The members of the Christian Science community in Canberra share their experiences and thoughts on Christian Science:
One of my roles in the years just before I retired was to organise the annual regional conference for the large state government department I worked for. These events were attended by over 300 participants and included one main keynote speaker and approximately 48 breakout sessions. Planning took many months. In order to secure an exceptional keynote speaker, it was necessary to book at least twelve months in advance.
This particular year I managed to secure a booking with someone I knew to be not only at the forefront of his specialist area, but an excellent and engaging speaker. He was pleased to be asked and at the initial interview we discussed a timeline for when he would give me details of his talk and materials for hand outs etc. During the year we touched base a couple of times and all seemed to be going to plan. However, when we were about a month out from the event he still hadn’t given me the material I was expecting and wasn’t answering my calls or emails.
Eventually I managed to make contact with his support staff. They said that he had been in hospital with a very severe case of pneumonia and even after a couple of months he was not well enough to be back at work. I said I would make contact again in a week or so to see how he was progressing. This time I managed to talk to the speaker himself. He said that although he was still very ill and weak he felt sure he would improve enough to be able to do the talk. We touched base several times over the next couple of weeks but his health was not improving. He seemed keen not to let me down and said that he would bring his wife to support him and possibly do the talk sitting down. He thought then he might possibly manage. This was still the situation, the day before the conference and it was extremely tempting to be very worried. I did not want this dear man to jeopardise his health but I also knew that the opening address was a very important part of the conference.
I have been raised in Christian Science and I’ve learnt over many years that there are spiritual laws that can be relied upon when challenges arise. So I prayed to see things from a spiritual, rather than a human perspective. I knew that this conference was a right idea. Among other things it was an opportunity for participants and presenters to share ideas that worked and to collectively rise to higher levels of performance. I knew that all right ideas are God’s because I have come to know God as infinite Mind and the source of all good. I have also come to know God as Love and that Love is not just a feeling but a divine law. This law ensured the safety of all; this law held everyone in their right place and maintained harmony. I thought on these and similar ideas until I felt a sense of calm – a strong sense that all was well. The night before the conference I slept peacefully expectant of good unfolding.
The following evening was the meet and greet and the conference opening dinner. When I arrived the hall was already abuzz with excited participants. Quickly I noticed that there was quite a gathering of people over near the bar. In the centre of this someone was holding the floor and entertaining a small crowd. As I moved closer I realised that was my keynote speaker. He greeted me with a huge grin. ‘You wouldn’t believe what happened’, he said. ‘You know how I’ve been so sick for the last few months. Well last night, it was like a switch flicked and instantly I was completely well. I haven’t felt this well in years. Look at me now!’ His excitement and enthusiasm spilled over into the group and he continued to entertain them. Needless to say his talk was a great success, as was the rest of the conference.
Every day I am grateful for what I am learning in Christian Science. It teaches me to be calm in the face of challenges; it teaches me to turn away from the human scenario and to acknowledge the spiritual truths; it teaches me that there are spiritual laws that apply to all life and if understood and trusted these laws will adjust any discordant situation.
This recording is of readings on the topic: Life That is Spiritual
Never record ages. Chronological data are no part of the vast forever. Time-tables of birth and death are so many conspiracies against manhood and womanhood. Except for the error of measuring and limiting all that is good and beautiful, man would enjoy more than threescore years and ten and still maintain his vigor, freshness, and promise. Man, governed by immortal Mind, is always beautiful and grand. Each succeeding year unfolds wisdom, beauty, and holiness.
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.
The members of the Christian Science community in Canberra share their experiences and thoughts on Christian Science:
Just before the COVID restrictions came into force my sister and I were travelling in the US. At one point we were catching a flight from one of the larger airports. The terminal was extremely busy and there were long queues everywhere. We needed to check in our luggage so we queued at one of the self-serve terminals. There was a cost for each bag and my sister said that it was her turn to pay this time. She inserted her credit card into the slot in the machine and we filled out all the on-screen questions and received our baggage tags. From there we queued again to drop our bags and then joined the long winding queue going through security.
Finally we were through with just enough time to find lunch before our flight left. At this point my sister realised that she no longer had her credit card. We had left it in the self-serve terminal! This was the card that held all her travel money. A good hour had passed since we checked our baggage and with the queues everywhere it seemed impossible that the card could be found. My sister suggested that I wait near the café with the hand luggage and she would go back through to the check-in machines. My job was to stay calm and to pray. I knew my sister would be praying too.
I sat quietly in a corner and turned to God. I have come to know God as the all-knowing divine Mind. The All-knowing I reasoned knew exactly where that card was. I have also come to know God as divine, Father-Mother Love. As a loving parent God protects and guides His offspring. I have had many proofs of God’s loving care in other circumstances and this gave me confidence that all was well. In my prayer I also acknowledged that God’s man is honest. As I thought on these things I felt a sense of peace that replaced any sense of anxiety I had felt.
