Something troubling your thought?

Whatever situation may be troubling and consuming the thought of our community and occupying our own thought - be it government tussles, family troubles, security concerns, ageism, physical stress-points, or something else - that situation can be considered spiritually and met humanly with the application of the teachings of the Bible, which enable resolution, peace, and well-being.

Mary Baker Eddy's Retrospection and Introspection constantly turns the reader to the Bible. Its pages are full of inspiration, wise counsel, and warm uplift, and the reasoning is always based on Scripture.

Consider the essay Exemplification (pp. 86-92) where Eddy amplifies Jesus' instructions to "heal the sick" (p. 87), "raise the dead" (p.88), and "preach the gospel" (p. 88). She even contemplates where his sermons were preached: "When he was with them, a fishing-boat became a sanctuary...the grove became his class-room, and nature's haunts were the Messiah's university" (p. 91:23).

In her final comments on Jesus' example, Eddy refers to a passage from Mark 4:28 "first the blade, then the ear, after that the full corn in the ear" (p. 92). I was fascinated to read about the growth of corn in a delightful article titled Seeming Standstill by Anna Goeritz in December 27, 1913 issue of the Christian Science Sentinel. Ms Goeritz writes: 

"When the young plant first leaves the ground, it springs up as a light green blade; but soon its growth is arrested, for it has to form a joint that shall become a support for the next section of the hollow stalk. After a little while this new piece stops growing so that a second joint may be formed, and the process is repeated as many times as is required to give the stalk its full height..."

May your crop grow gracefully and sturdily.

Julie Swannell

P.S.
Readers will surely discover just what they need in this little book, Retrospection and Introspection, but here are some other passages that caught my attention:

p. 86: 21 No one can save himself without God's help, and God will help each man who performs his own part.

p. 90: 1 The student should be most careful not to thrust aside Science, and shade God's window which lets in the light, or seek to stand in God's stead.

p. 90: 29 It is safe to leave with God the government of man. He appoints and He anoints His Truth-bearers, and God is their sure defense and refuge.