First Church of Christ, Scientist, La Cañada Flintridge, California

Wednesday Meeting Readings

1. Jer. 22:20 (to ;)

   20¶ Go up to Lebanon, and cry;

2. Isa. 29:17

   17Is it not yet a very little while, and Lebanon shall be turned into a fruitful field, and the fruitful field shall be esteemed as a forest?

3. Ps. 104:16

   16The trees of the Lord are full of sap; the cedars of Lebanon, which he hath planted;

4. Hos. 14:5-7 he

   he shall grow as the lily, and cast forth his roots as Lebanon.

   6His branches shall spread, and his beauty shall be as the olive tree, and his smell as Lebanon.

   7They that dwell under his shadow shall return; they shall revive as the corn, and grow as the vine: the scent thereof shall be as the wine of Lebanon.

5. Ezek. 31:16 5th the

   the choice and best of Lebanon, all that drink water, shall be comforted in the nether parts of the earth.

6. Eccl. 9:14, 15, 17, 18 (to :)

   14There was a little city, and few men within it; and there came a great king against it, and besieged it, and built great bulwarks against it:

   15Now there was found in it a poor wise man, and he by his wisdom delivered the city; yet no man remembered that same poor man.

   ... 17The words of wise men are heard in quiet more than the cry of him that ruleth among fools.

   18Wisdom is better than weapons of war:

7. II Kings 6:8-23 the

   the king of Syria warred against Israel, and took counsel with his servants, saying, In such and such a place shall be my camp.

   9And the man of God sent unto the king of Israel, saying, Beware that thou pass not such a place; for thither the Syrians are come down.

   10And the king of Israel sent to the place which the man of God told him and warned him of, and saved himself there, not once nor twice.

   11Therefore the heart of the king of Syria was sore troubled for this thing; and he called his servants, and said unto them, Will ye not shew me which of us is for the king of Israel?

   12And one of his servants said, None, my lord, O king: but Elisha, the prophet that is in Israel, telleth the king of Israel the words that thou speakest in thy bedchamber.

   13¶ And he said, Go and spy where he is, that I may send and fetch him. And it was told him, saying, Behold, he is in Dothan.

   14Therefore sent he thither horses, and chariots, and a great host: and they came by night, and compassed the city about.

   15And when the servant of the man of God was risen early, and gone forth, behold, an host compassed the city both with horses and chariots. And his servant said unto him, Alas, my master! how shall we do?

   16And he answered, Fear not: for they that be with us are more than they that be with them.

   17And Elisha prayed, and said, Lord, I pray thee, open his eyes, that he may see. And the Lord opened the eyes of the young man; and he saw: and, behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha.

   18And when they came down to him, Elisha prayed unto the Lord, and said, Smite this people, I pray thee, with blindness. And he smote them with blindness according to the word of Elisha.

   19¶ And Elisha said unto them, This is not the way, neither is this the city: follow me, and I will bring you to the man whom ye seek. But he led them to Samaria.

   20And it came to pass, when they were come into Samaria, that Elisha said, Lord, open the eyes of these men, that they may see. And the Lord opened their eyes, and they saw; and, behold, they were in the midst of Samaria.

   21And the king of Israel said unto Elisha, when he saw them, My father, shall I smite them? shall I smite them?

   22And he answered, Thou shalt not smite them: wouldest thou smite those whom thou hast taken captive with thy sword and with thy bow? set bread and water before them, that they may eat and drink, and go to their master.

   23And he prepared great provision for them: and when they had eaten and drunk, he sent them away, and they went to their master. So the bands of Syria came no more into the land of Israel.

8. Ps. 91:1-7, 14-16

   1He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.

   2I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust.

   3Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, and from the noisome pestilence.

   4He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust: his truth shall be thy shield and buckler.

   5Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night; nor for the arrow that flieth by day;

   6Nor for the pestilence that walketh in darkness; nor for the destruction that wasteth at noonday.

   7A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand; but it shall not come nigh thee.

   ... 14Because he hath set his love upon me, therefore will I deliver him: I will set him on high, because he hath known my name.

   15He shall call upon me, and I will answer him: I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him, and honour him.

