A member of the Christian Science community in Canberra shared his thoughts on how Christian Science helps him:
Recently I have found myself being very busy trying to achieve the many goals I have set myself. These tasks seemed important and usually came with deadlines. In doing this I have realised that I have let go of my usual focus on spiritual development. As a Christian Scientist there is a commitment to the daily prayer (Church Manual p41):
Thy kingdom come
Let the reign of divine Truth, Life and Love be established in me, and rule out of me all sin
And may Thy Word enrich the affections of all mankind
And govern them
I found that I had almost just been saying the words to the daily prayer, for example, without really having a full commitment to it. I had been studying the Daily Bible Lesson but not with the same degree of commitment or focus as a result of this busy work. I had foregone the focus and commitment to developing spiritually and instead had been focusing on getting this busy work done. The busy work itself had taken over my attention.
Even the busy work – those little goals – weren’t being achieved with the same degree of freedom, the same degree of perfection, I had previously been able to achieve. When I had taken a more spiritual or a more focused attention to the spiritual side of my life there didn’t appear to be such a focus on busy work or human activity, and the busy work didn’t seem so difficult.
In my commitment to Christian Science there is the understanding it is more than just the Daily Prayer or doing the Daily Bible Lesson. It is a commitment to a way of living and that way of living has an impact on what happens. In her textbook Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, Mary Baker Eddy writes (p423):
The Christian Scientist, understanding scientifically that all is Mind, commences with mental causation, the truth of being, to destroy the error. This corrective is an alterative, reaching to every part of the human system. According to Scripture, it searches “the joints and marrow,” and it restores the harmony of man.
The inharmony on display because of the busy work had been brought about by my neglect of the spiritual recognition that all is brought about by mental causation. I had to remember to trust God to give me the order of work – He knew what was important and what needed to be done in what order. It was necessary to find that quiet mental place to pray; to silence the material senses and intrusive noises. Once again I turned to Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, where Mary Baker Eddy writes (p15):
In order to pray aright, we must enter into the closet and shut the door. We must close the lips and silence the material senses. In the quiet sanctuary of earnest longings, we must deny sin and plead God’s allness. We must resolve to take up the cross, and go forth with honest hearts to work and watch for wisdom, Truth, and Love. We must “pray without ceasing.” Such prayer is answered, in so far as we put our desires into practice. The Master’s injunction is, that we pray in secret and let our lives attest our sincerity.
I shall be forever grateful for Christian Science. The study of Christian Science and application to my life has allowed me to make significant long lasting and beneficial changes to my way of thinking and living. Christian Science is to me, an applied, practical science that can be used everyday in one’s life. The application of Christian Science in this instance has allowed me to be free from the constraints of ‘busyness’ and to be much more productive both materially and spiritually.
A Daily Lift by Bobby Lewis, a Christian Science practitioner.
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In this brief podcast Bobby describes how he recognised the negative self-talk that came to him – and all of us at times – and how he countered this by affirming his true nature as a child of God.
An interview with George Nutwell and Carlos Machado
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Have you ever thought that meekness might be an antidote to violence? This week’s guest, George Nutwell, has come to realize that the kind of meekness Jesus lived was the strength by which he defeated and overcame violence. Listen in as George shares with host Tony Lobl how we can live this meekness, too.
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Hear George share highlights of this talk in a Daily Lift interview titled: I Forgive You and I Love You.
A Daily Lift by Deborah Huebsch, a Christian Science practitioner and teacher.
In this brief podcast Deborah relates how one of her beloved horses was diagnosed with an incurable kidney condition. She describes how she prayed and how this passage from Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy helped her. Three months later the vet announced that there was no longer any trace of this condition.
The effect of this Science is to stir the human mind to a change of base, on which it may yield to the harmony of the divine Mind. p162
A Daily Lift by Judy Olson, a Christian Science practitioner and teacher.
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In this brief podcast Judy tells how she was cautioned by a well meaning friend with the old saying: “Don’t be so heavenly minded that you are no earthly good”. She explains how, when she thought about this, she realised that the more heavenly minded she was then the more use she was to the world. She gives a beautiful example of this in her own life.
In this podcast John talks about how a new hobby of his – learning magic card tricks – gave him an insight into how spiritual healing happens. He explains that he leaned that in card tricks the audience believes they see something that wasn’t there or didn’t happen because they become distracted from the truth of what is happening by the performance. Healing in Christian Science is not magic but when we are distracted by an inharmonious situation we are blinded to the truth of what is really happening. Being alert to the distraction and focussing on the spiritual truth allows us to experience the true harmony of any situation. In this interview John explains this fully and gives examples of his own healings.
Embracing Diversity – Can prayer really have an effect on the world? Joan Bernard Bradley discovered that learning to pray for herself taught her how to pray for her family and even her community.
In this brief podcast Bobby describes how practising spiritual Mindfulness made him aware of the healing presence that was with him in that and every moment. This realisation brought about an instant healing. He relates how statements in the Christian Science textbook, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy took on new meaning in that moment.
In this brief podcast Mary talks about what she leaned by watching a pair of eagles whose nest was destroyed by a huge storm. These beautiful birds survived by using the air currents created by the storm to rise above the danger and they remained untouched and returned to build anew.
Christian Science Canberra 