A Lasting Treasure

Saw a documentary last night
on the stupendous structures
of mighty Egypt past,
and couldn't help thinking
of something that will last,
unlike these monuments
to Pharoahs grand
(or so they thought of themselves),
memorials crumbling over
the centrues into sand.
Some of you may have guessed
where I'm going with this,
but for all the rest,
just let me say,
what I'm talking about here
is what Christ predicted,
that no matter what occurred,
His words would remain.
And they have,
as brand-new today
as when spoken --
as saving/life-changing/
divinely sublime;
teachings which have lost
none of their awesome power,
accessible to humble seekers
throughout all time,
whatever the day, the hour.

Oh, the lasting treasure God has
bestowed on me and you!

                                        "Heaven and earth shall pass away,
                                                  but my words shall not
                                                          pass away."

                                                            JESUS

A Public Service Announcement

Most people can't have something wonderful and not want to tell the world about it.  I certainly can't.

And what is my wonderful news this rosy-golden winter morning?  That you do not have to go on suffering --whatever it is you may be suffering.  There is certain help for you.  And you may discover it through an inspired book, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy.  The statements of divine Truth contained in this volume can open  your thinking to a whole new world of God's power and love, and of your relationship to Him as His beloved child. 

Just take my life for one example.  If I were to recount what the spiritual teachings of this book have done in my life -- the transformation in so many ways, the health and harmony restored time and again--you wouldn't have time today or next month to read it all.  But hundreds of thousands across the globe could echo my gratitude for God's healing power.

You have everything to gain, and nothing whatever to lose, by getting yourself a copy of Science and Health.  It, together with the Holy Bible, can do for you more than you dream.  And this book is easily obtainable on-line, at almost any public library, or at a Christian Science Reading Room.  Why be without God's marvelous assistance another day?

In the words of its author, "In the spirit of Christ's charity, -- as one who 'hopeth all things, endureth all things,' and is joyful to bear consolation to the sorrowing and healing to the sick, -- she commits these pages to honest seekers for Truth."

Whose Power?

(What joy to have this website through which to share inspiration with you .)


                                 "Behold, I give unto you power
                              to tread on serpents and scorpions,
                              and over all the power of the enemy: 
                          and nothing shall by any means hurt you."
                                             (Luke 10:19)



I've never known this promise
glorious to disappoint.
How could it ever,
given that Jesus said it.
Depending on His power --
not our own --
each and every adversity,
you and I are sure  to weather.
Yes,  those who trust His power
Christ brings through to victory
over anything that
the enemy may try to do.

Fix this so firmly in your thought,
that you will never, ever forget it:
Without Christ, I'm sure to fail;
With Christ  I shall prevail.

Christ's Disciples and Dignity

Jesus' "Cast not your
pearls before swine"
is a command His
disciples need to mind.

Sometimes, not always, I can see
we walk a very fine line
when dealing with those
uninterested in things divine.

While we would crawl in the dirt,
or gladly mop the floor
for the Maser we dearly love,
groveling Jesus would deplore.

This is not to say we
loving our neighbor neglect.
But Christ empowers His own
to keep their self-respect.

Yes, when dealing with mankind,
we can and do hear Him say,
thus far and no farther --
dignified, you are to stay.

Oh, the Freedom!

                                       "If the Son therefore shall make you free,
                                                     ye shall be free indeed",
                                                     Christ Jesus promises.
                                                              (John 8:36)



                                           It has happened time and again --

                                           When the desire to do what

                                           Our heavenly Father knows is best

                                           Becomes paramount in our lives,

                                           Things change for the better.

                                           We're removed from places

                                           Where we no longer need to be,

                                           And put in circumstances

                                          Where we can more widely bless.

                                                                          I do confess,

                                          When Christ has been in charge

                                         Of conditions needing adjusting,

                                         I have indeed become free.

