A promise of protection

Check out Christian Science Sentinel Radio program 1631 "When walls come down" and hear how the author of "Warriors Don't Cry" and "White is a state of mind", Melba Pattillo Beals, refers to the Psalms as "a promise of protection". (http://jsh.christianscience.com/jsh-web-radio)

A promise of protection

Check out Christian Science Sentinel Radio program 1631 "When walls come down" and hear how the author of "Warriors Don't Cry" and "White is a state of mind", Melba Pattillo Beals, refers to the Psalms as "a promise of protection". 

Power, majesty and comfort of the Psalms

I am in awe of the power, majesty and comfort of the Psalms. I have been listening to a recording of them and love to feel the forward movement as the verses work towards resolution and peace. 

The beauty and rhythm of the verses shine through at every pace, whether read quickly or slowly, but I find that the juxtaposition of differing paces i.e. fast, slow, medium, fast etc, creates a perfect mode for listening. Furthermore, the images evoked are strong and memorable. After all, these verses were written to be listened to, danced to, sung, and played.

Lastly, I love the surprise of new treasures in the Psalms. Today I found this:

Psalm 73: 16, 17   ....it was too painful for me; Until I went into the sanctuary of God.

Julie Swannell

gentle Melanchthon

It was remiss of me to not check Mrs. Eddy's Prose Works for a reference to Melanchthon. (I did recall his name and I did check Science and Health.) We find it on page 2 of Christian Healing – line 9. How the descriptive “gentle” changes my thinking of Luther's friend!

Joyce Voysey

Refuge in times of opposition

I am finding that thoughts are often repeated and given voice in like words in many different Psalms. 

I will use “refuge” as an example -

Psalm 11 starts out with “In the Lord will I take refuge” (NKJV – King James has “In the Lord put I my trust".) In its highest sense, “Lord” is defined in the Glossary to Science and Health as “Supreme Ruler.” So we are to gain safety from a knowing that the Lord, the Supreme Ruler, is in charge of the situation, any situation.
Of course the word refuge reminds us  of the 91^st Psalm with its more familiar, “I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress” (verse 2), and “Because thou hast made the Lord, which is my refuge, even the most high thy habitation; There shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come night thy dwelling” (verses 9 and 10). Its promise is of refuge and safety.

Psalm 46:1-3 has been called Luther's Psalm*: “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore will not we fear, though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea; Though the waters thereof roar and be troubled, though the mountains shake with the selling thereof.”

*Various commentators remind us that Psalm 46 is called, “Luther’s Psalm.” In times of extreme opposition, Martin Luther would say to his friend, Philip Melanchthon**: “Come, Philip, let us sing the 46th Psalm.” Jennings Scripture Studies.

http://www.drdonjennings.com/documents/textSermons/MartinLuthersPsalm_Ps46.pdf

I find there are 15 mentions of “refuge” in the Psalms. And I am wondering if the 91^st Psalm is a sort of compendium of many of the Psalm ideas. The thought came that it could be compared with the scientific statement of being in Science and Health (p. 468), which I like to think of as either a starting point or a precis of the truths in that masterful textbook of divine Science about being and its science.

Indeed, I do find that almost every verse of Ps. 91 has an echo elsewhere in the Psalms.
I am reminded of something that was pointed out to me recently: The wording of the Sixth Tenet in Science and Health (p. 497) aligns closely with directions and affirmations from the Scriptures – “And we solemnly promise to watch, and pray for that Mind to be in us which was also in Christ Jesus; to do unto others as we would have them do unto us; and to be merciful, just, and pure.”


** Philip Melancthon. See http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/Philip_Melanchthon.aspx

Joyce Voysey

Speech patterns and the Psalms

And so on to the Psalms.  

I had already started reading the Psalms in my NRSV Bible and I found the footnotes very helpful, so I will continue on with that translation for now, though the version with the cross-references in the centre of the pages is helpful too.

I have reached Psalms 9 and 10.  I read that these are said to be a set.  One indication of this is that there is no sub-heading at the beginning of chapter 10.  I have read and re-read, and I felt that there are two types of preaching typified here. Psalm 9 is gentler, positive; while Psalm 10 seems to speak of “fire and brimstone” – not that I have experienced such preaching, except in novels. 

That gave me something to wonder about (the reader may have noticed that I like to have something to wonder about that takes me off on tangents).  "Fire and brimstone” gets a mention in Psalm 11: the only one in Psalms!  Ezekiel 38:22 has it, and there are four references in Revelation.  “Brimstone” is reduced to “sulphur” in the NRSV.  The phrase seems to be another definition of hell.  And hell is obliterated in Christian Science by the idea which precedes it in the Glossary – Heaven.  Is Psalm 9 perhaps the antidote to Psalm 10?

