Theme: Right
Hymn 18
Anonymous
Be firm and be faithful; desert not the right;
The brave become bolder the darker the night.
Then up and be doing, though cowards may fail;
Thy duty pursuing, dare all and prevail.
If scorn be thy portion, if hatred and loss,
If stripes or a prison, remember the cross.
God watches above thee, and He will requite;
Forsake those that love thee, but never the
right.
Readings from the Bible.
Deuteronomy 6:4‑12,17,18
Hear, O Israel: The Lord our
God is one Lord: And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and
with all thy soul, and with all thy might.
And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart:
And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them
when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when
thou liest down, and when thou risest up.
And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be
as frontlets between thine eyes. And thou shalt write them upon the posts of
thy house, and on thy gates. And it
shall be, when the Lord thy God shall have brought thee into the land which he
sware unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give thee great
and goodly cities, which thou buildedst not, And houses full of all good
things, which thou filledst not, and wells digged, which thou diggedst not,
vineyards and olive trees, which thou plantedst not; when thou shalt have eaten
and be full; Then beware lest thou forget the Lord, which brought thee forth
out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage.
Ye shall diligently keep the
commandments of the Lord your God, and his testimonies, and his statutes, which
he hath commanded thee. And thou shalt
do that which is right and good in the sight of the Lord: that it may be well
with thee, and that thou mayest go in and possess the good land which the Lord
sware unto thy fathers,
Deuteronomy 32:1‑4
Give ear, O ye heavens, and I
will speak; and hear, O earth, the words of my mouth. My doctrine shall drop as the rain, my speech
shall distil as the dew, as the small rain upon the tender herb, and as the
showers upon the grass: Because I will publish the name of the Lord: ascribe ye
greatness unto our God. He is the Rock,
his work is perfect: for all his ways are judgment: a God of truth and without
iniquity, just and right is he.
Psalms 9:1,2,4,7‑10 the
I will praise thee, O Lord,
with my whole heart; I will shew forth all thy marvellous works. I will be glad and rejoice in thee: I will
sing praise to thy name, O thou most High.
For thou hast maintained my
right and my cause; thou satest in the throne judging right.
the Lord shall endure for ever: he hath
prepared his throne for judgment. And he
shall judge the world in righteousness, he shall minister judgment to the
people in uprightness. The Lord also
will be a refuge for the oppressed, a refuge in times of trouble. And they that know thy name will put their
trust in thee: for thou, Lord, hast not forsaken them that seek thee.
Psalms 16:5‑11
The Lord is the portion of
mine inheritance and of my cup: thou maintainest my lot. The lines are fallen unto me in pleasant
places; yea, I have a goodly heritage. I
will bless the Lord, who hath given me counsel: my reins also instruct me in
the night seasons. I have set the Lord
always before me: because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved. Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoiceth:
my flesh also shall rest in hope. For
thou wilt not leave my soul in hell; neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to
see corruption. Thou wilt shew me the
path of life: in thy presence is fulness of joy; at thy right hand there are
pleasures for evermore.
Psalms 19:1‑3,7‑11,14
The heavens declare the glory
of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork. Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto
night sheweth knowledge. There is no
speech nor language, where their voice is not heard.
The law of the Lord is
perfect, converting the soul: the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise
the simple. The statutes of the Lord are
right, rejoicing the heart: the commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening
the eyes. The fear of the Lord is clean,
enduring for ever: the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether. More to be desired are they than gold, yea,
than much fine gold: sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb. Moreover by them is thy servant warned: and
in keeping of them there is great reward.
Let the words of my mouth,
and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord, my
strength, and my redeemer.
Psalms 33:1‑9,11,12,22
Rejoice in the Lord, O ye
righteous: for praise is comely for the upright. Praise the Lord with harp: sing unto him with
the psaltery and an instrument of ten strings.
Sing unto him a new song; play skilfully with a loud noise. For the word of the Lord is right; and all
his works are done in truth. He loveth
righteousness and judgment: the earth is full of the goodness of the Lord. By the word of the Lord were the heavens
made; and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth. He gathereth the waters of the sea together
as an heap: he layeth up the depth in storehouses. Let all the earth fear the Lord: let all the
inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him.