An Interview With Nicholas Diabolos

                                           (By:  John Robert Howell)



Nicholas Diabolos, known jocularly to many of his acquaintances as "Old Nick", is a well-known expert on and purveyor of animal magnetism and prevarication.  I was quite surprised when he accepted my offer for an interview, since I have never been an admirer of him or his line of goods.  A portion of the interview follows.

JRH:  You've been in business a long time.  How are things going?

ND:  Better than I have any right to expect.  I got in the groove right out of the box with the Adam and Eve affair and haven't looked back since.  That talking snake was a stroke of genius.  Who would have thought anyone would "bite" on a ploy like that?  Even if something is as ugly as sin and deadly as a mamba, I've learned that if you gussy it up and come up with a smooth line of patter people will not only want it, but pay a premium for it to boot. 

Just make it appealing and easy to obtain, handy like, and then watch for that glimmer of desire and acceptance in their eyes.  When you see that you just set the hook and reel them in.  If they start giving you any of that Bible stuff about Christ's love for man, redemption, or salvation, then you hit them hard with a strong dose of fear and damnation.  That almost always takes the fight out of them.

That fellow Christ Jesus almost cheesed it for me, though, a couple of millennia ago.  He said "follow my teachings and example and be free from the clutches of sin, sickness, disease, death, and the belief of life in matter."  He healed and regenerated hundreds, if not thousands, and then added insult to injury by telling them they could do the same for themselves.  I tell you, I had to lay it on with a trowel after he came, but pretty soon after Paul and his followers the healing bit faded away and people got all tangled up in doctrinal disputes and dogmas.  Then the Dark Ages settled peacefully over mankind and I was loose on the range again.

I've had to update my project line from time to time to keep up with changes, but that's only to be expected.  For example, when tuberculosis ceased to be the big terror it once was I moved cancer onto the front page of my catalogue.  Pushing that boogeyman has been a lark.  As the great poet said in A Midsummer-Night's Dream (Act IV, sc. 1): "How easy is a bush supposed a bear!"  It's been a big seller, and I can  hardly keep it in stock.  If victims start to wander back to the good Shepherd for help I give them an extra-big dose of naked fear and despair.  Only the most devout and trusting in Christ's Way can resist that treatment.

Man's faith in doctoring and medical practice has also really been a boon.  The medical profession is better than a silent partner.  They unwittingly keep my clients in line, and I don't even have to share my profits with them.  I may lose some business, but at least God doesn't get it.  So long as people are distracted by all the mesmeric claims of medical practice and medicine, God can only do so much for them.  When they turn wholeheartedly to Him and follow the Way of Christ Jesus, it's all over for me.  I shudder when folks pick up a Bible and read it.  You never know when they might just take hold of one of the truths they find there and run with it.  That's a devil-killer for sure, so it's good lots of people don't really understand it.

JRH:  What do you tell people to do when they need help?  Suppose they are sick or unemployed or have a family crisis of some sort.

NH:  I tell them I can't do anything for them.  They bought the ticket for the ride they're on, not me.  Or I may tell them that society provides services for those who need many kinds of help, so they can avail themselves of that assistance or the aid of doctors and medicine if they're sick.  You've got to remember that hope and comfort aren't in my product line.

JRH:  About 125 years ago a lady named Mary Baker Eddy published a book titled Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures.  I'd like to know what you think about it.

ND:  That book was for me and my institute a nightmare come to life.  For centuries the influence of the Bible as a source of healing and comforting truths had been blunted or watered down by some of my special products.  It was always there if someone could find the key and the light to read it clearly by, but until Mrs. Eddy, no one was really getting a handle on the Bible and making full use of the inspired Word.

One night some wag put a complimentary copy of Science and Health on my stoop, and when I left for work the next morning I caught my big toe on it and went flying like a witch on a broom.  I never figured out how that happened, since the book wasn't really that thick, but it didn't budge a millimeter when I caught my toe on it.  I tell you I suffered a long time from that initial encounter and from the effects that book has had on me and my operations ever since.

