First Church of Christ, Scientist, La Cañada Flintridge
Wednesday Meeting Readings
- Isa. 44:2 Fear, 3, 21 I
2Fear not, O Jacob, my servant; and thou, Jesurun, whom I have chosen.
3For I will pour water upon him that is thirsty, and floods upon the dry ground: I will pour my spirit upon thy seed, and my blessing upon thine offspring:
21I have formed thee; thou art my servant: O Israel, thou shalt not be forgotten of me.
- Ps. 119:97, 98, 100, 105, 112 (to .), 113, 117
97O how love I thy law! it is my meditation all the day.
98Thou through thy commandments hast made me wiser than mine enemies: for they are ever with me.
... 100I understand more than the ancients, because I keep thy precepts.
105Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.
... 112I have inclined mine heart to perform thy statutes alway, even unto the end.
113I hate vain thoughts: but thy law do I love.
... 117Hold thou me up, and I shall be safe: and I will have respect unto thy statutes continually.
- Ps. 146:5, 6, 8 (to 1st :), 10 (to 1st .)
5Happy is he that hath the God of Jacob for his help, whose hope is in the Lord his God:
6Which made heaven, and earth, the sea, and all that therein is: which keepeth truth for ever:
... 8The Lord openeth the eyes of the blind:
... 10The Lord shall reign for ever, even thy God, O Zion, unto all generations.
- Matt. 4:23-25
23¶ And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all manner of sickness and all manner of disease among the people.
24And his fame went throughout all Syria: and they brought unto him all sick people that were taken with divers diseases and torments, and those which were possessed with devils, and those which were lunatic, and those that had the palsy; and he healed them.
25And there followed him great multitudes of people from Galilee, and from Decapolis, and from Jerusalem, and from Judæa, and from beyond Jordan.
- Matt. 5:25
25Agree with thine adversary quickly, whiles thou art in the way with him; lest at any time the adversary deliver thee to the judge, and the judge deliver thee to the officer, and thou be cast into prison.
- Luke 9:51-56
51¶ And it came to pass, when the time was come that he should be received up, he stedfastly set his face to go to Jerusalem,
52And sent messengers before his face: and they went, and entered into a village of the Samaritans, to make ready for him.
53And they did not receive him, because his face was as though he would go to Jerusalem.
54And when his disciples James and John saw this, they said, Lord, wilt thou that we command fire to come down from heaven, and consume them, even as Elias did?
55But he turned, and rebuked them, and said, Ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of.
56For the Son of man is not come to destroy men’s lives, but to save them. And they went to another village.
- Luke 10:38-42
38¶ Now it came to pass, as they went, that he entered into a certain village: and a certain woman named Martha received him into her house.
39And she had a sister called Mary, which also sat at Jesus’ feet, and heard his word.
40But Martha was cumbered about much serving, and came to him, and said, Lord, dost thou not care that my sister hath left me to serve alone? bid her therefore that she help me.
41And Jesus answered and said unto her, Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things:
42But one thing is needful: and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her.
- Luke 13:11-17
11¶ And, behold, there was a woman which had a spirit of infirmity eighteen years, and was bowed together, and could in no wise lift up herself.
12And when Jesus saw her, he called her to him, and said unto her, Woman, thou art loosed from thine infirmity.
13And he laid his hands on her: and immediately she was made straight, and glorified God.
14And the ruler of the synagogue answered with indignation, because that Jesus had healed on the sabbath day, and said unto the people, There are six days in which men ought to work: in them therefore come and be healed, and not on the sabbath day.
15The Lord then answered him, and said, Thou hypocrite, doth not each one of you on the sabbath loose his ox or his ass from the stall, and lead him away to watering?
16And ought not this woman, being a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan hath bound, lo, these eighteen years, be loosed from this bond on the sabbath day?
17And when he had said these things, all his adversaries were ashamed: and all the people rejoiced for all the glorious things that were done by him.
- Eph. 6:10 be, 11, 13-17
10be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might.
11Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.
... 13Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.
14Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness;
15And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace;
16Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.
17And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:
by Mary Baker Eddy
- SH 539:8-13, 14, 19-20
What can be the standard of good, of Spirit, of Life, 9or of Truth, if they produce their opposites, such as evil, Only one standardmatter, error, and death? God could never impart an element of evil, and man possesses 12nothing which he has not derived from God. How then has man a basis for wrong-doing? ... Has Spirit 15 resigned to matter the government of the universe?
It is false to say that Truth and error commingle in creation.
- SH 264:20 (only), 28-1
Spirit and its formations are the only realities of being.