For he spake, and it was done; he commanded, and it stood fast.
The counsel of the Lord
standeth for ever, the thoughts of his heart to all generations. Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord:
and the people whom he hath chosen for his own inheritance.
Let thy mercy, O Lord, be
upon us, according as we hope in thee.
Psalms 51:1,2,7‑12
Have mercy upon me, O God,
according to thy lovingkindness: according unto the multitude of thy tender
mercies blot out my transgressions. Wash
me throughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin.
Purge me with hyssop, and I
shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. Make me to hear joy and gladness; that the
bones which thou hast broken may rejoice.
Hide thy face from my sins, and blot out all mine iniquities. Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew
a right spirit within me. Cast me not
away from thy presence; and take not thy holy spirit from me. Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and
uphold me with thy free spirit.
Psalms 107:1‑9,15
O give thanks unto the Lord,
for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever. Let the redeemed of the Lord say so, whom he
hath redeemed from the hand of the enemy; And gathered them out of the lands,
from the east, and from the west, from the north, and from the south. They wandered in the wilderness in a solitary
way; they found no city to dwell in.
Hungry and thirsty, their soul fainted in them. Then they cried unto the Lord in their
trouble, and he delivered them out of their distresses. And he led them forth by the right way, that
they might go to a city of habitation.
Oh that men would praise the Lord for his goodness, and for his
wonderful works to the children of men!
For he satisfieth the longing soul, and filleth the hungry soul with
goodness.
Oh that men would praise the
Lord for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men!
Proverbs 4:5‑13
Get wisdom, get
understanding: forget it not; neither decline from the words of my mouth. Forsake her not, and she shall preserve thee:
love her, and she shall keep thee. Wisdom
is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting get
understanding. Exalt her, and she shall
promote thee: she shall bring thee to honour, when thou dost embrace her. She shall give to thine head an ornament of
grace: a crown of glory shall she deliver to thee. Hear, O my son, and receive my sayings; and
the years of thy life shall be many. I
have taught thee in the way of wisdom; I have led thee in right paths. When thou goest, thy steps shall not be
straitened; and when thou runnest, thou shalt not stumble. Take fast hold of instruction; let her not
go: keep her; for she is thy life.
Hosea 14:9 (to :)
Who is wise, and he shall
understand these things? prudent, and he shall know them? for the ways of the
Lord are right, and the just shall walk in them:
Luke 10:25‑28 a
a certain lawyer stood up, and tempted him,
saying, Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? He said unto him, What is written in the law?
how readest thou? And he answering said,
Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and
with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as
thyself. And he said unto him, Thou hast
answered right: this do, and thou shalt live.
Readings from Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy.
vii:13
The time for thinkers has come. Truth, independent of doctrines and time‑honored
systems, knocks at the portal of humanity.
Contentment with the past and the cold conventionality of materialism
are crumbling away. Ignorance of God is
no longer the stepping‑stone to faith.
The only guarantee of obedience is a right apprehension of Him whom to
know aright is Life eternal. Though
empires fall, "the Lord shall reign forever."
9:25‑32 (to .)
Are you willing to leave all for Christ, for
Truth, and so be counted among sinners?
No! Do you really desire to
attain this point? No! Then why make long prayers about it and ask
to be Christians, since you do not care to tread in the footsteps of our dear
Master? If unwilling to follow his
example, why pray with the lips that you may be partakers of his nature? Consistent prayer is the desire to do
right.
21:9
If the disciple is advancing spiritually, he
is striving to enter in. He constantly
turns away from material sense, and looks towards the imperishable things of
Spirit. If honest, he will be in earnest
from the start, and gain a little each day in the right direction, till at last
he finishes his course with joy.
219:6‑32
In mathematics, we do not multiply when we
should subtract, and then say the product is correct. No more can we say in Science that muscles
give strength, that nerves give pain or pleasure, or that matter governs, and
then expect that the result will be harmony.
Not muscles, nerves, nor bones, but mortal mind makes the whole body
"sick, and the whole heart faint;" whereas divine Mind heals.
