16 in the Science and Health Mrs. Eddy gives us the spiritual sense of the Lord’s prayer. She takes each individual idea and interprets it from a metaphysical basis to give us a clearer sense of Jesus’ words. Recently many of our branch churches and even The Mother Church has included citations from some of the newer translations of the Bible which are helpful in putting these important passages into a clearer context for us to understand in modern language. I thought it be interesting to do the same thing with the Lord’s prayer and wondered how a college student, perhaps away from home for the first time, might be writing to stay in touch with their parents. Perhaps their letter sent home to their parents might go something like this:

Our Father which art in heaven,  

Our Father-Mother God, all-harmonious,

Hi Mom and Dad, Thanks for staying in touch. I’m glad to hear everything is going so well at home

Hallowed be Thy name.  

Adorable One.

Being away for the first time, I realize how grateful I am to have such wonderful parents as you.

Thy kingdom come.  

Thy kingdom is come; Thou art ever-present.

It’s so easy to close my eyes and know that my home and family are always with me in my heart and my consciousness no matter where I go or how far away I travel. It’s like you’re always with me.

Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.  

Enable us to know, — as in heaven, so on earth, — God is   omnipotent, supreme.

I just wanted to say how grateful I am for my upbringing and the values you instilled in me. It’s almost like you are with the each day guiding me when I am gone the same way you did when I was there.

Give us this day our daily bread;  

Give us grace for to-day; feed the famished affections;

And thank you again for my allowance. The check really came in handy and I know it was sent with love so I could purchase those extra goodies whenever I seem to run low. I never lack for anything.

And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.  

And Love is reflected in love;

I know I can never repay you for all the wonderful things you have given me and for setting me on the right path so I am paying the debt forward to everyone I meet, just as you would want me to.

And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil;  

And God leadeth us not into temptation, but delivereth   us from sin, disease, and death.

The kids up here are doing a lot of questionable things which seem to be popular, but I can clearly see past the influence of such destructive behavior. The spiritual foundation you gave me shelters and protects me and my friends from anything trying to disrupt our good relationship.

For Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever.  

For God is infinite, all-power, all Life, Truth, Love, over   all, and All.  

I realize now that the upbringing you gave me at home is more important to my life and career than anything I will learn in college. The basis for happiness is not formal education, but the power of infinite wisdom, a clean mind and heart, living a life of which I can be proud without regret, never lying, cheating or being deceitful, and learning to see loving qualities in everyone, not just my friends, but all with whom I come in contact. College doesn’t make you smart, good choices do. I love you and feel your presence with me every day. 

Thank you forever. Well I guess that’s All for now. Your loving son, J.

No comfort, no healing

by Anthony Whitehouse CS

There is an aspect of Love which we forget at our peril and without which healing hardly ever appears.

It is the aspect of Comfort.

When we feel love we should also feel comforted. It is therefore true to say that unless we feel comforted we have not really felt the power of love.

And yet how often do we make protestations of Love and worship at its altar and yet overlook that unless comfort is also present we have worshipped in vain?

Do you have a sense of Comfort? Then if you do, you have understood the meaning of love and you are in God’s presence.

If we are in great distress, looking for healing that healing is never going to appear unless we address the discomfort that illness, sin or error has carried with it into consciousness. It does not really matter what the error is, whether it is a heart problem or general disenchantment with church affairs. Both challenges have the same effect. The rob us of mental comfort and introduce a sense of mental discomfort.

So, does the divine Mind operate with a sense of discomfort? Obviously not! Divine Love, Mother love always brings with it a sense of comfort because Mother love is always comforting. We need to understand this in order to do away with the discomfort and allow that sense of comfort to permeate our being and thinking. No amount of meditation on any metaphysical truth will heal without a comforting sense of God’s presence because God’s presence IS a comforting sense.

If we find ourselves under severe mental attack, in mental distress or paling under the stress of some job that needs to be done and which we find we cannot do, again it is because we have not nurtured and cultivated enough the “ comfort” which is the principal component of spiritual sense.
How can you feel troubled, stressed, distressed, tormented, hate and fear if that sense of comfort is there? It is a hard to actually demonstrate the value of harboring comfort unless you actually take the trouble to do it. You know you are not doing it because of the legions of evil which appear without it.

So take time today to cultivate a sense of comfort. The Mother Love which is God will appear with it because that is exactly the identity of comfort. When evil appears in the form of a “ an imaginable evil such as looming tornado” you can look it in the face and have such a robust sense of comfort that the evil will melt away. You will have found your God.

Hymn 174 (from the Christian Science Hymnal) really nails the question in just a few words

Like as a mother, God comforteth His children,
Comfort is calm that bids all tumult cease
Comfort is hope and courage for endeavor,
Comfort is love , whose home abides in peace.

God or Good is ALWAYS true

By Anthony Whitehouse CS

If we forget that

•  the nature of God /Good is always good
• Man is always the likeness of God and perfectg
• Harmony always reigns
• Supply is always at hand
• God is always present

then what happens is that existence then takes on a temporary sense of being material and human. To destroy the temporary nature of human existence and the temporary sense of evil we must insist upon the truth that God is ALWAYS present.

The only reason mankind has gotten into trouble is that in defining God ( and man is quite capable of accurately defining God ) man has forgotten or set aside the critical issue of God’s nature i.e. that the nature of God is ALWAYS true.

Forget the ALWAYS bit and immediately you are plunged in a temporary human framework.
All of which makes the attainment of the kingdom a lot easier , does it not ? Just keep the ALWAYS bit in mind

God bless

Humility – Humanly or Divinely Directed?

By Stirling Watts CS

Humility – Humanly or Divinely Directed?