Hymns and Readings for the testimony meeting on Wednesday, July 27, 2022
Hymns: 399, 519, 168

The Bible
Hebrews 4:12, 16
Psalms 92:4
Mark 1:1, 23-42
Mark 5:25-34
Mark 10:46-52
Acts 3:1-9
2 Corinthians 2:14

Science and Health
115:17, 15
16:20
411:3-412:9
86:1-8
153:16-155:2
417:20-418:32
390:12-391:13
406:20-25

Wednesday, June 8, 2022

Hymn 573
Words by Mary Baker Eddy, the Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science
Shepherd, show me how to go / O'er the hillside steep, / How to gather, how to sow,— / How to feed Thy sheep; / I will listen for Thy voice, / Lest my footsteps stray; / I will follow and rejoice / All the rugged way.
Thou wilt bind the stubborn will, / Wound the callous breast, / Make self-righteousness be still, / Break earth's stupid rest. / Strangers on a barren shore, / Lab'ring long and lone, / We would enter by the door, / And Thou know'st Thine own;
So, when day grows dark and cold, / Tear or triumph harms, / Lead Thy lambkins to the fold, / Take them in Thine arms; / Feed the hungry, heal the heart, / Till the morning's beam; / White as wool, ere they depart, / Shepherd, wash them clean.

The Bible, New King James Version
Luke 4
14 Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit to Galilee, and news of Him went out through all the surrounding region. 15 And He taught in their synagogues, being glorified by all.

16 So He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up. And as His custom was, He went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and stood up to read. 17 And He was handed the book of the prophet Isaiah. And when He had opened the book, He found the place where it was written:
18 “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me,
Because He has anointed Me
To preach the gospel to the poor;
He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted,
To proclaim liberty to the captives
And recovery of sight to the blind,
To set at liberty those who are oppressed;
19 To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.”
20 Then He closed the book, and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all who were in the synagogue were fixed on Him. 21 And He began to say to them, “Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.” 22 So all bore witness to Him, and marveled at the gracious words which proceeded out of His mouth. 
John 3
16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. 17 For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.

I John 3
16 By this we know love, because He laid down His life for us. And we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. 17 But whoever has this world’s goods, and sees his brother in need, and shuts up his heart from him, how does the love of God abide in him?
18 My little children, let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth.
Matthew 5
14 “You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. 16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.
38 “You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ 39 But I tell you not to resist an evil person. But whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also. 40 If anyone wants to sue you and take away your tunic, let him have your cloak also. 41 And whoever compels you to go one mile, go with him two. 42 Give to him who asks you, and from him who wants to borrow from you do not turn away.

43 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ 44 But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, 45 that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.

Matthew 7
1 “Judge not, that you be not judged. 
12 ...whatever you want men to do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.

Luke 7
36 Then one of the Pharisees asked Him to eat with him. And He went to the Pharisee’s house, and sat down to eat. 37 And behold, a woman in the city who was a sinner, when she knew that Jesus sat at the table in the Pharisee’s house, brought an alabaster flask of fragrant oil, 38 and stood at His feet behind Him weeping; and she began to wash His feet with her tears, and wiped them with the hair of her head; and she kissed His feet and anointed them with the fragrant oil. 39 Now when the Pharisee who had invited Him saw this, he spoke to himself, saying, “This Man, if He were a prophet, would know who and what manner of woman this is who is touching Him, for she is a sinner.”
40 And Jesus answered and said to him, “Simon, I have something to say to you.”
41 “There was a certain creditor who had two debtors. One owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. 42And when they had nothing with which to repay, he freely forgave them both. Tell Me, therefore, which of them will love him more?”
43 Simon answered and said, “I suppose the one whom he forgave more.”
And He said to him, “You have rightly judged.” 44 Then He turned to the woman and said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave Me no water for My feet, but she has washed My feet with her tears and wiped them with the hair of her head. 45 You gave Me no kiss, but this woman has not ceased to kiss My feet since the time I came in. 46 You did not anoint My head with oil, but this woman has anointed My feet with fragrant oil. 47 Therefore I say to you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven, for she loved much. But to whom little is forgiven, the same loves little.”
48 Then He said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.”
50 Go in peace.”

Matthew 25
31 “When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory. 32 All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats. 33 And He will set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left. 34 Then the King will say to those on His right hand, ‘Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: 35 for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; 36 I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.’
37 “Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink? 38 When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You? 39 Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ 40 And the King will answer and say to them, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.’

Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy
9:5-10:4
The test of all prayer lies in the answer to these questions: Do we love our neighbor better because of this asking? Do we pursue the old selfishness, satisfied with having prayed for something better, though we give no evidence of the sincerity of our requests by living consistently with our prayer? If selfishness has given place to kindness, we shall regard our neighbor unselfishly, and bless them that curse us; but we shall never meet this great duty simply by asking that it may be done. There is a cross to be taken up before we can enjoy the fruition of our hope and faith.
Dost thou “love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind”? This command includes much, even the surrender of all merely material sensation, affection, and worship. This is the El Dorado of Christianity. It involves the Science of Life, and recognizes only the divine control of Spirit, in which Soul is our master, and material sense and human will have no place.
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. Prayer means that we desire to walk and will walk in the light so far as we receive it, even though with bleeding footsteps, and that waiting patiently on the Lord, we will leave our real desires to be rewarded by Him.

58:7
Unselfish ambition, noble life-motives, and purity, — these constituents of thought, mingling, constitute individually and collectively true happiness, strength, and permanence.

362:1-12
It is related in the seventh chapter of Luke's Gospel that Jesus was once the honored guest of a certain Pharisee, by name Simon, though he was quite unlike Simon the disciple. While they were at meat, an unusual incident occurred, as if to interrupt the scene of Oriental festivity. A “strange woman” came in. Heedless of the fact that she was debarred from such a place and such society, especially under the stern rules of rabbinical law, as positively as if she were a Hindoo pariah intruding upon the household of a high-caste Brahman, this woman (Mary Magdalene, as she has since been called) approached Jesus. 
363:8
Did Jesus spurn the woman? Did he repel her adoration? No! He regarded her compassionately. Nor was this all. Knowing what those around him were saying in their hearts, especially his host, — that they were wondering why, being a prophet, the exalted guest did not at once detect the woman's immoral status and bid her depart, — knowing this, Jesus rebuked them with a short story or parable. He described two debtors, one for a large sum and one for a smaller, who were released from their obligations by their common creditor. “Which of them will love him most?” was the Master's question to Simon the Pharisee; and Simon replied, “He to whom he forgave most.” Jesus approved the answer, and so brought home the lesson to all, following it with that remarkable declaration to the woman, “Thy sins are forgiven.” 
365:25
If hypocrisy, stolidity, inhumanity, or vice finds its way into the chambers of disease through the would-be healer, it would, if it were possible, convert into a den of thieves the temple of the Holy Ghost, — the patient's spiritual power to resuscitate himself. The unchristian practitioner is not giving to mind or body the joy and strength of Truth. The poor suffering heart needs its rightful nutriment, such as peace, patience in tribulation, and a priceless sense of the dear Father's loving-kindness. 
366:12-19
The physician who lacks sympathy for his fellow-being is deficient in human affection, and we have the apostolic warrant for asking: “He that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen?” Not having this spiritual affection, the physician lacks faith in the divine Mind and has not that recognition of infinite Love which alone confers the healing power.
367:17
A Christian Scientist occupies the place at this period of which Jesus spoke to his disciples, when he said: “Ye are the salt of the earth.” “Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid.” Let us watch, work, and pray that this salt lose not its saltness, and that this light be not hid, but radiate and glow into noontide glory.

Hymn 333
The loving friend to all who bowed / Beneath life's weary load, / From lips baptized in humble prayer, / His consolations flowed.
The faithful witness to the truth, / His just rebuke was hurled / Out from a heart that burned to break / The fetters of the world.
No hollow rite, no lifeless creed, / His piercing glance could bear; / But longing hearts which sought him found / That God and heaven were there.

Hymn 600
Who was that man in Galilee, / Healing and teaching beside the sea? / What was the power that made him strong? / How can we learn to sing his song?
He told us, / I am the light of the world, / I am the light of the world, / So follow me and shine out / For I am the light of the world!

Why are we here, and who are we? / What is his purpose for you and me? / Our little light seems small and dim / Next to the blaze that comes from him!
He told us, / You are the salt of the earth, / You are the light of the world. / So follow me and shine out / For you are the light of the world!

Christ is the light with which we shine, / Lit from within by this love divine. / Step out with courage, dare to go, / Give from the heart the love you know.
He told us, / We are the salt of the earth, / We are the light of the world. / We follow him and shine out / For Christ is the light of the world!

