This article was originally published in the Christian Science Monitor Daily 28 December 2023 issue. It is by Stephen Humphries a Monitor staff editor.
Is peace an attainable ideal? In a poem later adapted for the carol “I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day,” Henry Wadsworth Longfellow lamented:
And in despair I bowed my head; “There is no peace on earth,” I said; “For hate is strong, And mocks the song Of peace on earth, good-will to men!”
I’m sometimes tempted to feel that way when I read the news. But when I recently interviewed Jeremy Arnold, author of “Christmas in the Movies,” he recommended a 2005 release that illustrates how peace can unexpectedly materialize.
In “Joyeux Noël,” set during World War I, soldiers shiver inside snowy trenches on a battlefield in France. It’s Christmas Eve. When a German soldier starts singing “Silent Night,” French and Scottish battalions across enemy lines perk their ears to listen. A Scottish bagpiper starts to accompany the German singer, who boldly clambers over the parapet and walks into no man’s land. Soldiers from each of the trenches cautiously follow. After negotiating a cease-fire, the soldiers show each other pictures of their spouses, share food, and play soccer.
“Joyeux Noël,” which is French for “Merry Christmas,” not only dramatizes the famous temporary truce of 1914, but also examines its aftermath.
“When the governments and the military establishments of … all three countries heard about this truce, they were livid,” Mr. Arnold says. “A lot of these soldiers were rotated out because now their enemies were humanized and they didn’t want to kill them anymore.”
The film movingly shows how thousands of men were transformed by the Christmas spirit, says the author.
When Longfellow wrote his aforementioned poem during the American Civil War, he acknowledged how easy it is to feel helpless about peace. But he countered it with a message of hope about how we may one day sing together.
Till ringing, singing on its way, The world revolved from night to day, A voice, a chime, A chant sublime Of peace on earth, good-will to men!
… Then pealed the bells more loud and deep: “God is not dead, nor doth He sleep; The Wrong shall fail, The Right prevail, With peace on earth, good-will to men.”
A Daily Lift by Scott Preller a Christian Science practitioner and teacher.
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In this brief podcast Scott reminds us that the real message of Christmas is timeless and, if we notice, we can experience the great blessings of Christmas everyday.
A member of the Canberra Christian Science community writes …
Sometimes friends ask me why I am a Christian Scientist. I tell them it’s because it brings me both joy and comfort. With it I feel more able to cope with the challenges life inevitably presents me with. I feel as though it helps me to make better informed decisions, to recognise the qualities that make life ‘work right’, and it teaches me that there are spiritual laws that if followed bring harmony, healing and a sense of security to my life.
The Bible tells me that God is Love (I John 4:8). It also tells me that man (meaning all of us) is the image and likeness of God (Genesis 1: 26, 27). It is reassuring to know that my true nature is Love which is expressed in a myriad of shades – in gentleness, kindness, forgiveness, selflessness, unselfishness, affection, empathy, generosity, loyalty, courtesy and many more. I know from the Bible also that God’s love is unconditional. It is not influenced by race, or religion, or gender. The rule of Love then is that we also must love without bias. This is in fact the Golden Rule: to love another as oneself. Is this not the kind of thinking that would make the world a better place? Is this not what the world needs more of? Love is not just a feeling, it is in fact a law. When we follow this law of Love then we bring harmony into our lives.
Through Christian Science I have also come to know God as Truth and infinite Mind. I have learned to take each of these descriptors and to live them – to be honest because I am the reflection of Truth; to be thoughtful and act intelligently because I am the reflection of Mind. When these spiritual qualities become my core values then this spiritual discernment enables me to make better decisions when choosing friends and a life partner, or employment, and even the politicians I vote for. These are just some of the reasons I love being a student of Christian Science.
by Christine McHale was originally published in the April 6, 1992 issue of the Christian Science Sentinel.
My introduction to Christian Science was in college through a dear friend whose daily example led me to begin reading Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy along with my study of the Bible. I will never forget those first glimpses of light and the transformation they brought to my life. It is with great joy that I give thanks for the healings I’ve experienced through an ever-growing understanding of God and His image, man. As Christ Jesus said, “Freely ye have received, freely give.”
A short while after beginning my study of Christian Science, I hurt my ankle. A nurse who examined the injury told me that it was badly sprained. She wrapped the ankle, provided me with crutches, and advised against putting any weight on the foot for a while. After returning home I opened Science and Health, not quite understanding what I needed to do, but feeling a new, childlike trust that God would care for me. After reading for some time, I found that this trust had deepened into conviction.
I did not know then how to pray about the injury or give myself Christian Science treatment. I just continued to read Science and Health, and my concern about my ankle faded. I immersed myself in the beautiful ideas expressed in this textbook, revealing for me a tender, deeply loving God who is “a very present help in trouble” (Psalms). For the first time, I began to see this as a practical promise—I could appeal to God’s law under any circumstance, even for a physical difficulty.
By the next morning, the ankle was still discolored but I was completely free from pain. I was able to walk on the foot easily. Over several more days the ankle returned to its normal appearance.
Later I became aware of another healing that also took place around that time. Continue reading …
This recording is of the readings on the topic: To Listenand Obey
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Shepherd, show me how to go O’er the hillside steep, How to gather, how to sow, — How to feed Thy sheep; I will listen for Thy voice, Lest my footsteps stray; I will follow and rejoice All the rugged way.
(Feed My Sheep – Hymn 304 V1 from the Christian Science Hymnal – words by Mary Baker Eddy)
This article by Emily Byquist was originally published in the February 23, 2015 issue of theChristian Science Sentinel.
It was the 1960s, and the Vietnam War was raging. Like many members of my generation, I was opposed to the war and very much wanted to help bring it to an end. I felt impelled to pray about the conflict, but it was hard to believe that the prayers of one individual could have any real impact on such a formidable problem.
Click hereto read, or listen to, the full article. In it Emily explains how, through prayer, she managed to disfuse several inharmonious and confrontational situations in her everyday life. This gave her confidence that her prayers for peace on a larger scale could be effective.
Christian Science Canberra 