Following the light

Were the prophets of Israel devout, religious, reverent, holy? Did they have all the answers to life's puzzles and perplexities within them personally?

In her book "The Search for God", author Marchette Chute describes the prophets of Israel as "looking for the truth about God" - in fact striving for the truth. In contrast, she says, organized religion relies on "traditional ideas" accepted by its followers. (See "The Search for God", flyleaf, 13th printing 1965 E. P. Dutton and Co). We learn that instead of meaning "worshipper of God", "Israel" was a title meaning "striver with God", and Job is a perfect example of one who strode that pathway.

These men were on a trajectory of enquiry. Chute maintains that they were convinced that the search would culminate in satisfying answers and glorious fulfilment, and further suggests that while its first expression in the Bible is in Genesis 1, "the conviction finds its most beautiful and complete expression in the writings of the prophet Isaiah..." (p. 37).

And so, from this week's Christian Science Bible lesson, we can rejoice in Isaiah's firm spiritual promises:

The Lord himself will choose the sign--a child shall be born to a virgin! And she shall call him Emmanuel (meaning, "God is with us"). Isa 7: 14 The Living Bible

For unto us a Child is born; unto us a Son is given, and the government shall be upon his shoulder. These will be his royal titles: "Wonderful," "Counsellor," "The Mighty God," "The everlasting Father," "The Prince of Peace." His everlasting peaceful government will never end. He will rule with perfect fairness and justice from the throne of his father David. He will bring true justice and peace to all the nations of the world. Isa 9: 6, 7 ibid

The people who walk in darkness shall see a great Light--a Light that will shine on all those who live in the land of the shadow of death. Isa 9:2 ibid

All nations will come to your light; mighty kings will come to see the glory of the Lord upon you. Vast droves of camels will converge upon you, dromedaries from Midian and Sheba and Ephah, too, bring gold and incense to add to the praise of God. Isa 60: 3, 6 ibid

Comfort, oh, comfort my people, says your God. He will feed his flock like a shepherd; he will carry the lambs in his arms and gently lead the ewes with young. Isa 40: 1, 11 ibid

The spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the suffering and afflicted. He has sent me to comfort the broken-hearted, to announce liberty to captives and to open the eyes of the blind. Isa 61:1 ibid

Jew, Gentile, Greek, Muslim, atheist, Christian Scientist - we are all the recipients of that wondrous radiance which kisses us gently and says - you are dearly loved.

Julie Swannell

A higher power and suicide prevention

From the Editor: As we study Isaiah this month, we will inevitably find passages that comfort us and aid us in comforting others. This may be especially important during the holiday season. 

For instance -

We were created to be joyful: Isa 65:18 "...be glad and rejoice for ever in that which I create: for I create Jerusalem a rejoicing, and her people a joy."

We were created to be at peace: Isa 54:13 "all your children shall be taught of the Lord; and great shall be the peace of your children."

We were created to be generous: Isa 54:2 "Enlarge the place of your tent, and let them stretch forth the curtains of your habitations: spare not, lengthen your cords, and strengthen your stakes."

We were created to sing: Isa 52:9 "Break forth into joy, sing together...for the Lord hath comforted his people, he hath redeemed Jerusalem."

We were created to be of service: Isa 6:8 "I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here am I; send me."

We were created to shine: Isa 60:1 "Arise, shine; for your light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen on you."

We are never alone: Isa 41:10 "Fear not; for I am with you: be not dismayed; for I am your God: I will strengthen you; yes, I will help you; yes, I will uphold you with the right hand of my righteousness."

With these comforting ideas in mind, today we have pleasure in sharing an article from our friend Kay Stroud on the subject of suicide prevention.

Helping to avert a suicide

July 22, 2016 By health4thinkers 2 Comments

It’s heartbreaking to learn that suicide rates across Australia have increased by 20% in the last decade. Is there nothing we can do to reverse this tragic trend?


Many are striving to do so. Some are finding ways to reach out and connect with people who are suffering from mental illnesses. Others are helping those struggling with suicidal tendencies to overturn the stereotypes and lead happy and successful lives.

There is interesting research that could help to influence a change in community attitudes to the pressing issue of mental health. The Conversation has published results of a study by the University of Melbourne that suggests that practitioners who see mental health problems as “bio-genetically caused diseases” view patients as relatively dangerous, unpredictable and unlikely to recover; increasing stigma rather than helping sufferers. Whether suffering from such a prognosis or from implications of the many social determinants of mental health, a negative assessment is undoubtedly sensed by the patient; a point that was made by health reformer Mary Baker Eddy.

From Eddy's own experience, she was able to write, “A patient hears the doctor’s verdict as a criminal hears his death‐sentence” (Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures). In the case of those who are broken-hearted, a pronouncement of mental illness adds to the burden of hopelessness they’re experiencing.