Wednesday Readings for April 20, 2022
Hymns: 524, 41, 382
The Bible:
Acts 2:21
Romans 10 :13-15
Ephesians 1:17-23 the
Mark 9:17-18, 20-29, 36-37
1 John 5:11-14
Proverbs 18:10
Psalms 5:11-12 let
Psalms 72:17-19

Science and Health:
517:30
226:14
478:30
130:9-131:11
131:26-13
315:3-316:10
390:12
448:26-30
512:20-25
469:13-21

Thoughts on Easter
 
These days before Easter have been thought-provoking and inspiring in a very different way. I had the opportunity to visit the National Civil Rights Museum in Memphis, on the site where Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King was assassinated in 1968.
 
The exhibit was fascinating, taking in every era of the Black rights struggle. Near the end of a very long trek through, the exhibit gave information and films of Dr. King. Watching the “I Have a Dream” speech brought tears to my eyes. His “suggestions” for riding newly integrated buses in Montgomery, Alabama provide practical steps that ring, to me, directly from Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount:
 
For your help and convenience the following suggestions are made. Will you read, study and memorize them so that our non-violent determination may not be endangered. First, some general suggestions:
1. Not all white people are opposed to integrated buses. Accept goodwill on the part of many.
2. The whole bus is now for the use of all people. Take a vacant seat.
3. Pray for guidance and commit yourself to complete non-violence in word and action as you enter the bus.
4. Demonstrate the calm dignity of our Montgomery people in your actions.
5. In all things observe ordinary rules of courtesy and good behavior.
6. Remember that this is not a victory for Negroes alone, but for all Montgomery and the South. Do not boast! Do not brag!
7. Be quiet but friendly; proud, but not arrogant; joyous, but not boistrous.
8. Be loving enough to absorb evil and understanding enough to turn an enemy into a friend.
NOW FOR SOME SPECIFIC SUGGESTIONS:
1.  The bus driver is in charge of the bus and has been instructed to obey the law. Assume that he will cooperate in helping you occupy any vacant seat.
2. Do not deliberately sit by a white person, unless there is no other seat.
3. In sitting down by a person, white or colored, say "May I" or "Pardon me" as you sit. This is a common courtesy.
4. If cursed, do not curse back. If pushed, do not push back. If struck, do not strike back, but evidence love and goodwill at all times.
5. In case of an incident, talk as little as possible, and always in a quiet tone. Do not get up from your seat! Report all serious incidents to the bus driver.
6. For the first few days try to get on the bus with a friend in whose non-violence you have confidence. You can uphold one another by a glance or a prayer.
7. If another person is being molested, do not arise to go to his defense, but pray for the oppressor and use moral and spiritual force to carry on the struggle for justice.
8. According to your own ability and personality, do not be afraid to experiment with new and creative techniques for achieving reconciliation and social change.
9. If you feel you cannot take it, walk for another week or two. We have confidence in our people. GOD BLESS YOU ALL.
 
Another thing that stuck with me, very deeply in this Easter season, is a snippet from his last speech, called “I’ve Been to the Mountaintop,” as he was there to support the Memphis sanitation workers. It refers to the parable of the Good Samaritan”.
 
            … it’s possible that the priest and the Levite looked over that man on the ground and wondered if the robbers were still around. Or it’s possible that they felt that the man on the ground was merely faking. And he was acting like he had been robbed and hurt, in order to seize them over there, lure them there for quick and easy seizure. And so the first question that the priest asked — the first question that the Levite asked was, “If I stop to help this man, what will happen to me?” But then the Good Samaritan came by. And he reversed the question: “If I do not stop to help this man, what will happen to him?”
That’s the question before you tonight. Not, “If I stop to help the sanitation workers, what will happen to my job. Not, “If I stop to help the sanitation workers what will happen to all of the hours that I usually spend in my office every day and every week as a pastor?” The question is not, “If I stop to help this man in need, what will happen to me?” The question is, “If I do not stop to help the sanitation workers, what will happen to them?” That’s the question.

This is such love for the lowliest of man! Such unselfish vision. Such determination to act as Jesus instructed and inspired.
 
In my annual Easter-time reading of the chapter “Atonement and Eucharist” in Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy, I came across this statement, familiar to me but not previously understood:
 
The spiritual essence of blood is sacrifice. The efficacy of Jesus' spiritual offering is infinitely greater than can be expressed by our sense of human blood. The material blood of Jesus was no more efficacious to cleanse from sin when it was shed upon “the accursed tree,” than when it was flowing in his veins as he went daily about his Father's business. His true flesh and blood were his Life; and they truly eat his flesh and drink his blood, who partake of that divine Life. (page 25:3)
 
Now, I have an idea of what is meant. Those who give their life in obedience to God, divine Love, are living true life. It is the life lived with un-selfed love that sustains and uplifts.
 
