The Prayer of Discovery - last blog for October from Joyce V.

The following paragraph is from an article entitled The Prayer of Discovery.  It is by J. Marshall Hall, and it is to be found in the April, 1951 Journal.  I have made bold the phrase that took my attention.  Don’t you just love it?

Christian Science is a system of spiritual regeneration. It requires study of the Bible and the works of Mrs. Eddy, reading of the Christian Science periodicals, participation in church activity, and practice of its truths in daily living. This way of life is made possible only through prayer, or communion with God, in which glimpses of Truth flow into consciousness. Such prayer, or conscious communion with God, is a prayer of discovery. Mrs. Eddy says in her work "No and Yes", in commenting on prayer (p. 39), "It makes new and scientific, discoveries of God, of His goodness and power." She spoke and wrote always from the depth of her spiritual experience.

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We were early at the church in Perth

PRAYERFUL QUESTIONS

It is not the aim of our Book Club to interpret the writings of any author.  We simply wish to encourage the reading of the books which are available in Christian Science Reading Rooms.  Reading along together is helpful and fun. And sharing our responses often sheds new light on passages that might otherwise have been overlooked.

 

In this spirit, let us now launch into a very famous book indeed, the Christian Science textbook, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures (S&H) written by one of the world’s most remarkable women, Mary Baker Eddy. 

MORE TO BE LEARNED

Now about the chapter Prayer in Science and Health.  One has read this chapter many times in 50 years of studying Christian Science, but there is always something more to be learned from its message.  It so happened that my recent Christian Science Students Association Day’s preparatory work this year included reading this chapter, with special emphasis on the healing power of The Lord’s Prayer. 

FINAL THOUGHTS ON JERUSALEM
Women followers:
Along the way, I particularly noticed the talk about the women who followed Jesus from Galilee to Jerusalem.  My Bible Dictionary defines Galilee as “circuit,” so I have thought of it as a symbol of eternity.  Did the women bring with them at least some understanding of eternity?  The women were there at the crucifixion and Mary Magdalene was the first at the tomb, and the first to recognise Jesus after his resurrection. 

It is interesting that Luke says, “And, behold, two of them went that same day to a village called Emmaus, which was from Jerusalem about three-score furlongs” (24:13).  It reads as though it could have been two women who walked to Emmaus – they were not of the eleven disciples.  However, we are told that one of them was named Cleopas (24:18).   I have found that one of the Marys at the cross was “Mary the wife of Cleopas” (John 19:25).

How exciting is that! 

Journey to Jerusalem part 2

Here are some references to Jerusalem from the writings of Mary Baker Eddy.

 

Miscellaneous Writings (Mis.) 133: 21

Three times a day, I retire to seek the divine blessing on the sick and sorrowing, with my face toward the Jerusalem of Love and Truth, in silent prayer to the Father which “seeth in secret,” and childlike confidence that He will reward “openly.”  In the midst of depressing care and labor I turn constantly to divine Love for guidance, and find rest.

Journey to Jerusalem part 1

Joyce Voysey signing in after a long absence – I see my last blogging was on the 12^th of October, and I have missed it very much.  Having finished reading the book of Luke, I find that I have gained only a tiny understanding of it.  There's lots of room for inspiration in future readings.

During the reading the idea “Jerusalem” became a focal point for me.  I here quote all the references to Jerusalem that I found in Luke.

1 - Luke 2:22

When the days of her purification according to the law of Moses were accomplished, they brought him to Jerusalem, to present him to the Lord.

Luke – references in Science & Health part 7

It has been so interesting to find those references from the book of Luke which are found in Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy.  A little research shows me that of the four Gospels, Matthew is the most often quoted in Science and Health.  With a little digging, you can probably still pick up the little grey and green booklet called “List of the Scriptural Quotations in Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures” in your local Reading Room.

Today we will look at the final passages from Luke.  It is such a rich book to read and I feel we have still only touched the surface of the riches that can be mined.

Luke – references in Science & Health part 6

·        Luke 18:8 In the opening verses of this chapter, we read the parable of the judge “which feared not God, neither regarded man” and the widow who doesn’t give up.  Jesus concludes his teaching with the words: “Hear what the unjust judge saith.  And shall not God avenge¹ his own elect, which cry day and night unto him, though he bear long with them?  I tell you that he will avenge them speedily.  Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?”