When this is understood, we shall never
affirm concerning the body what we do not wish to have manifested. We shall not call the body weak, if we would
have it strong; for the belief in feebleness must obtain in the human mind
before it can be made manifest on the body, and the destruction of the belief
will be the removal of its effects. Science
includes no rule of discord, but governs harmoniously. "The wish," says the poet, "is
ever father to the thought."
We may hear a sweet melody, and yet
misunderstand the science that governs it.
Those who are healed through metaphysical Science, not comprehending the
Principle of the cure, may misunderstand it, and impute their recovery to
change of air or diet, not rendering to God the honor due to Him alone. Entire immunity from the belief in sin,
suffering, and death may not be reached at this period, but we may look for an
abatement of these evils; and this scientific beginning is in the right
direction.
225:14
The history of our country, like all history,
illustrates the might of Mind, and shows human power to be proportionate to its
embodiment of right thinking. A few
immortal sentences, breathing the omnipotence of divine justice, have been
potent to break despotic fetters and abolish the whipping‑post and slave
market; but oppression neither went down in blood, nor did the breath of
freedom come from the cannon's mouth.
Love is the liberator.
227:21
Christian Science raises the standard of
liberty and cries: "Follow me!
Escape from the bondage of sickness, sin, and death!" Jesus marked out the way. Citizens of the world, accept the
"glorious liberty of the children of God," and be free! This is your divine right. The illusion of material sense, not divine
law, has bound you, entangled your free limbs, crippled your capacities,
enfeebled your body, and defaced the tablet of your being.
248:12‑4
The sculptor turns from the marble to his
model in order to perfect his conception.
We are all sculptors, working at various forms, moulding and chiseling
thought. What is the model before mortal
mind? Is it imperfection, joy, sorrow,
sin, suffering? Have you accepted the
mortal model? Are you reproducing
it? Then you are haunted in your work by
vicious sculptors and hideous forms. Do
you not hear from all mankind of the imperfect model? The world is holding it before your gaze
continually. The result is that you are
liable to follow those lower patterns, limit your life‑work, and adopt into
your experience the angular outline and deformity of matter models.
To remedy this, we must first turn our gaze
in the right direction, and then walk that way.
We must form perfect models in thought and look at them continually, or
we shall never carve them out in grand and noble lives. Let unselfishness, goodness, mercy, justice,
health, holiness, love‑‑the kingdom of heaven‑‑reign within us, and sin,
disease, and death will diminish until they finally disappear.
Let us accept Science, relinquish all
theories based on sense‑testimony, give up imperfect models and illusive
ideals; and so let us have one God, one Mind, and that one perfect, producing
His own models of excellence.
329:21
There is no hypocrisy in Science. Principle is imperative. You cannot mock it by human will. Science is a divine demand, not a human. Always right, its divine Principle never repents,
but maintains the claim of Truth by quenching error. The pardon of divine mercy is the destruction
of error. If men understood their real
spiritual source to be all blessedness, they would struggle for recourse to the
spiritual and be at peace; but the deeper the error into which mortal mind is
plunged, the more intense the opposition to spirituality, till error yields to
Truth.
381:20
Think less of the enactments of mortal mind,
and you will sooner grasp man's God‑given dominion. You must understand your way out of human
theories relating to health, or you will never believe that you are quite free
from some ailment. The harmony and
immortality of man will never be reached without the understanding that Mind is
not in matter. Let us banish sickness as
an outlaw, and abide by the rule of perpetual harmony,‑‑God's law. It is man's moral right to annul an unjust
sentence, a sentence never inflicted by divine authority.
390:4
We cannot deny that Life is self‑sustained,
and we should never deny the everlasting harmony of Soul, simply because, to
the mortal senses, there is seeming discord.
It is our ignorance of God, the divine Principle, which produces
apparent discord, and the right understanding of Him restores harmony. Truth will at length compel us all to
exchange the pleasures and pains of sense for the joys of Soul.
454:18
Love inspires, illumines,
designates, and leads the way. Right
motives give pinions to thought, and strength and freedom to speech and
action. Love is priestess at the altar
of Truth. Wait patiently for divine Love
to move upon the waters of mortal mind, and form the perfect concept. Patience must "have her perfect work."
