Sunday, July 12th, 2026 Roundtable

You must feel and know that God alone governs man; that His government is harmonious; that He is too pure to behold iniquity, and divides His power with nothing evil or material; that material laws are only human beliefs, which govern mortals wrongfully. These beliefs arise from the subjective states of thought, producing the beliefs of a mortal material universe, — so-called, and of material disease and mortality. Mortal ills are but errors of thought, — diseases of mortal mind, and not of matter; for matter cannot feel, see, or report pain or disease.

from Rudimental Divine Science, by Mary Baker Eddy, page 10

Set your affections on things above; love one another; commune at the table of our Lord in one spirit; worship in spirit and in truth; and if daily adoring, imploring, and living the divine Life, Truth, Love, thou shalt partake of the bread that cometh down from heaven, drink of the cup of salvation, and be baptized in Spirit.

from Christian Science versus Pantheism, by Mary Baker Eddy, page 14

186 — WATCH that you maintain the proper sequence — first, establishing the humility which enables you to hear the still, small voice; then using that spiritual authority and dominion thus gained, to amplify that voice to all creation.

If, when attacked by error, a student believes that all that is expected of him is to kneel in humility, seeking God’s help and power, he is mistaken. In order to vanquish error he must exercise spiritual dominion, and stand with authority. His sense of the infinite power he reflects must overawe and overcome the illusion which claims to oppose reality.

When the battle is over and he is more than a conqueror — since he knew in advance that victory was always on the side of Truth — in the peace that follows he can again ascend the mount of humility to receive inspiration from God.

If you are ever tempted to believe that it is your own power that heals, you need to kneel in humility, in order to acknowledge God as the only power; then you have your part to do which you cannot neglect, namely, to apply divine power with authority and understanding to the human problem.

In the story of the good Samaritan, we have an illustration of a wrong order, when the priest and the Levite passed by the one who had fallen among thieves. They ignored the error before they had taken the human footsteps which make the absolute stand possible. One must recognize the human need enough to meet it.

If a student takes an absolute stand, refusing first to admit the claim of error, this shows that he forgets that in Science and Health Mrs. Eddy writes, “A knowledge of error and of its operations must precede that understanding of Truth which destroys error …” Demonstration means taking what is true and compelling mortal mind, or material sense, to acknowledge it. In this process the truth about the lie must precede the truth about Truth, just as humility must precede authority.

500 Watching Points by Gilbert Carpenter

Humility
…freedom from pride and arrogance; humbleness of mind; a modest estimate of one’s own worth.

The 1828 Webster’s Dictionary

He knows the way He taketh,
And I will walk with Him.

Hymn 148

466 — WATCH that you put God at the head of your procession. If you had some rare plants for which you did not know how to care, you might lose them if you did not call for the help of an expert. Job fancied that he could care for his family, money, friends, and health, with the result that temporarily he lost them. When he made God the Head of his procession, the Gardener over his possessions, they were restored to him.

It is a small price to pay, to put God in charge of all we have and are. Each morning we should realize that God is the Head of our home, and earnestly seek to know what He would have us do. There is never any freedom resulting from neglecting God. Mrs. Eddy once defined hell as a state of neglecting or forgetting God.

from 500 Watching Points by Gilbert Carpenter

Golden Text: Micah 6 : 8
“What doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?”

Right thoughts and deeds are the sovereign remedies for all earth’s woe. Sin is its own enemy. Right has its recompense, even though it be betrayed. Wrong may be a man’s highest idea of right until his grasp of goodness grows stronger. It is always safe to be just.

When pride, self, and human reason reign, injustice is rampant.

