Our gratitude is riches, Complaint is poverty, Our trials bloom in blessings, They test our constancy. O, life from joy is minted, An everlasting gold, True gladness is the treasure That grateful hearts will hold.
Words by Vivian Burnett, Christian ScienceHymnal, No.249
In this 3 minute podcast Deborah talks about how developing a habit of recognising the good in her life – the big and small things – helped her to move out of a very dark time.
The Christian Science Church – a part of the Canberra community. Members share testimonies and talk about their lives as Christian Scientists.
This article, Gratitude for Healing – Headaches No More, is by Barbara who is a member of the Christian Science Church in Canberra. She relates how she has found permanent freedom from headaches through prayer and spiritualisation of thought.
Recently I read a beautiful expression of gratitude from a student of Christian Science who related how he had been healed of headaches.
It reminded me that I too had been healed of headaches so many years ago that I had really almost forgotten about it, and that healing has been permanent.
I was a fairly new student of this Divine Science at the time, and had never before experienced an instantaneous healing. My job was such that I was continually dealing with the public, and it was important to be pleasant and attentive at all times. That is not easy with a throbbing head.
I thought about God, the one and only power, and asked myself if I thought that He could have a headache. The answer was no, I did not believe He could. So then I asked myself again if I could possibly have something that God did not have, and certainly could not give me, and remain pure and loving. The answer was still no, and at that moment I was entirely free of any pain. That freedom has been mine for more than fifty years now.
Having said that, I cannot claim that the feeling of a headache coming on has not knocked at the door of my consciousness, but it has gained no admittance. I have confronted it in various ways, such as “get thee hence, Satan”, to use the words of Jesus (Matt 4:10). Satan is a Hebrew word signifying an adversary, an enemy, an accuser; or simply I would say, “I don’t do headaches” which is not very scientific, but I know that I do not have to cover the same ground again, and what God has done is done forever.
In obedience to the teachings of Christian Science I take the advice given in the textbook Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy where Mrs Eddy says, “Stand porter at the door of thought. Admitting only such conclusions as you wish realised in bodily results, you will control yourself harmoniously” p392: 24-27. Similarly, to quote the Bible again, “Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” (James 4:7).
Through the study of the Bible and the Christian Science textbook I am assured that ‘with God, all things are possible’.
The Christian Science Church – a part of the Canberra community. Members share testimonies and talk about their lives as Christian Scientists.
This article, Gratitude for Protection, is shared by Barbara who is a member of the Christian Science Church in Canberra. In it she describes her introduction to Christian Science and a significant instance of protection during a bush fire.
Recently I read a verse from the Bible which I will quote in part, “Whatsoever things are of good report; … think on these things” (Phil 4:8). This verse reminded me of how much good I have to be grateful for in my life. I have come to recognize that our Creator, God, (ever present good) is the one and only source of all harmony for all of His children.
Many years ago I became interested in these teachings through witnessing a remarkable healing which my mother had. At this time, she was suffering from a nervous break-down with strong suicidal tendencies. She herself had heard of Christian Science through her brother who had been healed of a broken neck, and was leading a normal life. She sought the help of a Christian Science practitioner, one who prays, as Jesus did, for the recovery of the sick, or of any inharmony in one’s life.
Gradually literature such as the Christian Science Sentinel and Journal began to appear in the home, as well as the textbook. At first I started to read these, wondering if I could help my mother, and to find out what it was that she was studying. I was so taken by the logic of what I read, that I could not stop reading. This was my introduction to the teachings of Christian Science, and since then I have had daily proof of the omnipotence and omnipresence of God, good.
Apart from daily blessings there have been potentially life threatening experiences where the acknowledgement of God’s law of harmony has saved me and others from grim situations.
One such situation which I would like to share with you is being protected in a bush fire. My husband and I were living rurally at the time, and there were out breaks of fire in the district in a number of places. On this particular day the fire was roaring up from the gully towards several properties and fanned by a wind that seems to drive the fire forward.
The usual precautions had been taken to protect the house, like the grass being cut short around the home, gutters filled with water and buckets of water in place. The only water available was precious tank water. The rural fire brigade must have been elsewhere attending to other fires, and the fire fighters on our property had only wet bags on the ends of long handles to beat the flames as they engulfed the bush and the grass.
The picture was so overwhelming that I did not seem to be able to get a thought that would calm me, and I well knew that it had to be a message from God. I felt like a little child, and the prayer for little children written by Mary Baker Eddy, which I had taught to my children rescued me. It says “Father, Mother, God, loving me, Guard me when I sleep, Guide my little feet up to Thee.” What I got from that was a trust in God that He would guard and guide and all would be well.
