First Church of Christ, Scientist, La Cañada Flintridge, California
Wednesday Meeting Readings
- Deut. 30:6 the, 9-16
the Lord thy God will circumcise thine heart, and the heart of thy seed, to love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, that thou mayest live.
... 9And the Lord thy God will make thee plenteous in every work of thine hand, in the fruit of thy body, and in the fruit of thy cattle, and in the fruit of thy land, for good: for the Lord will again rejoice over thee for good, as he rejoiced over thy fathers:
10If thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the Lord thy God, to keep his commandments and his statutes which are written in this book of the law, and if thou turn unto the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul.
11¶ For this commandment which I command thee this day, it is not hidden from thee, neither is it far off.
12It is not in heaven, that thou shouldest say, Who shall go up for us to heaven, and bring it unto us, that we may hear it, and do it?
13Neither is it beyond the sea, that thou shouldest say, Who shall go over the sea for us, and bring it unto us, that we may hear it, and do it?
14But the word is very nigh unto thee, in thy mouth, and in thy heart, that thou mayest do it.
15¶ See, I have set before thee this day life and good, and death and evil;
16In that I command thee this day to love the Lord thy God, to walk in his ways, and to keep his commandments and his statutes and his judgments, that thou mayest live and multiply: and the Lord thy God shall bless thee in the land whither thou goest to possess it.
- Luke 4:14 Jesus, 15
Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit into Galilee: and there went out a fame of him through all the region round about.
15And he taught in their synagogues, being glorified of all.
- Luke 12:6, 7, 15, 21-28
6Are not five sparrows sold for two farthings, and not one of them is forgotten before God?
7But even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not therefore: ye are of more value than many sparrows.
15And he said unto them, Take heed, and beware of covetousness: for a man’s life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth.
... 21So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.
22¶ And he said unto his disciples, Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat; neither for the body, what ye shall put on.
23The life is more than meat, and the body is more than raiment.
24Consider the ravens: for they neither sow nor reap; which neither have storehouse nor barn; and God feedeth them: how much more are ye better than the fowls?
25And which of you with taking thought can add to his stature one cubit?
26If ye then be not able to do that thing which is least, why take ye thought for the rest?
27Consider the lilies how they grow: they toil not, they spin not; and yet I say unto you, that Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.
28If then God so clothe the grass, which is to-day in the field, and to-morrow is cast into the oven; how much more will he clothe you, O ye of little faith?
- Mark 12:18-34 (to 1st .)
18¶ Then come unto him the Sadducees, which say there is no resurrection; and they asked him, saying,
19Master, Moses wrote unto us, If a man’s brother die, and leave his wife behind him, and leave no children, that his brother should take his wife, and raise up seed unto his brother.
20Now there were seven brethren: and the first took a wife, and dying left no seed.
21And the second took her, and died, neither left he any seed: and the third likewise.
22And the seven had her, and left no seed: last of all the woman died also.
23In the resurrection therefore, when they shall rise, whose wife shall she be of them? for the seven had her to wife.
24And Jesus answering said unto them, Do ye not therefore err, because ye know not the scriptures, neither the power of God?
25For when they shall rise from the dead, they neither marry, nor are given in marriage; but are as the angels which are in heaven.
26And as touching the dead, that they rise: have ye not read in the book of Moses, how in the bush God spake unto him, saying, I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob?
27He is not the God of the dead, but the God of the living: ye therefore do greatly err.
28¶ And one of the scribes came, and having heard them reasoning together, and perceiving that he had answered them well, asked him, Which is the first commandment of all?
29And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord:
30And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment.
31And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these.
32And the scribe said unto him, Well, Master, thou hast said the truth: for there is one God; and there is none other but he:
33And to love him with all the heart, and with all the understanding, and with all the soul, and with all the strength, and to love his neighbour as himself, is more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.
34And when Jesus saw that he answered discreetly, he said unto him, Thou art not far from the kingdom of God.
- Rom. 8:28, 38, 39
28And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.
... 38For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,
39Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures
by Mary Baker Eddy
- SH 2:23
God is Love. Can we ask Him to be more? God is 24intelligence. Can we inform the infinite Mind of any-God’s standardthing He does not already comprehend? Do we expect to change perfection? Shall 27we plead for more at the open fount, which is pour-ing forth more than we accept? The unspoken desire does bring us nearer the source of all existence and 30blessedness.