Individuals, as nations, unite harmoniously on the basis of justice, and this is accomplished when self is lost in Love — or God’s own plan of salvation. “To do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly” is the standard of Christian Science.

from Miscellany, by Mary Baker Eddy, page 283

What God Requires by Albert F. Gilmore

from the May 11, 1929 issue of the Christian Science Sentinel

Were one to search the pages of the Old Testament, he would find no more definite and appealing statements of the demands of true worship than appears in the words of the prophet Micah. Prefacing his incomparable utterance with the declaration, “He [God] hath shewed thee, O man, what is good,” he follows with this cogent interrogatory: “And what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?” How concisely did this ancient prophet, after intently searching the heart of Israel, set before them the very essence of worship! Micah was the spokesman for the peasantry, the poor and down-trodden. And his arraignment of Israel for its shortcomings, especially for idolatry, for oppression of the lowly, and for worship of false gods, was terrific. But he foresaw the coming of the Christ, who should establish righteousness and true worship; and the spirit of the Saviour’s message he embodied in his compelling query.

So significant are these words of Micah that they may be profitably examined for their great lesson. The question in form is rhetorical, and the answer is implied. To be just, to be merciful, and to walk humbly with God fulfill the divine requirements. “To do justly” implies the dealing with all with justice, without favoritism, without prejudice, but with equity in all things; this alone fulfills divine requirement. How nearly does this sentiment conform to the first sentence of “A Rule for Motives and Acts” (Church Manual, p. 40): “Neither animosity nor mere personal attachment should impel the motives or acts of the members of The Mother Church”! Mrs. Eddy thus set forth a criterion for personal conduct on the part of members of The Mother Church, which parallels in one particular at least the views of the prophet as to the requirement of true worship.

“To love mercy,” not alone to be merciful, but to love to exercise mercy, was the prophet’s implication. Christ Jesus incorporated a like sentiment in a precious beatitude: “Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.” Surely, every mortal, knowing as he must his own failings, desires mercy and forgiveness. While one may be conscious of wrongdoing, yet he desires to be forgiven, and, if honest in his thought, to be reformed. To live in a sinful state is not the dominant desire of mankind. To be merciful, to practice forgiveness, knowing that the real man never knows or does aught but good, promotes mercy; even induces the love of it. How redolent of the spirit of the Christ was this stipulation of the shepherd prophet!

“To walk humbly with thy God”! In this phrase of his interrogative Micah summarized his concept of true worship: it constitutes a perfect criterion for righteous living. To walk with God is to conform one’s thoughts and acts to the divine in all ways, to express the divine qualities, and to eliminate all that does not measure up to this standard. We walk humbly with God when we recognize Him as the source of all existence; as infinite Being, from whom emanates all that expresses Life; and recognizing this, we become aware that of our own selves we can do nothing.

What an appealing example of genuine humility did Christ Jesus set before the world! Potent and capable above all others who have lived on earth, he denied all personal capability and accomplishment. “The Father … he doeth the works;” and, “The Son can do nothing of himself,” are the sublime statements of this humblest of men. The conditions of true worship set forth by Micah centuries before found complete fulfillment in the life of the Nazarene. Dealing with all with perfect justice; merciful, and loving mercy as the highest demonstration of Love’s ministry; humble to the degree of denying all personal capability—the Nazarene embodied and exemplified the very heart of true worship: he completely and perfectly fulfilled its conditions. Jesus invariably walked with God; and because of his constant recognition of the divine presence, he became the Way-shower and Saviour of mankind.

Micah foreknew the appearance of the Christ-ideal, and in that appearance he foresaw the fulfillment of his exalted ideal of worship. Christian Science likewise sets before the world the standards of living and worship first presented by Micah, so far as the Biblical record discloses, and exemplified by Christ Jesus. Mrs. Eddy’s revelation makes incumbent upon all who envisage it the necessity for demonstrating the very qualities of true worship. Walking with God, conforming thought to the divine ideal, living in constant realization of the divine presence, moving in the complexities of life with humility and with justice, seeking divine guidance in all activities—these are the demands which Christian Science makes upon its followers. These demands, however, are accompanied by the greatest of blessings, the privilege of abiding in the inexpressible joy of spiritual harmony. Mrs. Eddy shows how to walk with God in these words (Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, p. 192): “We walk in the footsteps of Truth and Love by following the example of our Master in the understanding of divine metaphysics.” And she closes the paragraph with these significant words: “Whatever holds human thought in line with unselfed love, receives directly the divine power.” The reward of obedience to Micah’s exposition of God’s requirements could scarcely be more appealingly set forth: to receive “directly the divine power.”