But there’s another way to approach such challenging circumstances. Sizing up the situation from a spiritual perspective, an entirely different conclusion can be reached.

Jesus is often thought of as a social reformer but his challenge to the accepted norms of his day went much deeper. For instance, he questioned the accepted interpretation of physical laws. When it was suggested to him that either the disabled man or his parents must be the cause of the problem, he fired back that neither were to blame. Based on his love and understanding of the man’s innate spiritual perfection, he was then and there able to heal the man of congenital blindness. The same understanding transformed a man labelled insane, who was self-harming and who everyone else was afraid to approach.

From Jesus’ example we can come to realise that no-one is a lost cause.

Acknowledging the presence of a higher power – recognised in Christian Science as an entirely good and loving divine Principle, forever one with each of us – can help to diffuse limited views. To do so is prayer, which is a way of deeply caring for those who may be struggling with dark thoughts. Such prayer can have a tangible, healing impact.

Ellen Hammond relates how one evening she noticed someone standing beyond the outside railing of the bridge above her as she drove on the highway below. She was not able to stop to see for certain what was happening, but wanting to respond to that individual’s silent cry for help, she realised she could do more than just feel sorry for the man, she could pray.

The first thing that came to mind were the words of a dearly loved hymn: “Everlasting arms of Love / Are beneath, around, above.” To her, this meant that Love, another name for the Divine, was the only active presence, completely surrounding and tenderly caring for her and everyone, everywhere and always…and no one could opt out of being loved by God.

She contemplated these and associated ideas throughout the evening until she felt a sense of real peace about the situation. A few days later she did an Internet search about the incident and learned that a man had indeed been planning to jump off the bridge at that time. With great gratitude she read that an off-duty police officer had talked with the man until he changed his mind and climbed back over the railing to safety. The article specifically noted that the officer hugged this man for a while.

To me, prayer acts as a kind of mental reinforcement for the efforts of the many people doing everything they can to address the problem of suicide. Spiritual thinkers establish an atmosphere of expected good. As we each adopt that viewpoint we’ll notice when things are not as they should be for a friend or even for someone we’ve never met before. We’ll reach out to help them, knowing that life-changing solutions are assured and will be provided.

This article was published on the Sunshine Coast Daily.

Kay Stroud writes on the relationship between thought, spirituality and health, and trends in that field. She is the contact, or Committee on Publication, for Christian Science in this region and practices Christian Science healing. Contact her at neaustralia@compub.org or follow on Twitter @KayJStroud.

Prophetic authority

Isaiah is not an easy study. There are three distinct authors, and one must search through many paragraphs to sift out the gold. So, why search the Scriptures? One reason may be to mine the true nature of God and man. 

For Jesus and Paul, the Scriptures were the Old Testament, and Isaiah was a popular choice. There are 35 references to the prophet Isaiah in the Old Testament (2 Kings, 2 Chronicles and the book of Isaiah itself), while there are 25 references in the New Testament (13 in the Gospels, 5 in Acts, and 7 in the writings of Paul). We can see then the importance given to this prophet.

Here are three of Paul's references (from Eugene Peterson's The Message and the NKJV): 

1. Paul reminds his readers of their great heritage as "children of promise" -

Galatians 4: "Remember what Isaiah wrote: Rejoice, barren woman who bears no children, shout and cry out woman who has no birth pangs, because the children of the barren woman now surpass the children of the chosen woman. Isn't it clear, friends, that you, like Isaac, are children of promise?"  (The Message)

2. In his letter to the Corinthians, Paul settles a long-ago question [Isaiah 40:13"Who hath directed the Spirit of the Lord, or being his counseller hath taught him?" NKJV] -  

I Cor 2: 14-16: "Isaiah's question, "is there anyone around who knows God's Spirit, anyone who knows what he is doing?" has been answered: Christ knows, and we have Christ's Spirit." (The Message)

"For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ." (NKJV) 

3. Paul assures us of the continuity of God's goodness as he references Isaiah again [Isaiah 13:19 "And Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, the beauty of the Chaldees' excellency, shall be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah." NKJV] -

Romans 9:27-33: "Isaiah maintained ... 'If each grain of sand on the seashore were numbered and the sum labeled "chosen of God," they'd be numbers still, not names; salvation comes by personal selection. God doesn't count us; he calls us by name. Arithmetic is not his focus.' Isaiah had looked ahead and spoken the truth: 'If our powerful God had not provided us a legacy of living children, we would have ended up like ghost towns, like Sodom and Gomorrah.' 