When we learn the way in Christian Science and rec-ognize man’s spiritual being, we shall behold and under-30stand God’s creation, — all the glories of earth and heaven and man.
The universe of Spirit is peopled with spiritual beings, 265 265:1and its government is divine Science.
- SH 258:25
- SH 296:31-2 (to .)
- SH 297:16, 24
The only fact concerning any material concept is, that it is neither 18scientific nor eternal, but subject to change and dis-solution.
Human thoughts have their degrees of comparison. Some thoughts are better than others. A belief in Truth is better than a 27belief in error, but no mortal testimony is founded on the divine rock. Mortal testimony can be shaken. Until belief becomes faith, and faith becomes spiritual under-30standing, human thought has little relation to the actual or divine.
- SH 300:9-17
9 So far as the scientific statement as to man is under-stood, it can be proved and will bring to light the true reflection of God — the real man, or the new man (as 12St. Paul has it).
The temporal and unreal never touch the eternal and real. The mutable and imperfect never touch the im-15The tares and wheatmutable and perfect. The inharmonious and self-destructive never touch the harmonious and self-existent.
- SH 419:31-4
If it is found necessary to treat against relapse, know that disease or its symptoms cannot change forms, nor 420 420:1go from one part to another, for Truth destroys disease. There is no metastasis, no stoppage of harmonious 3True government of manaction, no paralysis. Truth not error, Love not hate, Spirit not matter, governs man.
- SH 231:20
To hold yourself superior to sin, because God made 21you superior to it and governs man, is true wisdom. To Superiority to sickness and sinfear sin is to misunderstand the power of Love and the divine Science of being in man’s rela-24tion to God, — to doubt His government and distrust His omnipotent care. To hold yourself superior to sickness and death is equally wise, and is in accordance 27with divine Science. To fear them is impossible, when you fully apprehend God and know that they are no part of His creation.
- SH 128:4-6, 11
The term Science, properly understood, refers only to the laws of God and to His government of the universe, 6Practical Scienceinclusive of man. ... The human 12mind, imbued with this spiritual understanding, becomes more elastic, is capable of greater endurance, escapes somewhat from itself, and requires less repose. A knowl-15edge of the Science of being develops the latent abilities and possibilities of man. It extends the atmosphere of thought, giving mortals access to broader and higher 18realms. It raises the thinker into his native air of insight and perspicacity.
- SH 299:24-3
24 Truth never destroys God’s idea. Truth is spiritual, eternal substance, which cannot destroy the right reflec-tion. Corporeal sense, or error, may seem to hide Truth, 27health, harmony, and Science, as the mist obscures the sun or the mountain; but Science, the sunshine of Truth, will melt away the shadow and reveal the celestial 30peaks.
If man were solely a creature of the material senses, he would have no eternal Principle and would be mutable 300 300:1and mortal. Human logic is awry when it attempts to draw correct spiritual conclusions regarding life from 3Old and new manmatter.
- SH 324:13
Be watchful, sober, and vigilant. The way is straight and narrow, which leads to the understanding that God 15is the only Life. It is a warfare with the flesh, in which we must conquer sin, sickness, and death, either here or hereafter, — certainly before we can reach the goal 18of Spirit, or life in God.
- SH 125:16-17
- SH 259:6, 23-24
6 In divine Science, man is the true image of God. The divine nature was best expressed in Christ Jesus, who threw upon mortals the truer reflection of God and lifted 9their lives higher than their poor thought-models would allow, — thoughts which presented man as fallen, sick, sinning, and dying. The Christlike understanding of 12scientific being and divine healing includes a perfect Prin-ciple and idea, — perfect God and perfect man, — as the basis of thought and demonstration.
God, Spirit, works 24Immortal modelsspiritually, not materially.
- SH 265:1-3, 5-15
Man is the off-spring, not of the lowest, but of the highest qualities of 3Godward gravitationMind. ... Mortals must gravitate Godward, 6their affections and aims grow spiritual, — they must near the broader interpretations of being, and gain some proper sense of the infinite, — in order that sin and mortality 9may be put off.
This scientific sense of being, forsaking matter for Spirit, by no means suggests man’s absorption into Deity 12 and the loss of his identity, but confers upon man en-larged individuality, a wider sphere of thought and action, a more expansive love, a higher and more permanent 15peace.
Hymn 521: “Let there be peace on earth, and let it begin with me”
Hymn 306: “… Thou wilt bind the stubborn will, … Break earth's stupid rest”
Hymn 560: “Our God shall reign where'er the sun Does its successive journeys run”
