This week's Bible Lesson includes Jesus' parable about the lost sheep. I am looking at it with fresh eyes to find something new and wonderful. To set it in context, he is addressing a crowd that included publicans and sinners who gathered close to hear him.

The publicans were despised and considered traitors who for financial gain had sided with the Romans and collected tribute for their treasury. Any money they gained would not be accepted as alms, they were not allowed to testify in court, and they were considered heathens. Sinners were those who were notorious transgressors. Jesus received both graciously and lived side by side with them in peace. This behavior greatly offended the Scribes and Pharisees. They were self-righteous and had neither love nor hope for them. Their murmurings lead Jesus to share this parable to warn them that there will be more joy in heaven over one of these penitents than over ninety-nine such as themselves.

They were to be as Shepherds of their religious flock. He came to seek and save that which was lost and so must they. And He seeks until he finds them. Or as with those who came to hear him, they found him. Then he gently carries them home, brings them back into the fold. And their is much rejoicing at their return.

We claim to be his followers, we study the Lesson each week, we attend services and participate in church. How are we seeking and saving those among us who are struggling? Do we leave them in their wilderness or do we seek to see their true identity and know they can never be separated from their Shepherd. When they start coming back to church do we welcome them with open arms with no reference to the wandering, audibly or held in thought?

Soul can never be lost. Man, who is the reflection of Soul, cannot be lost either. I will examine my thinking today and be sure I am on the side with Christ, obeying the Rule for Motives and Acts and not condemning or judging another's journey.

Show me, Shepherd, how to gather and how to sow and how to feed your sheep.

The parable of the talents explained in a new way

I am so very grateful for an posting I read this morning that helped me see Jesus' parable of the talents in a whole new light. It always seemed like an odd story, one that cast the Master in a bad light. My sympathy was with the man who did not increase his talent but returned it unspent.  Over the years I have come to see a more spiritual way of  looking at that description of the kingdom of heaven but what I read today took it to a whole new level.

Think of the man 'travelling into a far country' as the Christ. Before he goes, he calls his servants, or those who choose to follow the Christ, and gives them shares of his 'goods'. In Jesus' time a talent was a sizable amount of money, more than a man could earn in twenty years. So this was no small responsibility. It was not an outright gift, but he was leaving it in their care until he returned. Think of that as our having received Christian Science, to the level of our present understanding.

While he was 'away' the wise servants improved those talents, grew spiritually, used that time of probation for progress in understanding more about God and themselves as His image and likeness. But one servant misunderstood Christ. He falsely believed him to be 'hard man', perhaps thought of God as punishing and formidable. Many religions view God that way expecting wrath and cruelty. This man was afraid of that God and he did not use the time to correct his wrong beliefs but hid them 'in the earth', saw himself as the man in Genesis Two, created from the dust of the ground and eventually banished from the kingdom of heaven. He hands back the gift of Christian Science unused and remains as he was when it came to him.

The Master chastised him for not seeking help, he could have called a practitioner or a Christian Science friend who would have gladly helped  and encouraged him to use that talent. We may all have had opportunities to seek and strive for a clearer understanding of some situation. We might have chosen to live with some challenge rather than use Christian Science to heal it. That option is there.

Mrs. Eddy writes much about our salvation resting on 'progression and probation' as we come to see that 'heaven is not a locality, but a divine state of Mind'. We can choose or accept the belief of ignorance but ignoring a situation never leads to healing. No matter how long you nurse a grudge, it will never get better. No matter how long you accept and live with error, it will not just go away.

Our 'work' is to improve our experience, use the talents, put into practice what we already know, even if that seems like just a little bit, and work daily to gain more. God works with us. Use your 'one' talent and watch it grow. Then the Christ will compliment you, well done, as you are faithful over the little things. They are preparing you to overcome and have dominion over the rest.

Today I must be a guest in your house

Yesterday I opened the Sentinel for the week of September 30th and read the lead article...God's children - responsive, not rebellious...by Glory Holzworth. The whole article is wonderful and I recommend reading it, but, I was blown away by her insight about Jesus' words to Zacchaeus. The tax collector was known for his ruthless and obsessive dealings with others and they considered him a sinner. But when he heard that Jesus was passing nearby, this little man dropped his dignity and climbed a tree to see over the crowd. When Jesus came to that place he looked up and saw him.

Now, let's take a moment with this week's Golden Text from John 7:24. "Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment". Do not look on the outward appearance. Use your spiritual sense to bear witness only to truth. Jesus did this constantly, and he obviously saw something more to Zacchaeus.

Jesus was the center of attention and everyone wanted to be near him. He could have had dinner with anyone. But Luke records these beautiful words...Zacchaeus, make haste and come down for today I must abide at thy house. Imagine how that must have made Zacchaeus feel, to be so singled out for this honor. They have dinner together and Zacchaeus is so moved by the words of this great teacher that he changes his whole lifestyle and vows to make amends to those he has cheated in the past.

