Oh, I see

I wondered why the story of Philip and Simon of Samaria was in this week's lesson. Well, of course, it was because Simon was a sorcerer. According to Dummelow's Bible Commentary the graphic details of Philip's ministry were obtained from Philip himself. Most of the Book of Acts are eye witness accounts and interviews that Luke collected. Luke stayed at Philip's house in Caesarea and met his four daughters, who were considered prophetesses. Paul spent three years in prison at Caesarea and that may have been when Luke stayed with Philip.

The people of that city had long been in awe of Simon's sorcery and believed him to be powerful. But once they heard Philip speak the good news of Jesus' life and resurrection, they chose instead to follow his teachings and were baptised, washed clean of their former beliefs in sorcery. This change occured because of the healing works Philip performed, what appeared to them to be miracles.

There are any number of public figures these days who seem to generate public worship. More and more we are seeing their immoral acts brought to light and they are being held accountable for their behavior. Those who formerly admired them, even patterning their ideas of success or beauty from them, begin to rethink their models. It is easy to be 'bewitched' by some new fad diet or get-rich-quick scheme, presented with sincerity by a spokesperson. But we need to stay awake and alert to such as Simon. Yet, even Simon was changed when he came into contact with the real thing.

The nativity is the real thing. Cherish every aspect of it as Christmas is less than a month away.
It has relevance in your life. Are you a wakeful shepherd or a Maji, studying to find deeper truth? Are you awaiting the birth of a new idea? Are you singing hymns and Christmas carols in honor of the season? Are you excited about what it all means?

Go in peace.

The Nativity - Prophecy

T0 appreciate all the details of the Nativity it is interesting to see just what prophecy was given in the Old Testament. If you read this story in Matthew's Gospel, you can see how he follows each occurance with a reference from earlier writings. Many things were foretold about the Messiah and his appearing. In Isaiah's writings he tells that the Lord will give a special sign, a virgin shall conceive and bear a son. Isaiah also said that the Messiah would be born of the stem of Jesse, David's father. Jesus was later referred to as the son of David because of that prophecy. That would indicate his lineage and prepare them for Mary's part in the story. In Micah 5:2 we are told where the birth would happen with this prophecy:...thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel.

Matthew's Gospel was written for the Jews and includes hundreds of references to the Old Testament. Luke's Gospel was written for the Gentiles who would have had no familiarity with the Old Testament or Jewish beliefs. Mark's Gospel is the memoirs of Peter and opens with Jesus as an adult. John's Gospel is the most spiritual and does not give the details of the nativity.

So I studied this story with Matthew and Luke, a nicely balanced telling. Matthew writes what he gathered from the years he spent as a chosen disciple of the Master. Luke was a physician and historian. His gospel is made up of first hand accounts. He no doubt spoke with Mary and could add things Matthew did not know.

The average Jewish man would have been schooled in the prophecies concerning the Messiah and his much anticipated appearance. Jewish women were not allowed to study scripture but attended Sabbath services hidden behind screens. They would have heard things the Rabbi taught as well as things that were discussed in their household. They believed the Messiah would come, that he would be born of a virgin in Bethlehem and be of the lineage of David. All this would verify the gospels.

I have to ask myself what I believe about the Messiah. Two thousand years later his name and message has spread all over the globe. It's hard to imagine the actual event happening so quietly and humbly, with so few witnesses. It would be many years before this blessed child grew to manhood and began his work. Yet I can feel the wonder of it every December. Some part of me wishes I could have been there. I'd like to think I would have recognized him. No matter. I know him now and honor him. Like a reformed Scrooge, I can say truthfully that I try to 'keep Christmas' in my heart all year long.

Tidings of comfort and joy.

The Nativity and the Christmas Season

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving day, with a sweet church service, a delicious feast, and dessert with more family and friends. It was the start of a great weekend. The kids went camping and I had the house to myself for some quiet reflection. Then I put away Thanksgiving and set out Christmas decorations as I listened to Christmas music.