S&H 132: 14 “The Pharisees of old thrust the spiritual idea and the man who lived it out of their synagogues, and retained their materialistic beliefs about God.  Jesus’ system of healing received no aid nor approval from other sanitary or religious systems, from doctrines of physics or of divinity; and it has not yet been generally accepted. 

Luke – references in Science & Health part 5

(corrected version!!)

Wouldn’t it be wonderful if our days could be free of anxiety, concern, or worry?  We all know that these states of thought are not helpful and yet most of us still indulge them from time to time.  What if we could be entirely free of the stress of worrying?  Perhaps Luke chapter 12 has some answers for us.  (By the way, did you know there is a most interesting book called “How to stop worrying and start living” by Dale Carnegie?)

Verse one sets the scene: “an innumerable multitude of people, insomuch that they trode one upon another” had gathered together, when Jesus began with this first lesson: “Beware ... the leaven¹ of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy.”  Is he telling us to watch our thinking?

Luke – references in Science & Health part 4

Luke 11 has one of my favourite passages: “Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.”  It’s a reciprocal arrangement – give and take – perfect balance.  Now after recounting this teaching, Luke launches into a description of a very special healing.

·        Luke 11:14 “And he was casting out a devil, and it was dumb.  And it came to pass, when the devil was gone out, the dumb spake; and the people wondered.”

S&H 135:11 “The same power which heals sin heals also sickness.  This is “the beauty of holiness,” that when Truth heals the sick, it casts out evils, and when Truth casts out the evil called disease, it heals the sick.  When Christ cast out the devil of dumbness, “it came to pass, when the devil was gone out, the dumb spake.”... what cannot God do?”

Luke – references in Science & Health part 3

·        Luke 8:52 Jesus’ ministry was always very active.  He returned by ship from Gadara and had been gladly received by a bunch of people when a distraught synagogue ruler (Jairus) begs him to come to his home because his twelve year-old daughter is dying.  Then along comes the woman who reaches out and touches his garment and is healed (we spoke of her in the previous post here), when suddenly someone from Jairus’ household runs up and tells Jairus that it’s too late because the girl has already died.  How then could Jesus say: “Fear not: believe only, and she shall be made whole”?   

The party continues on to Jairus’ home and Jesus insists that only Peter, James, John plus the girl’s parents may come in.  Of course, outside the home there is a terrific din of weeping and wailing “but he said, Weep not; she is not dead but sleepeth”.  He does not diagnose or suggest a name for the problem, but pretty soon the girl is alive and well and ready to eat something.

S&H 398: 9 “Often he gave no name to the distemper he cured.  To the synagogue ruler’s daughter, whom they called dead but of whom he said, “she is not dead, but sleepeth,” he simply said, “Damsel, I say unto thee, arise!”

Luke – references in Science & Health  #2

·        Luke 7:41 – 43, 48 Jesus is at Simon’s (a Pharisee) house when a woman comes in and with tears washes Jesus feet, wiping them with her hair.  Simon and others in the company no doubt discover something about themselves when Jesus offers a parable: “There was a certain creditor which had two debtors: the one owed five hundred pence, and the other fifty.  And when they had nothing to pay, he frankly forgave them both.  Tell me therefore, which of them will love him most?  Simon answered and said, I suppose that he, to whom he forgave most. And he said unto him, Thou hast rightly judged.”  Later, he says to the woman “Thy sins are forgiven.”

S&H 363: 15 “[Jesus] described two debtors, one for a large sum and one for a smaller, who were released from their obligations by their common creditor.  “Which of them will love him most?” was the Master’s question to Simon the Pharisee; and Simon replied, “He to whom he forgave most.”  Jesus approved the answer, and so brought home the lesson to all, following it with that remarkable declaration to the woman, “Thy sins are forgiven.”

 “Why did he thus summarize her debt to divine Love?”

to Jerusalem and... the Pharisees

I find myself not interested so much in the healings and teachings recorded by Luke, wonderful as they are, as the thread I see in Luke’s Gospel of Jesus journey “to Jerusalem.” Luke knew the outcome of that journey, and was giving markers along the way of how it came about. 

