Whatsoever things are lovely,
whatsoever things are of good report;
if there be any virtue,
and if there be any praise,
think on these things.
(The Bible – Philippians 4: 8)
Archive for the ‘Thought’ Category
Think on these things … 1 comment
Overcoming Evil 2 comments
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At all times and under all circumstances, overcome evil with good.
(Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy)
Spiritual Healing – Past and Present Leave a comment
Wednesday Testimony Meeting Readings
This recording is of readings on the topic: Spiritual Healing
(Apology: Nature in the form of a wild white sulphur-crested cockatoo has made his presence felt little raucously on this audio.)
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Become conscious for a single moment that Life and intelligence are purely spiritual, – neither in nor of matter, – and the body will then utter no complaints. If suffering from a belief in sickness, you will find yourself suddenly well. (Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy p14)
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Every Wednesday at 6.15pm a Testimony Meeting is held at the Christian Science church in Canberra (corner of Macquarie and Bligh Streets, Barton). At these meetings short readings on a particular topic are followed by time for members of the congregation to share how they have been helped and healed through prayer.
Everyone is welcome. If you are in Canberra on any Wednesday, please join us.
Contemplating the Spiritual Leave a comment
… look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal.
(The Bible – II Corinthians 4: 18)
Horse Riding – Not a Problem Leave a comment
The members of the Christian Science community in Canberra share their experiences and thoughts on Christian Science:
A few years ago my husband wanted to give me a surprise for our anniversary. He knew I loved horses and that in my youth I had gone on a few short trail rides which I loved. This year he had the romantic idea that escaping our city life for a weekend of riding horses through the bushland in the Blue Mountains west of Sydney would be a good plan. My husband has never been a horse rider and knows very little about horses.
When he presented me with the gift vouchers I was filled with some very mixed emotions. I could see that he was trying hard to please me – that was nice. But, an eight-hour ride through very rugged territory, when I hadn’t been on a horse for about twenty years, seemed daunting in ways he couldn’t imagine. I prayed about this. I reasoned that all good ideas come from God and God’s ideas don’t have a downside. I also know that the beliefs I hold about life determine the nature of this material experience. I tried to stay focused on a conviction that my true nature is spiritual, not material. Only matter feels pain, not spirit.
My husband, as a novice rider, was given Fred, an elderly plodder. However, he had told the stables that I could ride well and I was given Jeda, a young thoroughbred-cross who really wanted to turn everything into a race. I’d been on the horse for about fifteen minutes when I realised that the saddle was horribly uncomfortable; it had two hard ridges that dug into the bones in my bottom.
During the eight-hour outing we spent nearly seven hours in the saddle. The countryside was amazing. We rode across green paddocks with cows, through mountain streams, up and down steep hillsides and along winding forest trails. It was truly beautiful. At every point in the day my Jeda wanted to race ahead and I spent the whole day calming her and reining her in. Even when we were waiting for slow Fred to catch up she pulled and pranced. She was exhausting!
It was late afternoon when we arrived back at our accommodation. I was so sore I felt physically sick. I fell on the bed and thought I would never be able to move again. Every muscle in my body screamed and protested. I thought I had mentally protected myself before the ride but I realised that I hadn’t really given up the idea that this activity could be punishing. In Christian Science, we are taught that what we let into consciousness, is what we experience. So while I lay there on the bed I had a mental reassessment.
A passage from Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy helped me to gain some peace. She asks: Without mind, could the muscles be tired? Do the muscles talk, or do you talk for them? Matter is non‐intelligent. Mortal mind does the false talking, and that which affirms weariness, made that weariness (p217:31). I realized that I had given myself permission to be affected by this ride, so mentally I took back that permission.
Within a very short time I was up and getting cleaned up to go out to dinner. There was not a single twinge anywhere – I walked straight and tall and pain free. We had a happy night and the rest of the weekend was active and harmonious. There were absolutely no after-effects.
I am continually grateful to Christian Science which teaches me that I don’t have to give in to material laws. All right activity can be undertaken without penalty.
Watermelon at Ku-ring-gai Leave a comment
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A Daily Lift by Sancy Nason, a Christian Science Practitioner.
