Category: Love/relationships

Prayer

Published on by lindseybiggs1 Comment

As I was reading and studying the Bible along with Science and Health this morning, I realized that prayer is an absolute benefit to us.  What I mean by this is that prayer doesn’t change God; it doesn’t change God’s action or God’s will, and it doesn’t bring God down to us.

Prayer lifts us up to God.  God already sees and knows perfection.  He/She sees and knows its perfect creation as flawless, spiritual and immortal.

In the chapter entitled Prayer in the book Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures (by Mary Baker Eddy), it states:

Prayer cannot change the Science of being, but it tends to bring us into harmony with it. (pg. 2:15)

I find such comfort in this statement.  And it helps me ask myself more clearly, why would I let anything stop me from praying?  Why would I not find the time or not feel like it when I know it is only blessing me and lifting me up?  In this world we find time to do the things that are good for us and that make us feel good – going to the gym, eating healthy, researching and doing new things.

But prayer absolutely lifts us up higher than any of these things can.  It makes us feel at peace, and have less stress and worry.  This of course impacts our health as well as our interactions with our family and relationships. Prayer opens up our thought to new ideas and opportunities which affects our business endeavors and life purpose.  This makes us feel more fulfilled, a greater sense of self-worth and value, and results in more consistent supply.

So why wouldn’t we pray?  Prayer is going to open us up to more of God’s perfection; seeing and knowing Him/Her more clearly and with more understanding.  Prayer will absolutely not change God; it won’t make Him act differently, or think differently, and it won’t make him “do” anything He wasn’t already doing.

So let’s not cheat ourselves out of what is going to benefit us most greatly, along with blessing the rest of the world.  Let’s find that time to sit, be still, listen, read the Bible, Science and Health or other spiritual writings.  And this will greatly benefit us, bless us, and lift us up (our thought, our consciousness) to behold and see God.


What is the Scientific meaning of salvation?

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I was reading the weekly Bible lesson this morning (which is comprised of citations from the Bible and Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures) and it talks about “denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world” (Titus 2:12).

I began thinking about how the Christ (the activity of God) “saves” us from sin.

I think popular theology says we are “saved” from sin so that we don’t go to hell afterwards and have eternal life.

However, Scientific understanding realizes “sin” (or ‘missing the mark’ as the Latin implies) to be a kind of cloud that covers up God’s light, grace, and love.

So this “salvation” from sin, is actually saving us right now in this present moment.  Sin results from the belief that we are separated from God, good, divine Love.  But we are not and never have been separated with that Love.  We are at one with God, divine Love, right now.

When we live in accord with God’s spiritual nature we are open and receptive to more light, more opportunity and God’s blessings.  We are magnifying good, which is another term for God, and therefore we experience more good in our lives.  We are able to have better, more enriched relationships; confidence in knowing God is supplying all of our home, financial, and job-related needs; and a greater sense of peace along with loving our neighbor & communities better.

So this salvation isn’t meant to deprive us of all the joys of material living now so we can have eternal bliss after.  It is realizing, since God is Spirit, to live in accord with Spirit, to be at-one with Spirit, is where true goodness, peace, and, therefore, happiness comes from.  This is realizing eternal life now – the seamlessness and continuity of life, being, and existence right now.

Is time a factor in healing?

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Does time play a factor in healing?  To popular belief, yes, as in the old saying that time heals.

However, to Christian Science the answer is no.  Healing is the spiritualization of
thought.  It is a revelation.  In fact healing is just the side effect of some new discovery about the spiritual facts of our being and existence.  It is God understood in a new way and/or a clearer understanding of who or what man is and our unchanging, permanent relationship or oneness to God.

In a Bible study workshop we had to clarify the meaning of healing.  One person used great and useful catch phrases: instead of healing, it’s revealing / not recovery but discovery.  This is so true and important in the expectation of healing.  If we start with matter that is in pain, uncomfortable, not working properly, than we are starting from the wrong premise and it makes the spiritual “work” laborious and unfruitful.

The Christian Science textbook teaches,

“Metaphysics is above physics, and matter does not enter into metaphysical
premises or conclusions. The categories of metaphysics rest on one basis, the divine Mind.  Metaphysics resolves things into thoughts, and exchanges the objects of sense for the ideas of Soul.” (Pg 269)

Therefore, our starting point is divine Mind.  What is divine Mind seeing and knowing?  Of course it is only perfection and good, joy and freedom since God is the only creator.  So how do we see and know this substance of being more clearly?

The textbook continues to instruct:

“The starting-point of divine Science is that God, Spirit, is All-in-all, and that there is no other might nor Mind, — that God is Love, and therefore He is divine Principle.” (Pg. 275)

As we begin from this starting point, that is when revelation or understanding happens.  And healing occurs.  In most Christian Science testimonies you will here the person say they are grateful for their physical problem being resolved but they are even more grateful for the spiritual truth that they have learned; for the piece of eternity and the spiritual fact of our existence they have gleaned.  This new idea or understanding carries over into all aspects of their life instead of just the
one physical challenge.  It gives them a sense of permanent security and oneness of God that affects all areas of life and being.

Some healings may appear to take longer.  Christian Science isn’t a quick fix for our material problems, or to make our material lives more comfy.  Lots of healings do happen very quickly, faster even than is predicted by standard care.

Why?  What is the seeming element of time?  Well, time isn’t a factor at all actually.  It is the spiritualization of thought, the light of the Christ that shines into our consciousness that does the healing work.  “It is a spiritual idea that lights our path” (Angels, Miscellaneous Writings, p. 306) There is no separation between us and God which is why healing can happen instantaneously.  But I began thinking of the terms instantaneously and immediately a little differently and not in terms of time.

I heard a great audio chat on spirituality.com where the speaker, Bruce Fitzwater, CSB referred to ‘immediately’ not being a time reference but instead that there is
no middle-man (media referring to medium) between us and God.  God’s information or truth or healing light isn’t passing through something or someone to get to us, but is in fact at one with us all the time.

And instantaneous is the same way.  To me it signifies no separation between God and His ideas, divine Mind and His ideas.  God is being conscious of Himself always and this consciousness is at one with His reflection, man.  Therefore, God’s thoughts or angel messages are being communicated all the time and there is no separation or distance this needs to travel.

I enjoyed getting this clearer sense of how time (being material) has no relation to
healing.  So what about healings that seem to take a bit longer?  Well, healing is the spiritualization of thought so we can set our focus on that – the spiritual lessons we are learning; the spiritual joy we are finding; the security we are feeling from learning about our spiritual identity and of God’s unchanging, perfect love – instead of focusing on matter or time.  And that makes prayer and spiritual
healing happy and uplifting – when we start with Spirit/God as all that there
is then we are on the joyous discovery of our eternal substance, nature and
being.

PS – Eternity referring to an absence of time and not a really long time.