“Look!” My brother put his arm around my shoulder and pointed beyond the outdoor arena. Willie Nelson had just arrived on stage at the 2000 Mountain Music Fest in Red Lodge, Montana, but the unmistakable plume of a mountain wildfire burst up behind him. A motorcycle had skidded on gravel at high speed and crashed, exploding the gas tank and quickly spreading flames in the tinder-dry grasses and trees at the side of the road (the cyclist survived and mended).
It was late August in a summer plagued by wildfires. Our family’s summer cabin was in the exact spot where the smoke was visible. I raced to a quieter place outside the arena to phone a Christian Science practitioner, since I felt as out of control as the fire appeared to be. I remember saying to him how I couldn’t look at this horrible scene unfolding in front of everyone. Every time I looked at the stage, I was only aware of the fire, which I assumed might be consuming our cabin right then.
The practitioner met my distress with rock solid vehemence, “Don’t you turn away. Look right into that smoke until you can see the face of God.” To me, seeing the face of God meant being able to perceive that God, good was present, right where the evidence of destruction seemed to be. The practitioner reminded me of the time Mary Baker Eddy saw a cyclone coming right toward her home and with amazing firmness and conviction asked everyone in her household to look right at it and realize that there are no destructive elements in God’s creation (We Knew Mary Baker Eddy, Clara Knox McKee, p. 193). The cyclone changed course and headed toward the mountains, doing hardly any damage.
I went back to the concert, but the sight of the raging fire was so overwhelming, I found it difficult to pray. I had been taught to always start with God, so I thought, God is All, which seemed ridiculous in the face of this destructive fire, so opposite to goodness.
Wasn’t it just too late for prayer to change the scene? The fire had already started, worsening by the minute, there was nothing to stop it. How could I see God’s face in any of this? I wondered.
Then I thought of the three young Hebrew men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego and the fiery furnace they were thrown into. According to the Bible, the fire was heated seven times more than usual, yet the men’s safety was not dependant on the size, shape, placement, or intensity of the fire.
I realized the safety of my cabin and other properties in the area was not dependant on those factors either. God was still there, God was still All, and God was still governing this situation, regardless of its appearance, just as He had for those three Hebrew men. As I continued to insist in prayer that God’s presence and power alone were in control, I began to grasp that if it was possible to be unaffected in the middle of flames in one instance, it was possible in all instances.
Around this time, however, the winds began to pick up from an incoming weather front, blowing new life into the fire and new fear into the crowd. But another thought occurred to me, a variation of the Bible verse from I Kings 19:11: God is not in this wind and God is not in this fire–God IS in the still small voice of Truth. I knew, too, that the Bible says God holds the winds in His fists. I decided I could trust God to control the wind, and not see it as some capricious act of nature with power to destroy.
While all these spiritual ideas calmed me, I still didn’t feel I’d seen the face of God in that fire yet. I began to wonder, if God was not in the wind or fire, but in the still small voice, what was that voice saying to me? These words from the textbook of Christian Science, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, immediately came to mind, “There is no power apart from God. Omnipotence has all power and to acknowledge any other power is to dishonor God.” For me, that was the face of God. I knew in that moment that no matter what else happened or what the results of the fire were, I would not dishonor God by acknowledging another power.
Read on to find out how this recognition helped in this situation here
This recording is of the readings on the topic: My Shepherd is Beside Me, and Nothing Can I Lack, which formed part of the Testimony Meeting in Canberra on Wednesday 27th December. Citations were taken from the Bible (King James Version) and the textbook of Christian Science, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy.
The title of readings is taken from a line in hymn 148 from the Christian Science Hymnal:
Wherever He may guide me, / No want shall turn me back; / My Shepherd is beside me, / And nothing can I lack. / His wisdom ever waketh, / His sight is never dim; / He knows the way He taketh, / And I will walk with Him. / …
Bright skies will soon be o’er me, / Where darkest clouds have been. … / My Father has my treasure, / And He will walk with me.
If you are in Canberra on any Wednesday please join us at 6.00 pm – our Testimony Meetings are open to everyone. We are located on the corner of Macquarie and Bligh Streets, Barton in the ACT.
A Christian Science perspective: Praying for safety during stormy weather.
by Allison J. Rose-Sonnesyn
On a cross-country move several years ago, a friend and I were driving across South Dakota when a weather report announced that a massive supercell thunderstorm was right behind us, following our route to the hotel we booked part way across the state. The situation was quite serious, as tornadoes were expected to accompany the storm, and we were very exposed.
