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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.
(Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy p261:4)
Archive for the ‘Prayer’ Category
The Importance of Our Thoughts 2 comments
I Found Joy Again Leave a comment
This testimony was published in the July 15 issue of the Christian Science Sentinel. It is by a student who Zooms in each week to the Christian Science Sunday School in Canberra.
A few years ago, I heard something disturbing on the radio here in Singapore, where I live. Someone shared a scary experience they had been through, and the details frightened me. I didn’t know what to think. I was feeling overwhelmed by thoughts about what I’d heard, and my happiness started to fade. These feelings even affected my schoolwork. I decided to pray because I knew prayer could help me.
I started thinking about where my happiness comes from. (Click here to continue reading or to listen to this testimony.)
More Thoughts on Prayer Leave a comment
Whether you call it prayer or not, probably all of us at some time withdraw to that quiet place within to look for answers to life’s challenges. For me this is prayer.
When you go to that quiet place do you find answers? I’ve been thinking a lot about why sometimes I do get answers, and other times not. What I have noticed is that when I am willing to be humble and to put personal wishes and desires aside, I am more receptive to new ideas. This makes sense to me.
What I have also noticed is that when I lift my thought above the problem to a higher, larger, more spiritual perspective then solutions are found.
I have an analogy that helps me to lift my thought in times of trouble. It goes like this.
A man is canoeing on the ocean not far from the beach. It is a beautiful day and he ventures out further. Without warning a dense fog rolls in and he can hardly see to the end of his canoe. Soon he loses his orientation to the beach. He becomes fearful and wonders, is he heading to the beach and safety, or to the rocks or even to the open ocean? He can’t tell. He sits still and prays. Quickly the thought comes to him to stand up. It’s too dangerous to stand up in this little canoe he reasons, so he prays again. Again he gets the message to stand up. Three times he asks and three times he has this strong feeling that he should stand up. Eventually he obeys. As he stands up he realises that it is only a low-lying band of fog that is not much above his head when he is sitting down. Now standing up he is in the full sunshine; the beach is clearly in view. He sits down, spins the canoe around and heads safely to the beach. The fear is gone because he has a clear direction.
For me the fog represents the details of the human situation that is challenging me. The sunshine represents the spiritual ideas that are always available to give us a sense of direction. Nowadays I ask myself: Are you examining the fog? Am I going over the details of the situation that seems troubling?
Answers are not to be found by lamenting the fog. Answers come when we are aware of the good that already exists and celebrate this. This encourages the state of mind that is receptive. Sometimes there are solutions that we never expected.
This article was contributed by a member of the Christian Science community in Canberra.
A Prayer for the New Year Leave a comment
Hymn 245 from the Christian Science Hymnal
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O tender, loving Shepherd,
We long to follow thee,
To follow where thou leadest,
Though rough the path may be;
Though dark and heavy shadows
Enshroud the way with gloom,
We know that Love will guide us,
And safely lead us home.
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We know, beloved Shepherd,
The path that thou hast trod
Leads ever out of darkness,
And on and up to God.
If from that path we wander,
And far astray we roam,
O, call us, faithful Shepherd,
And bring us safely home.
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Throughout the way, dear Shepherd,
Thy strong hand doth uphold;
The weary ones, at nightfall,
Thou gently dost enfold.
And when to Truth’s green pastures
With joy at length we come,
There shall we find, O Shepherd,
Our blest, eternal home.
To Listen and Obey 2 comments
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)
How to Stop a War 1 comment
This article by Emily Byquist was originally published in the February 23, 2015 issue of the Christian Science Sentinel.
It was the 1960s, and the Vietnam War was raging. Like many members of my generation, I was opposed to the war and very much wanted to help bring it to an end. I felt impelled to pray about the conflict, but it was hard to believe that the prayers of one individual could have any real impact on such a formidable problem.
Click here to read, or listen to, the full article. In it Emily explains how, through prayer, she managed to disfuse several inharmonious and confrontational situations in her everyday life. This gave her confidence that her prayers for peace on a larger scale could be effective.
How are you praying about the war? 1 comment
When asked how she was praying about the war in the Middle East Bethany Taylor responded by penning this letter to a young mother:
I was watching the news about Israel and Hamas. You came on talking about trying to keep your baby quiet so you wouldn’t be detected by the attackers and how your husband had been taken as a hostage. My heart went out to you, and in a sincere desire to help, I humbly reached out to God and asked how I could help, how I could pray right then. The answer came in the form of a hymn written by the Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science, Mary Baker Eddy.
I began singing and praying the words: “O gentle presence, peace and joy and power; / O Life divine, that owns each waiting hour” (Christian Science Hymnal, No. 207). I felt assured of God’s ever-present peace, joy, and omnipotent power right then and there for you and all who are feeling alone and afraid, even when in the midst of terror and war.
As a young mother, I was widowed and found myself raising my three-year-old son on my own. I leaned on God’s mothering and fathering my son and me, and I know we can confidently rely on that same love here and now. As a recent Sentinel Watch podcast put it, “Love hasn’t left this home” (Tony Lobl, “Love hasn’t left this home,” cssentinel.com, September 11, 2023).
Love hasn’t left Israel, or Gaza, or Ukraine, or any other area experiencing war and conflict. Even though I am just one individual in a country far removed from these places, I actively pray to know that God’s love is always present, dependable, steadfast, all-powerful. “Thou Love that guards the nestling’s faltering flight! / Keep Thou my child on upward wing tonight,” that hymn says. We are each God’s nestlings, whether struggling with a small problem or the horror of war. We can feel and reflect God’s mothering love here and now.
Another line in this hymn, which I have known and loved for decades, is “Love is our refuge; only with mine eye / Can I behold the snare, the pit, the fall.” But as long as I have been singing this hymn, this was the first time I understood that Mrs. Eddy was saying that we can stay conscious of the spiritual fact that divine Love, God, is our—and everyone’s—ever-present refuge. When, instead, we begin to examine the snares, pits, falls, or material circumstances, that is when we feel immobilized by fear, and illness, conflict, hatred, and evil seem so much larger than Love’s ability to handle them. But that isn’t so. As we learn in Christian Science, God is All-in-all.
“His habitation high is here, and nigh, / His arm encircles me, and mine, and all,” the hymn assures. And I am thinking, in quiet prayer, just how it embraces you and all the mothers in the region.
Love,
Bethany Taylor
This response to the war was originally published in the October 19, 2023 issue of the Christian Science Sentinel.
Mental Might Leave a comment
Wednesday Testimony Meeting Readings.
This recording is of the readings on the topic: Mental Might
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And Jesus answering saith unto them, Have faith in God.
For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith.
Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.
(The Bible KJV – Mark 11: 22-24)
Prayer: What’s It All About? (Part 2) Leave a comment
A member of the Christian Science community in Canberra was interviewed by Jenny Sawyer for a Sentinel Watch podcast titled Prayer: What’s It All About? In this she explains how she prayed when faced with difficult situations.
Prayer: What’s It All About? (Part 2) Click here to listen.
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Prayer: What’s It All About (Part 1) Leave a comment
A Sentinel Watch interview with Bob Cochran
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When Bob last joined Sentinel Watch, he made a startling statement: He’d been praying two to three hours at a stretch each day. “Really?” asked listeners. “How does he do that?” Bob joins us again to share his insights about prayer—what it means to pray and how to stick with it.
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Christian Science Canberra 