The other big point for me is the way the Pharisees watched Jesus’ every move in that direction.  Are Christian Scientists watched as Jesus was watched?  Who are the Pharisees of to-day who would do that watching?

I feel I must go into this Jerusalem business by checking all the “Jerusalem” references in Luke.  So it may take a while.

Joyce Voysey

Ed - can't wait!!

Luke – references in Science & Health part 1

Last month I started to review references from Luke in the writings of Mary Baker Eddy.  Well, now I’m back to it and find there are almost forty just in Science and Health!  I love this research!

 

·        Luke 1:33 the angel tells Mary - “of his kingdom there shall be no end.”

S&H 565:13 “The impersonation of the spiritual idea had a brief history in the earthly life of our Master; but “of his kingdom there shall be no end,” for Christ, God’s idea, will eventually rule all nations and peoples – imperatively, absolutely, finally – with divine Science.”

·        Luke 2:14 Angels again, this time telling the shepherds “on earth peace, good will toward men.”
S&H 226:14 “God has built a higher platform of human rights, and He has built it on diviner claims.  These claims are not made through code or creed, but in demonstration of “on earth peace, good-will toward men.”  Human codes, scholastic theology, material medicine and hygiene, fetter faith and spiritual understanding.”

Luke 16 and stewardship

I’ve always loved the concept of stewardship; it makes me think of being entrusted and trustworthy in the pursuit of some worthy role.  My Webster’s Dictionary says: person appointed to manage the domestic and business affairs of a large household or estate; one actively concerned with the direction of the affairs of an organization (as a church or club); a person employed to supervise the provision and distribution of food (as on a ship); a worker who serves and attends the needs of passengers (as on a train or ship).

For many years I thought that the story tells us that if we can’t pay all we owe, at least we can begin to repay the debt with what is available.  By getting under-way, and handing over a portion of the owed amount, more often than not we can then see more clearly how to repay the whole figure.  I have seen this happen over and over again in business.  Where the debtor has been so overwhelmed with the size of the payment required that they are almost paralysed, starting out and paying what they can manage right now (sometimes stretching just to do that) somehow opens up the flood-gates and soon the debt is repaid.  It tells me that idleness and inaction (usually the result of fear and embarrassment) need to be stamped out and replaced with prompt action.

Well, even though I believe the above is true, it is not the point of Jesus’ parable

Luke 15 and 16

Chapter 15 has the Prodigal Son and the Self-righteous Son story.  I guess we can place ourselves in either or both of these son’s states of thought at different times.  Both had to learn that, “All that I have is thine”  (verse 31).  We all have to learn that God’s goodness is undivided; we have access to all that He is – all the love, all the supply, all the spiritual sense, all the gratitude, all the principle, all the life, all the truth, all the mind which was in Christ Jesus. 

Chapter 16 and the parable of the unjust steward:  It is hard to reconcile the steward’s actions with Principle, but a little thought came to me as I read it this time: Is the steward actually putting down the true figures which are really owed by the debtors, figures which he had somehow inflated for his own gain?  Perhaps he was on a percentage.

Joyce Voysey

Jesus talking about prayer Luke 18

 

Jesus was always turning to everyday life to illustrate his teaching.  So here he gives the example of a judge who is interested neither in God nor in people.  An aggrieved woman persistently and fearlessly seeks his assistance to the point where he can ignore her no longer.  Jesus tells us that our prayers need to be consistent.  And we must never quit. 

The Christian Science textbook tells us:

 

"Consistent prayer is the desire to do right"(Science and Health with Key to the Scripturesby Mary Baker Eddy p. 19: 32), and “Self-forgetfulness,  purity, and affection are constant prayers” (ibid. p.15: 27). 

Luke Chapters 13 and 14 - lessons

In just glancing through this chapter, I saw in verse 22 about Jesus, “And he went through the cities and villages, teaching, and journeying toward Jerusalem.” This journeying toward Jerusalem seems to be popping up a bit.  Was his destination always Jerusalem, which Science and Health defines in part as “Home, heaven”? 

