Theme: Vision
Hymn 64
Violet Hay
From sense to Soul my pathway lies before me,
From mist and shadow into Truth's clear day;
The dawn of all things real is breaking o'er
me,
My heart is singing: I have found the way.
I reach Mind's open door, and at its portal
I know that where I stand is holy ground;
I feel the calm and joy of things immortal,
The loveliness of Love is all around.
The way leads upward and its goal draws
nearer,
Thought soars enraptured, fetterless and
free;
The vision infinite to me grows clearer,
I touch the fringes of eternity.
Readings from the Bible.
I Samuel 3:1‑10
And the child Samuel
ministered unto the Lord before Eli. And the word of the Lord was precious in
those days; there was no open vision.
And it came to pass at that time, when Eli was laid down in his place,
and his eyes began to wax dim, that he could not see; And ere the lamp of God
went out in the temple of the Lord, where the ark of God was, and Samuel was
laid down to sleep; That the Lord called Samuel: and he answered, Here am I. And he ran unto Eli, and said, Here am I; for
thou calledst me. And he said, I called
not; lie down again. And he went and lay down.
And the Lord called yet again, Samuel. And Samuel arose and went to Eli,
and said, Here am I; for thou didst call me. And he answered, I called not, my
son; lie down again. Now Samuel did not
yet know the Lord, neither was the word of the Lord yet revealed unto him. And the Lord called Samuel again the third
time. And he arose and went to Eli, and said, Here am I; for thou didst call
me. And Eli perceived that the Lord had called the child. Therefore Eli said unto Samuel, Go, lie down:
and it shall be, if he call thee, that thou shalt say, Speak, Lord; for thy
servant heareth. So Samuel went and lay down in his place. And the Lord came, and stood, and called as
at other times, Samuel, Samuel. Then Samuel answered, Speak; for thy servant
heareth.
Psalms 89:8‑21
O Lord God of hosts, who is a
strong Lord like unto thee? or to thy faithfulness round about thee? Thou rulest the raging of the sea: when the
waves thereof arise, thou stillest them.
Thou hast broken Rahab in pieces, as one that is slain; thou hast
scattered thine enemies with thy strong arm.
The heavens are thine, the earth also is thine: as for the world and the
fulness thereof, thou hast founded them.
The north and the south thou hast created them: Tabor and Hermon shall
rejoice in thy name. Thou hast a mighty
arm: strong is thy hand, and high is thy right hand. Justice and judgment are the habitation of
thy throne: mercy and truth shall go before thy face. Blessed is the people that know the joyful
sound: they shall walk, O Lord, in the light of thy countenance. In thy name shall they rejoice all the day:
and in thy righteousness shall they be exalted.
For thou art the glory of their strength: and in thy favour our horn
shall be exalted. For the Lord is our
defence; and the Holy One of Israel is our king. Then thou spakest in vision to thy holy one,
and saidst, I have laid help upon one that is mighty; I have exalted one chosen
out of the people. I have found David my
servant; with my holy oil have I anointed him: With whom my hand shall be
established: mine arm also shall strengthen him.
Proverbs 29:18
Where there is no vision, the
people perish: but he that keepeth the law, happy is he.
Isaiah 29:11‑19 the
the vision of all is become
unto you as the words of a book that is sealed, which men deliver to one that
is learned, saying, Read this, I pray thee: and he saith, I cannot; for it is
sealed: And the book is delivered to him that is not learned, saying, Read
this, I pray thee: and he saith, I am not learned. #Wherefore the Lord said, Forasmuch as this
people draw near me with their mouth, and with their lips do honour me, but
have removed their heart far from me, and their fear toward me is taught by the
precept of men: Therefore, behold, I will proceed to do a marvellous work among
this people, even a marvellous work and a wonder: for the wisdom of their wise
men shall perish, and the understanding of their prudent men shall be hid. Woe unto them that seek deep to hide their
counsel from the Lord, and their works are in the dark, and they say, Who seeth
us? and who knoweth us? Surely your
turning of things upside down shall be esteemed as the potter's clay: for shall
the work say of him that made it, He made me not? or shall the thing framed say
of him that framed it, He had no understanding?