For a few moments, I felt afraid. But I have learned through my study of Christian Science that as children of God – which all of us are – we are never truly helpless. … Read more …
The Christian Science Church – a part of the Canberra community. Members share testimonies and talk about their lives as Christian Scientists.
This article, ‘Safe in God’s Care’, is by a member of the Christian Science Church in Canberra. In it the writer tells of protection from injury and a harmonious outcome after her car ran off the road.
God’s love and care are available to all mankind as man is God’s own child, whether that is accepted or not. As a Christian I study the Bible, and as a Christian Scientist I also study the textbook of Christian Science, “Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures” by Mary Baker Eddy, both on a daily basis.
Mankind have daily proofs of God’s care in many ways. Sometimes these proofs come as beautiful angel messages, or perhaps guidance to do or act differently. Other times they can be life-saving experiences.
Some years ago, I had a great need to reach out to God as I lost control of the car I was driving, and found myself spinning across the road with any loose items from my car flying round about me.
The road I was travelling on was very familiar to me – a curving slope in a rural area. Rain had caused a pot hole, which I did not see, to develop in the bitumen, and when the tyre of the car hit the hole the car spun around, rolled over and came to rest on the other side of the road facing in a different direction. The spinning probably only lasted moments, but in that time I remembered turning to God and shouting out, “God is my life”. I am not really sure if I shouted out verbally or in my thinking, but I do know that I was very vehement.
When the vehicle came to rest I was able to open the passengers door and climb out, entirely free from any damage or injury. The next car that came along was driven by some neighbours and they were able to take me home.
I continued to pray by affirming passages from Science and Health. One was about accidents and says, “Under divine Providence there can be no accidents, since there is no room for imperfection in perfection” (p 424: 9); and on page 207: 20 “There is but one primal cause, therefore there can be no effect from any other cause, and there can be no reality in aught which does not proceed from this great and only cause.”
There were no symptoms of shock or any other after effects, even though the car was written off by the insurance company.
How grateful I am to be able to share this experience and to give all glory to God.
To read more testimonies of healing shared by members of the Christian Science Church in Canberra click on the archive headings on the left for May, June and October 2016.
(Photo: Christian Science Church, Canberra from the air)
Then shalt thou walk in thy way safely, and thy foot shall not stumble. For the Lord shall be thy confidence, and shall keep thy foot from being taken. (The Bible – Proverbs 3: 23, 26)
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 No 136, Violet Hay)
Every Wednesday at 6.00 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:Into the New Year – The Lord Shall Be Thy Confidence.
In this 3 minute talk, The Power of Peace, Joel talks about peace as a positive power and he gives an example from his own life of how this power can overcome conflict.
When tragedies such as the most recent attacks in Beirut, Lebanon, and Paris occur, what can we do? Across the world, there have been calls to pray for these cities and their people. To pray for peace. And certainly our prayers are needed.
In addition to embracing all those affected by terrorism in my prayers, I have been grappling with how to extend my prayers to prevent future devastation.
In a world that seems constantly at the mercy of terrorism and random evil, it might appear naive to think that we can have any kind of preemptive impact. But through my study of Christian Science, I’ve learned that prayer that yearns to feel and understand the allness of God—of divine Love itself—is like turning on a light: Where light is, darkness simply can’t exist. The light of ever-present Love, expressed, leaves no place for the evils of hatred, fear, cruelty, or pain.
I’ve wondered how praying like this can really make a difference. Then, earlier this year, … Read more …
This article, Our Prayers to Embrace the World and Prevent Violence, was originally published in the Christian Science Sentinel. It is now also available through JHS-online. In it Jenny shares her reasoning as she answers the question: How can my prayer have an impact on this world that seems so troubled?
“Look!” My brother put his arm around my shoulder and pointed beyond the outdoor arena. Willie Nelson had just arrived on stage at the 2000 Mountain Music Fest in Red Lodge, Montana, but the unmistakable plume of a mountain wildfire burst up behind him. A motorcycle had skidded on gravel at high speed and crashed, exploding the gas tank and quickly spreading flames in the tinder-dry grasses and trees at the side of the road (the cyclist survived and mended).
This recording is of the readings on the topic: My Shepherd is Beside Me, and Nothing Can I Lack, which formed part of the Testimony Meeting in Canberra on Wednesday 27th December. Citations were taken from the Bible (King James Version) and the textbook of Christian Science, 
A Christian Science perspective: 
The Christian Science Church – a part of the Canberra community. Members share testimonies and talk about their lives as Christian Scientists. 
Into the New Year – The Lord Shall Be Thy Confidence 
by Jenny Sawyer