From that day to this it's been a running battle, touch and go, advance and retreat.  Fortunately, though, some of the same stuff I pulled years ago to get the people all riled up over Christ Jesus still works like magic today, with a little freshening up to suit the times.  See, in my business it isn't truth and susbtance that matter, but appearances.  I don't have to prove anything to anyone.  Just get them to believe matter is real and the rest pretty much takes care of itself.  Remeber, I'm a smoke and mirrors guy, and if the smoke should suddenly clear, I'm gone.  Christian Scientists are the very worst, or best if you prefer, at uncovering and spoiling all my clever, subtle deceptions.

But it all started with that book Science and Health.  It's like a wooden stake in the heart of a vampire, the final line in I Pagliacci: "La commedia e finita!"  Counteracting the influence of that book keeps me busy, believe me.  Truth understood and expressed, even a tiny morsel, has an arm longer than the law's and a grip like a snapping turtle's.  And what's worse, anyone can get the book, read it himself, and make use of what he reads right then and there.

Fortunately, Mrs. Eddy herself foresaw one little obstacle to immediate and full acceptance of her book, when she wrote, and I quote:  "Take divine Science.  Read this book from beginning to end.  Study it, ponder it.  It will indeed be sweet at its first taste, when it heals you; but murmur not over Truth if you find its digestion bitter."  (S & H 559:20-23)  I've been pushing a great line of bitter digestives for many years, and I think I've managed to discourage quite a few souls.  But I can't defeat the simplest of truths.  Even a tiny child with a live truth in his hands is the "Terminator" to the best of the mendacities I peddle.  I'm busy on some new material though, because if men and women ever find out the health, happiness, and harmony Chistian Science can bring to their lives it's Chapter 11 for me.

JRH:  Briefly, how does your future look?

ND:  Well, business is certainly booming.  There is probably more sickness, poverty, distress, hate, and fear than there's ever been.  I just have to hope that it doesn't dawn on people that they'll never find permanent solutions to any of these problems in the very realm in which the problems occur.  I mean, if you make a mistake with a number 3 pencil you correct it with an eraser, not a number 2 pencil.  But I'm sure in no hurry to set them straight.

On the whole I'd say I'll do OK if more people don't find Science and Health and Christian Science and put them to use.  Meanwhile, I'll pray (chuckle) that this doesn't happen.

2 Christian Science Healings

(Norma Richardson wanted to share this with my readers and I know it will inspire many of you. Norma is a dear friend of ours and she lives in Fountain City, Tennessee)


I  have witnessed so many beautiful healings in Christian Science over the years and can never be grateful enough to God that my mother turned to this religion in a time of great need in our family.

I often think of these 2 outstanding proofs of what God can do for us.  The first concerns my brother who was born with a serious disease and was what is known as a "bleeder".  There were many frightening trips to the emergency section of the local hospital over the years and when he was 8 years old, something happened that decided my mother to rely on God totally for relief from this condition.  My brother was playing with an ax one day, and happened to hit himself in the back of the head.  The bleeding was profuse, wouldn't stop, other family members held towels to his head, ran and threw them in the washing machine, and continued to try to deal with the crisis.  My mother was holding him in her lap when she asked my father to phone a Christian Science practitioner to came to the house.  The woman came, continued the praying for my brother that had started immediately with the call for help.  It wasn't half an hour when the bleeding stopped, and my brother was completely healed of that rare disease.

The other healing involved my daughter.  I had been in the Christian Science Sunday School in up-state New York since I was 14 but wasn't what you would call a serious student of my religion.  When my daugher was born just 4 years later, it occurred to me that I needed to make a commitment, get really serious about understanding God better through the writings of Mary Baker Eddy so that if something happened I could deal with it confidently.  Well, as happens with children, I got my opportunity.  She came down with what appeared to be infantile paralysis, so prevalent in those days, and through a Christian Science practitioners loving and daily prayers, my daughter was totally and permanently healed.

