Needed reminders

The Christian Science textbook, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy, ask many questions of the reader. One that comes to mind this morning is: “Are we benefited by praying?” It’s early in the chapter Prayer – page 2, line 4.

 

As is usual in Science and Health we are given an answer – “Yes, the desire which goes forth hungering after righteousness is blessed of our Father, and it does not return unto us void" (ibid).

 

So, I am asking myself: Will I be benefited by reading the new book from the Christian Science Publishing Society, Christian Science: Continuing evidence of Christ-healing? I think the textbook’s answer applies in this case as well. I am forever “hungering after righteousness” as a student of Christian Science and expect its blessings.

 

I had been thinking about reading testimonies and sharing testimonies at church testimony meetings. It is not enough just to read or listen, and enjoy. I can benefit myself and the whole of mankind by actually praying for more enlightenment through learning from another’s experience in demonstrating Christian Science.

 

For instance, in testimonies of Christian Science healing we very often find quotes from the Bible and Mrs. Eddy’s writings: Science and Health, Prose Works other than Science and Health, and Poems.

 

I find I have gained much from having those quotes to hand.

 

I recall a time when I was impressed by this passage from Science and Health page 463: “...truth removes whatever is offensive”. It had healed someone. I think it was shared at a Wednesday meeting. When a daughter cried with the pain of a loose tooth that wouldn’t budge, that truth came to be uttered with immediate effect. The tooth just fell into to her hand. The complete sentence from Science and Health (it is important to be exact in quoting from our textbooks) is: “A spiritual idea has not a single element of error, and this truth removes properly whatever is offensive” (p. 463:12-13).

 

So, I decided to read one healing a day from our book, Continuing evidence of Christ-healing. Read it, ponder it, take notes about it and try to find something which will apply to something in my life or from the news.

 

A testimony from Annette Söllinger (pp.19-22), Eye Infection Gone, gave me a nudge. Annette said that in her prayers she had been trying to “distinguish between the true and the false, between the right and wrong, effective and ineffective prayer – all with mortal limited thinking. An impossible task!” (p. 20). I was very impressed, but didn’t quite “get it.” However, in reading a current issue of the Christian Science Sentinel I found a sentence that settled it all for me -- “The turning point was when I yielded up any personal sense of responsibility for healing.” (See Healing of Covid by Hernando Pico Niño, December 1&8, 2025, CS Sentinel, p. 13-14.)

 

As Hernando said,

“Christ Jesus, the greatest healer in the world has known, said, ‘I can of mine own self do nothing’ (John 5:30), and acknowledged that his heavenly Father ‘doeth the works’ (John 14:10).”

 

I can see that I can never be reminded enough of those truths.

Joyce Voysey

A new book - 80+ accounts of verified healing

Coinciding with 150 years of continuous publication of Mary Baker Eddy's Science & Health with Key to the Scriptures is the release of a precious new book from The Christian Science Publishing Society - Christian Science: continuing evidence of Christ-healing.

This is not a showy volume. Rather, it is a modest but distinctive volume which provides the reader with substantial and convincing evidence that Christ-healing is happening in our time, across continents and in all sorts of circumstances.

The book is beautifully presented, yet is without fanfare in design. Its cover invites further deep investigation, while pointing to the ongoing nature of Christ-healing. The typeface is crisp, clear and open. It's easy to read. 

The Foreword, by the Christian Science Board of Directors, is especially engaging. It begins: 

    The relationship between science and Christianity has always been a delicate dance. In fact, a large portion of society would likely argue that these two have no business dancing with each other at all.

I am reading slowly and looking for the relationship between science and Christianity in each of the verified accounts of healing. 

This book has arrived just in time for Christmas. What a beautiful gift to our world.

Julie Swannell

PS Our Reading Room in Redcliffe is offering the book at a special early-bird price just this month. Half of our initial order has already been sold.  

Neighbours and Brothers

My NLT Study Bible has given me some insight into the animosity between Israel and Edom as described in the little book of Obadiah. And Eugene Petersen (The Message Bible) adds a wry touch when he writes "It takes the entire Bible to read any part of the Bible" as the opening of his introduction to this little book.

Three stories are helpful. Isaac and Rebekah's twin boys, Jacob and Esau, were the ancestors of the people of Israel and Edom respectively. Even though the brothers did eventually reconcile, it seems there was lingering animosity between their neighbouring countries. 

Later, when Moses was leading the children of Israel from Egypt to the Promised Land, he requested permission from the king of Edom to pass through that territory. Unfortunately that permission was refused and the book of Numbers records that "the soul of the people was much discouraged..." (21:4). Moses got the blame for their having to now take a much more circuitous route.

Obadiah, verse 11(The Living Bible) indicates a further lack of neighbourliness when Israel was invaded by Babylon:

11 For you deserted Israel in his time of need. You stood aloof, refusing to lift a finger to help him when invaders carried off his wealth and divided Jerusalem among them by lot; you were as one of his enemies.

But the story doesn't end there. The final verse (21) says:

"Those who have been rescued will go up to Mount Zion in Jerusalem to rule over the mountains of Edom. And the Lord himself will be king!" (NLT 2nd edition)

It seems that hostilities ceased. Petersen writes: 

"...the last line of the prophecy takes a giant step out of the centuries of hate and rivalry and invective. Israel, so often a victim of Edomite aggression through the centuries, is suddenly revealed to be saved from the injustices of the past... ...instead of doing to others what had been done to them and continuing the cycle of violence ... they are presented as taking over the reins of government and administering God's justice justly. They find themselves in a new context--God's kingdom--and realize that they have a new vocation--to represent God's rule." 

Is this a clue that when we let God take the lead, hostilities cease?

Alleluia! For the Lord God omnipotent reigneth! (Rev. 19: 6)

Julie Swannell