First Church of Christ, Scientist, La Cañada Flintridge, California
Wednesday Meeting Readings
- Eccl. 3:1
1To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:
- Gen. 1:1, 3-6, 8, 9, 12-14, 19-23, 25-27, 31
1In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.
... 3And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.
4And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness.
5And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day.
6¶ And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.
8And God called the firmament Heaven. And the evening and the morning were the second day.
9¶ And God said, Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear: and it was so.
12And the earth brought forth grass, and herb yielding seed after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself, after his kind: and God saw that it was good.
13And the evening and the morning were the third day.
14¶ And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years:
19And the evening and the morning were the fourth day.
20And God said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life, and fowl that may fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven.
21And God created great whales, and every living creature that moveth, which the waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind, and every winged fowl after his kind: and God saw that it was good.
22And God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let fowl multiply in the earth.
23And the evening and the morning were the fifth day.
25And God made the beast of the earth after his kind, and cattle after their kind, and every thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind: and God saw that it was good.
26¶ And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.
27So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.
31And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.
- Gen. 2:1, 3
1Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them.
... 3And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made.
- Ps. 104:24, 30
24O Lord, how manifold are thy works! in wisdom hast thou made them all: the earth is full of thy riches.
... 30Thou sendest forth thy spirit, they are created: and thou renewest the face of the earth.
- Ps. 65:11 (to ;)
11Thou crownest the year with thy goodness;
- Isa. 14:24, 26, 27
24¶ The Lord of hosts hath sworn, saying, Surely as I have thought, so shall it come to pass; and as I have purposed, so shall it stand:
... 26This is the purpose that is purposed upon the whole earth: and this is the hand that is stretched out upon all the nations.
27For the Lord of hosts hath purposed, and who shall disannul it? and his hand is stretched out, and who shall turn it back?
- II Tim. 1:7 God, 9, 10, 14, 15 (to This)
God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.
... 9Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began,
10But is now made manifest by the appearing of our Saviour Jesus Christ, who hath abolished death, and hath brought life and immortality to light through the gospel:
... 14That good thing which was committed unto thee keep by the Holy Ghost which dwelleth in us.
15This
- Rom. 8:14 as, 16, 17 (to 2nd ;), 18 I, 19, 22, 23, 26 the (to 1st :), 28
as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.
... 16The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:
17And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ;
... I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.
19For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God.
... 22For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now.
23And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.
... the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities:
... 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.
- SH 246:25
- SH 598:19-2
Year. A solar measurement of time; mortality; space for repentance.
21 “One day is with the Lord as a thousand years.” (II Peter iii. 8.)
One moment of divine consciousness, or the spiritual 24understanding of Life and Love, is a foretaste of eternity. This exalted view, obtained and retained when the Sci -ence of being is understood, would bridge over with life 27discerned spiritually the interval of death, and man would be in the full consciousness of his immortality and eternal harmony, where sin, sickness, and death are un-30known. Time is a mortal thought, the divisor of which 599 599:1is the solar year. Eternity is God’s measurement of Soul-filled years.
- SH 170:22
- SH 171:4
Through discernment of the spiritual opposite of ma-teriality, even the way through Christ, Truth, man will 6Paradise regainedreopen with the key of divine Science the gates of Paradise which human beliefs have closed, and will find himself unfallen, upright, pure, and free, 9not needing to consult almanacs for the probabilities either of his life or of the weather, not needing to study brain-ology to learn how much of a man he is.
- SH 67:32-2
- SH 504:16, 31-1
The successive appearing of God’s ideas is represented as taking place on so many evenings and mornings, — 18Evenings and morningswords which indicate, in the absence of solar time, spiritually clearer views of Him, views which are not implied by material darkness and dawn. 21Here we have the explanation of another passage of Scripture, that “one day is with the Lord as a thousand years.” The rays of infinite Truth, when gathered into 24the focus of ideas, bring light instantaneously, whereas a thousand years of human doctrines, hypotheses, and vague conjectures emit no such effulgence.
No solar rays nor planetary revolutions 505 505:1form the day of Spirit.
- SH 506:10, 18
Through divine Science, Spirit, God, unites under-standing to eternal harmony. The calm and exalted 12Exalted thoughtthought or spiritual apprehension is at peace. Thus the dawn of ideas goes on, forming each successive stage of progress.
Spirit, God, gathers unformed thoughts into their Unfolding of thoughtsproper channels, and unfolds these thoughts, even as He opens the petals of a holy purpose 21in order that the purpose may appear.
- SH 511:17
- SH 158:24-25
- SH 233:1
Every day makes its demands upon us for higher proofs rather than professions of Christian power. 3Profession and proofThese proofs consist solely in the destruction of sin, sickness, and death by the power of Spirit, as Jesus destroyed them. This is an element of 6progress, and progress is the law of God, whose law de-mands of us only what we can certainly fulfil.
- SH 240:18-21
- SH 256:1-5
- SH 296:4-9 (to 1st .), 14-21, 28
Progress is born of experience. It is the ripening of mortal man, through which the mortal is dropped for 6Scientific purgationthe immortal. Either here or hereafter, suf-fering or Science must destroy all illusions regarding life and mind, and regenerate material sense 9and self.
The so-called pleasures and pains of matter perish, 15and they must go out under the blaze of Truth, spiritual sense, and the actuality of being. Mortal belief must lose all satisfaction in error and sin in order to part with 18them.
Whether mortals will learn this sooner or later, and how long they will suffer the pangs of destruction, de-21pends upon the tenacity of error.
An improved belief is one step out of error, and aids in taking the next step and in understanding 30the situation in Christian Science.
- SH 324:2-5
- SH 353:22
- SH 492:7-12
Being is holiness, harmony, immortality. It is already proved that a knowledge of this, even in small degree, 9Mind one and allwill uplift the physical and moral standard of mortals, will increase longevity, will purify and elevate character. Thus progress will finally destroy 12all error, and bring immortality to light.
- SH 495:25-31
- SH 496:5
- SH 426:5-9
- SH ix:16
Hymn 82: “God is working His purpose out”
Hymn 213: “O God, our help in ages past”
Hymn 197: “Now sweeping down the years untold”