A few years ago I came across Mrs. Eddy's reference to the Nativity in Prose Works. She wrote: "It is most fitting that Christian Scientists memorize the nativity of Jesus". I took that to heart and spent the next year reading the nativity as it appears in the Gospels, the references from the Old Testament, and what Mrs. Eddy had to say. It was a year of appreciation for this holiest of stories. So I think I will share some of what I learned in the Blog over the next few weeks, along with insights from studying our weekly Bible lesson.

When I did my study I wrote down the elements of the Nativity and then each month studied parts of it. For me, the essence of the Nativity is the prophecies, the angels, the shepherds, the Magi, the star, Mary and Joseph. Tomorrow I will start with the prophecies.

This week's Bible lesson is all about "How Not to be Fooled' by the suggestions of mortal mind or what Mrs. Eddy calls animal magnetism. Hypnotism was very much the rage in her day and was studied by scientific committees with members like Benjamin Franklin. Mesmerists attracted huge crowds. Seances were a popular evening entertainment. Mrs. Eddy helps us handle the power of suggestion twice a year, when this topic comes up in the rotation.

This time the emphasis is on seeing that there is one God and His creation and nothing else. No other power. We are reminded of how He protects us with selections from the 91st Psalm. I worked today with the references to 'noisome pestilence' and 'snare of the fowler'. Those are malicious speech or the destroying word, that which cuts and stings. We don't want to be on the receiving end or, heaven forbid, the one speaking that way. Nothing else is present but good and with good filling all space nothing evil can happen to you. You also cannot be caught by subliminal advertising, or blantant efforts to influence your spending. You cannot get caught up in some soap opera view of life, for yourself or for your friends. You cannot be tempted to try fad diets.

My favorite sentence this week is "God is everywhere, and nothing apart from Him is present or has power". What an amazing concept.

Go in peace.

Acts 3:1-10

This week's Bible lesson is about Soul and body. I like to think of Soul as awareness. And what Soul is aware of is perfection, goodness, wholeness, untouched by accident or birth defects, time or space. A wonderful example of this is given in Acts. We read about a man who has been unable to stand or walk his whole life. We are not given specifics but he was unable to support himself physically or financially. So his whole life he had been carried to a place outside of the temple, a gate where others were able to enter and pray. He sat there all day begging. Everyone in the city knew him. One day he sees Peter and John approaching and he asks them for money . But Peter asks him to look at them. This was a demand for his undivided attention. It says he did this, expecting to recieve something from them. But Peter is offering him something of lasting value, the ability to make his own way. Now I am assuming that this man must have heard all about Jesus; his life, his healing (including making the lame walk). Peter, by referring to Jesus Christ by name, is giving this man a frame of reference for the type of healing that was done in his name. Peter wants this man to 'rise up', not just physically but mentally, to lift his thought and see himself as Jesus would have seen him. To, in effect, be reborn and freed from the belief of birth defect or accident. To make his point, Peter takes him by the hand and lifts him up. The words are immediated followed by action. It's clear what Peter's expectation was. He must have seen Jesus do this many times. And the results were immediate. No need to learn how to get his balance, no physical therapy needed for those muscles, no time to build up strength to support his weight. His feet and ankles were perfect and he stood. Now it was important to move out of that place and he walked and then he leaped and then, for the first time in his life, he went into church. What a scene it must have been. All those who had seen this man grow up in the shadow of the temple, now saw him praising God inside it. They were filled with wonder.

Such healing is possible today. We need to look at the Christ, the Comforter who has come to show us our true identity as the child of God. We need to reach out for the healing, and when we feel the change we need to take a stand. We need to see that our life is in perfect balance, no lack of time or money or health. Stable on a solid foundation. We need to accept our strength, our full ability to understand Truth and demonstrate it. We need to move forward, and as we do so, to joyously thank God. It starts with admitting what is possible, in fact, inevitable. Truth is powerful and undeniable. What an awesome healing to dwell on today.

Go in peace in full awareness.