I myself have had so many proofs that Christian Science works that it would require much space here to relate.  But is it any wonder that I thank God for the spiritual understanding I've gained through the study and practice of my religion. 

Poem - John Robert Howell

                                                      AWAY, AWAY



                                       We are vessels, not castles,
                                       Too long snug alee
                                       Anchor chains bind and fret,
                                       And thoughts grown lax and timid
                                       See savage gales to zephyrs
                                       Or towering waves in gentle swells.
                                       Sails billowing before a freshening Spirit,
                                       God's barques shudder not nor sink.
                                       Another harbor gained is talents multiplied.
                                       Boats at rest go to sea only in wishes
                                       When they should set sail by divine design.
                                   
        

Happenstance?

More and more I'm coming to see,
if for God's guidance I pray,
seeking counsel from
the One all-knowing Mind,
earnestly wanting to stay
in tune with things divine
that things do not merely happen --
whether involving events
seemingly brought about
by circumstances or man.
I find there is at work
in my life God's plan.
And how appropriate it is
to seek His right-on direction,
the way our Lord and Master did.
Thus doing, less and less will one
wake up one fine day to find
his footsteps, alas, have slid.
So, in matters material or ethereal,
I'm learning it's worth the bother
to get guidance from our loving,
always-with-us, all-wise Father.

As Isaiah assures us:
"And thine ears shall hear a word
behind thee, saying, This is the way,
walk ye in it, when ye turn to the
right hand, and when ye turn to the left."

"Lord, through this hour/Be Thou our Guide"

                                            By:  John Robert Howell
                (His articles have appeared in The Christian Science Monitor
                                    and the Christian Science Sentinel)

                                                                                         



The devil will permit me to accept the notion that I am God's perfect spiritual reflection provided I continue to receive and read the business mail he sends to my address.  There is no better time than now to send that foul stuff back to him stamped "Return to Sender".  Even  his tempting  holiday specials of 0% APR for 60 months need to be rejected without even a curious peek at the exciting details.  They may sound attractive, but so does a con man to a rube.

Some current tv ad slogans are worth thinking about vis-a-vis the Adversary's persistent appeals to "Come on down" as a car dealer used to say nightly.  Two are from the same company, Capital One (credit cards), I think:  "Don't leave home without it" and "What's in your wallett?"  If I leave  home without doing adequate protective work or without a solid spiritual sense of God with me, I'm leaving the mail box open to receive whatever the letter carrier, like the cat, brings.  I'd also be foolish not to have God always in my mental wallett.  I don't ever go out without my credit card, so why should I leave something vastly more important at home?  Some of us might be chagrined to find out what is in our wallett (our consciousness) as we head out the door.

The third slogan is from an auto manufacturer, I think: "Expect more".  I know, first, I need to expect more from myself.  I can be a better Christian Scientist, a better healer, a better church member, and maybe even a better contributor to the periodicals.  I can also rightly expect better from others and work to appreciate their sincere efforts to do good.  Obviously, however, a tentative or doubting faith or expectation is not going to be a flood tide that will lift a Styrofoam cup.  The needs of mankind, and even Christian Scientists are great, and, perforce, our prayerful work must be up to the need.  Mrs. Eddy writes encouragingly, "When the destination is desirable, expectation speeds our progress".  (Science and Health, 426:8-9)

The Way Out

When life has you feeling stressed,

And things look downright grim,

And you find yourself wondering,

"Whom can I take this problem to?"

Pay attention to the angel that says,

"Why not take your worries to Him?"

You'll be eternally glad that you did.

How wise it is to rely on God

As His offspring should,

Our ever-loving Father who

Wants for us such good.