566:1
As the children of Israel were guided
triumphantly through the Red Sea, the dark ebbing and flowing tides of human
fear,‑‑as they were led through the wilderness, walking wearily through the
great desert of human hopes, and anticipating the promised joy,‑‑so shall the
spiritual idea guide all right desires in their passage from sense to Soul,
from a material sense of existence to the spiritual, up to the glory prepared
for them who love God. Stately Science
pauses not, but moves before them, a pillar of cloud by day and of fire by night,
leading to divine heights.
Silent prayer followed by the audible repetition of the Lord’s Prayer.
Hymn 58
Elizabeth C. Adams
Father, we Thy loving children
Lift our hearts in joy today,
Knowing well that Thou wilt keep us
Ever in Thy blessed way.
Thou art Love and Thou art wisdom,
Thou art Life and Thou art All;
In Thy Spirit living, moving,
We shall neither faint nor fall.
Come we daily then, dear Father,
Open hearts and willing hands,
Eager ears, expectant, joyful,
Ready for Thy right commands.
We would hear no other voices,
We would heed no other call;
Thou alone art good and gracious,
Thou our Mind and Thou our All.
In Thy house securely dwelling,
Where Thy children live to bless,
Seeing only Thy creation,
We can share Thy happiness,
Share Thy joy and spend it freely.
Loyal hearts can feel no fear;
We Thy children know Thee, Father,
Love and Life forever near.
Sharing of experiences, testimonies and remarks by members of the congregation.
Hymn 238
John Greenleaf Whittier*
O, sometimes gleams upon our sight,
Through present wrong, th' eternal right;
And step by step, since time began,
We see the steady gain of man.
For all of good the past hath had
Remains to make our own time glad,
Our common, daily life divine,
And every land a Palestine.
Through the harsh noises of our day,
A low sweet prelude finds its way;
Through clouds of doubt and creeds of fear
A light is breaking, calm and clear.
Henceforth my heart shall sigh no more
For olden time and holier shore:
God's love and blessing, then and there,
Service for Wednesday, Aug.
6, 2014
Theme: Right
Hymn 18
Anonymous
Be firm and be faithful; desert not the right;
The brave become bolder the darker the night.
Then up and be doing, though cowards may fail;
Thy duty pursuing, dare all and prevail.
If scorn be thy portion, if hatred and loss,
If stripes or a prison, remember the cross.
God watches above thee, and He will requite;
Forsake those that love thee, but never the
right.
Readings from the Bible.
Deuteronomy 6:4‑12,17,18
Hear, O Israel: The Lord our
God is one Lord: And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and
with all thy soul, and with all thy might.
And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart:
And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them
when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when
thou liest down, and when thou risest up.
And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be
as frontlets between thine eyes. And thou shalt write them upon the posts of
thy house, and on thy gates. And it
shall be, when the Lord thy God shall have brought thee into the land which he
sware unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give thee great
and goodly cities, which thou buildedst not, And houses full of all good
things, which thou filledst not, and wells digged, which thou diggedst not,
vineyards and olive trees, which thou plantedst not; when thou shalt have eaten
and be full; Then beware lest thou forget the Lord, which brought thee forth
out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage.
Ye shall diligently keep the
commandments of the Lord your God, and his testimonies, and his statutes, which
he hath commanded thee. And thou shalt
do that which is right and good in the sight of the Lord: that it may be well
with thee, and that thou mayest go in and possess the good land which the Lord
sware unto thy fathers,
Deuteronomy 32:1‑4
Give ear, O ye heavens, and I
will speak; and hear, O earth, the words of my mouth. My doctrine shall drop as the rain, my speech
shall distil as the dew, as the small rain upon the tender herb, and as the
showers upon the grass: Because I will publish the name of the Lord: ascribe ye
greatness unto our God. He is the Rock,
his work is perfect: for all his ways are judgment: a God of truth and without
iniquity, just and right is he.
Psalms 9:1,2,4,7‑10 the
I will praise thee, O Lord,
with my whole heart; I will shew forth all thy marvellous works. I will be glad and rejoice in thee: I will
sing praise to thy name, O thou most High.