Is it not yet a very little while, and Lebanon shall be turned into a
fruitful field, and the fruitful field shall be esteemed as a forest? #And in that day shall the deaf hear the
words of the book, and the eyes of the blind shall see out of obscurity, and
out of darkness. The meek also shall
increase their joy in the Lord, and the poor among men shall rejoice in the
Holy One of Israel.
Habakkuk 2:1‑4,14,20
I will stand upon my watch,
and set me upon the tower, and will watch to see what he will say unto me, and
what I shall answer when I am reproved.
And the Lord answered me, and said, Write the vision, and make it plain
upon tables, that he may run that readeth it.
For the vision is yet for an appointed time, but at the end it shall
speak, and not lie: though it tarry, wait for it; because it will surely come,
it will not tarry. Behold, his soul
which is lifted up is not upright in him: but the just shall live by his
faith.
For the earth shall be filled
with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea.
But the Lord is in his holy
temple: let all the earth keep silence before him.
Matthew 17:1‑9 after
after six days Jesus taketh
Peter, James, and John his brother, and bringeth them up into an high mountain
apart, And was transfigured before them: and his face did shine as the sun, and
his raiment was white as the light. And,
behold, there appeared unto them Moses and Elias talking with him. Then answered Peter, and said unto Jesus,
Lord, it is good for us to be here: if thou wilt, let us make here three
tabernacles; one for thee, and one for Moses, and one for Elias. While he yet spake, behold, a bright cloud
overshadowed them: and behold a voice out of the cloud, which said, This is my
beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him. And when the disciples heard it, they fell on
their face, and were sore afraid. And
Jesus came and touched them, and said, Arise, and be not afraid. And when they had lifted up their eyes, they
saw no man, save Jesus only. And as they
came down from the mountain, Jesus charged them, saying, Tell the vision to no
man, until the Son of man be risen again from the dead.
Acts 9:8‑18 Saul
Saul arose from the earth;
and when his eyes were opened, he saw no man: but they led him by the hand, and
brought him into Damascus. And he was
three days without sight, and neither did eat nor drink. #And there was a
certain disciple at Damascus, named Ananias; and to him said the Lord in a
vision, Ananias. And he said, Behold, I am here, Lord. And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go
into the street which is called Straight, and inquire in the house of Judas for
one called Saul of Tarsus: for, behold, he prayeth, And hath seen in a vision a
man named Ananias coming in, and putting his hand on him, that he might receive
his sight. Then Ananias answered, Lord,
I have heard by many of this man, how much evil he hath done to thy saints at
Jerusalem: And here he hath authority from the chief priests to bind all that
call on thy name. But the Lord said unto
him, Go thy way: for he is a chosen vessel unto me, to bear my name before the
Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel: For I will shew him how great
things he must suffer for my name's sake.
And Ananias went his way, and entered into the house; and putting his
hands on him said, Brother Saul, the Lord, even Jesus, that appeared unto thee
in the way as thou camest, hath sent me, that thou mightest receive thy sight,
and be filled with the Holy Ghost. And
immediately there fell from his eyes as it had been scales: and he received
sight forthwith, and arose, and was baptized.
Acts 18:9‑11
Then spake the Lord to Paul
in the night by a vision, Be not afraid, but speak, and hold not thy peace: For
I am with thee, and no man shall set on thee to hurt thee: for I have much
people in this city. And he continued
there a year and six months, teaching the word of God among them.
Acts 26:13‑20
At midday, O king, I saw in
the way a light from heaven, above the brightness of the sun, shining round
about me and them which journeyed with me.
And when we were all fallen to the earth, I heard a voice speaking unto
me, and saying in the Hebrew tongue, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? it is
hard for thee to kick against the pricks.
And I said, Who art thou, Lord?
