The Pride of Life
This week's Lesson Sermon Subject: Unreality
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Morning Prayer
All is love, peace and harmony. Heaven is right here. Truth reigns. There is no strife. Love has destroyed all hate. All is peace, love and joy. Run and not be weary. The need of the hour is simplicity, meekness and obedience. Beloved Father-Mother God, give me wisdom to meet all the problems that may have to be met today; give me understanding to rebuke error and moral courage to speak the truth. Give me grace to remain silent when not necessary to speak.
from Collectanea, by Mary Baker Eddy, page 110
Daily Watch
432 — WATCH that you perceive that animal magnetism cannot claim to prey on a student, unless he is harboring a sense of self — self-satisfaction; self-praise; self-condemnation; self-love; self-will; self-justification; self-pity; self-righteousness; self-aggrandizement. The selfless thought alone is immune.
If animal magnetism claims to creep in through the door of self-esteem, for instance, it would be foolish to strive to cast out the animal magnetism, while at the same time retaining the self-esteem. Self seems to be a cat with nine lives as outlined above; but when we see this animal nature as never man — never us — since God created us perfect, then the cat and all its nine phases is disposed of.
Discussion points
John 5:30
I can of mine own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my judgment is just; because I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me.
The pride of priesthood is the prince of this world.
from Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, by Mary Baker Eddy, page 270
Education: Education is not teaching something to ignorance. It is bringing to light the intelligence that is omnipresent. It is the sun unfolding the flower in loveliness and beauty. It is the constant joy of anticipation.
“Inferiority complex” is the lie that God, as the one infinite Mind, or intelligence, is not infinite. Could this be? Is there a single spot where there is less than all intelligence? Ignorance can never be enlightened. The ignorance that says that two times two makes five always remains the same ignorance.
Enlightenment, otherwise called education, leaves ignorance to itself, and goes forward with what is, thus “swallowing up” what is not.
The teacher imbued with this understanding of education reaches the end of his teaching year rested, not wearied, by his work.
From Christian Science, Clear Correct Teaching by Herbert Eustace, page 334
Material evolution tries to explain existence by leaving God out of the picture. The nature of the eternal infinite One can be identified only with God. Material evolution is the sin of intellectual pride, the specific sin of the devil.
Notes from a Class as Taught by Laura Sargent
Jesus acted boldly, against the accredited evidence of the senses, against Pharisaical creeds and practices, and he refuted all opponents with his healing power.
from Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, by Mary Baker Eddy, page 18
Overcoming Pride, from the October 6, 1928 issue of the Christian Science Sentinel by Ella W. Hoag
Sensitiveness is the exaggerated sense of selfishness.
Mary Baker Eddy’s Lessons of the Seventh Day, compiled By Richard Oakes
Golden Text: Matthew 6 : 13
“And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.”
Matthew 19:17
And he said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God: but if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments.
Humility is the stepping-stone to a higher recognition of Deity. The mounting sense gathers fresh forms and strange fire from the ashes of dissolving self, and drops the world. Meekness heightens immortal attributes only by removing the dust that dims them. Goodness reveals another scene and another self seemingly rolled up in shades, but brought to light by the evolutions of advancing thought, whereby we discern the power of Truth and Love to heal the sick.
Pride is ignorance; those assume most who have the least wisdom or experience; and they steal from their neighbor, because they have so little of their own.
Miscellaneous Writings, by Mary Baker Eddy, pages 2 to 3
To live and let live, without clamor for distinction or recognition; to wait on divine Love; to write truth first on the tablet of one's own heart, — this is the sanity and perfection of living, and my human ideal.
Message for 1902 by Mary Baker Eddy, page 2
Love, purity, meekness, coexist in divine Science. Lust, hatred, revenge, coincide in material sense. Christ Jesus reckoned man in Science, having the kingdom of heaven within him. He spake of man not as the offspring of Adam, a departure from God, or His lost likeness, but as God's child. Spiritual love makes man conscious that God is his Father, and the consciousness of God as Love gives man power with untold furtherance. Then God becomes to him the All-presence - quenching sin; the All-power — giving life, health, holiness; the All-science — all law and gospel.
Jesus commanded, "Follow me; and let the dead bury their dead;" in other words, Let the world, popularity, pride, and ease concern you less, and love thou. ... Loving chords set discords in harmony. Every condition implied by the great Master, every promise fulfilled, was loving and spiritual, urging a state of consciousness that leaves the minor tones of so-called material life and abides in Christlikeness.
Message for 1902 by Mary Baker Eddy, pages 8 to 9
Galatians 6: 7 “Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.”
“Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.” No possible injustice lurks in this mandate, and no human mis-judgment can pervert it; for the offender alone suffers, and always according to divine decree. This sacred, solid precept is verified in all directions in Mind-healing, and is supported in the Scripture by parallel proof. The law and gospel of Truth and Love teach, through divine Science, that sin is identical with suffering, and that suffering is the lighter affliction. To reach the summit of Science, whence to discern God’s perfect ways and means, the material sense must be controlled by the higher spiritual sense, and Truth be enthroned, while “we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen.” (Miscellaneous Writings pg 66.)
“God is not mocked: for whatsoever, a man soweth, that shall he also reap. To abide in our unselfed better self is to be done forever with the sins of the flesh, the wrongs of human life, the tempter and temptation, the smile and deceit of damnnation. When we have overcome sin in all its forms, men may revile us and despitefully use us, and we shall rejoice, “for great is our reward in heaven.” (Miscellany page 6)
Here I would like to talk for a few minutes about an important and much abused and misrepresented subject — sex. Even the word causes some people to shudder and shiver. The dictionary defines sex as “Of or pertaining to the character of being a male or female; a man or woman.” There is certainly nothing dirty, vulgar, or indecent in thinking of an individual as expressing the masculine qualities of strength, courage and dominion. Or of a woman expressing the feminine qualities of love, tenderness and kindness. And there is certainly nothing objectionable about thinking of the reunion of these spiritual qualities.
But when one thinks of man as made up of matter, of flesh, a carnally-minded male animal, and when one thinks of the substance of a woman as flesh and regards her as a sensuous female animal, then the subject of sex, the story of man and woman, is dragged through the mud, and we get the dirty distorted concept of sex as found in sexy stories, jokes, and abnormal sexual living. ...
Nothing will do your home, your family, and yourself, more good, than for you to have an uplifted, purified, and clean concept of sex, of the true nature of man and woman. Now in Christian Science we do not call evil good, neither do we attempt to think of fleshliness as spiritual. Instead, we give up the fleshly concept of sex for the true spiritual sense of marriage, as the union of the spiritual idea of man and woman. Speaking of this true marriage our Leader says (Science and Health, p. 57): “Union of the masculine and feminine qualities constitutes completeness.” One of the most important admonitions for our own welfare, and the welfare of the world is this — do not drag your concept of sex, of man and woman, of marriage, of family, of home, and of children, through the mud of materiality, for therein is the dream of mortality.
Our Master said that God is Spirit, and they that worship Him must worship Him in Spirit and in Truth. Spirit is the only substance, your substance, my substance. We must worship, we must stand in praiseful, prayerful awe of this substance of spirit. We must have no other gods besides Spirit. This means that we shall never think of matter as substance. Spirit is All-in-all, the very essence of your being.
Spirit Versus Matter — 1961 Association Address by Herbert E. Rieke
Chastity is the cement of civilization and progress.
from Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, by Mary Baker Eddy, page 57
Faithfully Applying The Truth by Ruth Marie Dillon
From the January 1926 issue of the Christian Science Journal
IT makes little difference how long or how short a period of time one may have been interested in this new-old religion of divine Love, Christian Science, as taught and demonstrated by Christ Jesus, and discovered again and founded in our day by our revered Leader, Mary Baker Eddy. To the beginner and the advanced student alike, apply the all-important questions: How much of Truth am I putting into practice? Am I proving, by holding steadfastly to the understanding of the omniactivity of Mind, God, that divine Love is really demonstrable in the removing of seeming obstacles, in healing want and woe, in destroying sin? Or am I going along from day to day with a self-satisfied feeling that I have already gained a sufficient understanding of Science to enable me to cope with the many and varied problems which may present themselves, without, perhaps, a thought for the brother who may be wondering if I have a really worth-while religion?
Unless we are making the understanding we have gained of practical value in everyday life,—unless we are actually applying our understanding of the omnipotence of divine Principle to the so-called problems that arise on our mental horizons,— we are indeed doing little or nothing in the way of proving that God, intelligent good, is the only power, the only presence, and therefore always available to meet every need of mankind. And it is only reasonable to conclude that unless the student is constantly active in his daily mental work, and in his study of the Bible, the writings of Mrs. Eddy, and other authorized Christian Science literature, he is not mentally equipped to face the enemies of mortal sense which would try to occupy the field to the exclusion of the spiritual facts of being. On page 19 of our textbook, "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures," Mrs. Eddy lovingly writes: "Those who cannot demonstrate, at least in part, the divine Principle of the teachings and practice of our Master have no part in God. If living in disobedience to Him, we ought to feel no security, although God is good."