Jesus was crucified for doing what was indisputably right and good. And he rose from the dead, and soon after that rose entirely from earth. To the material senses, which see blood flowing through a body as the definition of our life, this makes no sense. But Life is so much more! It is not about blood, or even blood sacrificed. It is Love lived.
 
To the material senses, Dr. King died. We know, however, that his message has not. And we do not know what his experience actually was that day in Memphis, or what it has been since. We can trust, though, that God, divine Life and Love, never let him go and he lives and loves still.
 
What can this mean for me? To hold myself close to avoid insult and hurt is not the way to life. To put myself forward in the best way I know, to live to lift others, is.
 
I don’t know what this looks like yet. Father-Mother God, may I do as you will.

Hymns and Readings from the Testimony Meeting of March 23, 2022
Hymn 134
I look to Thee in every need, / And never look in vain; / I feel Thy touch, eternal Love, / And all is well again: / The thought of Thee is mightier far / Than sin and pain and sorrow are.
Thy calmness bends serene above, / My restlessness to still; / Around me flows Thy quickening life / To nerve my faltering will: / Thy presence fills my solitude; / Thy providence turns all to good.
Embosomed deep in Thy dear love, / Held in Thy law, I stand: / Thy hand in all things I behold, / And all things in Thy hand. / Thou leadest me by unsought ways, / Thou turn'st my mourning into praise.

The Bible
Job 2:7,8; 3:1-3; 6:2,3, 8-10 (to ;); 32:6 (to :); 33:12 For; 36:4-7 (to ;), 8-11; 37:23; 38:1,3,4; 40:10; 42:1-3, 5, 10 (to 1st .) NKJV
...Satan went out from the presence of the Lord, and struck Job with painful boils from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head. And he took for himself a potsherd with which to scrape himself while he sat in the midst of the ashes.

After this Job opened his mouth and cursed the day of his birth. And Job spoke, and said:“May the day perish on which I was born, And the night in which it was said, ‘A male child is conceived.’
Oh, that my grief were fully weighed,
And my calamity laid with it on the scales!
For then it would be heavier than the sand of the sea--
“Oh, that I might have my request,
That God would grant me the thing that I long for!
That it would please God to crush me,
That He would loose His hand and cut me off!
Then I would still have comfort;

So Elihu, the son of Barachel the Buzite, answered and said:
​For God is greater than man.
For truly my words are not false; One who is perfect in knowledge is with you.
“Behold, God is mighty, but despises no one; He is mighty in strength of understanding.
He does not preserve the life of the wicked, But gives justice to the oppressed.
He does not withdraw His eyes from the righteous; 
And if they are bound in fetters, Held in the cords of affliction,
Then He tells them their work and their transgressions--That they have acted defiantly. He also opens their ear to instruction, And commands that they turn from iniquity.
If they obey and serve Him, They shall spend their days in prosperity, And their years in pleasures.
As for the Almighty, we cannot find Him; He is excellent in power, In judgment and abundant justice; He does not oppress.

Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind, and said:
Now prepare yourself like a man; I will question you, and you shall answer Me.
“Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth?
Then adorn yourself with majesty and splendor, And array yourself with glory and beauty.

Then Job answered the Lord and said:
“I know that You can do everything,
And that no purpose of Yours can be withheld from You.
You asked, ‘Who is this who hides counsel without knowledge?’
Therefore I have uttered what I did not understand,
“I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear,
But now my eye sees You."
And the Lord restored Job’s losses when he prayed for his friends. 

Psalms 4:1, 3 the Lord, 4 (to :)
Hear me when I call, O God of my righteousness: thou hast enlarged me when I was in distress; have mercy upon me, and hear my prayer. 
... the LORD hath set apart him that is godly for himself: the LORD will hear when I call unto him. 

Romans 8:1, 5, 9, 11
There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. ...
... they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit. ...
...ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his. ...
But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you.

Revelation 21:1 (to :), 3–5
And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: ...
And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God. And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away. And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful.

Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures
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.
(SH 14:12–15)

Spirit's senses are without pain, and they are forever at peace.
(SH 214:32–1)

If we look to the body for pleasure, we find pain; for Life, we find death; for Truth, we find error; for Spirit, we find its opposite, matter. Now reverse this action. Look away from the body into Truth and Love, the Principle of all happiness, harmony, and immortality. Hold thought steadfastly to the enduring, the good, and the true, and you will bring these into your experience proportionably to their occupancy of your thoughts.
The effect of mortal mind on health and happiness is seen in this: If one turns away from the body with such absorbed interest as to forget it, the body experiences no pain. Under the strong impulse of a desire to perform his part, a noted actor was accustomed night after night to go upon the stage and sustain his appointed task, walking about as actively as the youngest member of the company. This old man was so lame that he hobbled every day to the theatre, and sat aching in his chair till his cue was spoken, — a signal which made him as oblivious of physical infirmity as if he had inhaled chloroform, though he was in the full possession of his so-called senses.
(SH 260:31–20)

Suffering is no less a mental condition than is enjoyment. You cause bodily sufferings and increase them by admitting their reality and continuance, as directly as you enhance your joys by believing them to be real and continuous. When an accident happens, you think or exclaim, “I am hurt!” Your thought is more powerful than your words, more powerful than the accident itself, to make the injury real.
Now reverse the process. Declare that you are not hurt and understand the reason why, and you will find the ensuing good effects to be in exact proportion to your disbelief in physics, and your fidelity to divine metaphysics, confidence in God as All, which the Scriptures declare Him to be.
(SH 397:8–22)

Nerves are not the source of pain or pleasure. ... A tooth which has been extracted sometimes aches again in belief, and the pain seems to be in its old place. A limb which has been amputated has continued in belief to pain the owner. ...
... When the nerve is gone, which we say was the occasion of pain, and the pain still remains, it proves sensation to be in the mortal mind, not in matter.
(SH 211:32 (only); 212:2–5, 12–14)

You say a boil is painful; but that is impossible, for matter without mind is not painful. The boil simply manifests, through inflammation and swelling, a belief in pain, and this belief is called a boil. Now administer mentally to your patient a high attenuation of truth, and it will soon cure the boil. The fact that pain cannot exist where there is no mortal mind to feel it is a proof that this so-called mind makes its own pain — that is, its own belief in pain.
(SH 153:16)

The medical schools would learn the state of man from matter instead of from Mind. They examine the lungs, tongue, and pulse to ascertain how much harmony, or health, matter is permitting to matter, — how much pain or pleasure, action or stagnation, one form of matter is allowing another form of matter.
(SH 159:23)

The sinless joy, — the perfect harmony and immortality of Life, possessing unlimited divine beauty and goodness without a single bodily pleasure or pain, — constitutes the only veritable, indestructible man, whose being is spiritual. This state of existence is scientific and intact, — a perfection discernible only by those who have the final understanding of Christ in divine Science.
(SH 76:22–29)

I was called to visit Mr. Clark in Lynn, who had been confined to his bed six months with hip-disease, caused by a fall upon a wooden spike when quite a boy. ... The physician had just probed the ulcer on the hip, and said the bone was carious for several inches. He even showed me the probe, which had on it the evidence of this condition of the bone. ... Mr. Clark lay with his eyes fixed and sightless. The dew of death was on his brow. I went to his bedside. In a few moments his face changed; its death-pallor gave place to a natural hue. The eyelids closed gently and the breathing became natural; he was asleep. In about ten minutes he opened his eyes and said: “I feel like a new man. My suffering is all gone.” ...
It has been demonstrated to me that Life is God and that the might of omnipotent Spirit shares not its strength with matter or with human will.
(SH 192:32–2; 193:4–7, 8–14 (to 2nd .), 32–2)

You say that indigestion, fatigue, sleeplessness, cause distressed stomachs and aching heads. Then you consult your brain in order to remember what has hurt you, when your remedy lies in forgetting the whole thing; for matter has no sensation of its own, and the human mind is all that can produce pain.
As a man thinketh, so is he. Mind is all that feels, acts, or impedes action. Ignorant of this, or shrinking from its implied responsibility, the healing effort is made on the wrong side, and thus the conscious control over the body is lost.
(SH 165:16–7)

