"The teachings of St. Paul are as useful today as when they were first written."

I know we are supposed to be reading First Corinthians by now, but I'm still on Lyman Powell and drinking in all the lovely bits of information he has to share.

For instance, when writing about the Church Manual, Mrs. Eddy wrote to the Directors of The Mother Church: "Never abandon the By-laws...If I am not personally with you, the Word of God, and my instructions in the By-laws have led you hitherto and ... the teachings of St. Paul are as useful to-day as when they were first written."

Later, Powell identifies one of the very unique aspects of Mrs. Eddy when he points out that "...never, perhaps, in all history did another woman appear to understand as clearly...the unreality of error, the transitory nature of untruth" (p. 228).

Of particular note in relation to this week's Bible Lesson is the passage on page 233 where Powell quotes one of Mrs. Eddy's students, who wrote about her: "...Mrs. Eddy untiringly reiterated to her household...the Master's warning; -- "Watch." ...her indefatigable call to them that they have oil in their lamps, and watch to keep them trimmed and burning, -- so that evil's serpentine machinations be foreseen to the forestalling of its workings through their sleepiness, their unwariness, or their insufficiently spiritual aliveness."

This might make as smile: in discussing Paul's admonition to "put off the old man" Eddy "spoke of putting off, not keeping, the old man" (p. 245)! And I was arrested by the beautiful reference to resurrection's "perfect freedom of individuality."

It is good to be reminded of Mary Baker Eddy's early thoughts on newspapers. She wrote (1883, when she was establishing the Journal) that: "Looking over the newspapers of the day, one naturally reflects that it is dangerous to live, so loaded with disease seems the very air. These descriptions carry fears to many minds, to be depicted in some future time upon the body. A periodical of our own will counteract to some extent this public nuisance; for through our paper, at the price at which we shall issue it, we shall be able to reach many homes with healing, purifying thought." By 1908 she was ready to launch a newspaper of her own. And (page 249) "Later, at the request of the Board of Trustees, she expressed in print the desire that Christian Scientists should subscribe..."

JS

Book for May: First Corinthians

 

 

First Corinthians

 

For May we will read Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians, which includes many beautiful passages, including this one: “To the weak became I as weak, that I might gain the weak: I am made all things to all men, that I might by all means save some. ..Know ye not that they which run in a race run all…”

 

Invitation: If you would like to write your thoughts about Paul’s letter on our blog, just send an email to csredcliffe@hotmail.com.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tireless worker for humanity

I feel so uplifted after having attended a workshop yesterday by Christian Science lecturer Nate Frederick. A continuing theme in Nate’s discussion was the way he turned to prayer for answers to every situation he found himself in – from altitude sickness to broken sandals on a long hike. I loved how Nate included powerful PowerPoint slides to capture helpful quotes and illustrate the ideas shared. Thank you to Christian Science Society Wynnum for sponsoring this event.

Nate reminded us about the Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science too. Mary Baker Eddy was a tireless worker for humanity. Her work was never exclusive, never for a particular segment of society.

I was so pleased to read Miss Shannon’s account of Mrs. Eddy’s teaching on how we need to “detect, correct and overcome error” – see Lyman Powell’s Mary Baker Eddy – A Life Sized Portrait p. 197. Miss Shannon wrote: “She showed us that, if we neglected to do our duty and did what was wrong without detecting, correcting and overcoming error, but continued repeating the same mistakes and justifying ourselves, the suffering which would result would be simple interest, which we would have to pay…” And on the next page, Powell tells us about Eddy’s “Class of ‘98” where she asked: “Why make so much ado about nothing? Error is no more than a row of ciphers added from one wall to another, unless you place a unit with it and make something out of it.”

It’s so helpful to get some dates clear, e.g.

1875--publication of Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures

1883—founding of The Christian Science Journal
1898—founding of the Christian Science Sentinel
1908—founding of The Christian Science Monitor

Julie Swannell