In this 3 minute talk Sancy describes how her needs were met in a most unusual way during a hike in the bushland of Ku-ring-gai National Park near Sydney.
A new 3 minute inspirational talk is shared each day Monday-Friday. To listen to more click on the Daily Lift tab in the menu above.
The Impact of Thought on the Body Leave a comment
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You embrace your body in your thought, and you should delineate upon it thoughts of health, not of sickness.
(Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy p208: 29)
Honest Achievements Leave a comment
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The devotion of thought to an honest achievement makes the achievement possible.
(Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy p199: 21)
Eye Health Restored – Cataract Gone Leave a comment
The members of the Christian Science community in Canberra share their experiences and thoughts on Christian Science:
Early last year I needed to have my reading glasses replaced and this meant having an eye examination for a new script. At the end of the examination the optometrist informed me that I had a cataract forming on my left eye. He said that he wouldn’t recommend any treatment at that point but in a year I should look at having it removed.
At first I was tempted to feel concerned about this situation. I had quite a few friends who had had cataracts surgically removed and although they had all said it was a fairly straight forward procedure, it was not something that I had ever contemplated doing. I have always handled problems, both physical and otherwise, through prayer.
Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures is my textbook for life. In it, Mary Baker Eddy writes: Mind, not matter, is causation. … You embrace your body in your thought, and you should delineate upon it thoughts of health, not of sickness (p208: 25). She goes on to say: The physical affirmation of disease should always be met with the mental negation. Whatever benefit is produced on the body, must be expressed mentally, and thought should be held fast to this ideal (p392: 11). I thought on these ideas and every time my eye situation came into thought I claimed my spiritual perfection and denied the necessity for giving in to this verdict. This brought me a sense of peace and within a short time my eye stopped bothering me and I forgot to think about it anymore.
Recently when I again visited the optometrist for new glasses I was told that my eyes were perfectly healthy and there was no sign of a cataract. Christian Science is teaching me that the body is the representation of my thinking – what I believe about it is what I will experience. By learning to see myself as spiritual, not material, I can overcome beliefs of limitation or ill-health
Money Worries – A Thing of the Past Leave a comment
The members of the Christian Science community in Canberra share their experiences and thoughts on Christian Science:
When I was growing up money always seemed to be in short supply. There were many, many evenings when my mum had only toast and Vegemite for dinner because there wasn’t enough food to go around. As a child I watched my mum, who was normally a strong, calm woman, weep because there was no money for the electricity or to pay for the groceries. This left me feeling scared and as though life was jeopardous. I felt as though I was vulnerable to forces outside of my control.
As an adult I seemed to take many of these fears about finances and supply with me. Even though I had full employment, and sometimes more than one job, for many years I felt as though I was always borrowing from Peter to pay Paul; shuffling money around in order to pay the most pressing bills. There came a time when the burden of school fees and a mortgage was more than I could manage and we sold our house and moved to a smaller place further out. Still there never seemed to be quite enough.
In my study of Christian Science I had learned that all right ideas were God’s and that God as the divine Father-Mother supplied all that was necessary for those ideas to come to fruition. I had also learned that supply and demand were a part of the one Principle (a synonym for God) governing all; they were reciprocal and inseparable processes. One day I sat myself down and decided that it was time to let go of this false fear. I asked myself whether I really believed these spiritual statements and believed that God was my loving parent who knew and responded to my needs, or not. I had, over the years, had many other healings both of physical and work-related problems that showed me that God was real, and that the love of God was a principle to be counted on. I reviewed the evidence I had of this divine care and I decided that I did really trust in these truths. When I reasoned like this the fear seemed to melt away and it felt as though this huge burden of many years had been lifted off me.
From this time on I never again struggled to pay the bills. The money coming into the home had not changed and the outgoings remained the same but somehow when bills arrived there was always enough to meet them. Nowadays, I don’t worry at all about how much is, or isn’t, in my bank account. I know, because I have proved it, that if there is a need God will meet it. I have discovered that divine Love (another name for God) has a multitude of ways in which to meet the human need. This sense of God’s sure supply has given me a freedom that allows me to be generous towards others, to support worthy causes and so share Love’s wonderful abundance. I continue, every day, to be grateful to God, and to Christian Science which teaches me the power of spiritual reasoning.