A Timely Opportunity

                                       (By:  John Robert Howell)


When Christian Science was new to the world, many in need came to it in extremis.  The doctors of the day had done all they could and had given them up.  This clean break from the clutches of medical practice gave many the incentive to try Christian Science and explore its promises with a receptive and humble thought.  And unlike Lot's wife, they did not seem as tempted to look back wistfully to the physicians.

A smilar opportunity may be presenting itself to Christian Scientists today.  New drug and treatment resistant microbes are rapidly evolving.  Some are extremely virulent and fatal.  Even a few so-called controllable diseases have become runaway epidemics in some parts of the world.  Add to that the thousands and tens of thousands of earthquakes (and sometime the resulting tidal waves) and violent weather are killing each year.  Much of this is beyond man's ability to control or even mitigate.

It could even be argued that the glowing claims trumpeted ubiquitously for modern medical miracles are but an unwitting Trojan horse ferrying into fear-filled and receptive human consciousness the 21st Century Greek soldiers of apocalyptic horrors.

God's omnipotence is all.  As Mary Baker Eddy states in Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures (249:13-14): ''Either there is no omnipotence, or omnipotence is the only power."  Christian Scientists now have a splendid opportunity to prove that Christian Science has the ability and power to accomplish what we claim for it and thereby demonstrate to suffering humanity pure, scientific, quick, and undeniable Christian healing.

Conduct Unbecoming

Let me get right to it -- feeling sorry for oneself is unworthy of a disciple of Christ.  To go about with a long face, even with only those close to us having to put up with a "what's the use in trying anymore" demeanor, is not the effect we're here to have on others. 

If discouragement and self-pity were from our heavenly Father, we would do the best we could with it, and grow stronger thereby.  But it isn't from God.  It's from the devil.  And while we're wallowing in it, and wallowing is not too strong a word (picture yourself doing this -- dignified isn't it?)  we're lost in self, and can't be about our business of loving and serving others.  Remember this:  it isn't primarily us the devil is after; it's to interfere with Christ working in us to bless others.

Realizing this can snap one out of a descent into defeatism he or she does not have to make.  You and I know that life for all is rough at times.  But if we allow ourselves to be submerged in self, we just have to lift ourselves out of it.  I say ourselves because no one can do this for us -- no one that is, but Christ.  As Jesus said, our joy can't be taken from us.*  This is divine law, and being so, it can be counted on to save us from being swamped by too much "me".

Everything our Master taught is the answer to self-love in all its ugly phases. When we want to do what Jesus says with all our heart--and merely make a start--we see strength from above, from divine Love.  We recall that reflecting God's love to our fellowman is, after all, why we're here in the first place.  Christly love, it must be said, is like garlic to a vampire.  (Not that I believe there are such things.)  But invariably, and without fail, it will always defeat aggressive mental suggestions that we're a poor, struggling mortal with the blues.  Obedience to Christ saves us, brings new energy and inspiration, and renews our joy in being about our Father's business.  And how our world needs us doing this!

*John 16:22

On Generosity

I'm always grateful when some passage from the holy Bible instructs my way, sets the tone for the day.  And just this morning something from 1 John 3:17 came clearly to thought:  "Whoso hath this world's goods, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him,  how dwelleth the love of God in him?

And right along with this, came some words from one of Mary Baker Eddy's books, First Church of Christ, Scientist, and Miscellany where she says:  "Goodness and benevolence never tire.  They maintain themselves and others and never stop from exhaustion.  He who is afraid of being too generous has lot the power of being magnanimous.  The best man or woman is the most unselfed."  (Page 165)

As many of us who adhere to the teachings of the Bible and Christian Science have learned in overcoming a fear of lack, we stop being overly cautious about being generous to others.  And we find that the more we give at God's direction, the more comes back--which is just what the Bible tells us will happen.  The New Testament records Jesus' teaching:  "Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom.  For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again."  (Luke 6:38)

Coming into right relation to the Christian requirement to serve God and bless His children not only brings the supply we need.  It even ensures enough left over to help others. 

