An interview with Kate Robertson
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When trauma seems to have so many lives in its grip, how can we respond in a way that heals, both individually and collectively? Kate walks us through her own healings of trauma to show what Christian Science makes possible.
As one whom his mother comforteth, so will I comfort you:
(The Bible KJV – Isaiah 66: 13)
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Father-Mother is the name for Deity, which indicates His tender relationship to His spiritual creation.
(Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy p332)
Wednesday Testimony Meeting Readings.
This recording is of the readings on the topic: Man – God Expressed
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And God said: “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.”- (The Bible – Genesis 1: 26)
… man is the reflection of God, or Mind, and therefore is eternal; that which has no separate mind from God; that which has not a single quality underived from Deity; that which possesses no life, intelligence, nor creative power of his own, but reflects spiritually all that belongs to his Maker. (Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy p475)
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.
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A member of the Christian Science community in Canberra offered this account:
A couple of weeks ago I came home from shopping to find that our small dog, Tess, was unable to use her back left leg and it hung awkwardly when she tried to walk. I took her out into the garden to see if she might be persuaded to stretch it out and use it but she wasn’t able to.
I carried her inside and together we sat on my bed and I turned silently to God. I was brought up in Christian Science and I have witnessed many healings of both animals and family members and I knew that this was a quick and effective way to meet this need. However, as I sat with her it became very difficult not to be alarmed by the material picture. She seemed to be in so much pain that she was vomiting and just couldn’t settle. I knew that I would not let her remain in this situation and the thought kept coming to me that I should take her to the vet. She seemed so tiny and defenceless and my heart went out to her.
Through experience I also know that prayer in Christian Science gives quick results with no waiting and no side-effects. If this was the case then controlling my thought and handling the situation through prayer was the kindest course of action. Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures is the textbook of Christian Science and in it Mary Baker Eddy, the author, advises:
I determined to look away from the material picture and ask God what I should know about this. The inspirations came. I knew that there is more to life than the body – that all life is God expressed and God is Spirit which is never damaged, is never vulnerable. As I thought on these and other ideas I found my peace and Tess began to calm. Shortly, it felt right to get on with the evening chores. When I stood up to leave the room Tess jumped off the bed and followed me. She was trotting along using all four legs easily. During the night and the next day I watched her racing around and playing happily. There was no trace of any difficulty. I am very grateful for all I am learning through the continued study of Christian Science.
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A member of the Christian Science community in Canberra shared his thoughts on how Christian Science helps him:
Recently I have found myself being very busy trying to achieve the many goals I have set myself. These tasks seemed important and usually came with deadlines. In doing this I have realised that I have let go of my usual focus on spiritual development. As a Christian Scientist there is a commitment to the daily prayer (Church Manual p41):
Thy kingdom come
Let the reign of divine Truth, Life and Love be established in me, and rule out of me all sin
And may Thy Word enrich the affections of all mankind
And govern them
I found that I had almost just been saying the words to the daily prayer, for example, without really having a full commitment to it. I had been studying the Daily Bible Lesson but not with the same degree of commitment or focus as a result of this busy work. I had foregone the focus and commitment to developing spiritually and instead had been focusing on getting this busy work done. The busy work itself had taken over my attention.
Even the busy work – those little goals – weren’t being achieved with the same degree of freedom, the same degree of perfection, I had previously been able to achieve. When I had taken a more spiritual or a more focused attention to the spiritual side of my life there didn’t appear to be such a focus on busy work or human activity, and the busy work didn’t seem so difficult.
In my commitment to Christian Science there is the understanding it is more than just the Daily Prayer or doing the Daily Bible Lesson. It is a commitment to a way of living and that way of living has an impact on what happens. In her textbook Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, Mary Baker Eddy writes (p423):
The Christian Scientist, understanding scientifically that all is Mind, commences with mental causation, the truth of being, to destroy the error. This corrective is an alterative, reaching to every part of the human system. According to Scripture, it searches “the joints and marrow,” and it restores the harmony of man.