10. 32 : 15-27
“As they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed it and brake it, and gave it to the disciples, and said, Take, eat; this is my body. And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them saying, Drink ye all of it.”

The true sense is spiritually lost, if the sacrament is confined to the use of bread and wine. The disciples had eaten, yet Jesus prayed and gave them bread. This would have been foolish in a literal sense; but in its spiritual signification, it was natural and beautiful. Jesus prayed; he withdrew from the material senses to refresh his heart with brighter, with spiritual views.

Mrs. Eddy furnished the tools of scientific thought and work, but she told her students always to go to God for the wisdom to use these tools correctly, as well as for the love to put into them the unction necessary. Only as God directs our thought and work, can we be sure that we are not using a formula.

No student should approach any problem — even though he uses Mrs. Eddy’s exact phraseology — without seeking God’s wisdom to direct him and God’s love to inspire him, since God alone can guide one to treat a case scientifically and enable him to put into it the divine love that heals. To apply mere words, statements, or arguments to a case, mechanically, without the spirit or the directing wisdom of God, breaks the letter and the spirit of the By-law in the Manual, forbidding the use of formulas.

from Watches, Prayers, and Arguments, as given by Mary Baker Eddy

Your influence for good depends upon the weight you throw into the right scale. The good you do and embody gives you the only power obtainable.

from Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, by Mary Baker Eddy, page 192

In Science we not only must not seek to obtain that which we have not demonstrated, but we must not even cherish a desire for it. One who is sick should not even want to recover, unless the health and harmony that comes is the result of the demonstration, or thought correction, that entitles him to get well. It breaks a moral precept for a student to desire what he does not deserve, and he does not deserve that which he has not demonstrated or cannot pay for.

The Fruit of Right Thinking by Gilbert Carpenter

Mrs. Eddy was asked to define a Christian Science treatment. “The acknowledgment of present perfection,” was her answer.

from Oneness by Bicknell Young

“Whenever an error arises in the patient’s thought, he should strive to dispel it with the Truth that is his consciousness. If one really needs help, he should have it, but the habit of turning to a practitioner for every little trouble retards, rather than advances, individual growth; and it also retards the advancement of the Cause of Christian Science.

The patient, like the practitioner, is required to be a doer of the Word. James tells us, ‘Whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed.’”

From the Association Address for 1930 “Healing” by Martha Wilcox

Daily Duties by Mary Baker Eddy

Daily Prayer

It shall be the duty of every member of this Church to pray each day: “Thy kingdom come;” let the reign of divine Truth, Life, and Love be established in me, and rule out of me all sin; and may Thy Word enrich the affections of all mankind, and govern them!

Church Manual, Article VIII, Sect. 4

A Rule for Motives and Acts

Neither animosity nor mere personal attachment should impel the motives or acts of the members of The Mother Church. In Science, divine Love alone governs man; and a Christian Scientist reflects the sweet amenities of Love, in rebuking sin, in true brotherliness, charitableness, and forgiveness. The members of this Church should daily watch and pray to be delivered from all evil, from prophesying, judging, condemning, counseling, influencing or being influenced erroneously.

Church Manual, Article VIII, Sect. 1

Alertness to Duty

It shall be the duty of every member of this Church to defend himself daily against aggressive mental suggestion, and not be made to forget nor to neglect his duty to God, to his Leader, and to mankind. By his works he shall be judged, — and justified or condemned.

Church Manual, Article VIII, Sect. 6

Morbid Secretion hypnotized the prisoner and took control of his mind, making him despondent.

from Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, by Mary Baker Eddy, page 431

Despondent
Losing courage at the loss of hope; sinking into dejection; depressed and inactive in despair.