For thou hast maintained my
right and my cause; thou satest in the throne judging right.
the Lord shall endure for ever: he hath
prepared his throne for judgment. And he
shall judge the world in righteousness, he shall minister judgment to the
people in uprightness. The Lord also
will be a refuge for the oppressed, a refuge in times of trouble. And they that know thy name will put their
trust in thee: for thou, Lord, hast not forsaken them that seek thee.
Psalms 16:5‑11
The Lord is the portion of
mine inheritance and of my cup: thou maintainest my lot. The lines are fallen unto me in pleasant
places; yea, I have a goodly heritage. I
will bless the Lord, who hath given me counsel: my reins also instruct me in
the night seasons. I have set the Lord
always before me: because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved. Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoiceth:
my flesh also shall rest in hope. For
thou wilt not leave my soul in hell; neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to
see corruption. Thou wilt shew me the
path of life: in thy presence is fulness of joy; at thy right hand there are
pleasures for evermore.
Psalms 19:1‑3,7‑11,14
The heavens declare the glory
of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork. Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto
night sheweth knowledge. There is no
speech nor language, where their voice is not heard.
The law of the Lord is
perfect, converting the soul: the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise
the simple. The statutes of the Lord are
right, rejoicing the heart: the commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening
the eyes. The fear of the Lord is clean,
enduring for ever: the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether. More to be desired are they than gold, yea,
than much fine gold: sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb. Moreover by them is thy servant warned: and
in keeping of them there is great reward.
Let the words of my mouth,
and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord, my
strength, and my redeemer.
Psalms 33:1‑9,11,12,22
Rejoice in the Lord, O ye
righteous: for praise is comely for the upright. Praise the Lord with harp: sing unto him with
the psaltery and an instrument of ten strings.
Sing unto him a new song; play skilfully with a loud noise. For the word of the Lord is right; and all
his works are done in truth. He loveth
righteousness and judgment: the earth is full of the goodness of the Lord. By the word of the Lord were the heavens
made; and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth. He gathereth the waters of the sea together
as an heap: he layeth up the depth in storehouses. Let all the earth fear the Lord: let all the
inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him.
For he spake, and it was done; he commanded, and it stood fast.
The counsel of the Lord
standeth for ever, the thoughts of his heart to all generations. Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord:
and the people whom he hath chosen for his own inheritance.
Let thy mercy, O Lord, be
upon us, according as we hope in thee.
Psalms 51:1,2,7‑12
Have mercy upon me, O God,
according to thy lovingkindness: according unto the multitude of thy tender
mercies blot out my transgressions. Wash
me throughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin.
Purge me with hyssop, and I
shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. Make me to hear joy and gladness; that the
bones which thou hast broken may rejoice.
Hide thy face from my sins, and blot out all mine iniquities. Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew
a right spirit within me. Cast me not
away from thy presence; and take not thy holy spirit from me. Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and
uphold me with thy free spirit.
Psalms 107:1‑9,15
O give thanks unto the Lord,
for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever. Let the redeemed of the Lord say so, whom he
hath redeemed from the hand of the enemy; And gathered them out of the lands,
from the east, and from the west, from the north, and from the south. They wandered in the wilderness in a solitary
way; they found no city to dwell in.
Hungry and thirsty, their soul fainted in them. Then they cried unto the Lord in their
trouble, and he delivered them out of their distresses. And he led them forth by the right way, that
they might go to a city of habitation.
Oh that men would praise the Lord for his goodness, and for his
wonderful works to the children of men!
For he satisfieth the longing soul, and filleth the hungry soul with
goodness.
Oh that men would praise the
Lord for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men!
Proverbs 4:5‑13
Get wisdom, get
understanding: forget it not; neither decline from the words of my mouth. Forsake her not, and she shall preserve thee:
love her, and she shall keep thee. Wisdom
is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting get
understanding. Exalt her, and she shall
promote thee: she shall bring thee to honour, when thou dost embrace her. She shall give to thine head an ornament of
grace: a crown of glory shall she deliver to thee. Hear, O my son, and receive my sayings; and
the years of thy life shall be many. I
have taught thee in the way of wisdom; I have led thee in right paths. When thou goest, thy steps shall not be
straitened; and when thou runnest, thou shalt not stumble. Take fast hold of instruction; let her not
go: keep her; for she is thy life.