And he said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest. But rise, and stand upon thy feet: for I have
appeared unto thee for this purpose, to make thee a minister and a witness both
of these things which thou hast seen, and of those things in the which I will
appear unto thee; Delivering thee from the people, and from the Gentiles, unto
whom now I send thee, To open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to
light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness
of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in
me. Whereupon, O king Agrippa, I was not
disobedient unto the heavenly vision: But shewed first unto them of Damascus,
and at Jerusalem, and throughout all the coasts of Judaea, and then to the
Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, and do works meet for
repentance.
Readings from Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy.
86:13‑18 np
Mortals evolve images of thought. These may appear to the ignorant to be
apparitions; but they are mysterious only because it is unusual to see
thoughts, though we can always feel their influence. Haunted houses, ghostly voices, unusual
noises, and apparitions brought out in dark seances either involve feats by
tricksters, or they are images and sounds evolved involuntarily by mortal mind. Seeing is no less a quality of physical sense
than feeling. Then why is it more
difficult to see a thought than to feel one?
Education alone determines the difference. In reality there is none.
Portraits, landscape‑paintings, fac‑similes
of penmanship, peculiarities of expression, recollected sentences, can all be
taken from pictorial thought and memory as readily as from objects cognizable
by the senses. Mortal mind sees what it
believes as certainly as it believes what it sees. It feels, hears, and sees its own thoughts. Pictures are mentally formed before the
artist can convey them to canvas. So is
it with all material conceptions. Mind‑readers perceive these pictures of
thought. They copy or reproduce them,
even when they are lost to the memory of the mind in which they are
discoverable.
It is needless for the thought or for the
person holding the transferred picture to be individually and consciously
present. Though individuals have passed
away, their mental environment remains to be discerned, described, and
transmitted. Though bodies are leagues
apart and their associations forgotten, their associations float in the general
atmosphere of human mind.
The Scotch call such vision "second
sight," when really it is first sight instead of second, for it presents
primal facts to mortal mind. Science
enables one to read the human mind, but not as a clairvoyant. It enables one to heal through Mind, but not
as a mesmerist.
214:26‑26 np
How transient a sense is mortal sight, when a
wound on the retina may end the power of light and lens! But the real sight or sense is not lost. Neither age nor accident can interfere with
the senses of Soul, and there are no other real senses. It is evident that the body as matter has no
sensation of its own, and there is no oblivion for Soul and its faculties. Spirit's senses are without pain, and they
are forever at peace. Nothing can hide
from them the harmony of all things and the might and permanence of Truth.
If Spirit, Soul, could sin or be lost, then
being and immortality would be lost, together with all the faculties of Mind;
but being cannot be lost while God exists.
Soul and matter are at variance from the very necessity of their
opposite natures. Mortals are
unacquainted with the reality of existence, because matter and mortality do not
reflect the facts of Spirit.
Spiritual vision is not subordinate to
geometric altitudes. Whatever is
governed by God, is never for an instant deprived of the light and might of
intelligence and Life.
We are sometimes led to believe that darkness
is as real as light; but Science affirms darkness to be only a mortal sense of
the absence of light, at the coming of which darkness loses the appearance of
reality. So sin and sorrow, disease and
death, are the suppositional absence of Life, God, and flee as phantoms of
error before truth and love.
With its divine proof, Science reverses the
evidence of material sense. Every
quality and condition of mortality is lost, swallowed up in immortality. Mortal man is the antipode of immortal man in
origin, in existence, and in his relation to God.
301:5‑24
Few persons comprehend what Christian Science
means by the word reflection. To himself, mortal and material man seems to
be substance, but his sense of substance involves error and therefore is
material, temporal.
On the other hand, the immortal, spiritual
man is really substantial, and reflects the eternal substance, or Spirit, which
mortals hope for. He reflects the
divine, which constitutes the only real and eternal entity. This reflection seems to mortal sense
transcendental, because the spiritual man's substantiality transcends mortal
vision and is revealed only through divine Science.
As God is substance and man is the divine
image and likeness, man should wish for, and in reality has, only the substance
of good, the substance of Spirit, not matter.