I find in the NKJV’s cross-references that many ideas are repeated throughout the Psalms, for example, Psalm 9:8 and Psalm 13 both have: “He shall judge the world with righteousness.”  This reminds me of how we depend on those who have gone before us for our speech patterns, our verbal expressions.  

I am grateful for the composers of the Psalms, and all the writers who have shared their inspirations over the centuries.  In our enlightened day, we have the Christian Science periodicals which pass on folks’ inspirations.

Joyce Voysey

Happy acquaintance with "Persistent Pilgrim"

Persistent Pilgrim

It took me a while to warm to this book, but I finished it feeling very happy to have become acquainted with it. Here are some passages I noted as I read.

Page 97: "Alone"

The poem "Alone", which Mrs Eddy (then Patterson) wrote early in her work in Science, tells of her despair on one hand and hope on the other. Here is one of the last stanzas:

   Thy love can live in Truth, and be

   A joy, and immortality;

   To bless mankind with word and deed, -

   Thy life a great and noble creed.

   O glorious hope, my faith renew,

   O mortal joys, adieu! adieu!

Goodbye to mortal joys.  Not au revoir (till we see each other again), but adieu.  We could be sad for her, if we didn't know the mighty work and triumphs which were to come: spiritual joy indeed in the meeting with her Lord.

Page 13: Asa Gilbert Eddy

The worth of Dr Eddy is praised by Mrs Eddy (Patterson/Glover) when he revived her after "a violent seizure". She wrote: "I was astonished at his skill, he was calm, clear, and strong, and so kind I fell in love with him.  Never before had I see his real character, so tender and yet so controlling." She went on to marry him and he was a great strength at her side.

Page 179: Voluntary welfare work

A student wrote, concerning worthwhile social projects, humility and brotherliness: "Mrs Eddy was very appreciative of my voluntary welfare work....she admitted when I said the other half of Christian Science would demand human brotherhood practically applied in every relation of life.  But she said the first thing is to implant firmly in human consciousness the Power of God to heal sickness, sorrow, etc.  When that has taken hold of mankind, the other will in time follow as a necessary consequence."

Page 191: Michelangelo and the Sistine Chapel's painting of creation

"There is a tradition that, in the scenes on the Sistine Chapel at the Vatican, Michelangelo did not paint the creation and then proceed to do scenes that ended in man's fall from paradise.  The tradition is that Michelangelo intended the paintings to be read from the opposite end of the chapel.  Starting from a fallen sense of himself, man, through the experience of rebirth, gradually comes to see his unfallen, sinless nature, until in the last (first) mural his hand is grasped by the hand of God." Nenneman points out that whether verified or not, it "expresses the theological difference that separated Mrs Eddy from traditional Christianity."

Page 217: Science and Health a teacher of itself

Mrs Eddy is quoted as saying that Science and Health is teacher of itself.  "The best student that can be made in this period is the one who studies this book by himself and practises it as I have taught them.  Students can not interpret Science and Health as correctly to another student as God will interpret it to them if they do this.  It is doing that that makes them catch my true meaning."

Page 220: Expectation of inspired, eloquent students

Nenneman speaks of Mrs Eddy's expectation and hope that her students would be able to preach Christian Science in a similar manner to herself, not using notes, but as one who lives "so near the heart of God he speaks from inspiration".  When pastors were not up to this standard, she named the Bible and Science and Health the Pastor for the church.

Page 227: Music and hymns

Music gets a mention.  I think it was about 1894. "She was also experimenting during these same years with appropriate hymns and music for her church.  While she had her reservations even about music and its tendency to be sensual, she found an accommodation with music that she apparently did not find with visual art, as far as illustrating the lessons of Christian Science."

Page 285: Reading Science and Health to a patient

Edward Kimball reported a healing through reading Science and Health to a patient. It is so good I must quote it here. "A lady who came to study with me said, "My father was for 30 years a physician in Texas.  Five years ago his sight began to fail.  The oculists said that the retina in each eye was being absorbed and that total blindness would ensue. In four years he was blind and the last oculist said, 'He is eternally blind.  It is useless for you to hope.'  (His daughter began to read to him from Science and Health.)  We did not know enough to discuss it.  We just read it.  I used to assist him, and one day as I took him to the washstand he said, 'Oh how I wish that I could see you.'  Then he turned to wash his fade, and as he did so he said, 'But I can see that God is All - There is nothing but God.'  Then he turned and looked towards me and instantly I knew that he saw me.  At that moment his sight was restored and he can now see better than I can."

Page 325: Yale University including Christian Science in its curriculum

Severin Simonsen reported that Yale University was to include Christian Science in course "Christian and Current Day Views" at its Divinity School.

Page 346: Eddy both author and student of S&H

Nenneman comments that Mrs Eddy always remained both author and student of her book, Science and Health.  I wonder if any other author has had the humility to make that claim about their work.

One is reminded of the tiny understanding we have of this great Science.  And how we must study and work with the book continually.

Joyce Voysey