Almost immediately we had people as it seemed, just come from everywhere, to assist. Our house and the fire were a goodly distance from the main road, but people just came down the house road with all manner of helpful things. One man came in a small utility truck with a tank on the back full of liquid which he sprayed from a pump. We later found that it was an insecticide, but it helped douse the flames. Others came just as they saw the smoke from the main road. Another man who lived further along the road eventually left us to go and check out his own property, and there were others, and more stories.
Both properties closest to the fire were saved, and of course those further up the hill were also out of danger. There was no loss of life in the vicinity, praise be to God. To me, this is indeed “good report”, and I love to “think on these things”.
Title for these reading was taken from hymn 462 in the Christian Science Hymnal:
When my days are much too busy to find where prayer fits in, / There’s a timeless prayer I can always pray: / Simply praising Him. / Praise the creator. Let all within me sing! / For that’s what I am made to do, and stillness it will bring.
Every Wednesday at 6.15 pm a Testimony Meeting is held at the Christian Science Church in Canberra. Each meeting begins with readings selected from the two books designated as the Pastor of Christian Science: The Bible and Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy. A new topic for the readings is selected each week.
At the conclusion of the short readings the congregation is invited to share thoughts on this topic and relate how they have used the principles of Christian Science to solve life’s problems and bring physical healing.
If you are in Canberra on any Wednesday please join us. Everyone is welcome.
This recording represents the readings on the topic:Let All Within Me Sing.
On Thursday 19 November a Thanksgiving Service was held by the members of the Christian Science Church in Canberra. Many in the congregation gave thanks for the good in their lives:
Gratitude always comes to mind when moving in nature and having close contact with the animal kingdom as there is a certain sense of a universal language of good.
At the moment we are enjoying two horses grazing our paddocks. Last autumn one of them hobbled around on three legs and seemed to be in pain. I spoke to the owner, someone who informed me that she could not afford a vet and could not do anything for the horse. The condition worsened and the leg became very swollen and the horse lost all ability to move around.
When I became aware of this situation early one morning, I felt very alarmed, then went into the house to pray until I saw the right idea of horse. By this I mean that I cleared my consciousness of all that my physical senses were telling me about the situation and instead affirmed the true nature of a horse being foremost a spiritual idea held in a state of perfection within the thought of infinite Mind or God. I spent the next few hours in study of the Bible and Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy and regained a clearer conviction of the eternal Truth that: God saw every thing that he had made, and behold, it was very good (Gen 1: 31).
I also felt the need to pray about home and harmony and became totally absorbed in this Truth of an infinite Love caring for the whole of the universe. The sense that every idea was cared for replaced the dismay I had felt about the sight of this innocent creature.
In the evening both horses were grazing next to each other, the leg soon took on a normal appearance and there was no further difficulty. Several people commented about this surprising change.
On Thursday 19 November a Thanksgiving Service was held by the members of the Christian Science Church in Canberra. Many in the congregation gave thanks for the good in their lives:
Very recently I was listening to a Christian Science lecture in which the speaker outlined a wonderful example of problem solving through prayer, and then went on to share her awe at the overwhelming abundance of the divine solution.
This brought vividly to my mind the first time I experienced this divine ‘extra’ in an answer to my prayer. I was staying alone in an absent friend’s home when over several days I found myself feeling sicker and sicker and weaker and worrying about how I was to get home.
Finally, I looked in a Christian Science Journal for the name and number of a local Christian Science practitioner to help me through prayer. She so readily and lovingly took me under her spiritual wing. I don’t remember now whether the healing took 2 or 3 days but completely healed I certainly was, for which I felt much gratitude, but not surprise, because new as I was to Christian Science, I’d already learned enough to know God’s readiness and love and power were always there. The dazzling remembrance that sprang to my mind when His abundant good was illustrated in the lecture was my trip home a day later. When I presented myself at the airport the clerk said – completely out of the blue – that my seat had been up graded to first class!
Something which had, and has, never happened to me before or since.
A God … abundant in loving kindness and truth (Exodus 34: 6).
This article, Gratitude for Healing – Headaches No More, is by Barbara who is a member of the Christian Science Church in Canberra. She relates how she has found permanent freedom from headaches through prayer and spiritualisation of thought.
This article, Gratitude for Protection, is shared by Barbara who is a member of the Christian Science Church in Canberra. In it she describes her introduction to Christian Science and a significant instance of protection during a bush fire.
Let All Within Me Sing – Readings from the Bible and the textbook of Christian Science, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy.
On Thursday 19 November a Thanksgiving Service was held by the members of the Christian Science Church in Canberra. Many in the congregation gave thanks for the good in their lives:
On Thursday 19 November a Thanksgiving Service was held by the members of the Christian Science Church in Canberra. Many in the congregation gave thanks for the good in their lives:
Christian Science Canberra 