- SH 3:12
- SH 4:17-22, 27-30
Simply asking that we may love God will never 18make us love Him; but the longing to be better Watchfulness requisiteand holier, expressed in daily watchful-ness and in striving to assimilate more of 21the divine character, will mould and fashion us anew, until we awake in His likeness.
Audible prayer can never do the works of spiritual understanding, which regenerates; but silent prayer, Veritable devotionwatchfulness, and devout obedience enable 30us to follow Jesus’ example.
- SH 14:9-22
To be “with the Lord” is to be in obedience to the law of God, to be absolutely governed by divine Love, — by Spirit, not by matter.
12 Become conscious for a single moment that Life and intelligence are purely spiritual, — neither in nor of Spiritualized consciousnessmatter, — and the body will then utter no 15complaints. If suffering from a belief in sickness, you will find yourself suddenly well. Sorrow is turned into joy when the body is controlled by spir-18itual Life, Truth, and Love. Hence the hope of the promise Jesus bestows: “He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; . . . because I 21 go unto my Father,” — [because the Ego is absent from the body, and present with Truth and Love.]
- SH 242:15 In, 30-15
In pa-tient obedience to a patient God, let us labor to dis-solve with the universal solvent of Love the adamant 18of error, — self-will, self-justification, and self-love, — which wars against spirituality and is the law of sin and death.
The finger-posts of divine Science show the way our Master trod, and require of Christians the proof which he gave, instead of mere profession. We may hide 243 243:1spiritual ignorance from the world, but we can never succeed in the Science and demonstration of spiritual 3good through ignorance or hypocrisy.
The divine Love, which made harmless the poisonous viper, which delivered men from the boiling oil, from 6Ancient and modern miraclesthe fiery furnace, from the jaws of the lion, can heal the sick in every age and triumph over sin and death. It crowned the demon -9strations of Jesus with unsurpassed power and love. But the same “Mind . . . which was also in Christ Jesus” must always accompany the letter of Science in order to 12confirm and repeat the ancient demonstrations of prophets and apostles. That those wonders are not more com-monly repeated to-day, arises not so much from lack of 15desire as from lack of spiritual growth.
- SH 243:25 Love
- SH 256:16, 24-25
- SH 258:1-3
- SH 275:6-19
The starting-point of divine Science is that God, Spirit, is All-in-all, and that there is no other might nor Mind, — that God is Love, and therefore He 9 is divine Principle.
To grasp the reality and order of being in its Science, you must begin by reckoning God as the divine Principle 12Divine synonyms of all that really is. Spirit, Life, Truth, Love, combine as one, — and are the Scriptural names for God. All substance, intelligence, wisdom, being, im-15mortality, cause, and effect belong to God. These are His attributes, the eternal manifestations of the infinite divine Principle, Love. No wisdom is wise but His 18 wisdom; no truth is true, no love is lovely, no life is Life but the divine; no good is, but the good God bestows.
- SH 304:5
Understanding this, Paul said: “Nei-6ther death, nor life, . . . nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from 9the love of God.” This is the doctrine of Christian Science: that divine Love cannot be deprived of its manifestation, or object; that joy cannot be turned into 12sorrow, for sorrow is not the master of joy; that good can never produce evil; that matter can never produce mind nor life result in death. The perfect man — governed 15by God, his perfect Principle — is sinless and eternal.
- SH 312:14
People go into ecstasies over the sense of a corporeal 15Jehovah, though with scarcely a spark of love in their Vain ecstasieshearts; yet God is Love, and without Love, God, immortality cannot appear. Mortals try 18to believe without understanding Truth; yet God is Truth. Mortals claim that death is inevitable; but man’s eternal Principle is ever-present Life. Mortals believe in 21a finite personal God; while God is infinite Love, which must be unlimited.
- SH 454:17-23
Love for God and man is the true 18incentive in both healing and teaching. Love inspires, illumines, designates, and leads the way. Right motives give pinions to thought, and strength and freedom to 21speech and action. Love is priestess at the altar of Truth. Wait patiently for divine Love to move upon the waters of mortal mind, and form the perfect concept.
- SH 4:13
Hymn 469: “Dear God of love, eternal Father-Mother”
Hymn 433: “A new commandment I give unto you”
Hymn 453: “Brood o'er us with Thy shelt'reing wing”