First Church of Christ, Scientist, La Cañada Flintridge
Wednesday Meeting Readings
- II Kings 8:1-6
1Then spake Elisha unto the woman, whose son he had restored to life, saying, Arise, and go thou and thine household, and sojourn wheresoever thou canst sojourn: for the Lord hath called for a famine; and it shall also come upon the land seven years.
2And the woman arose, and did after the saying of the man of God: and she went with her household, and sojourned in the land of the Philistines seven years.
3And it came to pass at the seven years’ end, that the woman returned out of the land of the Philistines: and she went forth to cry unto the king for her house and for her land.
4And the king talked with Gehazi the servant of the man of God, saying, Tell me, I pray thee, all the great things that Elisha hath done.
5And it came to pass, as he was telling the king how he had restored a dead body to life, that, behold, the woman, whose son he had restored to life, cried to the king for her house and for her land. And Gehazi said, My lord, O king, this is the woman, and this is her son, whom Elisha restored to life.
6And when the king asked the woman, she told him. So the king appointed unto her a certain officer, saying, Restore all that was hers, and all the fruits of the field since the day that she left the land, even until now.
- Isa 33:2, 3, 5, 6, 15, 16, 20, 21 (to ;), 22
2O Lord, be gracious unto us; we have waited for thee: be thou their arm every morning, our salvation also in the time of trouble.
3At the noise of the tumult the people fled; at the lifting up of thyself the nations were scattered.
... 5The Lord is exalted; for he dwelleth on high: he hath filled Zion with judgment and righteousness.
6And wisdom and knowledge shall be the stability of thy times, and strength of salvation: the fear of the Lord is his treasure.
15He that walketh righteously, and speaketh uprightly; he that despiseth the gain of oppressions, that shaketh his hands from holding of bribes, that stoppeth his ears from hearing of blood, and shutteth his eyes from seeing evil;
16He shall dwell on high: his place of defence shall be the munitions of rocks: bread shall be given him; his waters shall be sure.
... 20Look upon Zion, the city of our solemnities: thine eyes shall see Jerusalem a quiet habitation, a tabernacle that shall not be taken down; not one of the stakes thereof shall ever be removed, neither shall any of the cords thereof be broken.
21But there the glorious Lord will be unto us a place of broad rivers and streams;
... 22For the Lord is our judge, the Lord is our lawgiver, the Lord is our king; he will save us.
- Isa 34:1, 2 (to :), 12, 16 (to 2nd ,), 17
1Come near, ye nations, to hear; and hearken, ye people: let the earth hear, and all that is therein; the world, and all things that come forth of it.
2For the indignation of the Lord is upon all nations, and his fury upon all their armies:
12They shall call the nobles thereof to the kingdom, but none shall be there, and all her princes shall be nothing.
16¶ Seek ye out of the book of the Lord, and read: no one of these shall fail,
... 17And he hath cast the lot for them, and his hand hath divided it unto them by line: they shall possess it for ever, from generation to generation shall they dwell therein.
- Ps 42:1-11
1As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God.
2My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God: when shall I come and appear before God?
3My tears have been my meat day and night, while they continually say unto me, Where is thy God?
4When I remember these things, I pour out my soul in me: for I had gone with the multitude, I went with them to the house of God, with the voice of joy and praise, with a multitude that kept holyday.
5Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted in me? hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him for the help of his countenance.
6O my God, my soul is cast down within me: therefore will I remember thee from the land of Jordan, and of the Hermonites, from the hill Mizar.
7Deep calleth unto deep at the noise of thy waterspouts: all thy waves and thy billows are gone over me.
8Yet the Lord will command his lovingkindness in the daytime, and in the night his song shall be with me, and my prayer unto the God of my life.
9I will say unto God my rock, Why hast thou forgotten me? why go I mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?
10As with a sword in my bones, mine enemies reproach me; while they say daily unto me, Where is thy God?
11Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted within me? hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him, who is the health of my countenance, and my God.
- Ps 43:1-5
1Judge me, O God, and plead my cause against an ungodly nation: O deliver me from the deceitful and unjust man.
2For thou art the God of my strength: why dost thou cast me off? why go I mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?
3O send out thy light and thy truth: let them lead me; let them bring me unto thy holy hill, and to thy tabernacles.
4Then will I go unto the altar of God, unto God my exceeding joy: yea, upon the harp will I praise thee, O God my God.
5Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted within me? hope in God: for I shall yet praise him, who is the health of my countenance, and my God.
- Matt 4:17 Jesus
17Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.
- Matt 5:1, 2, 5
1And seeing the multitudes, he went up into a mountain: and when he was set, his disciples came unto him:
2And he opened his mouth, and taught them, saying,
... 5Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.
- Matt 7:24-29 whosoever
24whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock:
25And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock.
26And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand:
27And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it.
28And it came to pass, when Jesus had ended these sayings, the people were astonished at his doctrine:
29For he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.
Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures
by Mary Baker Eddy
- 225:25
- 226:14
God has built a higher platform of human rights, and 15He has built it on diviner claims. These claims are not Cramping systemsmade through code or creed, but in demonstra-tion of “on earth peace, good-will toward men.” 18Human codes, scholastic theology, material medicine and hygiene, fetter faith and spiritual understanding. Divine Science rends asunder these fetters, and man’s birthright 21of sole allegiance to his Maker asserts itself.