The belief that man has any other substance, or mind, is not spiritual
and breaks the First Commandment, Thou shalt have one God, one Mind. Mortal man seems to himself to be material
substance, while man is "image" (idea).
561:5‑21
Agassiz, through his microscope, saw the sun
in an egg at a point of so‑called embryonic life. Because of his more spiritual vision, St.
John saw an "angel standing in the sun." The Revelator beheld the spiritual idea from
the mount of vision. Purity was the
symbol of Life and Love. The Revelator
saw also the spiritual ideal as a woman clothed in light, a bride coming down
from heaven, wedded to the Lamb of Love.
To John, "the bride" and "the Lamb" represented the
correlation of divine Principle and spiritual idea, God and His Christ,
bringing harmony to earth.
John saw the human and divine coincidence,
shown in the man Jesus, as divinity embracing humanity in Life and its
demonstration,‑‑reducing to human perception and understanding the Life which
is God. In divine revelation, material
and corporeal selfhood disappear, and the spiritual idea is understood.
572:23‑574:2
The Revelator had not yet passed the
transitional stage in human experience called death, but he already saw a new
heaven and a new earth. Through what
sense came this vision to St. John? Not
through the material visual organs for seeing, for optics are inadequate to
take in so wonderful a scene. Were this
new heaven and new earth terrestrial or celestial, material or spiritual? They could not be the former, for the human
sense of space is unable to grasp such a view.
The Revelator was on our plane of existence, while yet beholding what
the eye cannot see,‑‑that which is invisible to the uninspired thought. This testimony of Holy Writ sustains the fact
in Science, that the heavens and earth to one human consciousness, that
consciousness which God bestows, are spiritual, while to another, the
unillumined human mind, the vision is material.
This shows unmistakably that what the human mind terms matter and spirit
indicates states and stages of consciousness.
Accompanying this scientific consciousness
was another revelation, even the declaration from heaven, supreme harmony, that
God, the divine Principle of harmony, is ever with men, and they are His
people. Thus man was no longer regarded
as a miserable sinner, but as the blessed child of God. Why?
Because St. John's corporeal sense of the heavens and earth had
vanished, and in place of this false sense was the spiritual sense, the
subjective state by which he could see the new heaven and new earth, which
involve the spiritual idea and consciousness of reality. This is Scriptural authority for concluding
that such a recognition of being is, and has been, possible to men in this
present state of existence,‑‑that we can become conscious, here and now, of a
cessation of death, sorrow, and pain.
This is indeed a foretaste of absolute Christian Science. Take heart, dear sufferer, for this reality
of being will surely appear sometime and in some way. There will be no more pain, and all tears
will be wiped away. When you read this,
remember Jesus' words, "The kingdom of God is within you." This spiritual consciousness is therefore a
present possibility.
586:3‑6 (to ))
EYES.
Spiritual discernment,‑‑not material but mental.
Jesus said, thinking of the outward vision,
"Having eyes, see ye not?" (Mark viii. 18.)
Silent prayer followed by the audible repetition of the Lord’s Prayer.
Hymn 265
Samuel Johnson – Adapted
Onward, Christian, though the region
Where thou art seem drear and lone;
God hath set a guardian legion
Very near thee, press thou on.
By the Christ road, and none other,
Is the mount of vision won;
Tread it with rejoicing, brother:
Jesus trod it, press thou on.
By thy trustful, calm endeavor,
Guiding, cheering, like the sun,
Earth‑bound hearts thou shalt deliver;
O, for their sake, press thou on.
Sharing of experiences, testimonies and remarks by members of the congregation.
Hymn 287
Edith Gaddis Brewer
Prayer with our waking thought ascends,
Great God of light, to Thee;
Darkness is banished in the glow
Of Thy reality.
Lo, to our widening vision dawns
The realm of Soul supreme,
Faith‑lighted peaks of Spirit stand
Revealed in morning's beam.
Thus in Thy radiance vanishes
Death's drear and gloomy night;
Thus all creation hears anew
Truth's call, Let there be light.