Within a very short time my sister was back – and smiling! She waved the card at me. ‘ Look what I found’, she said. ‘It was exactly where we left it in the check-in machine.’ My sister explained that she had intended to go to the information counter in the hope that the card had been handed in but she had a very strong mental message not to do this but to go to the terminal we had used and check there. She obeyed this direction and found the card in the slot just where we had left it. We had no human explanation as to how this could have happened given the number of people using the machines. A later check on her card showed that no extra charges had been made beyond our last baggage charge.
For what I am learning in Christian Science and for the peace that these teachings bring I am always grateful.
The members of the Christian Science community in Canberra share their experiences and thoughts on Christian Science:
Prior to these current COVID restrictions I travelled often with my sister. In 2019 she was invited to do a series of Christian Science lectures across the US. I was her support person. It was my job to take charge of the everyday organisational issues such as getting through airports and finding meals in strange cities. More importantly it was my job to prayerfully protect and support her lecturing work.
My prayers were prayers of affirmation, not petition. I acknowledged God as divine Love and as infinite all-knowing Mind. I acknowledged that these lectures were right ideas and as such they were God’s ideas, as all right activity is God’s. I knew that God protected and brought to fruition all His ideas harmoniously. I also knew that all those involved in bringing these lectures to the public were protected in this work and that only good could come of these activities.
On this particular day the lecture went off very harmoniously. The venue was perfect, the audience large and focussed and my sister spoke with such sincerity and inspiration that all were moved by the words. Afterwards we were taken back to our accommodation by one of the organisers. When we arrived the driver pulled up in the driveway and my sister jumped out. For a moment I sat half in and half out of the back seat while I passed bags and coats out to my sister. Without checking whether we were fully out the driver suddenly started forward. My sister immediately called for her to stop which she did. The quick movement of the car jerked me out onto the driveway. I didn’t fall but I landed awkwardly and the car came to a stop completely on my right foot. This wasn’t a small car and the pressure on my foot was immense. I was wearing only my little ‘going out’ shoes and these offered no protection. Because of the prayerful work I had been doing during the day I felt no fear. I also felt no pain. My sister called out to the driver to back up but she became confused about what had happened and asked a series of questions that didn’t quickly result in her taking the necessary action.
Eventually the driver did back up and I was able to pull my foot away. Throughout this I continued to feel calm. Despite the feeling of great pressure, at no point was there any pain or discomfort. As the driver pulled away we picked up our things and headed inside. I can honestly say I did not have a single twinge or any indication that anything untoward had happened. There were absolutely no after effects. I put this down totally to the fact that I had been keeping my thought fixed on the omnipotence of God, good, during that day and all the previous touring days. Christian Science teaches me that what I think is very important in determining the events of my life and my wellbeing. I am hugely grateful for all that I am learning as a student of Christian Science.
Hold thought steadfastly to the enduring, the good, and the true, and you will bring these into your experience proportionably to their occupancy of your thoughts.
A number of Christian Science lectures, including the ones given by my sister on this tour are available on this site. Click on the Christian Science Lectures tab in the menu at the top.
The members of the Christian Science community in Canberra share their experiences and thoughts on Christian Science:
I’m grateful to Mrs Eddy for the Christian Science Journal and Christian Science Sentinel. I subscribe to these periodicals and treasure them for the way people share their thoughts, prayers, healings and experiences about many issues.
An article in a recent Sentinel reminded me that we’re not praying to change or improve God’s already perfect and harmonious creation. We’re praying to acknowledge, understand and claim this fact now and forever. Another article showed me how the writer uses the Lord’s Prayer to do this when praying about the concept of home in what seems to be a time of chronic homelessness all over the world.
He finds that this healing prayer establishes God’s kingdom as ever present. It establishes us as one universal family in our perfect Father-Mother’s harmonious kingdom where God provides for us exactly what we need.
A testimony in another recent Sentinel helped me in thinking about feelings and memories I sometimes have about the actions and behaviour of people in the past.
The writer had become irritated and impatient by the actions of a friend. When praying it occurred to her that this friend might be struggling in some way and need tenderness and support. Frustration was replaced with humility as she repented for her lack of compassion and her heart was filled with sweet love for her friend.
The writer refers to a gentle message that she found especially encouraging – from the third verse of hymn 278 in the Christian Science Hymnal.
Healed is thy hardness, His love hath dissolved it,
Full is the promise, the blessing how kind;
So shall His tenderness teach thee compassion,
So all the merciful, mercy shall find.
