What would Christianity of the kind that Jesus, the original Christian, lived be like if it were practiced today? Original Christianity simply loved; it loved gently, powerfully, universally. It met the human need right where that need was without judgement or limitation. It acted with the deepest, genuine humility – Jesus said, ‘Of my own self I can do nothing.’ It was not political. It had no robes, rituals or riches.
It loved with a divine love so transforming that it healed, or solved the human need, no matter what that need was – poverty, sorrow, sickness. It gave us an understanding of God that was not humanistic. ‘God is Love’ (The Bible – 1 John 3:23) lifts our sense from a limited, masculine, judgemental, far-off, traditional concept, to one that envelops us in a feeling of infinite closeness and care. To truly practise Christian worship we must live love for Love is the law of life that will bring, ‘on earth peace, good will to men.’ This is the type of worship that is at the core of Christian Science practice.
Real love reduces fear and that is the love that is most needed right now. It is needed for the current economic and public health crisis as well as global concerns about racial injustice.
The Bible quote “God is love” appears near the front of almost every Christian Science church, including in The First Church of Christ, Scientist, in Boston, the headquarters for the denomination.
To the degree that we love God with all our heart, soul, and mind — to that degree will our hearts and hands be moved by Christ to meet the needs of our brothers and sisters.
Our church is committed to spiritual healing, which endeavours to see the image of God in everyone. “Great charity and humility is necessary in this work of healing,” wrote church founder Mary Baker Eddy. “The loving patience of Jesus we must strive to emulate.” Healing can’t be approached dogmatically, Christian Scientists emphasise. Christian Scientists are always free to make their own health choices. Healing is about giving gratitude to God, who is love, and learning to acknowledge more of this saving presence.
The Christian Science church in Canberra has at its heart a great love for its community and shares an understanding of God that has brought healing and happiness to the lives of many. Anyone in need of some love and prayer, is welcome to come and visit.
(This article was contributed by Beth Packer, a Christian Science practitioner of healing and an international speaker on Christian Science and spiritual healing.)
The members of the Christian Science community in Canberra share their experiences and thoughts on Christian Science:
A few months ago I was attempting to pump some oil from a bottle that had a plunger top. The plunger was jammed and I gave it a hard bop to unstop it. This caused a very large glob of oil to shoot straight into my left eye. The pain was instantly intense. I immediately tried to wash it out but the oil was made not to wash off easily in water. For a few moments I struggled with the extreme sensation.
As a student of Christian Science I have studied the Bible and the textbook of Christian Science, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy all my life. There are many passages from these texts I turn to in order to bring me calm in times of challenge. Although I didn’t remember the exact words of this passage from Science and Health, I did remember the substance of it. It states:
When an accident happens, you think or exclaim, “I am hurt!” Your thought is more powerful than your words, more powerful than the accident itself, to make the injury real.
Now reverse the process. Declare that you are not hurt and understand the reason why, and you will find the ensuing good effects to be in exact proportion to your disbelief in physics, and your fidelity to divine metaphysics, confidence in God as All, which the Scriptures declare Him to be(p397).
I turned my full attention to this idea and straight away I felt calm and the pain quickly stopped. As the day wore on though, my face began to swell, I lost vision in that eye and it closed over. The next day my face was in an even worse state but there continued to be no pain. I held to the view of myself as a spiritual idea and not simply a mortal body. I continued to pray. It felt as though this situation was some kind of bad dream from which I was waiting to wake up. The following morning I was no better and if I pulled my eye open I could see nothing.
I spent this morning studying the weekly Christian Science Bible Lesson (passages from the Bible and Science and Health). There was one sentence from Science and Health that stood out to me: … the dreamer and dream are one, for neither is true nor real (p530: 27-29). When I read this I realised I had been thinking of myself as a dreamer – someone who was dreaming this bad dream. This passage was telling me there was no dreamer. If there is no dreamer there can be no dream. I loved this idea. I understood it in a way I hadn’t done before. Suddenly I felt joyous and happy, and I forgot to think about my face anymore. I had planned to meet a friend for coffee that afternoon so I kept the appointment and I met up with her. We talked for over an hour. Not once did she mention my face. I looked in the mirror when I got home and I realised that all was normal – even my vision was normal. That night I attended a big family dinner – no one could even tell which eye had been at issue.
I continue to be immensely grateful for what Christian Science is teaching me about my true spiritual nature and of my dominion over the claims of this material world.
Judge not, and ye shall not be judged: condemn not, and ye shall not be condemned: forgive, and ye shall be forgiven: (The Bible – Luke 6: 37)
Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy.
But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;
That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust. (The Bible – Matthew 5: 43-45)
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Every Wednesday at 6.15pm a Testimony Meeting is held at the Christian Science church in Canberra (corner of Macquarie and Bligh Streets, Barton). At these meetings short readings on a particular topic are followed by time for members of the congregation to share how they have been helped and healed through prayer.
Everyone is welcome. If you are in Canberra on any Wednesday, please join us.
This recording is of Wednesday Testimony Meeting Readings on the topic of Forgiveness.
The members of the Christian Science community in Canberra share their experiences and thoughts on Christian Science:
One morning recently one of our cats appeared to be quite unwell. When I checked him I noticed that his face was extremely swollen and he had a deep open cut above one eye. He showed signs of being in pain and was quite distressed. This cat is quite a wild creature; he does not permit us to handle him and taking him to the vet wasn’t really an option.
In our family we are used to solving problems through prayer so I knew that this situation needed clear prayerful thinking. For me prayer is not a matter of asking God for help but of affirming spiritual truths relating to the situation. In this situation I made a point of looking away from the disturbing material picture and I held firmly to the idea that this dear kitty was in truth a spiritual idea, and a spiritual idea cannot be injured. I also reminded myself of the several healings he had experienced previously.
In Christian Science we are taught to hold to the spiritual truths despite the material evidence. If we understand and trust these truths that we are claiming then the physical situation adjusts. Holding on to the spiritual truth about this kitty helped me to stop worrying about him and to trust his care to divine Mind. I thought on these ideas until I felt a sense of peace.
Within the hour he was up and around and behaving normally. All signs of swelling had gone and the cut above his eye was healed to the point that I couldn’t even tell where it had been. He had no further ramifications from this incident.
A Daily Lift by Jutter Hudson, a Christian Science nurse
In this 3 minute talk Jutter describes how she used the idea of a circuit breaker to interrupt the constant flow of disturbing news regarding the pandemic and other world events. This helped her handle these ideas calmly and enabled her to feel she could be a force for good in the world. She gives an example of a healing of a family member that resulted from this circuit-breaking thinking.
A new 3 minute inspirational talk is shared each day Monday-Friday. To listen to more click on the Daily Lift tab in the menu above.
Christian Science Canberra 