Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.
(The Bible – Matthew 5: 9)
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… thoughts winged with peace and love breathe a silent benediction over all the earth, …
(Miscellaneous Writings 1883-1896 by Mary Baker Eddy p152: 6)
Let peace begin with me; let this
be the moment now.
With every step I take, let this
be my solemn vow:
To take each moment and live each
moment in peace eternally!
Let there be peace on earth,
and let it begin with me.
(Hymn 521 Christian Science Hymnal)
The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.
He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.
Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.
Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.
(The Bible – Psalm 23: 1-6)
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The rich in spirit help the poor in one grand brotherhood, all having the same Principle, or Father; and blessed is that man who seeth his brother’s need and supplieth it, seeking his own in another’s good.
(Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy p518: 15-19)
‘Love’ what a word!
Isn’t it Love that makes us happy? Isn’t it Love that heals our hurts and fears? Isn’t Love the thing that at every stage of our lives we need in order to flourish and thrive, not just survive?
Isn’t it Love that makes life worth living? Isn’t it Love and only Love that can bring ‘… on earth peace, goodwill to men’?
Golden Rule
Love is what unites us all. No matter what our religion or philosophy, Christian, non-Christian, atheist, sectarian, Love is at the heart of us all. In fact, most great spiritual thinking has the Golden Rule as a core value.
Judaism says, ‘What is hateful to you do not do to your neighbour.’
Buddhism – ‘Hurt not others with that which hurts yourself.’
Sikhism – ‘Treat others as you would be treated yourself.’
Islam – ‘Not one of you truly believes until you wish for others what you wish for yourself.’
In the Christian Bible, Christ Jesus says, ‘… all things whatsoever you would that men should do to you, do even so to them.’
Love for one another is at the core of all of them.
However, this Love that is such a core principle, has to be more than mere human affection. So, what then is it?
What Does the Bible Say?
The Bible does tell us very clearly when it says in 1 John, ‘God is Love’.
For many, that term ‘God’ is variously thought of as the non-physical, all good, supreme Being; the governing benevolent power in our lives and of the universe. Too often though, we can also overlay our sense of God with all sorts of human traits and limitations. But, to think of the supreme, wholly good, governing power of all things, as Love, lifts our thoughts of God beyond the human into something far greater; it lifts it into the realm of the divine. It takes away a sense of the distance and unknowability of God, the humanness and variability, and brings it to the here and nowness, the closeness of Love, of what we already know within the core of ourselves.
A Powerful Force
It makes Love a powerful force in our lives.
Love is the true essence of all religion. This is certainly true of Christian Science. I grew up in Christian Science, but you can’t inherit an understanding of what a religion has to offer. There has to come a point when you decide for yourself that its ideas and Principles are right and good.
Personal Experience
For me it was this sense of God as Love, that helped me see its worth. Like most of us, I went through a period where I felt lost and alone, and very unloved, but it was the inner voice that kept telling me how much God loved me and knew me, that blew away the darkness and brought me into the light – the light of feeling loved. It literally transformed me.
In fact, the founder of Christian Science, Mary Baker Eddy, has made Love an essential quality for being a Christian Scientist. She said, “Christian Scientists, their children and grandchildren to the latest generations, inevitably love one another with that love wherewith Christ loveth us; a love unselfish, unambitious, impartial, universal, — that loves only because it is Love.” (Pulpit and Press p21:1)
Original Christianity
It’s a high ideal to live up to, but no less a standard than Jesus set for original Christianity. Original Christianity loves without discrimination; unites and never divides; values a person by the quality of character not material riches. This original standard is at the heart of Christian Science.
Find Out More
If you would like to know more about this religion of Love, please meet us at our Sunday Services (10.00 am) and our Wednesday Testimony Meetings (6.15 pm). We are located on the corner of Macquarie and Bligh Streets in Barton. Sunday School for students up to the age of 20 is also at 10.00 am – new students are always welcome.
This article was contributed by Beth Packer who is a full-time Christian Science healer.
He shall feed his flock like a shepherd: he shall gather the lambs with his arm, and carry them in his bosom, and shall gently lead those that are with young.
(The Bible – Isaiah 40: 11)
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God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him.
(The Bible – I John 4: 16)
Christmas is one of the most important events in human history. That’s a big statement to make. It’s a big statement because the real Christmas relates to Christians, Muslims, Eastern and Western religionists, believers and non-believers. The real Christmas message is relevant all year round, not just on one day. So, what’s so big and important and relevant about Christmas?
It’s all about the underlying message that Jesus’ birth ushered into the world. Yes, the details of the story are important. That whilst Joseph and Mary were travelling she gave birth to Jesus in a stable (which was actually a cave rather than a barn). His birth had been long prophesied – he was the one who would save the Jewish people from oppression. But it’s the underlying message that’s of the greatest importance, both then and today. It’s important because Jesus’ birth was the beginning of a life lived with such love and dominion that it transformed the experience of the people around him, and its legacy is still felt and celebrated over 2000 years later.
Jesus’ mission was to show us what makes life work right for us. Maybe that doesn’t sound like such a big statement but look at the effect he had on the people around him. He turned poverty into overflowing abundance; ill health into full health; bad sinful behaviour into good honest character. His life was entirely motivated by love – love for God and love for his fellow man.
Jesus was revealing a different dynamic aspect to life that was not obvious to the senses but one that could bring practical healing solutions to life’s problems. He understood the tangible power of spirituality.
What is spirituality? Simply, spirituality pertains to things of the spirit, or the non-physical. It’s all those qualities of thought that are good and true. It’s ideas that make life work right for us, like kindness, honesty, trustworthiness, intelligence, creativity, happiness.
Spiritual thinking cares for all, never harming man nor beast nor the environment. It’s living the Golden Rule, the Ten Commandments and the Beatitudes that Jesus, Moses and others have given us. These rules, when understood and lived, make our lives happy and successful. But here’s the big difference in Jesus’ message to us. If we think these are human qualities they are liable to human frailty and failure. Jesus showed us that these spiritual ideas and qualities have a divine source, not human. They’re sourced in God and so have divine authority and power.
The principle that Jesus continually turned to was divine, not material. He revealed to the world a non-physical power; a spiritual force for good, that could and did meet all human need. He revealed to us that the true governing harmonising power underpinning our experience was God, but he showed us an entirely different way of thinking about that term God. He showed that the true concept of God was Love, as the Bible states. He showed us the true power or Principle in our lives and in our world, that makes existence harmonious, well and peaceful, is Love, divine Love.
At Christmas, and all year round, don’t we all know, Christian, Muslim, Eastern, Western, believer and non-believer, that it is Love that makes the world go around. It’s Love that makes life worth living, it is Love and only Love that can bring ‘on earth peace, good will to men.’
This article was contributed by Beth Packer a member of the Christian Science Church in Wollongong. You can study these ideas in depth in the textbook of Christian Science, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy. You would be most welcome to attend our services (details are at the top of this page.)
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My prayer, some daily good to do
To Thine, for Thee;
An offering pure of Love, whereto
God leadeth me.
(Christian Science Hymnal No.253 words by Mary Baker Eddy)
Wednesday Testimony Meeting Readings
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.
Everyone is welcome.
Christian Science Canberra 