Am I Trying to be "Somebody"?

In this Christian work
we're committed to doing,
It's wise to ask ourselves,
Is it my recognition --
Or God's holy child's --
I'm busily pursuing?
Motive is everything.
And in this, as in everything
That concerns our daily walk,
Our great Example shows the way.
The true humility Jesus displayed!
Didn't he seem at times
To almost be hiding himself;
Never trying to be a "star",
Wanting invariably instead
To see his Father glorified?
So let us choose life's "lowest room"*,
Be unpretentious in what we do and are.
It is this not seeking things for ourselves,
Living to honour not us, but Him
That keeps us from the pride
That makes of our existence
Not His heaven, but a hell;
That empowers us to walk
A selfless, Christly path,
Touching other lives perhaps
More widely than we can tell.


As a letter Mary Baker Eddy once wrote to James Neal on this topic cautioned:

"Now dear one, watch that worldliness and the natural mortal love of human applause or any possible pride or vanity creep not into your thought for these are among the thieves that would steal into the good man’s house and spoil his goods – take away the riches of purer and higher thoughts – which weigh in God’s scale helping you to heal the sick and reform the sinner. To this end pray to divine Love daily: for if the good man watch, his house will not be broken open. Mary Baker Eddy **

*See Luke 14:7-11
** MBE: Christian Healer. P.171

Learning That Nil Means Nil

                                           (By:  John Robert Howell)



At some station along the way in our spiritual growth in Christian Science we learn not to give name and habitation to any ailment or disease.  Mrs. Eddy tells us that to give it a  name only tends to make the seeming problem more real and increases fear, which is the basic enemy.

We learn that one way to begin spiking mortal mind's guns is to move the mental conflict to the arena of a claim, a belief, an illusion, a dream, a lie, or a false belief.  This helps remove thought from the contemplation of material so-called laws and prognoses and thereby reduces the fear associated with a specific belief.

If we do not clearly grasp, however, what we are doing when we use these terms, the original temptation, suggestion can easily be transferred in our thinking to a belief in, and fear of a real claim, a real belief, a real illusion, a real dream, and so forth.  Mortal mind is not fastidious about the means it employs as long as it gets our attention.  The result will be the same whether the suggestion is accepted as this or that specific disease or a very real false belief.

When we see a problem as an illusion or dream we must be sure we are only using the term to remove it from thought as a reality of any  kind, even as a real unreality. When we are able to turn wholly and instantly to God and fill our consciousness with thoughts of Him alone, then the use of the term illusion or lie has become a useful stepping stone to freedom from the suggestions of mortal mind, and we then know we are expressing more of the spiritual harmony and completeness that come only from some measure of demonstrating the fact that we are God's reflection eternally.

Seeing

From time to time someone will say to me that they are having a challenge with their sight.  So often this calls to my thought several things, some of which I pass along to them.

First, that the teachings of Christian Science do heal sight problems.  And certainly have through the last 100-plus years.  I've marveled many times at the profuse testimonies of this in the chapter of Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures titled "Fruitage".  Person after person, many of whom were given dire predictions about their sight, were completely and permanently healed through just reading Mary Baker Eddy's inspired book.  What these men and women experienced through gaining an understanding of God's laws and man's true being, any person today can experience.

And in my own family, my mother who experienced many physical healings through her study and demonstration of Christian Science, had a healing of sight in her later years.  Being an energetic, giving individual, she was substitute teaching several years after so-called retirement, and one day noticed that her eye glasses were not doing the job.  She took them off, and found to her great joy that she no longer needed them.  She could see better without, than with.  And this normal seeing continued throughout her long and active life.  She told me that she hadn't been praying specifically about her sight, but was studying the Christian Science textbook, Science and Health, for a deeper understanding of God.