I thought about those words all day. Today I must abide at thy house. I imagined all day that the Christ was choosing to spend the day with me. Mrs. Eddy defines 'house' as 'spiritual consciousness'. The Christ is right there with me in my thinking all day. He doesn't just drop by for a few minutes, he abides. 

And with the Christ-consciousness we can always 'judge righteous judgment', we can be the spiritual see-ers mentioned in last week's Lesson. What an opportunity to go through the day seeing everyone as the Christ sees them. How quickly we sometimes judge a person or a situation and miss the blessing of Truth knowing.

So I had an especially sweet day, welcoming the Christ to my 'house'. I think I will continue affirming the presence of the Christ today.

Behold = look until you see. Be a spiritual see-er

The first word in this week's Golden Text is 'behold'. I recently read a comment that 'behold' means 'look until you see' and I just love that idea so what fun that it is the first word in the Lesson on Reality. I went through the Lesson and circled the places where 'behold' appears and worked with those ideas yesterday.

...behold, the kingdom of God is within you.  Look until you see, truly understand that this is the reality of your being, your true spiritual identity. And look until you see that the kingdom of God is all that is within you. There is no place for anything else to lodge or intrude.

...behold, your God will come with a vengeance, even God with a recompense; He will come and save you.  Look until you see that God , as the New Living Translation puts it, your God is coming to destroy your enemies, He is coming to save you.  Or as the Message Bible translates it, God is here, right here, on His way to put things right and redress all wrongs. He's on His way and He will save you!

God saw everything that He had made, and, behold, it was very good.  Look until you see what God sees, all of His creation as very good.

Open Thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of Thy law. What a simple and profound prayer! Open my eyes, let me see only what You see, and I will behold wonderful things all around me. That is the prayer Elisha prayed when his servant was dismayed to find them surrounded by an enemy army. And the Lord opened the eyes of the young man; and he saw: and, behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha.

Jesus beheld in Science the perfect man, who appeared to him where sinning mortal man appears to mortals. Now that is how you look until you see. And the result? In this perfect man the Saviour saw God's own likeness, and this correct view of man healed the sick. Yes!

The same ( a man crippled from his mother's womb) hear Paul speak: who steadfastly beholding him, and perceiving that he had faith to be healed, said with a loud voice, Stand upright on thy feet. And he leaped and walked.  Paul beheld...he looked until he saw that man's perfection and that spark within him that was receptive to healing, even of a life long so-called birth defect.

Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed on us, that we should be called the sons of God:  Look until you see this great gift of grace bestowed on us unconditionally by our dear Father, God. This is read every Sunday at the church service and Sunday school meeting. It should never be so familiar that we don't pay attention to it.

Never stop beholding. Look until you see the reality of your oneness with divine Love.

Behold and be whole.

She was bowed down....

I actually had this experience yesterday on campus.

Two of my 'grands' take the bus to St. Louis to attend the Lower School at Principia. I meet them coming back to Elsah every afternoon at 4:30. Yesterday I arrived early, prompted by some angel message to be there sooner. When I walked to the flag pole area I saw a student sitting on one of the benches. She has hunched over and seemed to be in distress. I sat beside her and asked if she would like some company.

She was distraught about how things were going in this fourth week of classes, unhappy with the work load and not getting her assignments done on time. This girl had always been an "A" student and now she was getting "C"s. At first she could hardly lift up her head and tears were dripping onto the sidewalk. But as we talked, and I shared some thoughts that came to me a I prayed, she was able to speak more freely.

The others who were arriving to meet students started to come over to say hello. We are a friendly bunch and usually get into conversations. But when they saw what we happening each one stepped aside and I could see that they too were praying.

The bus arrived and slowly the crowd of excited children and adults thinned out. I stayed with her until she felt she could go back to her dorm. When I got home I sent her an email with some other things to work with.

This morning I got an email back that was filled with light and joy. I had no doubt that she was 'straightened up' and ready to continue on with renewed enthusiasm and an expectation of good.

It fit so nicely with the incident in this week's Bible Lesson about the woman bowed down with a 'spirit of infirmity' who 'could in no wise lift up herself'. Jesus saw and stepped right in to offer the assurance that she was loosed from that claim. And she was.

I love what Mrs. Eddy writes about being 'bowed down'.  "We bow down to matter, and entertain finite thoughts of God like a pagan idolater". The paragraph heading is "Idolatrous illusions". And that is all we deal with, illusions that would suggest we are on our own and unable to overcome some 'spirit of infirmity', some attempt to limit us mentally or physically.  Elsewhere Mrs. Eddy writes about God's child as 'including all right ideas' and 'that which has no separate mind from God', with 'not a single quality underived from Deity'".  As we talked and exchanged emails we were affirming her divine right to those 'right ideas' available whenever she needed them. The Christ was just as accessible to her as to that woman.

