These readings are from the Bible (KJV) and Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy. They are on the topic of: Thy Will Be Done.
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I love Thy way of freedom, Lord,
To serve Thee is my choice,
In Thy clear light of Truth I rise
And, listening for Thy voice,
I hear Thy promise old and new,
That bids all fear to cease:
My presence still shall go with thee
And I will give thee peace.
(Christian Science Hymnal 136 – V1)
… be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.
Be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love; in honour preferring one another;
Be of the same mind one toward another. If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men.
(The Bible – KJV: Romans 12: 2, 10, 16, 18)
An interview with George Nutwell and Carlos Machado.
Click here to listen to this interesting podcast.
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Have you ever thought that meekness might be an antidote to violence? This week’s guest, George Nutwell, has come to realize that the kind of meekness Jesus lived was the strength by which he defeated and overcame violence. Listen in as George shares with host Tony Lobl how we can live this meekness, too.
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Who is a wise man and endued with knowledge among you? let him shew out of a good conversation his works with meekness of wisdom.
But if ye have bitter envying and strife in your hearts, glory not, and lie not against the truth.
This wisdom descendeth not from above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish.
For where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work.
But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be entreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy.
And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace of them that make peace.
(The Bible KJV – James 3: 13-18)
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And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.
(The Bible KJV – Romans 12: 2)
A member of the Christian Science community in Canberra gives thanks.
Recently I started reading a book by Christian Science practitioner Myrtle Smith. The book is titled “The Songbird Sings Before the Dawn” and has three parts to it. The first part is about Gratitude, the second is concerned with Angels and the third part is called The Practice.
Within the Gratitude section she makes mention of how much we can be grateful for; how much we can be thankful for. Some of the simple things – our privacy, our education, our thoughtful neighbours and friends, the simple act of being able to set the table for a meal.
She also relates a story of a meeting with another practitioner who had asked a person he was working with to make a list each day of the things they could be grateful for and to send it to him each day. The next day he received a letter with a 16 page gratitude list.
I have taken that suggestion and have started to write each day some of the things for which I am grateful. My daily list doesn’t run to 16 pages, but in doing so it is making me more considered and grateful for what I have. While I might not have been ungrateful for what I have I do recognise I have been remiss in not acknowledging and giving thanks for the good in my life.
Myrtle Smith also makes mention of Peter Henniker-Heaton, a man who had been discharged from the army when his legs became paralysed. His healing took ten years. When he was finally out on his own walking on crutches he met a man on a bus and the conversation turned to being grateful. The apparently somewhat grumpy man said to Peter Henniker-Heaton he (Henniker-Heaton) must be grateful to be here, to which Henniker-Heaton responded “No, I am here because I was grateful.”
I am not losing anything in my life by taking time to show a bit more gratitude. I am not losing anything in my life by being a bit more thoughtful and considered and giving thanks.
In the preface of Science and Health With Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy she states “To those leaning on the sustaining infinite, to-day is big with blessings.” (Page vii line 1).
It is in this spirit of ‘Leaning on the sustaining infinite’ and acknowledging the origin of all the blessings that I am giving more than passing or mere lip service to, and gratitude for, all that is in my life.
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The lecture by Myrtle Smith titled: The Power of Thanksgiving – The Songbird Sings Before the Dawn can be listened to here.
Wednesday Testimony Meeting Readings.
This recording is of the readings on the topic: To Listen and 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)
God is the fountain of light, and He illumines one’s way when one is obedient. The disobedient make their moves before God makes His, or make them too late to follow Him. Be sure that God directs your way; then, hasten to follow under every circumstance.
(Miscellaneous Writings 1883-1896 by Mary Baker Eddy p117)
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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.
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This is the first verse of a poem titled, Feed My Sheep, by Mary Baker Eddy, the Founder of Christian Science. It is included in the Christian Science Hymnal with a number of tunes.
I had to learn humility the hard way! I was ice-skating with my granddaughter one evening. I am not a very good skater and I was doing my best to keep up speed and glide. At one point I noticed that the rink was populated with young people, and a little pride crept in that I was out there even though I am a grandmother.
Well, a few more turns around the rink and then down I went. My wrist was badly hurt.
My go-to in times of need has always been prayer. In this case, a wake-up call about pride was my biggest take-away from my prayers. After about two weeks, I could still not move my wrist. Then, one day in humble prayer, it came to me that all of us out there on the ice were children of God, expressing the joy, strength, and energy of divine Life. Our true nature is not defined by a certain age and personal abilities. Instead, it appears in our reflection of God’s qualities.
I was very humbled by this thought. In his book “Mere Christianity,” C. S. Lewis, the Christian apologist, refers to pride as “the complete anti-God state of mind.” It suggests the possibility of a selfhood or ego apart from God, the one true Ego. It is a way of thinking that denies the onliness and allness of infinite good.
Click here to continue reading, or listen to, this article by Elizabeth Crecelius Schwartz published in the Christian Science Monitor Daily. In it Elizabeth describes more of the thinking that then led to a quick and complete healing of the injured wrist.
Christian Science Canberra 