Hosea 14:9 (to :)
Who is wise, and he shall
understand these things? prudent, and he shall know them? for the ways of the
Lord are right, and the just shall walk in them:
Luke 10:25‑28 a
a certain lawyer stood up, and tempted him,
saying, Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? He said unto him, What is written in the law?
how readest thou? And he answering said,
Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and
with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as
thyself. And he said unto him, Thou hast
answered right: this do, and thou shalt live.
Readings from Science and
Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy.
vii:13
The time for thinkers has come. Truth, independent of doctrines and time‑honored
systems, knocks at the portal of humanity.
Contentment with the past and the cold conventionality of materialism
are crumbling away. Ignorance of God is
no longer the stepping‑stone to faith.
The only guarantee of obedience is a right apprehension of Him whom to
know aright is Life eternal. Though
empires fall, "the Lord shall reign forever."
9:25‑32 (to .)
Are you willing to leave all for Christ, for
Truth, and so be counted among sinners?
No! Do you really desire to
attain this point? No! Then why make long prayers about it and ask
to be Christians, since you do not care to tread in the footsteps of our dear
Master? If unwilling to follow his
example, why pray with the lips that you may be partakers of his nature? Consistent prayer is the desire to do
right.
21:9
If the disciple is advancing spiritually, he
is striving to enter in. He constantly
turns away from material sense, and looks towards the imperishable things of
Spirit. If honest, he will be in earnest
from the start, and gain a little each day in the right direction, till at last
he finishes his course with joy.
219:6‑32
In mathematics, we do not multiply when we
should subtract, and then say the product is correct. No more can we say in Science that muscles
give strength, that nerves give pain or pleasure, or that matter governs, and
then expect that the result will be harmony.
Not muscles, nerves, nor bones, but mortal mind makes the whole body
"sick, and the whole heart faint;" whereas divine Mind heals.
When this is understood, we shall never
affirm concerning the body what we do not wish to have manifested. We shall not call the body weak, if we would
have it strong; for the belief in feebleness must obtain in the human mind
before it can be made manifest on the body, and the destruction of the belief
will be the removal of its effects. Science
includes no rule of discord, but governs harmoniously. "The wish," says the poet, "is
ever father to the thought."
We may hear a sweet melody, and yet
misunderstand the science that governs it.
Those who are healed through metaphysical Science, not comprehending the
Principle of the cure, may misunderstand it, and impute their recovery to
change of air or diet, not rendering to God the honor due to Him alone. Entire immunity from the belief in sin,
suffering, and death may not be reached at this period, but we may look for an
abatement of these evils; and this scientific beginning is in the right
direction.
225:14
The history of our country, like all history,
illustrates the might of Mind, and shows human power to be proportionate to its
embodiment of right thinking. A few
immortal sentences, breathing the omnipotence of divine justice, have been
potent to break despotic fetters and abolish the whipping‑post and slave
market; but oppression neither went down in blood, nor did the breath of
freedom come from the cannon's mouth.
Love is the liberator.
227:21
Christian Science raises the standard of
liberty and cries: "Follow me!
Escape from the bondage of sickness, sin, and death!" Jesus marked out the way. Citizens of the world, accept the
"glorious liberty of the children of God," and be free! This is your divine right. The illusion of material sense, not divine
law, has bound you, entangled your free limbs, crippled your capacities,
enfeebled your body, and defaced the tablet of your being.
248:12‑4
The sculptor turns from the marble to his
model in order to perfect his conception.
We are all sculptors, working at various forms, moulding and chiseling
thought. What is the model before mortal
mind? Is it imperfection, joy, sorrow,
sin, suffering? Have you accepted the
mortal model? Are you reproducing
it? Then you are haunted in your work by
vicious sculptors and hideous forms. Do
you not hear from all mankind of the imperfect model? The world is holding it before your gaze
continually. The result is that you are
liable to follow those lower patterns, limit your life‑work, and adopt into
your experience the angular outline and deformity of matter models.