THe 1828 Webster’s Dictionary

May the kingdom of God within you, — with you alway — reascending bear you outward, upward, heavenward.” …

It is as we allow our thoughts to turn inward and thus downward and hellward, …

Outward, Upward, Heavenward by Herbert Reike from his 1952 Association Address

When these things cease to bless they will cease to occur.

from Miscellany, by Mary Baker Eddy, page 143

John 14:27
Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.

God is our Father and our Mother, our Minister and the great Physician: He is man’s only real relative on earth and in heaven. David sang, “Whom have I in heaven but thee? and there is none upon earth that I desire beside thee.”

Brother, sister, beloved in the Lord, knowest thou thyself, and art thou acquainted with God? If not, I pray thee as a Christian Scientist, delay not to make Him thy first acquaintance.

Glorious things are spoken of you in His Word. Ye are a chosen people, whose God is — what? Even All. May mercy and truth go before you: may the lamp of your life continually be full of oil, and you be wedded to the spiritual idea, Christ; then will you heal, and teach, and preach, on the ascending scale of everlasting Life and Love.

Affectionately yours in Christ, MARY BAKER EDDY

from Miscellany, by Mary Baker Eddy, page 151

8. 40 : 25-30
Our heavenly Father, divine Love, demands that all men should follow the example of our Master and his apostles and not merely worship his personality. It is sad that the phrase divine service has come so generally to mean public worship instead of daily deeds.

Love is not something put upon a shelf, to be taken down on rare occasions with sugar-tongs and laid on a rose-leaf. I make strong demands on love, call for active witnesses to prove it, and noble sacrifices and grand achievements as its results. Unless these appear, I cast aside the word as a sham and counterfeit, having no ring of the true metal. Love cannot be a mere abstraction, or goodness without activity and power. As a human quality, the glorious significance of affection is more than words: it is the tender, unselfish deed done in secret; the silent, ceaseless prayer; the self-forgetful heart that overflows; the veiled form stealing on an errand of mercy, out of a side door; the little feet tripping along the sidewalk; the gentle hand opening the door that turns toward want and woe, sickness and sorrow, and thus lighting the dark places of earth.

from Miscellaneous Writings, by Mary Baker Eddy, page 250

The Eternal Mercy, from the May 5, 1906 issue of the Christian Science Sentinel by Blanche H. Hogue

Signs of the Times by Rev. Marshall L. Gould

from the January 10, 1931 Christian Science Sentinel, as quoted in the Boston Transcript, Massachusetts

You cannot always tell by the expression on a person’s face at any given moment whether he is for the most part happy or otherwise. It is good to remember this, or a stroll down Main Street would be a discomforting experience. …

Half the ills in life are caused by the tension under which people live—the haunting sense of never having time enough to do all that is expected of them. Many are acutely unhappy because they are wrongly placed, in uncongenial surroundings, tied to uncongenial tasks. Many are forever on the rack because of material insecurity, misgivings about the future. Most of us are too much at the mercy of circumstances.

And yet our chief resources are within ourselves, and have more to do with happiness or unhappiness than either environment or possessions. A Wilfred Grenfell is bound to be happy where a Scrooge would be miserable.

Go back to the first word of the Sermon on the Mount, as it fell from the lips of the greatest Teacher the world has ever known. The first word was “Blessed”—which means happy in the highest degree. That is God’s will for man. That is the divine intention for human life. It is the first word in the manifesto of the kingdom, brimming over with just what humanity is seeking after in a thousand false ways.

And happiness is declared to depend not on doing, not on possessing, but on being. “Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness;” “blessed are the merciful;” “blessed are the pure in heart;” “blessed are the peacemakers.” Not a word about happiness depending on doing or possessing. It is what one is that matters.

The happiness of the kingdom is a natural sequence, not an arbitrary reward. …

Many a one stands outside certain circumstances of life, saying, “If only I were in those circumstances I would be happy.” It is extremely doubtful if he would be. Happiness has to begin in the man himself, never without him. Let the Christ once take hold, and it changes the whole environment by changing the man himself. For the best sort of character will create conditions that are bound to result in happiness.