Just another in the long list of reasons why I love Christian Science and am so grateful to see it in operation today just as effectively as it was back in Jesus' time.

It isn't about getting to the pool

This week's Bible Lesson on matter includes the familiar story of the man waiting beside the Pool of Bethesda. He has suffered from some unnamed ailment for 38 years and is unable to get to the waters when they are stirred by an 'angel'. Others get there before he can. So someone has taken him to the pool but left him there unattended. Jesus singles him out from among the many hoping to be healed.

When Jesus speaks with him, asking if he wants to be healed, the man answers with all the reasons why he has not been so far. Jesus tells him to rise up, take up his bed, and walk. Immediately the man is made whole and he does just that.

Jesus did not tell him to go wash in the pool. He redirects the man's expectations from some healing that would come from the waters, as if they had the power to do that, and gives him instead a glimpse of the Christ, the activity of divine Love that brings healing. All healing comes from a change of thought. Jesus was showing that man that the healing resulted in choosing Spirit over matter. The answer was not to get to the water, but to look up to God. The following citation from II Corinthians begins....we look not at things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen'. Our reliance is not on the material, which may or may not be accessible to us, but on God who always is right at hand and ready to help and heal.

The waters had no power to heal. The healing came from the belief that they could. But that was an illusion. Such healings were based on faith in matter, not unlike taking a pill to 'heal' a headache. The headache goes away because of the individual's belief in it, one belief overtaking another. But it is not a permanent healing because it does not correct the cause. The headache can, and probably will, return. When one changes one's standpoint to a more spiritual view of God and man, the reliance is not on matter at all. The belief in material conditions yields.

What do we gain by turning to God for healing, abandoning material reliance? Mrs. Eddy says this 'confers upon man enlarged individuality, a wider sphere of thought and action, a more expansive love, a higher and more permanent peace'. Now that is worth considering.

Instead of putting yourself beside some inaccessible 'pool', waiting for an illusive solution, why not look up to the Christ, the ever-present solution. Find all in God, good. Part of Mrs. Eddy's Scientific Statement of Being reads, "All is infinite Mind and its infinite manifestation for God is All-in-all". No need to wait for help or healing. No need to rely on matter or some one else. God fills all space with His goodness. You are made in His image and likeness, perfect and whole, and live in that atmosphere. Turn from the illusion. It can't help you. See the reality and be free. Your answer is not in getting to the pool, it is in turning to God, divine Life, Truth and Love. That is where you should be looking. And you will find all you need.

Didn't you sow good seed?

Ah, there is the question.

Recently I started paying attention to the questions that appear in our Bible Lesson, both in the Bible passages and in the citations from Science and Health.  There are several good ones this week and today I will be working with one from the second section. It is found in the parable of the Sower and the Seed. A crowd has gathered around the Master and Jesus is teaching them about the kingdom of heaven. He chooses a familiar subject to make his point, the sowing of seed. This only appears in Matthew's gospel.

It was interesting to read in Dummelow's Bible commentary that perhaps Jesus foresaw the scandals and offences that would arise within the Christian movement; Peter's denial, the treachery of Judas, the quarrels among the apostles, the sensuality of the Corinthians, false brethren and false teachers, the love of members waxing cold. Couldn't some of that seem apparent in our churches and our lives today? Jesus was teaching them this parable that they (and we) might know how to deal with the tares and weeds that show up on our own spiritual journey. He was demonstrating it for himself.

That 'field' might be your own family, your body, your office, your marriage, your church. It is a call to let your own spirituality mature. Learn to respond with love rather than react with anger or frustration or blame.  Don't go on some rampage of weed removal. Be still and listen to God.  Those false beliefs and errors will become apparent and easily seen for what they are. Never people, places or things but just wrong thinking and acting. The Sower knew he was working with good seed sown in a good field. So did the Master. Anything that did not belong there would be recognized and removed, without damage to the good fruitage.


There is a wonderful letter Mrs. Eddy wrote to Frank Gale reprinted in Mary Baker Eddy, Healer, the amplified version. She tells him, "The tares and wheat appear to grow together until the harvest; then the tares are first gathered, that is, you have seasons of seeing your errors - and afterwards, by reason of this very seeing, the tares are burned, the error is destroyed. Then you see Truth plainly. and the wheat is "gathered into barns" - it becomes permanent in the understanding."  Seasons of seeing your errors. May these not be the result of dedicated prayer and study? Wrong thinking is revealed and can be replaced with right ideas. As you see it, it is destroyed in your thought and removed from your experience. The whole letter is worth reading, found on pages 398-399.

So if you are tempted to wonder, didn't I sow good seed, when some problem or challenge appears, think about this parable. Love guides us to make the separation at the right time. Nothing but blessing can be the result. That good seed will bear good fruit.