First Church of Christ, Scientist, La Cañada Flintridge, California
Wednesday Meeting Readings
- Lev. 19:34 the
the stranger that dwelleth with you shall be unto you as one born among you, and thou shalt love him as thyself; for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God.
- Ezek. 47:21-23
21So shall ye divide this land unto you according to the tribes of Israel.
22¶ And it shall come to pass, that ye shall divide it by lot for an inheritance unto you, and to the strangers that sojourn among you, which shall beget children among you: and they shall be unto you as born in the country among the children of Israel; they shall have inheritance with you among the tribes of Israel.
23And it shall come to pass, that in what tribe the stranger sojourneth, there shall ye give him his inheritance, saith the Lord God.
- Ruth 1:1, 3-6, 16, 22
1Now it came to pass in the days when the judges ruled, that there was a famine in the land. And a certain man of Beth–lehem–judah went to sojourn in the country of Moab, he, and his wife, and his two sons.
... 3And Elimelech Naomi’s husband died; and she was left, and her two sons.
4And they took them wives of the women of Moab; the name of the one was Orpah, and the name of the other Ruth: and they dwelled there about ten years.
5And Mahlon and Chilion died also both of them; and the woman was left of her two sons and her husband.
6¶ Then she arose with her daughters in law, that she might return from the country of Moab: for she had heard in the country of Moab how that the Lord had visited his people in giving them bread.
16And Ruth said, Entreat me not to leave thee, or to return from following after thee: for whither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge: thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God:
22So Naomi returned, and Ruth the Moabitess, her daughter in law, with her, which returned out of the country of Moab: and they came to Beth–lehem in the beginning of barley harvest.
- Ruth 2:2, 3, 8, 10-12, 23
2And Ruth the Moabitess said unto Naomi, Let me now go to the field, and glean ears of corn after him in whose sight I shall find grace. And she said unto her, Go, my daughter.
3And she went, and came, and gleaned in the field after the reapers: and her hap was to light on a part of the field belonging unto Boaz, who was of the kindred of Elimelech.
8Then said Boaz unto Ruth, Hearest thou not, my daughter? Go not to glean in another field, neither go from hence, but abide here fast by my maidens:
... 10Then she fell on her face, and bowed herself to the ground, and said unto him, Why have I found grace in thine eyes, that thou shouldest take knowledge of me, seeing I am a stranger?
11And Boaz answered and said unto her, It hath fully been shewed me, all that thou hast done unto thy mother in law since the death of thine husband: and how thou hast left thy father and thy mother, and the land of thy nativity, and art come unto a people which thou knewest not heretofore.
12The Lord recompense thy work, and a full reward be given thee of the Lord God of Israel, under whose wings thou art come to trust.
23So she kept fast by the maidens of Boaz to glean unto the end of barley harvest and of wheat harvest; and dwelt with her mother in law.
- Ruth 3:1, 2, 6, 7, 9 (to :), 11 my
1Then Naomi her mother in law said unto her, My daughter, shall I not seek rest for thee, that it may be well with thee?
2And now is not Boaz of our kindred, with whose maidens thou wast? Behold, he winnoweth barley to-night in the threshingfloor.
6¶ And she went down unto the floor, and did according to all that her mother in law bade her.
7And when Boaz had eaten and drunk, and his heart was merry, he went to lie down at the end of the heap of corn: and she came softly, and uncovered his feet, and laid her down.
9And he said, Who art thou? And she answered, I am Ruth thine handmaid:
... my daughter, fear not; I will do to thee all that thou requirest: for all the city of my people doth know that thou art a virtuous woman.
- Ruth 4:9, 10, 13, 16, 17
9¶ And Boaz said unto the elders, and unto all the people, Ye are witnesses this day, that I have bought all that was Elimelech’s, and all that was Chilion’s and Mahlon’s, of the hand of Naomi.
10Moreover Ruth the Moabitess, the wife of Mahlon, have I purchased to be my wife, to raise up the name of the dead upon his inheritance, that the name of the dead be not cut off from among his brethren, and from the gate of his place: ye are witnesses this day.
13¶ So Boaz took Ruth, and she was his wife: and when he went in unto her, the Lord gave her conception, and she bare a son.
... 16And Naomi took the child, and laid it in her bosom, and became nurse unto it.
17And the women her neighbours gave it a name, saying, There is a son born to Naomi; and they called his name Obed: he is the father of Jesse, the father of David.
- Zech. 7:9 Execute, 10 (to ;)
Execute true judgment, and shew mercy and compassions every man to his brother:
10And oppress not the widow, nor the fatherless, the stranger, nor the poor;
- Ps. 146:9 (to ;)
9The Lord preserveth the strangers;
Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures
by Mary Baker Eddy
- SH 571:19
- SH 371:26-27
- SH 466:28
- SH 444:10
- SH 571:10-11
- SH 83:6-9
- SH 37:5-12
History is full of records of suffering. “The blood of 6the martyrs is the seed of the Church.” Mortals try in Martyrs inevitablevain to slay Truth with the steel or the stake, but error falls only before the sword of Spirit. 9Martyrs are the human links which connect one stage with another in the history of religion. They are earth’s lumi-naries, which serve to cleanse and rarefy the atmosphere of 12material sense and to permeate humanity with purer ideals.
- SH 227:14-15
- SH 225:16
- SH 227:3
I saw that the law of mortal belief included all error, and that, even as oppressive laws are disputed and mor-Higher law ends bondagetals are taught their right to freedom, so the 6claims of the enslaving senses must be de-nied and superseded. The law of the divine Mind must end human bondage, or mortals will continue unaware 9of man’s inalienable rights and in subjection to hope-less slavery, because some public teachers permit an ignorance of divine power, — an ignorance that 12is the foundation of continued bondage and of human suffering.
- 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.
- SH 72:21-23
- SH 330:27
Evil is nothing, no thing, mind, nor power. As manifested by mankind it stands for a lie, nothing claiming to be something, — for lust, dishonesty, 30selfishness, envy, hypocrisy, slander, hate, theft, adultery, murder, dementia, insanity, inanity, devil, hell, with all the etceteras that word includes.
- SH 97:11
The more destructive matter becomes, the 12more its nothingness will appear, until matter reaches its mortal zenith in illusion and forever disappears. The nearer a false belief approaches truth without passing 15the boundary where, having been destroyed by divine Love, it ceases to be even an illusion, the riper it becomes for destruction. The more material the belief, the more 18obvious its error, until divine Spirit, supreme in its do-main, dominates all matter, and man is found in the like-ness of Spirit, his original being.
- SH 240:18-19, 24
- SH 57:18
- SH 99:21
- SH 55:15-21
Truth’s immortal idea is sweeping down the centuries, gathering beneath its wings the sick and sinning. My weary hope tries to realize that happy day, when man shall 18recognize the Science of Christ and love his neighbor as himself, — when he shall realize God’s omnipotence and the healing power of the divine Love in what it has done 21and is doing for mankind.
- SH 254:31
Hymn 534: “My shepherd is the living God”
Hymn 389: “While Thou, O my God, art my help and defender”
Hymn 278: “Pilgrim on earth”