I realised that this is how I should be thinking and praying, rather than mulling over what I think are past hurts and injustices.
The members of the Christian Science community in Canberra share their experiences and thoughts on Christian Science:
My family was just about to complete a posting with the Australian Government in Zimbabwe. We had spent a happy three years there and I was now looking forward to returning to Canberra. One evening my husband came home from work and told me that he had resigned from the Australian Government and that he didn’t want to leave Africa again. He had decided that we would go to South Africa where we both had Permanent Residence. It was a bombshell and to be honest, I was very worried about the move as previously I had found it difficult to live in South Africa. I realised that I needed to get my own fears out of the way and just trust in God, good, and know that whatever was right for our family would be revealed.
When we got to South Africa, we had no home, no vehicle, knew no one and it was raining non-stop! I must admit that the human picture was daunting! My husband and I decided that he would go and look for a car to buy and to keep dry, I took our two young girls to spend the afternoon at the city library. While we were there, I met a lady with a little girl the same age as my daughters. She was very friendly and welcoming and it was a very happy encounter.
The following morning, we went to the local Christian Science Church for the first time and took the girls down to the Sunday School. Who should be in the class but the little girl from the library! This just seemed such a wonderful example of God caring for all of us – it was if God was saying – don’t worry, I know exactly what you need and I am going before you!
Back in Zimbabwe, I had decided that I would trust this whole move to God. This encounter in the library was just the beginning of wonderful provision. The next day was the last day of the school year and we needed to get the girls enrolled in schools. We were aware that in South Africa, it is necessary to enrol your child for Kindergarten in good time as there are long waiting lists. However, at the first school we went to, an unexpected vacancy had occurred that very morning and my daughter was interviewed and offered the place. My younger daughter was given a place at the pre-school next door. We then found a small town house to rent in the same road.
Later in the week, my husband was interviewed and offered a place at the university to start a course which was being offered for the first time. Throughout the time that he studied, I was able to find work which paid our living expenses – many things I had never done before but which all fitted in with caring for the girls during the school holidays – I taught pre-school, recorder groups, English and study skills to groups of Eritrean students and ran science courses for teachers from rural areas. It was indeed a time of growth for us all.
Sometimes changes seem to be forced upon us. This experience really showed me that whatever comes our way, God is always with us and knows exactly what we need.
Best of all, when the time was right, we did get back to Canberra!
Where you’re going, Love will lead you. Where you’re walking, Love will guide.
The members of the Christian Science community in Canberra share their experiences and thoughts on Christian Science:
I am truly grateful for the teachings of Christian Science and how it throws light on the holy scriptures as we find them in our Bible.
Before being introduced to Christian Science I had some education in the Bible, having attended a protestant Sunday School. I was also aware of old testament Bible stories through reading from a precious old book given to my dear mother in the days when she was young. That book which I loved to read was presented to her by the Salvation Army where her mother was a Salvation Army officer, and a very saintly woman.
Also, I greatly enjoyed reading and because of the age and remoteness of our living there were no public libraries available or lending libraries in the schools. I don’t remember knowing anything much about the New Testament and the works of Jesus or his purpose of being sent to earth.
When I was in my late teens, I witnessed a beautiful healing when my mother sought help in Christian Science. With the prayerful help of a Christian Science practitioner who prayed for her she was able to rise from the depths of despair into the clear pure light and lift up her voice in praise to God.
Gradually Christian Science literature began to appear in our house, and out of curiosity and the desire to help my mother, as well as find out what was going on, I started to read it. What I found was that I loved the logic of it, as step by step the articles unfolded the Christian Science way of interpreting the Bible.
This logic of the teachings still impresses me and reassures me that all things are possible to God and to glorify Him in my heart. Over the intervening years I myself have had many proofs of the power of God’s goodness. Combined with the logic and the growing understanding of God’s love for His precious children, I have been healed permanently of headaches, protected when driving, quick and harmonious child birth, safety during bushfires raging up to our home to mention but a few instances.
The words from the Doxology (Christian Science Hymnal – hymn 1) come to my thought and I will share those words:
Be thou, O God, exalted high, and as Thy glory fills the sky, so let it be on earth displayed, Til Thou art here and now obeyed.
The members of the Christian Science community in Canberra share their experiences and thoughts on Christian Science:
I grew up in Zimbabwe, and when I was 10 years old started boarding school. I found moving between the boarding hostel and home unsettling, and for many years struggled with the concept of home. Wherever I lived, I wanted to (or thought I should) be living somewhere else. I lived in Zimbabwe, South Africa, England and Australia and spent time travelling in other countries, but never felt settled and this really bothered me.