   16With long life will I satisfy him, and shew him my salvation.

1. SH 19:2-3

   Love and 3Truth are not at war with God’s image and likeness.

2. SH 288:3, 10-14

       The suppositional warfare between truth and error is only the mental conflict between the evidence of the spir-The great conflictitual senses and the testimony of the material 6senses, and this warfare between the Spirit and flesh will settle all questions through faith in and the un-derstanding of divine Love.

   When the final physical and moral effects of Christian Science are fully apprehended, the conflict between truth 12and error, understanding and belief, Science and material sense, foreshadowed by the prophets and inaugurated by Jesus, will cease, and spiritual harmony reign.

3. SH 324:13 The

   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.

4. SH 231:3-4, 7-8, 12-16 (to 1st .)

       Unless an ill is rightly met and fairly overcome by Truth, the ill is never conquered. ... What God cannot do, man need not attempt.

       If God makes sin, if good produces evil, if truth results in error, then Science and Christianity are helpless; but there are no antagonistic powers nor laws, spiritual or 15material, creating and governing man through perpetual warfare.

5. SH 225:5-22

       You may know when first Truth leads by the few-6ness and faithfulness of its followers. Thus it is that Truth’s ordealthe march of time bears onward freedom’s banner. The powers of this world will fight, 9and will command their sentinels not to let truth pass the guard until it subscribes to their systems; but Science, heeding not the pointed bayonet, marches on. There is 12always some tumult, but there is a rallying to truth’s standard.

       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.

6. SH 242:15 In

   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.

7. SH 568:30-32

   Self-abnegation, by which we lay down all for Truth, or Christ, in our warfare against error, is a rule in Christian Science.

8. SH 569:3

   Every mortal at some period, here or hereafter, must grapple with and overcome the mortal belief in a power opposed to God.

9. SH 274:17

   When what we erroneously term the five physical 18senses are misdirected, they are simply the manifested beliefs of mortal mind, which affirm that life, substance, and intelligence are material, instead of spiritual. These 21false beliefs and their products constitute the flesh, and the flesh wars against Spirit.

10. SH 543:9-15

    The five corporeal senses cannot Dwelling in dreamlandtake cognizance of Spirit. They cannot come into His presence, and must dwell in dream-12land, until mortals arrive at the understanding that ma -terial life, with all its sin, sickness, and death, is an illu-sion, against which divine Science is engaged in a warfare 15of extermination.

11. SH 276:4-9

    When the divine precepts are understood, they unfold the foundation of fellowship, 6in which one mind is not at war with another, but all have one Spirit, God, one intelligent source, in accordance with the Scriptural command: “Let this Mind be in you, 9which was also in Christ Jesus.”

12. SH 467:9-13

    It 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.

13. SH 340:23

    One infinite God, good, unifies men and nations; con-24stitutes the brotherhood of man; ends wars; fulfils the Scripture, “Love thy neighbor as thyself;” annihilates pagan and Christian idolatry, — whatever is wrong in 27social, civil, criminal, political, and religious codes; equalizes the sexes; annuls the curse on man, and leaves nothing that can sin, suffer, be punished or destroyed.

14. SH 96:12-27, 31

        This material world is even now becoming the arena for conflicting forces. On one side there will be discord Arena of contestand dismay; on the other side there will be 15Science and peace. The breaking up of mate-rial beliefs may seem to be famine and pestilence, want and woe, sin, sickness, and death, which assume new 18phases until their nothingness appears. These disturb-ances will continue until the end of error, when all discord will be swallowed up in spiritual Truth.

    21    Mortal error will vanish in a moral chemicalization. This mental fermentation has begun, and will continue until all errors of belief yield to understanding. Belief is 24changeable, but spiritual understanding is changeless.

        As this consummation draws nearer, he who has shaped his course in accordance with divine Science 27Millennial glorywill endure to the end.

        During this final conflict, wicked minds will endeavor to find means by which to accomplish more evil; but 97 97:1those who discern Christian Science will hold crime in check. They will aid in the ejection of error. They 3will maintain law and order, and cheerfully await the certainty of ultimate perfection.

15. SH 224:8

    There should 9be painless progress, attended by life and peace instead of discord and death.