A Daily Lift by John Tyler
In this 3 minute podcast John talks about how people are often identified by their lineage. Nowadays information from DNA tests is frequently used to find out more about an individual’s identity and health prospects. John refers us to the Bible which tells us that God is our creator, our Father-Mother, and he gives an example of how he was healed of a condition, that was supposed to be inherited, by claiming this divine heritage.
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.
The members of the Christian Science community in Canberra share their experiences and thoughts on Christian Science:
This article was originally published in the December 2011 issue of the Christian Science Journal. In it the writer, a member of the Canberra Christian Science community, shares how she overcame loneliness and cultural differences when she moved to a remote area of Indonesia to teach English.
She writes: My first two weeks in Singkawang, West Kalimantan, were traumatic. …
It took two weeks, but finally I turned to prayer. And then I felt I had something familiar to lean on. I loved the idea of setting aside time for God every day at sunset, which most people around me did. The local mosque sat just across the road, and I decided to mentally join in the melodious call to evening prayer. My room faced a vividly green rice paddy, and I would sit on the balcony to read and pray, looking down at the men praying in the mosque, and watching sparrows flitting in the rice paddies, waiting for the enormous, jungled mountains to fade into darkness.
Finally, I felt the peace I was searching for. I glimpsed that God, Truth, is relevant in every nation, culture, and situation. I prayed to recognize those around me as my brothers and sisters, our differences dissolved by the understanding that we all shared the same Father-Mother God. As I continued to pray, my perspective gradually changed, and my loneliness and frustration melted into love and fascination.
Click here to read the full article where the author explains the spiritual reasoning that led to this being a happy and rewarding experience, and one where she grew in her appreciation of the true brotherhood of man.
Wednesday Testimony Meeting Readings
This recording is of readings on the topic: Love One Another
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Be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love. If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men. Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.
(The Bible – Romans 12: 10, 18, 21)
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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.
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Unselfish ambition, noble life-motives, and purity, – these constituents of thought, mingling, constitute individually and collectively true happiness, strength, and permanence.
(Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy p58)
The members of the Christian Science community in Canberra share their experiences and thoughts on Christian Science:
A few years ago, my wife and I and our two daughters flew from Canberra to Cape Town in South Africa to spend Christmas with my family.
We set off from Canberra without any problems and landed somewhere in Australia – I forget where – to connect with our international flight to our next stop in Johannesburg. Wherever it was, we were delayed and very late taking off.
We arrived in Johannesburg very late – about midnight – and missed our connection to Cape Town, so the airline arranged for us to fly the following morning and put us up in an airport hotel for the night.
We collected our luggage and walked out of the airport terminus to wait for the shuttle bus to take us to the hotel feeling tired, hungry and harassed. When we arrived at the hotel and were in the queue to check in, I couldn’t find my small backpack with all our passports and travel documents and knew I’d left it at the airport terminus where we boarded the shuttle bus. My immediate feeling was despair because Johannesburg was known as a crime capital and I’d previously misplaced things there and never had them returned.
My wife and I follow the teachings of Christian Science, and when I told her what had happened, she immediately started to pray, as we are taught in Christian Science, to know that God’s presence is everywhere, so there is no room for anything else. We talked about God’s nature as only good, loving, honest and caring and as being the only qualities that everyone, everywhere could express. I began to feel a lot less fearful.
The shuttle bus was still bringing people to the hotel, so I boarded it, continuing to pray, and returned to the airport terminus pick-up point. I asked the people waiting there if they’d seen my bag and someone said they thought someone had taken it to the hotel.
When I got back to the hotel, there was my wife, with my bag, and the person who had found it. We thanked her and quietly thanked God for his tender, loving care.
I am very grateful for the way Christian Science teaches us that we can always pray to God in times of need.
Mary Baker Eddy writes in her book Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures (pp 12,13) “In divine Science, where prayers are mental, all may avail themselves of God as “a very present help in trouble.” Love is impartial and universal in its adaptation and bestowals. It is the open fount which cries, “Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters.”
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Self-forgetfulness, purity, and affection are constant prayers.
(Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy p15)
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Gratitude is much more than a verbal expression of thanks. Action expresses more gratitude than speech.
(Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures p3 by Mary Baker Eddy)
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Are we really grateful for the good already received? Then we shall avail ourselves of the blessings we have, and thus be fitted to receive more.
(Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures p3 by Mary Baker Eddy)
When the heart speaks, however simple the words, its language is always acceptable to those who have hearts.
(Miscellaneous Writings 1883-1896, p262 by Mary Baker Eddy)
