A life with meaning and purpose

This morning I was led to read Eugene Petersen's introduction to the book of Nehemiah - see "The Message". He begins: Separating life into distinct categories of "sacred" and "secular" damages, sometimes irreparably, any attempt to live a whole and satisfying life, a coherent life with meaning and purpose, a life lived to the glory of God.......Work, by its very nature, is holy. The biblical story is dominated by people who have jobs.... Nehemiah is one of these. He started out as a government worker in the employ of a foreign king. ...His co-worker Ezra was a scholar and teacher... Nehemiah worked with stones and mortar. The stories of the two men are interwoven in a seamless fabric of vocational holiness. ...Nehemiah needed Ezra; Ezra needed Nehemiah."

 

This first appeared as a Comment to Joyce Voysey's post dated 31/7/12.

HEALINGS THROUGH CHRISTIAN SCIENCE

Recently, I’ve spoken with two people who know almost nothing about Christian Science but who are both seeking solutions and are open to exploring alternatives to the usual medical methods offered.  It’s therefore encouraging to read testimonies of healing in Christian Science.  It shows what is possible.   

The testimonies Peel has chosen are very moving, and I like to notice what elements were present in each healing example.  Let’s take a look at the first two he offers his readers.

 

But before we go to the testimonies, it’s interesting to note that Peel points out something very pertinent.  He writes on page 52: “...those who choose to rely on Christian Science are not in their view sanguinely choosing nothing.  They are choosing the tangible somethingness of divine law – the healing power of God – that has been effectively demonstrated in the lives of some families for four and five generations.” 

The dictionary says that “sanguine” means “expecting things to go well”.  Just expecting a good outcome may sometimes appear to be what a Christian Scientist is doing, but healing in Christian Science really is turning to divine law as we shall see.

TO UNDERSTAND and TO REASON

 

25.11.12  I’ve just finished reading most of Robert Dessaix’ book A Mother’s Disgrace.  Robert attended the Christian Science Sunday school at Chatswood in Sydney, and was taught there by my son-in-law’s father. 

 

When Robert was 9 he objected to being taught in the Presbyterian Sunday School that Jesus was God.  His mother said there was a church which didn’t teach that – Christian Science.  So he took himself to that Sunday school.  He turned his back forever, he says, on mainstream Christianity after having read Billy Graham’s Peace with God.  He says, “As Turgenev has written, a religion that teaches that God sent himself in the form of his own son down to earth to offer his other sons salvation by sacrificing himself to himself – well, it’s too silly, really, to spend time even completing the sentence.”

 

He found that Christian Science didn’t expect him to ‘believe’, but to understand, to reason, and with his superior intelligence, that was what he did.  (He was studying Russian at that time, and became a lecturer in Russian at ANU (Australian National University.))

 

And, I am coming to the most interesting part as far as I am concerned.

Metaphysics

How good to have “Julie’s” comment on my last post!  (Ed. See Comment following Post dated 13/11/12 Chapter Two and the Physical Scientists.)   A strong statement of Truth from Mary Baker Eddy from Science and Health to sort of settle the question, I guess.

I met a man over the week-end who said he had studied “Metaphysics” through an institution in London.  I didn’t go into a discussion with him, but wondered just what he had studied.  It certainly wasn’t Christian metaphysics, it seemed.  So, this morning I have looked up metaphysics on Wikepedia.  Here is part of what they have posted:

The word "metaphysics" derives from the Greek words μετά (metá) ("beyond", "upon" or "after") and φυσικά (physiká) ("physics").^[7] It was first used as the title for several of Aristotle's works, because they were usually anthologized after the works on physics in complete editions. The prefix meta- ("beyond") indicates that these works come "after" the chapters on physics. However, Aristotle himself did not call the subject of these books "Metaphysics": he referred to it as "first philosophy." The editor of Aristotle's works, Andronicus of Rhodes, is thought to have placed the books on first philosophy right after another work, Physics, and called them τὰ μετὰ τὰ φυσικὰ βιβλία (ta meta ta physika biblia) or "the books that come after the [books on] physics". This was misread by Latin scholiasts, who thought it meant "the science of what is beyond the physical."

However, once the name was given, the commentators sought to find intrinsic reasons for its appropriateness. For instance, it was understood to mean "the science of the world beyond nature (phusis in Greek)," that is, the science of the immaterial. Again, it was understood to refer to the chronological or pedagogical order among our philosophical studies, so that the "metaphysical sciences would mean, those that we study after having mastered the sciences that deal with the physical world" (St. Thomas Aquinas, "In Lib, Boeth. de Trin.", V, 1).

There is a widespread use of the term in current popular literature, which replicates this error, i.e. that metaphysical means spiritual non-physical: thus, "metaphysical healing" means healing by means of remedies that are not physical.^[8]

Joyce Voysey

EASING HUMANITY’S BURDENS (Chapter three)

Some of Chapter 3 reminds me of Mary Baker Eddy’s including, in Science and Health, comments from medical practitioners on the inadequacy of medical science.  Peel says, “…I have drawn my examples almost entirely from the self-critical medical literature…”  Both writers give full credit to medical people who work so earnestly to help human kind.

Mrs. Eddy introduces

Chapter Two and the physical scientists

Well, here I am struggling with Chapter 2.  How Peel seems to yearn for the physical scientists to catch up with divine Science! He is not easy to read, especially when he comes up with words like entropy (para 1, page 11).  (Ed. See end of article for some insight into this term.) Does one really have to study physics to understand his reasoning?  It wouldn’t hurt.  I like the bit about the physical scientists work on page 1: they provide the “how – though not why – nature works as it does”.