In 1985 I moved to Australia and in 1992 was posted by the Australian Government to Zimbabwe. At the end of my posting, I was strongly drawn to living in South Africa where I had strong family ties and had studied and worked for a few years.
When I moved to South Africa, I thought I had found my place. But, after about ten years when things weren’t working out because it was difficult to find employment, the restless feelings that I should be living somewhere else returned. I started praying to know that home is not a material location or physical structure, but a state of mind in which we are at one with God – at home and in our right place all the time wherever we are. As Paul says, “For in him, we live and move and have our being” (Acts 17: 28).
Browsing in my local Christian Science Reading Room one day, I came across a pamphlet called PLACE. It has four lovely articles from past Christian Science Sentinels and Journals around being in our right place, home and employment – drawing from the Bible, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy, and her other writings. They were all really helpful.
Then one evening while out walking my dogs, the idea came clearly that I should apply for jobs outside South Africa. Over the next few weeks I applied for jobs in Europe, the Middle East, New Zealand and Australia. I was offered three interviews, and then positions in the Middle East and Australia. I prayed to know which to accept, and it came to me clearly to accept the job in Australia. As with all these kinds of decisions – when it is right, there is an incredible and indescribable feeling of peace.
A few months later when I landed back in Australia, I felt I had returned home. That feeling of being at HOME and in my right place has never left me since then. I have had no feelings of restlessness or that I should be living somewhere else.
I am very grateful for being led through Christian Science to an improved understanding of HOME and for the lovely way this has been manifested in my experience.
This recording is of readings on the topic: God is Love – Can We Ask for More?
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God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him. (The Bible – I John 5: 16)
“God is Love”. More than this we cannot ask, higher we cannot look, farther we cannot go. (Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy p6: 17-18)
Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another. (The Bible – I John 4: 11)
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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.
In Canberra the lengthy COVID restrictions are now being eased. Thank goodness! As we approach re-opening and a more normal way of living and interacting, it’s important that we make sure all we’ve been through in the last 18 months has not been in vain.
We can think of these months of social isolation in two ways – as an awful time that was so hard, so lonely and often scary, or, as a unique opportunity. Could anything else have given us the opportunity to stop the busyness of everyday life, be still, and re-evaluate how we’ve been living in this world and treating one another? That initial decision as to how we’re going to think about this time, is immensely important because it dictates the failure or success of our experience ahead.
The repercussions of the initial decisions we make was brought home to me in a very dramatic way. My husband and I and our two young girls were holidaying, staying in a country motel. It was the very darkest time of night, we were all deep asleep when the oldest girl, who normally slept very soundly, for no discernible reason, suddenly woke up. As we were settling her back down, we smelled smoke. My husband looked out and saw the bushes beside the building on fire. Being ex-army he jumped into action and began hosing down the flames, but then realised the underside of the building was also alight. That’s when he found the whole of the underneath of the motel, which was fully occupied, was also on fire, and the rooms were starting to fill with smoke. We roused everyone and soon the fire was being put out. When the police arrived, they said it was an act of deliberate arson and five minutes more the floors would have collapsed into the flames.
Fear was starting to govern everyone’s thinking as they realised that through the evil actions of others, they had all nearly been killed in their sleep. It was at that point I realised we had a decision to make. There was another way of looking at the situation. It was that, even in the middle of the night when we were all sleeping the most soundly, even then we were alerted, saved and kept unharmed, that even in that extreme situation evil could not win. It was that option that we voiced to the group, and when we did, the atmosphere tangibly changed. Feelings of fear and vulnerability were replaced with a deep sense of safety and protection. Too, instead of my daughter feeling frightened, she felt the exact opposite, she felt like a hero.
Afterwards when I was thinking about what had taken place, I realised that in the weeks leading up to that holiday, I had been doing a lot of praying. Praying to me is not a pleading to a far-off God for benevolence, but a deep, conscientious recognition of the divine goodness ever-present in our lives. Tuning our thought to all that is right and good and loving is a bit like practising our maths calculations – we get better at it and see more right results appear. To me that’s what God is, the Principle that makes life work right and brings out those good results.
As we now move forward into this new way of living, recognising the good we’ve all had the time to focus on and practice, can help us feel assured that good results lie ahead for us. Through this period, haven’t we all been diligently and selflessly caring for one another in being isolated and law-abiding? Haven’t we had the time to rethink how we value our families and community? Haven’t we all been re-evaluating how we can better care for our planet? The basis of this thinking is love, and the Bible defines God as Love. Thinking rightly and acting lovingly is like doing our maths correctly, it assures us of good outcomes. It gives us the assurance that our futures will work out rightly.
This way of thinking about God, life and ourselves is Christianly scientific. If you’d like to look into this powerful healing way of thinking then visit the beautiful official website christianscience.com.
Christian Science Canberra 