First Church of Christ, Scientist, La Cañada Flintridge

Wednesday Meeting Readings

w190710
Moving beyond aging
Wednesday, July 10, 2019
The Bible
  1. Ps. 36:5, 6 O, 9 with

    5Thy mercy, O Lord, is in the heavens; and thy faithfulness reacheth unto the clouds.

    6 ... O Lord, thou preservest man and beast.

    9 ... with thee is the fountain of life: in thy light shall we see light.

  2. Deut. 34:7 Moses

    7Moses was an hundred and twenty years old when he died: his eye was not dim, nor his natural force abated.

  3. Josh. 14:6-11, 13, 14, 15 2nd And

    6Then the children of Judah came unto Joshua in Gilgal: and Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenezite said unto him, Thou knowest the thing that the Lord said unto Moses the man of God concerning me and thee in Kadesh–barnea.

    7Forty years old was I when Moses the servant of the Lord sent me from Kadesh–barnea to espy out the land; and I brought him word again as it was in mine heart.

    8Nevertheless my brethren that went up with me made the heart of the people melt: but I wholly followed the Lord my God.

    9And Moses sware on that day, saying, Surely the land whereon thy feet have trodden shall be thine inheritance, and thy children’s for ever, because thou hast wholly followed the Lord my God.

    10And now, behold, the Lord hath kept me alive, as he said, these forty and five years, even since the Lord spake this word unto Moses, while the children of Israel wandered in the wilderness: and now, lo, I am this day fourscore and five years old.

    11As yet I am as strong this day as I was in the day that Moses sent me: as my strength was then, even so is my strength now, for war, both to go out, and to come in.

    ... 13And Joshua blessed him, and gave unto Caleb the son of Jephunneh Hebron for an inheritance.

    14Hebron therefore became the inheritance of Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenezite unto this day, because that he wholly followed the Lord God of Israel.

    15 ... And the land had rest from war.

  4. Ps. 16:1, 5, 6, 8, 9, 11

    1Preserve me, O God: for in thee do I put my trust.

    ... 5The Lord is the portion of mine inheritance and of my cup: thou maintainest my lot.

    6The lines are fallen unto me in pleasant places; yea, I have a goodly heritage.

    ... 8I have set the Lord always before me: because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved.

    9Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoiceth: my flesh also shall rest in hope.

    ... 11Thou wilt shew me the path of life: in thy presence is fulness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore.

  5. Mark 1:14 Jesus, 15, 29-34

    14Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God,

    15And saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel.

    ... 29And forthwith, when they were come out of the synagogue, they entered into the house of Simon and Andrew, with James and John.

    30But Simon’s wife’s mother lay sick of a fever, and anon they tell him of her.

    31And he came and took her by the hand, and lifted her up; and immediately the fever left her, and she ministered unto them.

    32And at even, when the sun did set, they brought unto him all that were diseased, and them that were possessed with devils.

    33And all the city was gathered together at the door.

    34And he healed many that were sick of divers diseases, and cast out many devils; and suffered not the devils to speak, because they knew him.

  6. Acts 28:7-10

    7In the same quarters were possessions of the chief man of the island, whose name was Publius; who received us, and lodged us three days courteously.

    8And it came to pass, that the father of Publius lay sick of a fever and of a bloody flux: to whom Paul entered in, and prayed, and laid his hands on him, and healed him.

    9So when this was done, others also, which had diseases in the island, came, and were healed:

    10Who also honoured us with many honours; and when we departed, they laded us with such things as were necessary.

  7. Heb. 7:14-17 it, 19, 22, 24 this, 28

    14it is evident that our Lord sprang out of Juda; of which tribe Moses spake nothing concerning priesthood.

    15And it is yet far more evident: for that after the similitude of Melchisedec there ariseth another priest,

    16Who is made, not after the law of a carnal commandment, but after the power of an endless life.

    17For he testifieth, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec.

    ... 19For the law made nothing perfect, but the bringing in of a better hope did; by the which we draw nigh unto God.

    ... 22By so much was Jesus made a surety of a better testament.

    24 ... this man, because he continueth ever, hath an unchangeable priesthood.

    ... 28For the law maketh men high priests which have infirmity; but the word of the oath, which was since the law, maketh the Son, who is consecrated for evermore.

  8. Rev. 21:1, 3-5, 6 2nd I

    1And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea.

    ... 3And 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.

    4And 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.

    5And 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.

    6 ... I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely.

  9. Ps. 121:5, 8

    5The Lord is thy keeper: the Lord is thy shade upon thy right hand.

    ... 8The Lord shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in from this time forth, and even for evermore.


Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures
by Mary Baker Eddy
  1. SH 200:9-19

    Life is, always A mortal not manhas been, and ever will be independent of matter; for Life is God, and man is the idea 12of God, not formed materially but spiritually, and not subject to decay and dust. The Psalmist said: “Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of Thy 15 hands. Thou hast put all things under his feet.”

        The great truth in the Science of being, that the real man was, is, and ever shall be perfect, is incontrovertible; 18for if man is the image, reflection, of God, he is neither inverted nor subverted, but upright and Godlike.

  2. SH 550:10, 15-20 The, 21-23

    9Of what avail is it to investigate what is miscalled material life, which ends, even as it be-12gins, in nameless nothingness? The true sense of being and its eternal perfection should appear now, even as it will hereafter.