"How can we sum this up? All those people who didn't seem interested in what God was doing actually embraced what God was doing as he straightened out their lives. And Israel, who seemed so interested in reading and talking about what God was doing missed it. How could they miss it? Because instead of trusting God, they took over. They were absorbed in what they themselves were doing. ...Isaiah (again!) gives us the metaphor for pulling this together: 'Careful! I've put a huge stone on the road to Mount Zion, a stone you can't get around. But the stone is me! If you're looking for me, you'll find me on the way, not in the way.' " (The Message)

"Esaias also crieth concerning Israel, Though the number of the children of Israel be as the sand of the sea, a remnant shall be saved: For he will finish the work, and cut it short in righteousness: because a short work will the Lord make upon the earth. And as Esaias said before, Except the Lord of Sabaoth had left us a seed, we had been as Sodoma, and been made like unto Gomorrha.... As it is written, Behold I lay in Sion a stumblingstone and rock of offence: and whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed." (NKJV)

But let's finish with the Gospels. Matthew 3:3 from The Living Bible -

"John and his message were authorized by Isaiah's prophecy: Thunder in the desert! Prepare for God's arrival! Make the road smooth and straight!"

That sense of authority is perhaps what epitomises the prophets of old most of all.

Julie Swannell

"Remain perfectly still"

I was interested that the December edition of Reading Room News (http://redcliffe.christianscienceaustralia.net.au) made mention of the value of stillness*.

I have been reading some of the works of Ian Idriess, an Australian writer of things Australian. He was a Light Horse man in the First World War, serving in Gallipolli and the Middle East. He kept a diary all through the his wartime experiences; an invaluable record I believe.

They were in the Sinai – think desert sand, palm oases, heat in the day, cold in the night. Remember they are horsemen. I will quote from his book The Desert Column (Angus & Robertson Publishers,

1986):

(1916) May 5^th – German taubes (early German monoplanes) are a damned nuisance. Almost daily they drone over the oasis, seeking a target to lay eggs. Our outpost on 383 generally see them miles away with their glasses. They ring up the regiment and instantly the oasis springs to life. Every man rushes his horse, leaps on and gallops straight out into the desert in a thundering scatter of six hundred horses. The taubes have never surprised us yet. They haven't scored a single casualty. And, a curious fact, they can't see us when we remain perfectly still. We have proved this from experience and captured orders. It is curiously triumphant feeling, a feeling with a delicious little scornful thrill, holding your horse motionless and gazing up at the ominous metalled bird flying so low that you can distinctly see the hooded heads of pilot and observer gazing down, and yet though hundreds of men are watching them they can't see a single thing on which to loose their bombs – so long as we remain scattered and still. (Page 416. There are similar references on pages 427 and 449.)

Of course, my reference is Ps. 46:10 – “Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth.”

It is instructive to know that the preceding verse reads, “He maketh wars to cease unto the end of the earth; he breaketh the bow, and cutteth the spear in sunder; he burneth the chariot in the fire.”

Joyce Voysey

* see Your 12 Steps to a Stress-free Christmas (https://www.health4thinkers.com/)

 Here is Step 10:

"Peace interludes. Pausing for moments of mental stillness can make all the difference, even transform your day. Be honestly aware of your thoughts and when they start going round in circles or racing in a wrong direction steer them back to that place of spiritual poise. “Hold thought steadfastly to the enduring, the good, and the true, and you will bring these into your experience proportionably to their occupancy of your thoughts.” (Mary Baker Eddy)"

Isaiah - a book to be lived

Friends of our book club: 

For December, let us take up the book of Isaiah and note its promises of comfort and present goodness.

SIXTEEN "WRITING PROPHETS"

In his introduction to the 16 prophetic books of the Bible (Isaiah to Malachi), Eugene H. Peterson startles us with his comments about "the writing prophets" (see The Message):

• "Over a period of several hundred years, the Hebrew people gave birth to an extraordinary number of  prophets - men and women distinguished by the power and skill with which they presented the reality of God. They delivered God's commands and promises and living presence to communities and nations who had been living on god-fantasies and god-lies."

• "...prophets insist that we deal with God as God reveals himself, not as we imagine him to be"

• "Prophets train us in discerning the difference between the ways of the world and the ways of the gospel, keeping us present to the Presence of God."

• "Their words and visions penetrate the illusions with which we cocoon ourselves from reality."

• "...the prophets worked to get people who were beaten down to open themselves up to hope in God's future."

• "If we insist on understanding them before we live into them, we will never get it."

ISAIAH

In introducing Isaiah, Peterson writes "For Isaiah, words are watercolors and melodies and chisels to make truth and beauty and goodness."

Whether you enjoy working in colour, notes, or in timber, you will surely enjoy working with Isaiah as its pages unfold its beauty. 

According to Peterson, the book is divided into three sections:

1. Messages of Judgement (chapters 1 - 39)
2. Messages of Comfort (chapters 40-55)
3. Messages of Hope (chapters 56-66)

We look forward to exploring this important tome together.

Julie Swannell