Sarah's fault

As I studied this week's Bible lesson, I was a bit surprised to see the story of Abraham and Sarah. I read the passages about Abraham and Sarah, 85 & 75 years old, on their way to the Promised Land. Abraham does not seem to have had second thoughts about obeying God's direction to do so. But he is not as confident that they would have any children. Have you ever had to wait a long time for something you believe God will grant you to show up? Has it ever seemed like that window of opportunity had closed? Surely Sarah's ability to have children seemed unfruitful. One way was possible. If Sarah held her servant while she bore the Master a child, Sarah could claim it as her own. She presents this idea to her husband, they promote Hagar to second wife and the desired child, Ishmael, is born. But their lack of faith in God's promise led to very unhappy consequences. Has that ever been the case for you?

We pray and pray, asking God for something, feeling like He is going to grant it, and then run out of patience waiting for it. We have outlined how this thing will happen, what avenue, what person, what event. When it doesn't appear in that form, we take matters into our own hands. The result rarely satisfies.

In this story the real issue is in a false sense of man as the creator. The expected child is God's idea, already formed in Mind, perfect and complete, with a unique place in the divine plan. 13 years after Ishmael's birth, God reminds Abraham of the original promise and a child comes to them who is Isaac. The promise was kept in God's own time and way.

I often use the definiton of patience - expecting good calmly - when giving Christian Science treatments. The process of refining gold is also mentioned in this section of the lesson. Great heat is applied to the raw gold causing the dross to rise to the surface and disappear. It can be quite a show of sparks. You may have encountered something like that when you are working out a problem. Right in the midst of prayer, the situation seems to accelerate, get worse. But it could just be this process of seeing the impurities and worthless or trivial thoughts being removed to leave behind the pure gold, precious metal. Mrs. Eddy tells us the result of this is 'enlarged individuality, a wider sphere of thought and action, a more expansive love, a higher and more permanent peace'. Good rewards. Worthy of a little patience.

Go in peace.

I just finished reading The Copper Scroll by Joel Rosenberg. It is the fourth in a series of books about the Dead Sea Scrolls and this one focuses on the famous copper scroll found in the same area but entirely different from the Scriptural fragments found. The copper scroll is a mysterious listing of the treasures from the first and second Temple built in Jerusalem. Among the things sought is the Ark of the Covenant. This book is about following the clues and what is in the Scriptures. It was a good read. I had seen a special on the history channel about that scroll and how archeologists are working to decipher its meaning. I've long felt that if only we could find a way for peace in the Middle East so that those ancient sites could be excavated, there are probably many things that might come to light.

I do not have to see the Ark to believe that it existed, and probably still does, somewhere in the world. I do not have to see the original tablets to believe in the Ten Commandments. I don't have to see God to believe that He is very real and that He cares deeply about me. I know this and have known it all my life. But my study of Christian Science has opened up so much of the Scriptures and shown me how to make their teachings practical in my day to day life.

I am a different person than I was in my twenties, thirties and so on. Everyone once in a while something comes up to show me how far I have advanced in my spiritual journey. Everyone once in a while I see how far I have yet to go. But it is a wonderful passage.

go in peace
Candace

It's not how many talents you have

Jesus told a parable about three men entrusted with talents by their common master. Later they were called to account for what they did with those talents. The first two went right to work and doubled their master's investment. But the third, given one talent, buried it because he was afraid he might lose it. The point of the story is not to worry about the talent you've been given. Instead, focus on making the most of what you have got. Mrs. Eddy wrote "In order to apprehend more, we must put into practice what we already know....If faithful over a few things we shall be made rulers over many.

Are you wishing you were taller or wealthier or smarter, that you had more responsibility, that your talents were recognized by others? Don't be made to overlook your unique gifts and talents. Comparing yourself to others, feeling we don't measure up to other's achievements or successes, leads down the wrong path of thinking. In fact, it can become a dead end.

Being faithful over what you do have and have to give helps silence negative thinking and discouragement. We must deal with this or it leads to envy, jealousy, and general unhappiness. Remind yourself of just who you are trying to please, and it should be God. Accepting the suggestion that you are inadequate is criticizing God's creation. It is accepting an imperfect image and likeness. If you want to move forward, be sure your steps are upward.

God is not comparing you to anyone else. He is very satisfied with His work and He loves you just the way you are. Return the favor and learn to love yourself for His name's sake.

Go in peace