It seems to boil down to “If you cannot measure it physically, it has no substance.”  But, how can the disappearance overnight, through a spiritual vision of Jesus, of 38½ pounds of matter (which had called itself cancer), as happened in the healing of Alice Newton

Not prescriptive but HEURISTIC – or, “understanding the Preface with the aid of my iPhone”

When this book club read Christian Science in Germany earlier this year, I was impressed that those new German students of Christian Science, with little or no knowledge of English, read and studied Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures (by Mary Baker Eddy) with the aid of a dictionary.  I’ve found that this practice really lifts one’s reading into new spheres of understanding. 

So, with our current book Spiritual Healing in a Scientific Age by Robert Peel in hand, I finally stopped my reading (I’m up to Chapter Four) and returned to the Preface with my dictionary.com “app” and Google search on my iPhone at the ready, to revisit some of the obviously carefully chosen words Peel employs, and which I had not really grasped – either this time, or in previous readings.  What a good idea this was!  (Note that your correspondent had had the inclination to go back several times before and ignored the intuition.  An aside: at dinner last night a beautiful glass went crashing to the floor and my table neighbour remarked confidentially “I saw the glass there” – it was one he had used – “and I thought, I should remove it from the edge of the table, but never got around to it.”  Ah, if only we were more immediately responsive to such intuitions!

Let’s then take a look at pages viii and ix where Peel outlines his purpose and aim for giving the world this book:

“...the book aims at something far larger than sectarian apologetics.  Its purpose is not prescriptive but heuristic.”

 

Uh?  What is he talking about?

Franklin, Eddy, and the Preface to Spiritual Healing in a Scientific Age

The Preface seems to guarantee that some of this book may be difficult to understand.  I suppose that Peel had a sense of humour, but I don’t really think he was joking about not reading chapter one immediately, though I must admit to a little chuckle on reading that warning.

I did start on the first chapter last night.  I won’t say I gave up, but I did remember having seen a chapter Personal Testament at the back of the book.  So I read that.  Peel certainly had strong and convincing proof in his own family that Christian Science heals.  What fine women he had for mother and grandmother.

Here, I am going to wax somewhat philosophical. One book I am reading at present is Carl Van Doren’s Benjamin Franklin, the life of a philosopher extraordinare.  I am sure Mary Baker Eddy was familiar with more of Benjamin Franklin’s good works

OPEN A BOOK

 

Readers will be interested in the recent Daily Lift called “OPEN A BOOK” by Christian Science lecturer Marie Taillefer, CS.  In this lovely “LIFT” she quotes a Chinese proverb:

 

"Open a book and the book will open you." 

 

How lovely is that! 

Check out the Daily Lift podcasts on www.christianscience.com!

Robert Peel

So!  November is here and a new book to delve into – Robert Peel’s Spiritual Healing in a Scientific Age.

Robert Peel is somewhat of a hero to me.  My copy of his book Mary Baker Eddy: the Years of Authority is falling to pieces because I have read it so many times.  However, I have found that his academically-based reasoning can sometimes go over my head.  It seems to me that he was frustrated because all the evidence which he and thousands of others have given for the absolute truth of Christian Science was not accepted by reasonable and reasoning people.

 

It may be surprising that Robert Peel’s journey reminds me of Elijah’s.  When Elijah was tempted to believe that he was the only one who was on God’s side,

Referencing former posts

The Prodigal Son story being in the Christian Science Bible Lesson this week, I looked up my blog post* about it.  And I found it quite inspiring.

This is another blessing from contributing to this Book Club - when the Lesson has something that we have studied from the Bible - Mark, Ezra, Luke - I can go back and see what came to me at that time.

Joyce Voysey

Ed - See post from 10/10/12 *

Introducing a new contributor, Jack Gregory: “God’s Book of Life”

Recently re-reading the book “Let God Do It” by Wentworth Byron Winslow, I noticed that he used the story of Robinson Crusoe [Ed. a novel first published in 1719] by Daniel Defoe to bring out a most interesting point.  He pointed out that Crusoe only ever existed as an idea in the mind of Defoe.  Each of Crusoe’s experiences were ideas first formed in the mind of Defoe, his thoughts written down.  When Crusoe was shipwrecked, circumstances were introduced whereby he was saved.  Whatever he needed was met in the mind of Defoe and introduced into the story.  When he needed an axe or food it was supplied.  When he needed companionship, Defoe thought of a way to introduce circumstances whereby the character Man Friday appears to help him.  All of these things only ever existed in the mind of Defoe.

Similarly we are expressions (thoughts) of the infinite divine Mind, God.   As such expressions, we can expect all our needs to be met by the divine Mind, when we need them.  Who knows what God has included in the next paragraph for us?  We can be sure of one thing: that it will be good.

When this chapter is completed, we do not know what the next chapter will be about, but for sure it can only be good and exciting.

S&H 151:26                 All that really exists is the divine Mind and its ideas...

S&H 520:3                   Unfathomable Mind is expressed...
Ps. 139 (NRSB)            Your eyes beheld my unformed substance.  In Your book were written all the days that were written for me, when none of them as yet existed.

Retrospection & Introspection 70:18   Each individual must fill his own niche in time and eternity.

Jack Gregory

Promise of Progress and Bible printed as separate books

Friends –

A new month seems to hold such promise of progress and fresh avenues of good opening up before us.  Welcome to November and to our study of Robert Peel's work "Spiritual Healing in a Scientific Age". This 1987 book first came into my hands in October 1987, so it appears I must have purchased it as soon as it was published. It’s so interesting to be reading it again now, twenty-five years later.  I see that I added some pencil notations last time so I’m looking forward to seeing what new light will come this time.

On another note, I once saw (in a newsagent in Bunbury) individual books of the Bible