Before deciding that the body, matter, is disordered, one should ask, “Who art thou that repliest to Spirit? Can matter speak for itself, or does it hold the issues of life?” Matter, which can neither suffer nor enjoy, has no partnership with pain and pleasure, but mortal belief has such a partnership.
(SH 181:2)
​
There is but one way to heaven, harmony, and Christ in divine Science shows us this way. It is to know no other reality — to have no other consciousness of life — than good, God and His reflection, and to rise superior to the so-called pain and pleasure of the senses.
(SH 242:9)
​
As human thought changes from one stage to another of conscious pain and painlessness, sorrow and joy, — from fear to hope and from faith to understanding, — the visible manifestation will at last be man governed by Soul, not by material sense. Reflecting God's government, man is self-governed.
(SH 125:12–17)
​
Hymn 257
O'er waiting harpstrings of the mind / There sweeps a strain, / Low, sad, and sweet, whose measures bind / The power of pain,
And wake a white-winged angel throng / Of thoughts, illumed / By faith, and breathed in raptured song, / With love perfumed.
Then His unveiled, sweet mercies show / Life's burdens light. / I kiss the cross, and wake to know / A world more bright.
And o'er earth's troubled, angry sea / I see Christ walk, / And come to me, and tenderly, / Divinely talk.
Thus Truth engrounds me on the rock, / Upon Life's shore, / 'Gainst which the winds and waves can shock, / Oh, nevermore!
From tired joy and grief afar, / And nearer Thee,— / Father, where Thine own children are, / I love to be.
My prayer, some daily good to do / To Thine, for Thee; / An offering pure of Love, whereto / God leadeth me.
​
Hymn 221
O Jesus, our dear Master, / Thy works, now understood, / Reveal their full effulgence / Through love and brotherhood. / Today Christ's precious Science / Thy healing power makes plain: / With joy may all obey thee / And cast out sin and pain.
The Christ, eternal manhood, / As God's own Son beloved, / A tender ever-presence / Within each heart is proved. / O God, our Father-Mother, / Thy name we see expressed / By man, who in Thy Science / Is perfect, holy, blessed.
O Science, God-sent message / To tired humanity, / Thou art Love's revelation / Of Truth that makes us free. / Thy kingdom, God, within us / Shows forth Love's sweet control. / God's idea, man, rejoices; / He knows the reign of Soul.


​

Several weeks ago, after trimming high branches on a tree, I experienced serious pain in my back. I prayed as best I could for a couple of days.
Then it was Sunday morning, and I sat down to prepare for my role as a Reader at church. I began to read through the Bible Lesson Sermon out loud, and after the first section found I couldn't continue sitting. I knew that in the state I was in, I would not be able to make it through the church service, which was to begin in less than two hours.
I went to a more comfortable seat to endeavor to pray. I remembered that I have read many testimonies over the years from people who faced aggressive symptoms of one sort or another and found healing in time to serve at church.
I began by prayerfully denying the pain. As it was coming and going in waves, I had moments of quiet as well as moments of great discomfort. I found that in my efforts to confront the pain, the moments of peacefulness also included those efforts, and I was constantly focused on it. 
I knew I needed to "look away from the body into Truth and Love..." (Science and Health page 261.) How could I do that? The answer was simple. I needed to cherish the painless moments as being evidence of the painless spiritual being that I knew God must be manifesting as me. 
So, I changed my focus and looked to the peaceful moments. I acknowledged them as being my truth, from God. Quickly, they were filled with gratitude. And the situation began to change. The pain became less severe. 
I was able to finish preparing for church, arrived there early to help set up the room for our hybrid service, and participated as Reader as planned. Though I was still in pain, it was not consequential.
I was so elated about this progress I told several people that I was in the middle of a wonderful healing.
I stayed with the gratitude I felt through the rest of the day, and the healing came. I was free!
On Tuesday, I went for my normal volunteer shift at the main warehouse of the Maryland Food Bank. While there, we were asked to do a side job of loading bottles of water into smaller boxes. These are heavy! As we started, my friend asked me how my back was. I thought, how did she know I'd had trouble? Then I realized she was only commenting on how we'd have to do heavy lifting. I answered the only way that I could, in truth: "My back is perfect." It was!

The second healing followed just a week later. I had strong pain in my side, and felt that there might be something wrong internally.
Once again I began to pray. I drew quietly and closely to God in my thought. What I heard was "This isn't what is going on." I would hear that message several more times in the hours that followed. I took it to mean that what God saw in me, and what God was doing in me, wasn't this. There was something else that was true, something "very good" (see Genesis 1).
I spent time in quiet, reaching out to God, arguing within my thought that all that could be true about me was what God, my Creator, was doing in me. It could only be healthy and good.
As I was doing this, I had a sense that the problem was fear. I didn't know what exactly the fear was about, but I understood that it needed to be healed for healing to appear in my body. I thought of a father mentioned in the Bible, who sought help from Jesus for his anguished son. The father said "Lord, I believe, help thou mine unbelief." (Mark 9) In similar manner, I prayed earnestly, "Lord, where I am afraid, help thou my fear." After a little while, I felt a mental shift take place. I knew that the fear had been healed. I still didn't know what it was, but I believe that the action of drawing close to divine Love took me to a place in thought where the fear could not go, where it could not longer be part of me.
The pain began to go down. It gradually dissolved over the next day or so, and it hasn't returned.
I am so grateful!