Sometimes when the student of Christian Science gets his first glimpse of the healing Christ, he is so uplifted in thought that he is tempted to believe the arguments of so-called mortal mind to the effect that, since he has at last reached the understanding of Life as God, good, there is nothing more for him to accomplish, at least for the present, except just to rest in the true facts of existence which he has acquired ; and, if not mentally awake, he will find himself yielding to the suggestion that he can now proceed successfully with his daily activities without any further serious consideration of the need for faithful continuation of his study of the great truths of Christian Science, which alone will make him successful in every right line of work he may pursue.
The conscientious student, however, is not to be so deceived, and will almost immediately see the folly of such a position. For, if he is mentally alert and active, he will be able to discern that such an argument is nothing more than the voice of the serpent, which has, since the beginning, tempted mankind to bow down to the belief of ease in matter, with the result that, if not detected and ' destroyed, this subtle error will enter consciousness, and the slight knowledge of the truth which the beginner has gained will then become as but a belief without any real foundation. If listened to and obeyed, this false belief will lead to the destruction of his first faint understanding, and prevent his continued growth and progress. One yielding to this suggestion of evil will sooner or later find himself, in the words of Jesus, as recorded in the gospel of Matthew, "likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand: and the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it." One who has been freed from the belief in disease through the blessed ministry of Christian Science has, indeed, great cause for gratitude; but he should never allow himself to forget the fact that this newly gained sense of freedom from so-called physical ailments is only a call to the greater healing of human consciousness by the replacing of all the false concepts of material sense with the divine ideas of infinite Mind.
It is the natural and normal desire of one who thus realizes the great spiritual blessings which have come to him, as a result of his first demonstration of the healing power of divine Love, to go steadily and patiently on, working from the standpoint that, since God is the only Father and Mother of man, he can prove the great fact that as the child of God he can always know what the Father knows, and can therefore hear only the voice of Truth. As the student takes this firm stand, applying to his problems the spiritual facts of reality gained through his daily study of the Bible and the Christian Science textbook, and substituting the scientific realities of divine Principle for the false material dreams of corporeal sense, his growth in Christian Science will be certain, and wholly satisfying; for it is indeed God—Life, Truth, and Love—which works with us to bring us into a perfect understanding of the true relationship of God and man, Father and son, ever at-one.
Even though our progress should at times seem to be slow, with periods of waiting, let us always be grateful and remember the words of Paul in his epistle to the Galatians, "Let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not." The quiet moments spent in communion with the Father are fraught with golden opportunities for right mental activity; and we need never be tempted to accept or even believe the false suggestions of so-called mortal mind when it argues that because we seem to be accomplishing little from a material viewpoint we are wasting time. True thoughts are endowed with spiritual power, which fits us to win all battles over the false beliefs of personal sense. On page 340 of "Miscellaneous Writings" Mrs. Eddy-gives us a jeweled promise of the reward for work well done, in these words: "Be active, and, however slow, thy success is sure: toil is triumph; and—thou hast been faithful over a few things."
Sometimes it seems a difficult task to hold steadfastly to the truth when the sun is shining on our pathway and there is apparently nothing to meet; for it is at such a time that mortal mind would tempt us to believe that the road is a very easy one, with no pitfalls, and that there is no need to be mentally active. It is then, however, that, as students of Christian Science, we need to remember our dear Leader's admonition in "The First Church of Christ, Scientist, and Miscellany" (p. 210), "Beloved Christian Scientists, keep your minds so filled with Truth and Love, that sin, disease, and death cannot enter them." Through obedience to this demand, and through discernment of man's spiritual being as the expression of God, Truth will enable us to avoid the lazy ruts of material thinking, and will give us the desire and the ability to be mentally active. Then, when a problem does present itself to our thought, we shall be able to rejoice in the realization that we are fully equipped with "the whole armour of God," and shall be ready to advance and destroy any false belief of injury, injustice, disease, lack, or any other error which may try to knock at our mental door.