- 227:3-20
3 I saw that the law of mortal belief included all error, and that, even as oppressive laws are disputed and mor-Higher law ends bondagetals are taught their right to freedom, so the 6claims of the enslaving senses must be de-nied and superseded. The law of the divine Mind must end human bondage, or mortals will continue unaware 9of man’s inalienable rights and in subjection to hope-less slavery, because some public teachers permit an ignorance of divine power, — an ignorance that 12is the foundation of continued bondage and of human suffering.
Discerning the rights of man, we cannot fail to fore-15see the doom of all oppression. Slavery is not the legiti-Native freedommate state of man. God made man free. Paul said, “I was free born.” All men should 18be free. “Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is lib-erty.” Love and Truth make free, but evil and error lead into captivity.
- 225:14
The history of our country, like all history, illustrates 15the might of Mind, and shows human power to be propor-Immortal sentencestionate to its embodiment of right thinking. A few immortal sentences, breathing the omnipo-18tence 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 21breath of freedom come from the cannon’s mouth. Love is the liberator.
- 254:27
27 If you launch your bark upon the ever-agitated but healthful waters of truth, you will encounter storms. The cross and crownYour good will be evil spoken of. This is the 30cross. Take it up and bear it, for through it you win and wear the crown. Pilgrim on earth, thy home is heaven; stranger, thou art the guest of God.
- 268:1-8 (np)
268:1In the material world, thought has brought to light with great rapidity many useful wonders. With 3like activity have thought’s swift pinions been rising Materialistic challengetowards the realm of the real, to the spiritual cause of those lower things which give im-6pulse to inquiry. Belief in a material basis, from which may be deduced all rationality, is slowly yielding to the idea of a metaphysical basis, looking away from 9matter to Mind as the cause of every effect. Material-istic hypotheses challenge metaphysics to meet in final combat. In this revolutionary period, like the shep-12herd-boy with his sling, woman goes forth to battle with Goliath.
In this final struggle for supremacy, semi-metaphysi-15cal systems afford no substantial aid to scientific meta-Confusion confoundedphysics, for their arguments are based on the false testimony of the material senses as 18well as on the facts of Mind. These semi-metaphysical 269 269:1systems are one and all pantheistic, and savor of Pan-demonium, a house divided against itself.
3 From first to last the supposed coexistence of Mind and matter and the mingling of good and evil have re-sulted from the philosophy of the serpent. Jesus’ demon-6strations sift the chaff from the wheat, and unfold the unity and the reality of good, the unreality, the nothing-ness, of evil.
- 269:21
21 The testimony of the material senses is neither abso-lute nor divine. I therefore plant myself unreservedly Biblical foundationson the teachings of Jesus, of his apostles, of 24the prophets, and on the testimony of the Science of Mind. Other foundations there are none. All other systems — systems based wholly or partly on 27knowledge gained through the material senses — are reeds shaken by the wind, not houses built on the rock.
- 483:13-5
After the author’s sacred discovery, she affixed the name “Science” to Christianity, the name “error” to 15Terms adopted by the authorcorporeal sense, and the name “substance” to Mind. Science has called the world to battle over this issue and its demonstration, which 18heals the sick, destroys error, and reveals the universal harmony. To those natural Christian Scientists, the an-cient worthies, and to Christ Jesus, God certainly revealed 21the spirit of Christian Science, if not the absolute letter.
Because the Science of Mind seems to bring into dis-honor the ordinary scientific schools, which wrestle with 24Science the waymaterial observations alone, this Science has met with opposition; but if any system honors God, it ought to receive aid, not opposition, from all think-27ing persons. And Christian Science does honor God as no other theory honors Him, and it does this in the way of His appointing, by doing many wonderful works 30through the divine name and nature. One must fulfil one’s mission without timidity or dissimulation, for to be well done, the work must be done unselfishly. Christianity 484 484:1will never be based on a divine Principle and so found to be unerring, until its absolute Science is reached. When 3this is accomplished, neither pride, prejudice, bigotry, nor envy can wash away its foundation, for it is built upon the rock, Christ.
- 467:3 The
3The first demand of this Science is, “Thou shalt have no other gods before me.” This me is Spirit. Two chief commandsTherefore the command means this: Thou shalt 6have no intelligence, no life, no substance, no truth, no love, but that which is spiritual. The second is like unto it, “Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.” 9It should be thoroughly understood that all men have one Mind, one God and Father, one Life, Truth, and Love. Mankind will become perfect in proportion as this fact 12becomes apparent, war will cease and the true brother-hood of man will be established. Having no other gods, turning to no other but the one perfect Mind to guide 15him, man is the likeness of God, pure and eternal, hav-ing that Mind which was also in Christ.
- 454:4
Teach your students the omnipotence of Truth, which illustrates the impotence of error. The understanding, 6Impotence of hateeven in a degree, of the divine All-power de-stroys fear, and plants the feet in the true path, — the path which leads to the house built without hands 9“eternal in the heavens.” Human hate has no legiti-mate mandate and no kingdom. Love is enthroned. That evil or matter has neither intelligence nor power, 12is the doctrine of absolute Christian Science, and this is the great truth which strips all disguise from error.
From the Christian Science Hymnal
Hymn 77: “God is my strong salvation”
Hymn 75: “God comes, with succor speedy, to those who suffer wrong”
Hymn 79: “God is Love; His mercy brightens All the path in which we rove”