​-KK

Wednesday Readings for Service on February 23rd, 2022
Hymns: 554, 537, 12
The Bible
Jeremiah 17:7-8, 14
2 Kings 5:1-3, 9-15 (to 2nd :)
Matthew 4:23-24 Jesus
Mark 5:21-42
Acts 28:3-9
Isaiah 40:1, 3-4
Psalms 18:30-32
Science and Health
209:31-16
3:4-26
109:4-110:12
313:23-9
260:31-262:16
67:4-24
79:17-80:3
134:14-135:20
406:1
​476:28-5

Readings from Testimony Meeting of December 29, 2021
Hymn 412
O dreamer, leave thy dreams for joyful waking, / O captive, rise and sing, for thou art free; / The Christ is here, all dreams of error breaking, / Unloosing bonds of all captivity. / He comes to bless thee on his wings of healing; / To banish pain, and wipe all tears away; / He comes anew, to humble hearts revealing / The mounting footsteps of the upward way.
He comes to give thee joy for desolation, / Beauty for ashes of the vanished years; / For every tear to bring full compensation, / To give thee confidence for all thy fears.
He comes to call the dumb to joyful singing; / The deaf to hear; the blinded eyes to see; / The glorious tidings of salvation bringing. / O captive, rise, thy Saviour comes to thee.

The Bible (New King James Version)
John 3:16, 17
God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved
​I John 3: 5, 8 2nd For
And you know that He was manifested to take away our sins, and in Him there is no sin. ... For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil.
Luke 4:14, 16-22
Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit to Galilee, and news of Him went out through all the surrounding region. ... So He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up. And as His custom was, He went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and stood up to read. And He was handed the book of the prophet Isaiah. And when He had opened the book, He found the place where it was written:
“The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me,
Because He has anointed Me
To preach the gospel to the poor;
He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted,
To proclaim liberty to the captives
And recovery of sight to the blind,
To set at liberty those who are oppressed;
To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.”
Then He closed the book, and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all who were in the synagogue were fixed on Him. And He began to say to them, “Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.” So all bore witness to Him, and marveled at the gracious words which proceeded out of His mouth. 
I John 4:14
And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent the Son as Savior of the world.
​Luke 19:2-10
Now behold, there was a man named Zacchaeus who was a chief tax collector, and he was rich. And he sought to see who Jesus was, but could not because of the crowd, for he was of short stature. So he ran ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see Him, for He was going to pass that way. And when Jesus came to the place, He looked up and saw him, and said to him, “Zacchaeus, make haste and come down, for today I must stay at your house.” So he made haste and came down, and received Him joyfully. But when they saw it, they all complained, saying, “He has gone to be a guest with a man who is a sinner.” Then Zacchaeus stood and said to the Lord, “Look, Lord, I give half of my goods to the poor; and if I have taken anything from anyone by false accusation, I restore fourfold.” And Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because he also is a son of Abraham; for the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.”
I Tim 1:15
​This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners...
​John 9:1-7 as, 39
as Jesus passed by, He saw a man who was blind from birth. And His disciples asked Him, saying, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” Jesus answered, “Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but that the works of God should be revealed in him. I must work the works of Him who sent Me while it is day; the night is coming when no one can work. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.”
When He had said these things, He spat on the ground and made clay with the saliva; and He anointed the eyes of the blind man with the clay. And He said to him, “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam” (which is translated, Sent). So he went and washed, and came back seeing.
And Jesus said, “For judgment I have come into this world, that those who do not see may see, and that those who see may be made blind.”
John 10:10
"​The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly."
Luke 9:51-56
Now it came to pass, when the time had come for Him to be received up, that He steadfastly set His face to go to Jerusalem, and sent messengers before His face. And as they went, they entered a village of the Samaritans, to prepare for Him. But they did not receive Him, because His face was set for the journey to Jerusalem. And when His disciples James and John saw this, they said, “Lord, do You want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them, just as Elijah did?” But He turned and rebuked them, and said, “You do not know what manner of spirit you are of. For the Son of Man did not come to destroy men’s lives but to save them.” And they went to another village.
​Matt. 5:17,18
“Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill. For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled."
John 12: 46,47
"I have come as a light into the world, that whoever believes in Me should not abide in darkness. And if anyone hears My words and does not believe, I do not judge him; for I did not come to judge the world but to save the world. "

Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy
35:30 (only)
The design of Love is to reform the sinner.
136:1-6
Jesus established his church and maintained his mission on a spiritual foundation of Christ-healing. He taught his followers that his religion had a divine Principle, which would cast out error and heal both the sick and the sinning. He claimed no intelligence, action, nor life separate from God.
150:12
Now, as then, signs and wonders are wrought in the metaphysical healing of physical disease; but these signs are only to demonstrate its divine origin, — to attest the reality of the higher mission of the Christ-power to take away the sins of the world.
26:14-23
Divine Truth, Life, and Love gave Jesus authority over sin, sickness, and death. His mission was to reveal the Science of celestial being, to prove what God is and what He does for man.
A musician demonstrates the beauty of the music he teaches in order to show the learner the way by practice as well as precept. Jesus' teaching and practice of Truth involved such a sacrifice as makes us admit its Principle to be Love.
18:5
His mission was both individual and collective. He did life's work aright not only in justice to himself, but in mercy to mortals, — to show them how to do theirs, but not to do it for them nor to relieve them of a single responsibility. Jesus acted boldly, against the accredited evidence of the senses, against Pharisaical creeds and practices, and he refuted all opponents with his healing power.
18:17-3
Christ, Truth, could conciliate no nature above his own, derived from the eternal Love. It was therefore Christ's purpose to reconcile man to God, not God to man. Love and Truth are not at war with God's image and likeness.
28:1-4
The Pharisees claimed to know and to teach the divine will, but they only hindered the success of Jesus' mission. Even many of his students stood in his way.
50:27-30
The distrust of mortal minds, disbelieving the purpose of his mission, was a million times sharper than the thorns which pierced his flesh.
55:6-22
Perhaps the early Christian era did Jesus no more injustice than the later centuries have bestowed upon the healing Christ and spiritual idea of being. Now that the gospel of healing is again preached by the wayside, does not the pulpit sometimes scorn it? But that curative mission, which presents the Saviour in a clearer light than mere words can possibly do, cannot be left out of Christianity, although it is again ruled out of the synagogue.
Truth's immortal idea is sweeping down the centuries, gathering beneath its wings the sick and sinning. My weary hope tries to realize that happy day, when man shall recognize the Science of Christ and love his neighbor as himself, — when he shall realize God's omnipotence and the healing power of the divine Love in what it has done and is doing for mankind. The promises will be fulfilled.
233:16
Already the shadow of His right hand rests upon the hour. Ye who can discern the face of the sky, — the sign material, — how much more should ye discern the sign mental, and compass the destruction of sin and sickness by overcoming the thoughts which produce them, and by understanding the spiritual idea which corrects and destroys them. To reveal this truth was our Master's mission to all mankind, including the hearts which rejected him.
366:30
If we would open their prison doors for the sick, we must first learn to bind up the broken-hearted. If we would heal by the Spirit, we must not hide the talent of spiritual healing under the napkin of its form, nor bury the morale of Christian Science in the grave-clothes of its letter. The tender word and Christian encouragement of an invalid, pitiful patience with his fears and the removal of them, are better than hecatombs of gushing theories, stereotyped borrowed speeches, and the doling of arguments, which are but so many parodies on legitimate Christian Science, aflame with divine Love.
367:17
A Christian Scientist occupies the place at this period of which Jesus spoke to his disciples, when he said: “Ye are the salt of the earth.” “Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid.” Let us watch, work, and pray that this salt lose not its saltness, and that this light be not hid, but radiate and glow into noontide glory.

Hymn 34
Christ comes again with holy power, / To lift our blinded eyes to see; / The sick are healed, the sinner blest, / As on that eve in Galilee.
Once more the lonely heart is fed. / Who dwells with Love hath perfect ease, / Faith, hope, and joy are with us all; / Great are companions such as these.
The weak and thirsty are refreshed, / Again each empty cup is filled; / The tender Christ is here to bless, / And all the storms of earth are stilled.
In Truth there is no pain or death / Nor any shades of coming night; / The promise of our God still stands: / At eventide it shall be light.

Hymn 600
Who was that man in Galilee, / Healing and teaching beside the sea? / What was the power that made him strong? / How can we learn to sing his song?
He told us, / I am the light of the world, / I am the light of the world, / So follow me and shine out / For I am the light of the world!
Why are we here, and who are we? / What is his purpose for you and me? / Our little light seems small and dim / Next to the blaze that comes from him!
He told us, / You are the salt of the earth, / You are the light of the world. / So follow me and shine out / For you are the light of the world!
Christ is the light with which we shine, / Lit from within by this love divine. / Step out with courage, dare to go, / Give from the heart the love you know.
He told us, / We are the salt of the earth, / We are the light of the world. / We follow him and shine out / For Christ is the light of the world!

​