Hymn 148 in the Christian Science Hymnal – words by Ann L Waring
In heavenly Love abiding, No change my heart shall fear; And safe is such confiding, For nothing changes here. The storm may roar without me, My heart may low be laid; But God is round about me, And can I be dismayed?
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.
Green pastures are before me, Which yet I have not seen; Bright skies will soon be o’er me, Where darkest clouds have been. My hope I cannot measure, My path in life is free; My Father has my treasure, And He will walk with me.
This recording is of the readings on the topic:Thou Dost Give Me Peace
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The inspiration for these readings came from Violet Hay who wrote the words of hymn 136 in the Christian Science Hymnal (verse 2).
Though storm or discord cross my path Thy power is still my stay, Though human will and woe would check My upward-soaring way; All unafraid I wait, the while Thy angels bring release, For still Thy presence is with me, And Thou dost give me peace.
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.
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.
A member of the Canberra Christian Science community had this article, Immortality Glimpsed in Dog’s Healing, published in the October 22 issue of the Christian Science Journal. Click here to listen to, or read, the full story.
Reggie, an elderly dog we adopted, was a member of our family until last year. We loved him dearly and he lived with us long past the life expectancy of a dog of his breed.
Gradually last year I noticed that he was slowing down and sleeping much of the time. It was starting to feel as if Reggie might be about to move on.
One Saturday morning he was in a long, deep sleep. He couldn’t be roused, and he had lost control of his bodily functions.
I’ve been a Christian Scientist all my life and it is natural for me to turn to God in prayer when I need answers, so I sat on the floor beside his bed and turned to God. “Tell me how to think about this,” I asked. Continue reading …
When trauma seems to have so many lives in its grip, how can we respond in a way that heals, both individually and collectively? Kate walks us through her own healings of trauma to show what Christian Science makes possible.
A member of the Christian Science community in Canberra submitted this testimony of healing:
I would like to share a healing that I had some years ago that has continued to bless me.
On this particular night, I had washed the removable covers from my lounge suite and spent about three hours ironing the damp fabric before refitting them to the lounge. I had the iron on the hottest setting in an effort to smooth the creases out of the heavy damp linen. By midnight I still had the covers from one chair to do so I decided to leave the ironing board set up so I could finish in the morning. I turned the iron off and then the overhead light nearest to me. This, however, was the only light that was on and I needed to walk back across the dark room. I put my hand out to make sure I didn’t knock the ironing board over but instead put the full palm of my hand on the hot plate of the iron. The pain was immediate and intense.
I had been brought up in Christian Science and had learnt that not looking at an injury helped to allay the fear. I readied for bed without turning lights on and without using that hand. I lay in bed with my hand hanging over the side of the bed unable to sleep and feeling overcome with the pain. Although I thought of myself as a Christian Scientist at this time, I really didn’t live a Christian Science life. I didn’t study and I really didn’t know how to pray. I lay in bed feeling totally miserable. I had taken on this task of washing the covers to distract myself from the sadness and loneliness that seemed to pervade my life at that time. I was recently divorced, I had started a new job which I was finding extremely difficult and stressful, and I was living a couple of hours drive from my parents and friends in a part of the city that socially was very foreign to me. Now I was in pain and feeling totally miserable.
I had been taught that God was Love and that this Love was a law that I could rely on. I didn’t really understand this at this time but in my desperation I turned to this God with a simple: Please help! Almost immediately I felt calm. Somehow I felt a sense of being loved and that all was well. This warm gentle feeling enveloped me and I fell peacefully asleep. When I woke in the morning there was not a single trace of the burn – no pain and not a mark on my hand. I was very grateful and a little surprised. God’s help was so immediate; I felt looked after.
After this, two things happened. The sadness and loneliness dissipated. I learned to rely more on God and came to think of Him/Her as my constant companion – as a guide when things seemed tough. Also since then there have been several occasions when I have inadvertently handled hot things like baking dishes coming out of the oven. Each time I have remembered this first healing and the fear of the burn has left and I have had no pain and no blistering or hurt. Nowadays, although I am not foolish around hot things, if I do come into contact with a hot surface I tell myself: ‘I don’t do burns!’ and that is the end of the matter. I am so grateful for what I am learning in Christian Science.
Christian Science Canberra 