To remedy this, we must first turn our gaze
in the right direction, and then walk that way.
We must form perfect models in thought and look at them continually, or
we shall never carve them out in grand and noble lives. Let unselfishness, goodness, mercy, justice,
health, holiness, love‑‑the kingdom of heaven‑‑reign within us, and sin,
disease, and death will diminish until they finally disappear.
Let us accept Science, relinquish all
theories based on sense‑testimony, give up imperfect models and illusive
ideals; and so let us have one God, one Mind, and that one perfect, producing
His own models of excellence.
329:21
There is no hypocrisy in Science. Principle is imperative. You cannot mock it by human will. Science is a divine demand, not a human. Always right, its divine Principle never repents,
but maintains the claim of Truth by quenching error. The pardon of divine mercy is the destruction
of error. If men understood their real
spiritual source to be all blessedness, they would struggle for recourse to the
spiritual and be at peace; but the deeper the error into which mortal mind is
plunged, the more intense the opposition to spirituality, till error yields to
Truth.
381:20
Think less of the enactments of mortal mind,
and you will sooner grasp man's God‑given dominion. You must understand your way out of human
theories relating to health, or you will never believe that you are quite free
from some ailment. The harmony and
immortality of man will never be reached without the understanding that Mind is
not in matter. Let us banish sickness as
an outlaw, and abide by the rule of perpetual harmony,‑‑God's law. It is man's moral right to annul an unjust
sentence, a sentence never inflicted by divine authority.
390:4
We cannot deny that Life is self‑sustained,
and we should never deny the everlasting harmony of Soul, simply because, to
the mortal senses, there is seeming discord.
It is our ignorance of God, the divine Principle, which produces
apparent discord, and the right understanding of Him restores harmony. Truth will at length compel us all to
exchange the pleasures and pains of sense for the joys of Soul.
454:18
Love inspires, illumines,
designates, and leads the way. Right
motives give pinions to thought, and strength and freedom to speech and
action. Love is priestess at the altar
of Truth. Wait patiently for divine Love
to move upon the waters of mortal mind, and form the perfect concept. Patience must "have her perfect work."
566:1
As the children of Israel were guided
triumphantly through the Red Sea, the dark ebbing and flowing tides of human
fear,‑‑as they were led through the wilderness, walking wearily through the
great desert of human hopes, and anticipating the promised joy,‑‑so shall the
spiritual idea guide all right desires in their passage from sense to Soul,
from a material sense of existence to the spiritual, up to the glory prepared
for them who love God. Stately Science
pauses not, but moves before them, a pillar of cloud by day and of fire by night,
leading to divine heights.
Silent prayer followed by the
audible repetition of the Lord’s Prayer.
Hymn 58
Elizabeth C. Adams
Father, we Thy loving children
Lift our hearts in joy today,
Knowing well that Thou wilt keep us
Ever in Thy blessed way.
Thou art Love and Thou art wisdom,
Thou art Life and Thou art All;
In Thy Spirit living, moving,
We shall neither faint nor fall.
Come we daily then, dear Father,
Open hearts and willing hands,
Eager ears, expectant, joyful,
Ready for Thy right commands.
We would hear no other voices,
We would heed no other call;
Thou alone art good and gracious,
Thou our Mind and Thou our All.
In Thy house securely dwelling,
Where Thy children live to bless,
Seeing only Thy creation,
We can share Thy happiness,
Share Thy joy and spend it freely.
Loyal hearts can feel no fear;
We Thy children know Thee, Father,
Love and Life forever near.
Sharing of experiences,
testimonies and remarks by members of the congregation.
Hymn 238
John Greenleaf Whittier*
O, sometimes gleams upon our sight,
Through present wrong, th' eternal right;
And step by step, since time began,
We see the steady gain of man.
For all of good the past hath had
Remains to make our own time glad,
Our common, daily life divine,
And every land a Palestine.
Through the harsh noises of our day,
A low sweet prelude finds its way;
Through clouds of doubt and creeds of fear
A light is breaking, calm and clear.
Henceforth my heart shall sigh no more
For olden time and holier shore:
God's love and blessing, then and there,
Are now and here and everywhere.
Are now and here and everywhere.
