The Christ itself is now, and always has been, present for everyone, individually and collectively, across cultures and centuries.
This article was written by Mary Beattie, a member of the Canberra Christian Science community. It was published in the 22 December 2025 issue of the Christian Science Sentinel.
In Australia, where I live, Christmas comes at a time when the weather is warm and the mental atmosphere generally upbeat. It’s the beginning of summer, and people are looking forward to a change in their schedules. As it is the end of the academic year, students are assessing their progress. Politicians often take a break, and the daily news is more optimistic, reflecting on reasons for hope in the world. Our Christmastime is generally characterized by people taking time to care for their community and the planet.
While this constructive activity is welcome, the ideal of how to care for the community was set almost two thousand years ago in the way Christ Jesus operated. The selflessness, intelligence, love, and joy so clearly seen in Jesus’ daily activities are more than humanistic traits; they are Christly qualities sourced in Spirit, God. Jesus is the one who most consistently expressed this Christliness, although Christly qualities existed before Jesus’ birth and continue today. The Christ itself is now, and always has been, present for everyone, individually and collectively, across cultures and centuries. Click here to continue reading or to listen this article
For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.
(The Bible KJV – Matthew 18: 20)
Jesus established his church and maintained his mission on a spiritual foundation of Christ-healing. He taught his followers that his religion had a divine Principle, which would cast out error and heal both the sick and the sinning.
(Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy p136: 1)
To be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.
(The Bible KJV – Romans 8: 6)
Spiritual living and blessedness are the only evidences, by which we can recognize true existence and feel the unspeakable peace which comes from an all-absorbing spiritual love.
This article was contributed by a member of the Christian Science community in Canberra. It was published in the September 19, 2025 issue of the Canberra Weekly magazine.
Most of my friends are not believers in God. Some say straight out that there is no God. Others ask: If there is, is He or She relevant to today’s modern world. They tell me that they can be good people and live happy lives without believing in a mystical being.
Standing in the Sea of Galilee.
If I didn’t have a Christian Science background, I would definitely be with them and not be a believer either. Christian Science shows me a concept of God that helps me make sense of the world. Christian Science is Bible based. While we understand that much of the Bible is allegorical and meant to be interpreted from a spiritual perspective and not taken literally, Jesus’ instructions we do take seriously. He gives us the rules that help us live a better, more productive life.
From Jesus we learn that God is Principle, or law maker. We also learn that God is Love (I John 4:8). Not that God is loving, but that God IS Love. Love has so many shades: kindness, affection, loyalty, generosity, forgiveness, empathy, cooperation. This list goes on. These are the qualities that make life seem worthwhile and that bring peace and harmony to any situation. You will notice that none of these qualities has a material form or is restricted to a particular place – they can be anywhere and everywhere at once. It is said that it is Love that makes the world go around. I don’t think that a world completely devoid of Love could exist! It is essential to existence.
The opposite to Love is hate – cruelty, selfishness, retaliation, greed, stubbornness. These are the qualities that tear families and societies apart. They bring no joy. The world, right now, is in great need of more of the love qualities and less of the hate.
If God is Love then we know something of the nature of God. God is not a material being; God can be everywhere at once; God is essential to life. Knowing God as Love allows me to see God everywhere – in every act of kindness or generosity, in every smile.
Knowing that God is both Love and Principle, or law maker, gives me trust that Love will always be victorious. For me, putting God first, means putting Love first and this is one way I can bring peace to each experience.
Simply asking that we may love God will never make us love Him; but the longing to be better and holier expressed in daily watchfulness and in striving to assimilate more of the divine character, will mould and fashion us anew, until we awake in His likeness.
When we realize that Life is Spirit, never in nor of matter, this understanding will expand into self-completeness, finding all in God, good, and needing no other consciousness.
Christian Science Canberra 