There may be times when we seem to fail in our first attempts so to apply the truth that the false beliefs of error fade away into their native nothingness; but we can know that Truth never fails, cannot fail, and that man, the idea of Truth and Love, is endowed with divine power to reflect all the spiritual qualities of Truth. Then, even though so-called mortal mind should endeavor to present the argument that error is very real and very powerful, that it comes to us in an unfamiliar guise and we should therefore fear it, let us not be disheartened. Discouragement is only an entering wedge leading to the belief in a mortal selfhood apart from God, a suggestion which would try to rob us of our confidence in the eternal truth that man is immortal, the image and likeness of incorporeal, divine Love, and is therefore not subject to the false claims of so-called material existence. Let us take our stand for Truth and Love alone, heeding the error not at all,—except to deny it, —rejoicing that God is working with us, and that there is therefore nothing which we need fear or flee from, since matter is a nonentity. Matter has no real existence, and we can resist its false claims with the perfect assurance that because God, good, made all that was made, evil is never real and hence has no power, and that the omnipotent reality of God, good, destroys the seeming reality of evil. Divine Love is always present, always active, even where a so-called error of false material sense seems to exist; and error cannot remain in the consciousness "filled with Truth and Love," where is the abiding understanding that all is Love and Love's reflection.
Job, while in the midst of apparent adversity and physical anguish, held constantly to the great fact that the power of God would not plead against him, but would give him strength to win a victory over evil; and he could say with confidence. "He knoweth the way that I take: when he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold." There is indeed great cause for rejoicing that divine Love always gives us strength and power to overcome evil with good. As Paul wrote to the Corinthians, "God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it;" and we should be unceasingly grateful for the divine protection with which our Father-Mother God is continually surrounding us, knowing that, through the seeming trials of physical sense, consciousness is being purified, and that we "shall come forth as gold."
This attitude of faithfully clinging to Truth and Love, and applying our understanding of Christian Science in the midst of mortal distresses and difficulties, will bring its own reward; and like Jacob, who wrestled with the angel till "the breaking of the day,"—that is, until the spiritual realities of divine Life dawned upon his thought,—we too shall rise in spiritual strength to prevail against "the wiles of the devil," against all the false claims of so-called mortal mind, and shall be able to sing with joyful trust the concluding words of Mrs. Eddy's beautiful hymn (Poems, p. 14):—
"So, when day grows dark and cold,
Tear or triumph harms,
Lead Thy lambkins to the fold,
Take them in Thine arms;
Feed the hungry, heal the heart,
Till the morning's beam;
White as wool, ere they depart,
Shepherd, wash them clean."
We know, dear Lord, what heals the sick and quenches sinful thought,
What raises up from bed of death the dying to it brought,
What, comforts every stricken heart and checks the mourner’s tears.
What gives man strength and makes him bold, where once he knew but fears.
We know what lights the lamp of faith for men so they press on
Through darkness of the night until the coming of the dawn,
What lifts their thought to higher views and drives the mist away,
Rolls back the curtain and reveals the everlasting day.
We know that it is You, dear Lord. No other power or sense
Can do such things as You can do through Your omnipotence.
We need not know a single fear, for we have but to call
On You, dear God, the First and Last, the Only and the All.
Poem number 246 from Daily Angels by Max Dunaway, page 137
Final Readings
Work by Corna G. Noble
from the January 3, 1931 issue of the Christian Science Sentinel
A little girl who had attended the Christian Science Sunday School came to her mother and said, "I am not feeling very well, so I must go to my room and do my work." After quite a long time she came down and announced that she felt better, and would go out and play. Her mother asked her what she meant by doing her work. She said, "I thought about the Lord's Prayer." Some time later she came in again and said, "I must do some more work, mother." This time she remained only a short time in her room; then she announced that she was all right now. Her mother again asked her what she had known. She said, "I thought about the last part of the Lord's Prayer, 'For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever.' I forgot the other time about 'for ever;' and now I'm all right." How sweetly the child expressed our own lack of knowing the meaning of "for ever," when we declare and know the truth about God and man!
Mrs. Eddy has given us on pages 16 and 17 of "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" the spiritual interpretation of the prayer that Christ Jesus gave to his disciples, the Lord's Prayer; and for this we owe her much gratitude. By giving us its spiritual meaning she has made it very precious to every Christian Scientist. The spiritual interpretation of the last phrase of this prayer, "For God is infinite, all-power, all Life, Truth, Love, over all, and All," leads one who is wrestling with a human problem to the realization that there is no power able to make God's children suffer from lack, or sickness, or any other phase of evil. It is only false beliefs about God and man that confuse and trouble us at times; and it is the overcoming of these false beliefs with the truth as taught in Christian Science that constitutes work for every Christian Scientist.
As the little girl realized the meaning of "for ever" in connection with the Lord's Prayer, so we must continually strive to realize the changeless perfection of God's work. "And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good." On page 519 of Science and Health we read, "Thus the ideas of God in universal being are complete and forever expressed, for Science reveals infinity and the fatherhood and motherhood of Love."