The inharmony on display because of the busy work had been brought about by my neglect of the spiritual recognition that all is brought about by mental causation. I had to remember to trust God to give me the order of work – He knew what was important and what needed to be done in what order. It was necessary to find that quiet mental place to pray; to silence the material senses and intrusive noises. Once again I turned to Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, where Mary Baker Eddy writes (p15):
In order to pray aright, we must enter into the closet and shut the door. We must close the lips and silence the material senses. In the quiet sanctuary of earnest longings, we must deny sin and plead God’s allness. We must resolve to take up the cross, and go forth with honest hearts to work and watch for wisdom, Truth, and Love. We must “pray without ceasing.” Such prayer is answered, in so far as we put our desires into practice. The Master’s injunction is, that we pray in secret and let our lives attest our sincerity.
I shall be forever grateful for Christian Science. The study of Christian Science and application to my life has allowed me to make significant long lasting and beneficial changes to my way of thinking and living. Christian Science is to me, an applied, practical science that can be used everyday in one’s life. The application of Christian Science in this instance has allowed me to be free from the constraints of ‘busyness’ and to be much more productive both materially and spiritually.
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A member of the Christian Science community in Canberra submitted this testimony of healing:
I would like to share a healing that I had some years ago that has continued to bless me.
On this particular night, I had washed the removable covers from my lounge suite and spent about three hours ironing the damp fabric before refitting them to the lounge. I had the iron on the hottest setting in an effort to smooth the creases out of the heavy damp linen. By midnight I still had the covers from one chair to do so I decided to leave the ironing board set up so I could finish in the morning. I turned the iron off and then the overhead light nearest to me. This, however, was the only light that was on and I needed to walk back across the dark room. I put my hand out to make sure I didn’t knock the ironing board over but instead put the full palm of my hand on the hot plate of the iron. The pain was immediate and intense.
I had been brought up in Christian Science and had learnt that not looking at an injury helped to allay the fear. I readied for bed without turning lights on and without using that hand. I lay in bed with my hand hanging over the side of the bed unable to sleep and feeling overcome with the pain. Although I thought of myself as a Christian Scientist at this time, I really didn’t live a Christian Science life. I didn’t study and I really didn’t know how to pray. I lay in bed feeling totally miserable. I had taken on this task of washing the covers to distract myself from the sadness and loneliness that seemed to pervade my life at that time. I was recently divorced, I had started a new job which I was finding extremely difficult and stressful, and I was living a couple of hours drive from my parents and friends in a part of the city that socially was very foreign to me. Now I was in pain and feeling totally miserable.
I had been taught that God was Love and that this Love was a law that I could rely on. I didn’t really understand this at this time but in my desperation I turned to this God with a simple: Please help! Almost immediately I felt calm. Somehow I felt a sense of being loved and that all was well. This warm gentle feeling enveloped me and I fell peacefully asleep. When I woke in the morning there was not a single trace of the burn – no pain and not a mark on my hand. I was very grateful and a little surprised. God’s help was so immediate; I felt looked after.
After this, two things happened. The sadness and loneliness dissipated. I learned to rely more on God and came to think of Him/Her as my constant companion – as a guide when things seemed tough. Also since then there have been several occasions when I have inadvertently handled hot things like baking dishes coming out of the oven. Each time I have remembered this first healing and the fear of the burn has left and I have had no pain and no blistering or hurt. Nowadays, although I am not foolish around hot things, if I do come into contact with a hot surface I tell myself: ‘I don’t do burns!’ and that is the end of the matter. I am so grateful for what I am learning in Christian Science.
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God is Love.
(The Bible – I John 4: 8)
Love inspires, illumines, designates, and leads the way.
(Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy p454: 18-19)
.. God does not show favoritism. (The Bible NLT – Romans 2: 11)
God is no respecter of persons: … but in every nation he that feareth him, and worketh righteousness, is accepted with him. (The Bible KJV – Acts 10: 34, 35)
There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: (The Bible KJV – Galatians 3: 28)
Christian Science Canberra 