CS Lesson September 21, 2008 - "Matter"

[Susie]

The bible study lesson for this week addresses the theme of Matter.

The Golden Text is from Romans 8:5:
"...they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the spirit the things of the spirit."

One of the bible events that is shared in this week's lesson is the parable of the tares and the wheat. As a child, whose father had a wonderful backyard garden, I never understood why they did not get out there and weed the garden! I have since learned that tares and wheat appear to be the same and it is not until they begin to bud that one can tell the difference. In ancient times it was, unfortunately, common for "evil doers" to cast the seed of tares into a field that had been sown with wheat. The farmer had to be watchful of this, especially when harvest came.

In reading the story today, I noticed that, in order for the servants to know that the tares had been cast into the field, the physical field must have already bloomed. The agricultural evil doers would have been long gone. The field had already grown. So, I am seeing the "householder" as representative of Divine Truth and he is not referring to the actual field, but directing us to wait for Truth to provide understanding so that we only harvest the "wheat" in our own daily experiences.

Keeping this in mind as I read, I found the lesson rich with thoughts expressing how error falls away as the truth becomes apparent.

Please redirect if I am off on the wrong path!

Susie

[JudyRae]

Thanks Susie for those helpful ideas on the tares and wheat!

I’m loving the total focus on “There is no matter” this week – surely the hardest concept in Christian Science to grasp? And yet, Mary Baker Eddy tells us:

Spirit is infinite; therefore Spirit is all. "There is no matter" is not only the axiom of true Christian Science, but it is the only basis upon which this Science can be demonstrated. (Miscellany 357)

Section I: I love the way that Acts 17 and the SSB have been set on their own as the basis for the whole Lesson. It is backed up with these words from Mary Baker Eddy’s autobiography Retrospection and Introspection (page 93 and 94):

St. Paul said to the Athenians, "For in Him we live, and move, and have our being." This statement is in substance identical with my own: "There is no life, truth, substance, nor intelligence in matter." It is quite clear that as yet this grandest verity has not been fully demonstrated, but it is nevertheless true. If Christian Science reiterates St. Paul's teaching, we, as Christian Scientists, should give to the world convincing proof of the validity of this scientific statement of being. Having perceived, in advance of others, this scientific fact, we owe to ourselves and to the world a struggle for its demonstration.
At some period and in some way the conclusion must be met that whatsoever seems true, and yet contradicts divine Science and St. Paul's text, must be and is false; and that whatsoever seems to be good, and yet errs, though acknowledging the true way, is really evil.

Wow!

It appears to me that each subsequent section has been carefully matched up to the specific positive and negative arguments in the scientific statement of being. First we wipe the mortal belief about a power apart from God off the blackboard:

Section II: There is no life, truth, intelligence, nor substance in matter. (In other words, as above, "There is no matter")

BECAUSE: All is infinite Mind and its infinite manifestation, for God is All-in-all.

Section III: This time we start with Truth, Spirit, and then follows the explanation of its counterfeit, matter:

Spirit is immortal Truth; matter is mortal error.

Section IV: Spirit is the real and eternal; matter is the unreal and temporal.

Isn’t that just so kind and comforting? Mary Baker Eddy is saying that though the unreal seems to be real at the moment, we can be assured that this dream deception is only TEMPORAL. We can and will wake up!

Section V: Back up to the absolute truth:

Spirit is God, and man is His image and likeness.

Section VI: The result and its correlative scripture from I John 3:1-3

Therefore man is not material; he is spiritual.

I’m going to continue on the next post.

[JudyRae]

Another thing I noticed about this Lesson is that it is sprinkled with words in italics. Years ago someone gave me a wonderful cassette recording of a talk by a Christian Science teacher called Daniel Jenson. This dear, humorous man was such an inspiration and there are many things I remember from that talk. As I see those italics, I always hear his voice saying, (to the best of my memory) “When she says something in italics, you’d better sit up and TAKE NOTICE!” :eek:

And finally, several people have mentioned on other threads, a wonderful article, “Clearing away the fog”.

It so fits in with this week’s Lesson. Deborah Huebsch takes us through many subtle suggestions that would try to fog our thinking and stop us from really understanding and demonstrating this scientific statement of being. For instance:

For example, someone might think, I know there is no matter. Science and Health makes that clear in “the scientific statement of being”… This is an unambiguous and correct statement of truth. But could we be entertaining an underlying, undetected belief that even though there isn’t life, truth, intelligence, or substance in matter, matter does still exist? It just doesn’t have these qualities of life, truth, or intelligence! This is the fog. A silent, subtle argument weighing against the powerful, active truth of our being. http://christianscience.com/blogs/articles-journal/clearing-away-the-fog/

JudyRae

[Susie]

In section 5 of the lesson we read the healing of the woman who had an "issue of blood twelve years."

The bible tells us how she had "suffered many things of physicians," "spent all she had," and still found herself growing worse. I related to this strongly having left science for the "safety" of medical science and finding it wanting when they had no answers. This woman made a decision that was filled iwth faith. She came "in the press behind." What I liked about this illustration is that it tells me that it doesn't matter when we come. When we reach out in faith, God's presence in our life is immediate. "And Jesus, immediately knowing in himself that virute had gone out of him..."

In the Science and Health writings of this section- p.86:5, we read "...it was not matter, but mortal mind, whose touch called for aid." Is it that mortal mind can realize when it has erred and seeks Divine Mind to set it back on the right course? Or is it that mortal mind reaches out to be.... what? Do we work at training mortal mind to stop evolving and imaging its own thoughts?

I hope my question is understood. I've been reading the chapter in Science and Health: Christian Science versus Spiritualism and new ideas are coming to light for me.

By the way, I am seeking class instruction. But in the meantime....

Susie