First Church of Christ, Scientist, La Cañada Flintridge, California
Wednesday Meeting Readings
- Zeph. 2:3 (to :)
3Seek ye the Lord, all ye meek of the earth, which have wrought his judgment; seek righteousness, seek meekness:
- Dan. 4:4, 5, 8 Daniel, 10-16, 18, 19 (to 2nd .), 22-25, 27-32, 34, 36, 37
4¶ I Nebuchadnezzar was at rest in mine house, and flourishing in my palace:
5I saw a dream which made me afraid, and the thoughts upon my bed and the visions of my head troubled me.
Daniel came in before me, whose name was Belteshazzar, according to the name of my god, and in whom is the spirit of the holy gods: and before him I told the dream, saying,
... 10Thus were the visions of mine head in my bed; I saw, and behold, a tree in the midst of the earth, and the height thereof was great.
11The tree grew, and was strong, and the height thereof reached unto heaven, and the sight thereof to the end of all the earth:
12The leaves thereof were fair, and the fruit thereof much, and in it was meat for all: the beasts of the field had shadow under it, and the fowls of the heaven dwelt in the boughs thereof, and all flesh was fed of it.
13I saw in the visions of my head upon my bed, and, behold, a watcher and an holy one came down from heaven;
14He cried aloud, and said thus, Hew down the tree, and cut off his branches, shake off his leaves, and scatter his fruit: let the beasts get away from under it, and the fowls from his branches:
15Nevertheless leave the stump of his roots in the earth, even with a band of iron and brass, in the tender grass of the field; and let it be wet with the dew of heaven, and let his portion be with the beasts in the grass of the earth:
16Let his heart be changed from man’s, and let a beast’s heart be given unto him; and let seven times pass over him.
... 18This dream I king Nebuchadnezzar have seen. Now thou, O Belteshazzar, declare the interpretation thereof, forasmuch as all the wise men of my kingdom are not able to make known unto me the interpretation: but thou art able; for the spirit of the holy gods is in thee.
19¶ Then Daniel, whose name was Belteshazzar, was astonied for one hour, and his thoughts troubled him. The king spake, and said, Belteshazzar, let not the dream, or the interpretation thereof, trouble thee.
22It is thou, O king, that art grown and become strong: for thy greatness is grown, and reacheth unto heaven, and thy dominion to the end of the earth.
23And whereas the king saw a watcher and an holy one coming down from heaven, and saying, Hew the tree down, and destroy it; yet leave the stump of the roots thereof in the earth, even with a band of iron and brass, in the tender grass of the field; and let it be wet with the dew of heaven, and let his portion be with the beasts of the field, till seven times pass over him;
24This is the interpretation, O king, and this is the decree of the most High, which is come upon my lord the king:
25That they shall drive thee from men, and thy dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field, and they shall make thee to eat grass as oxen, and they shall wet thee with the dew of heaven, and seven times shall pass over thee, till thou know that the most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will.
... 27Wherefore, O king, let my counsel be acceptable unto thee, and break off thy sins by righteousness, and thine iniquities by shewing mercy to the poor; if it may be a lengthening of thy tranquillity.
28¶ All this came upon the king Nebuchadnezzar.
29At the end of twelve months he walked in the palace of the kingdom of Babylon.
30The king spake, and said, Is not this great Babylon, that I have built for the house of the kingdom by the might of my power, and for the honour of my majesty?
31While the word was in the king’s mouth, there fell a voice from heaven, saying, O king Nebuchadnezzar, to thee it is spoken; The kingdom is departed from thee.
32And they shall drive thee from men, and thy dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field: they shall make thee to eat grass as oxen, and seven times shall pass over thee, until thou know that the most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will.
34And at the end of the days I Nebuchadnezzar lifted up mine eyes unto heaven, and mine understanding returned unto me, and I blessed the most High, and I praised and honoured him that liveth for ever, whose dominion is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom is from generation to generation:
... 36At the same time my reason returned unto me; and for the glory of my kingdom, mine honour and brightness returned unto me; and my counsellors and my lords sought unto me; and I was established in my kingdom, and excellent majesty was added unto me.
37Now I Nebuchadnezzar praise and extol and honour the King of heaven, all whose works are truth, and his ways judgment: and those that walk in pride he is able to abase.
- Ps. 25:8, 9
8Good and upright is the Lord: therefore will he teach sinners in the way.
9The meek will he guide in judgment: and the meek will he teach his way.
- Matt. 5:5
5Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.
Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures
by Mary Baker Eddy
- SH 270:23-24
- SH 544:24-25
- SH 491:25
- SH 252:16-30
Material sense lifts its voice with the arrogance of reality and says:
18 I am wholly dishonest, and no man knoweth it. I can cheat, lie, commit adultery, rob, murder, and I elude Testimony of sensedetection by smooth-tongued villainy. Ani-21mal in propensity, deceitful in sentiment, fraudulent in purpose, I mean to make my short span of life one gala day. What a nice thing is sin! How 24sin succeeds, where the good purpose waits! The world is my kingdom. I am enthroned in the gorgeousness of matter. But a touch, an accident, the law of God, 27may at any moment annihilate my peace, for all my fancied joys are fatal. Like bursting lava, I expand but to my own despair, and shine with the resplendency of 30consuming fire.
- SH 102:30-2
- SH 448:9 (only)
When needed tell the truth concerning the lie.
- SH 453:16-20
- SH 542:5-8
- SH 6:3-5
- SH 22:30-1
- SH 339:1-2 The, 3-4
- SH 327:9-12
- SH 447:20-27
Expose and denounce the claims of 21evil and disease in all their forms, but realize no reality in them. A sinner is not reformed merely by assuring him that he cannot be a sinner because 24there is no sin. To put down the claim of sin, you must detect it, remove the mask, point out the illusion, and thus get the victory over sin and so prove 27its unreality.
- SH 6:18-24
- SH 542:19-22
- SH 35:30 If
If the sinner’s punishment here has been insufficient to re-form him, the good man’s heaven would be a hell to 36 36:1the sinner. They, who know not purity and affection by experience, can never find bliss in the blessed company of 3Final purposeTruth and Love simply through translation into another sphere. Divine Science reveals the necessity of sufficient suffering, either before or after 6death, to quench the love of sin. To remit the penalty due for sin, would be for Truth to pardon error. Escape from punishment is not in accordance with God’s govern-9ment, since justice is the handmaid of mercy.
- SH 327:22-29 (to 2nd .)
Fear of punishment never made man truly honest. Moral courage is requisite to meet the wrong and to 24Moral courageproclaim the right. But how shall we re-form the man who has more animal than moral courage, and who has not the true idea of good? 27Through human consciousness, convince the mortal of his mistake in seeking material means for gaining hap-piness. Reason is the most active human faculty.
- SH 399:29
Our Master asked: “How can one enter into a strong 30Confirmation in a parableman’s house and spoil his goods, except he first bind the strong man?” In other words: How can I heal the body, without beginning with so-called 400 400:1mortal mind, which directly controls the body? When disease is once destroyed in this so-called mind, the fear 3of disease is gone, and therefore the disease is thor-oughly cured. Mortal mind is “the strong man,” which must be held in subjection before its influence upon health 6and morals can be removed. This error conquered, we can despoil “the strong man” of his goods, — namely, of sin and disease.
- SH 538:3 (only)
Truth should, and does, drive error out of all selfhood.
- SH 203:27
- SH 35:30 (only)
The design of Love is to reform the sinner.
Hymn 206: “O God, our Father-Mother, Love”
Hymn 416: “Be true and list the voice within”
Hymn 169: “Lead, kindly Light”