    15The continual contemplation of existence as material and cor-Stages of existenceporeal — as beginning and ending, and with 18birth, decay, and dissolution as its component stages — hides the true and spiritual Life, and causes our standard to trail in the dust. ... If Life is God, as the Scriptures imply, then Life is not embry-onic, it is infinite.

  3. SH 190:14

        Human birth, growth, maturity, and decay are as the 15grass springing from the soil with beautiful green blades, Human frailtyafterwards to wither and return to its native nothingness. This mortal seeming is temporal; 18it never merges into immortal being, but finally disap-pears, and immortal man, spiritual and eternal, is found to be the real man.

  4. SH 305:27

    Because man is the reflection of his Maker, he is not subject to birth, growth, maturity, de-cay. These mortal dreams are of human origin, not 30divine.

  5. SH 244:13, 23-27

        Man undergoing birth, maturity, and decay is like the beasts and vegetables, — subject to laws of decay. If 15Man never less than manman were dust in his earliest stage of exist-ence, we might admit the hypothesis that he returns eventually to his primitive condition; 18but man was never more nor less than man.

        Man in Science is neither young nor old. He has 24neither birth nor death. He is not a beast, a vegetable, Man not evolvednor a migratory mind. He does not pass from matter to Mind, from the mortal to the im-27mortal, from evil to good, or from good to evil.

  6. SH 246:4-6, 10-13, 17-31 Chronological

    Life and its faculties are not measured by calendars. The perfect and immortal are the eternal 6likeness of their Maker.

        The measurement of life by solar years robs youth and gives ugliness to age. The radiant sun of virtue and truth 12coexists with being. Manhood is its eternal noon, un-dimmed by a declining sun.

    Chronological data are no part 18of the vast forever. Time-tables of birth and death are Undesirable recordsso many conspiracies against manhood and womanhood. Except for the error of meas -21uring and limiting all that is good and beautiful, man would enjoy more than threescore years and ten and still maintain his vigor, freshness, and promise. Man, 24governed by immortal Mind, is always beautiful and grand. Each succeeding year unfolds wisdom, beauty, and holiness.

    27    Life is eternal. We should find this out, and begin the demonstration thereof. Life and goodness are immortal. True life eternalLet us then shape our views of existence into 30loveliness, freshness, and continuity, rather than into age and blight.

  7. SH 247:3, 13-21

    3    I have seen age regain two of the elements it had lost, sight and teeth. A woman of eighty-five, whom I knew, Eyes and teeth renewedhad a return of sight. Another woman at 6ninety had new teeth, incisors, cuspids, bi-cuspids, and one molar. One man at sixty had retained his full set of upper and lower teeth without 9a decaying cavity.

    Im-mortality, exempt from age or decay, has a glory of its 15own, — the radiance of Soul. Immortal men and women are models of spiritual sense, drawn by perfect Mind and reflecting those higher conceptions of loveliness 18which transcend all material sense.

        Comeliness and grace are independent of matter. Be-ing possesses its qualities before they are perceived hu-21The divine lovelinessmanly.

  8. SH 544:7-11, 14-17

    6Birth, decay, and death arise from the material sense of things, not from the spiritual, for in 9the latter Life consisteth not of the things which a man eateth. Matter cannot change the eternal fact that man exists because God exists.

    No mortal mind has the might 15First evil suggestionor right or wisdom to create or to destroy. All is under the control of the one Mind, even God.

  9. SH 214:28

    Neither age nor accident can interfere with the senses of Soul, 30and there are no other real senses. It is evident that the body as matter has no sensation of its own, and there is no oblivion for Soul and its faculties. Spirit’s senses are with-215215:1out pain, and they are forever at peace. Nothing can hide from them the harmony of all things and the might and 3permanence of Truth.

  10. SH 124:14, 25-26 (to 1st .)

        The universe, like man, is to be interpreted by Science 15from its divine Principle, God, and then it can be under-Right interpretationstood; but when explained on the basis of physical sense and represented as subject to 18growth, maturity, and decay, the universe, like man, is, and must continue to be, an enigma.

        Spirit is the life, substance, and continuity of all things.

  11. SH 507:22, 25-29

    The scientific divine creation declares immortal Mind and the universe created by God.

    24This divine Principle of all Ever-appearing creationexpresses Science and art throughout His 27 creation, and the immortality of man and the universe. Creation is ever appearing, and must ever con-tinue to appear from the nature of its inexhaustible source.

  12. SH 520:3

    3    Unfathomable Mind is expressed. The depth, breadth, height, might, majesty, and glory of infinite Love fill all Love and man coexistentspace. That is enough! Human language 6can repeat only an infinitesimal part of what exists. The absolute ideal, man, is no more seen nor comprehended by mortals, than is his infinite Principle, 9Love. Principle and its idea, man, are coexistent and eternal. The numerals of infinity, called seven days, can never be reckoned according to the calendar of time. 12These days will appear as mortality disappears, and they will reveal eternity, newness of Life, in which all sense of error forever disappears and thought accepts the divine 15infinite calculus.

  13. SH 521:12 (only)

    12    The harmony and immortality of man are intact.


From the Christian Science Hymnal:
Hymn 402: “… His goodness stands approved, Unchanged from day to day”
Hymn 468: “… The hand that fashions is divine, His works pass not away”
Hymn 444: “Be still, my heart: you rest in Love divine … Love's timeless Christ allows for no decline”