Luke 11 and 12

Luke 11 starts with Jesus presenting the disciples with the Lord’s Prayer, the “prayer which meets all human needs” we are told on page 16 of Science and Health.  We sometimes neglect Luke’s version because Matthew’s places the prayer in the fuller version of The Sermon on the Mount.  We may also neglect the idea that Jesus needed to pray.  He really kept in close touch with his Father, divine Love, Principle. 

Luke chapter 10

It took me years before I realized that Jesus was quoting from the Old Testament when he said, “Thou shall love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself” (Luke 10:27).  I finally did look it up, as this well-used copy of the Bible confirms with the margin writing.  He mined the two commandments from Deuteronomy (6:5) and Leviticus (19:18 in part).  Dummelow mentions fear in relation to the Deuteronomy one, so that it reminds me of one of my favourite Bible passages – II Tim. 1:7, which Moffatt translates as “For God has not given us a timid spirit but a spirit of power and love and discipline.”

Mary and Martha (Luke 10:38-42).  I must have said something that gave my friend the impression that

Luke the Physician

Interesting reading can be found in the excerpts that follow.  The whole article comes from http://www.oldandsold.com/articles11/medicine-20.shtml.  Note – the piece contains many uncorrected typographical errors

Rejoicing in Luke 9 and 10

Chapter 9:47-62 shows different states of thought that Jesus had to deal with.  Isn’t it interesting that the Bible and Science and Health are capable of dealing with us all right where we have progressed to on our spiritual journey?

Hello Hello!  In Luke 10:1, some translations have seventy-two being sent forth by Jesus rather than the seventy we are used to hearing about.  Dummelow says merely, “Many ancient authorities read seventy-two here and in v. 17.”  He also says that the number is significant – it is the number of members of the Sanhedrin and that he was establishing a new Sanhedrin.  He also cites other possible references which the Jews would have made to the number.  It is significant that Mary Baker Eddy chose seventy students

Luke 9: 31 Transfiguration

I’ve been in the wilderness somewhat because my computer won’t even turn on.  Man coming tomorrow.

It is interesting how a sentence in the Bible can have gone un-noted by me for years, but when I read Luke 9:31 for this blog it begged to be interpreted. 

Aesculapius

Mary Baker Eddy writes (Science and Health p. 150:31): “The hosts of Aesculapius are flooding the world with diseases, because they are ignorant that the human mind and body are myths.  To be sure, they sometimes treat the sick as if there was but one factor in the case; but this one factor they represent to be body, not mind. 

Continuing with Luke and adding in “Prayer”

Julie Swannell

What with a visiting sixteen-month old grandson, and an adventure on the high seas of Moreton Bay, Luke did not have much of a look-in by me during September.  A reader suggested we continue on with Luke for September and another reader suggested we study the chapter on Prayer in Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy.  It seems appropriate that we do both, and see if we can find some connections between the two along the way.

While I’m told that Luke is the longest of all the Gospels, the chapter on Prayer is rather short at 17 pages.  It will be interesting to read the two in tandem.

The other morning I was pondering the word “Physician” which occurs six times in the Bible (twice in Luke’s gospel) and came across an interesting piece by a Victor Shepherd.  Readers may like to have a look at it at   http://www.victorshepherd.on.ca/Sermons/Luke.htm.  Writing in 2005, Mr. Shepherd, Professor of Systematic and Historical Theology at Tyndale, and Adjunct Prof. of Theology at University of Toronto, says:

“Luke's gospel is easily the warmest of the four.”

“Luke was a physician. He used a medical vocabulary instinctively. In the incident where the boy is said to be "thrown down" (English text) by his affliction, the Greek word Luke uses was the current medical term for convulsions. In the incident where the distraught father cries to Jesus, "Look upon my son!", the word Luke uses for "look upon" is the current medical term used of a physician seeing a patient. Like most physicians Luke was understandably defensive of the medical profession. When the menorrhagic woman approaches Jesus, Matthew and Mark tell us she had exhausted all her savings on physicians but was no better. Dr. Luke tells us the same story, but chooses to omit the part about costly medical treatment that has proved ineffective.”

“There are three emphases in Luke's mind and heart that receive more attention than anywhere else in the NT. The three emphases are