And the last point on my mind this morning is a powerful and healing truth from one of the early Christian Science periodicals.  This is from the June 1921 Journal and it was written by Paul Stark Seeley.  In it he brings out that God causes His child to see, not by and through matter, but in spite of it.  In other words, that seeing is in God and man has perfect sight as His reflection.  (These my words.)  Anyway, it might prove well worth your time to look this article up, either in a Christian Science Reading Room, or on-line.  The title of this wonderful article is "Perception".

Writing for Christ Jesus and Christian Science

Starting out on my 6th year with this website (and what a joy it continues to be), I would like to say thanks to those who support this activity.  I welcome your comments/feedback.  As of now as you know, either in an email to me, a phone call or letter. As I've stated clearly, I owe my very life and health and peace and happiness to Christian Science.  I could never thank God enough that He saw Mary Baker Eddy through to the giving of her priceless gift to mankind--the founding of which was and is to reiterate for humanity's welfare the words and works of Christ Jesus.

So once again on the subject of blogging for Christ Jesus and Christian Science, I feel blessed to have your interest and participation.

Warm New Bunny Slippers Every Day

(I hope readers of my wife's website will find something helpful in this little offering.  I've written it primarily for those who are serious students of Christian Science- John Robert Howell)
     
   
One clever way of catching some monkeys is to put a favorite food in a tethered hollow gourd with an opening just large enough to admit an empty paw.  The monkey reaches in and grasps the food, which enlarges its paw and prevents it from passing back through the opening.  Some monkeys will keep their grip on the food even though it results in their remaining a prisoner of the gourd and being captured.  We may think how stupid such monkeys must be to fall for such a trick, but does this not have a sardonic parallel in mankind's seemingly irresistible and often fatal attraction to the material and physical and to medicine and doctoring?

Moreover, Christian Scientists may not be acting any wiser than the monkey when they intone texts from the Bible or the writings of Mary Baker Eddy as if they were incantations with some glorious power.  When the Word does enter our heart and help and heal it is because some spiritual sense of those words has, however, briefly, spoken to us and touched us, not from latent force present in syllable and grammar.  "Felt ye the power of the Word?" (Mary Baker Eddy, "Communion Hymn").  Words and sentences, if not consciously imbued with Spirit, are but human mutterings which can't affect the floating of a mote in the sunlit air.

Many of us may need to release some hidebound concepts of God we have lovingly and diligently accumulated over the years, else like the monkey we may become prisoners of them.  It may be necessary for us to see God in glorious newness each day.  Not as a comfy down-at-the-heels pair of slippers we need to get rid of but can't bear to part with.  Oh, the comfort and sense of being enclosed in His love we gain from new views of Him.

Every Sunday these words from I John 3 are read in Christian Science churches:  "...we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.  J. B. Phillips has this inspired rendering of the passage:  "We only know that, if reality were to break through, we should reflect his likeness, for we should see him as he really is!"

As we do this we are fulfilling our duty to God to express our eternal oneness with Him as children of Light.

The Unlimited Unfoldment of Holy Thoughts

                                           (By John Robert Howell)



Prudential Insurance, smartly co-opting a powerful Christian symbol, reassuringly offers us "a piece of the rock" (for a price of course).  As Christian Scientists we all would like our own comforting piece of the rock--Christ, Truth.  But do the specifics of how to individualize what can seem like solidly monolithic Truth get lost in a muzzy fog of timorousness and uncertainty?  How can one uniquely express infinite God?

We can start by realizing we express God's qualities.  A small piece of the rock has all the qualities of the whole rock, except, of course, size, but we are not trying to be God, but to reflect Him.  Nevertheless, when we get down to the nitty-gritty of our own individual expression, the vastness of the Original can be dauting and overwhelming.  We must then claim our oneness with infinite Mind, all-intelligence.  Doing that, even imperfectly, should enable us to realize that nothing can limit our ability to understand and express God.

Anton Diabelli, a music publisher and minor composer, sent to a number of contemporary composers a little waltz tune of his own composition, asking each to submit a variation on it, which he would collect from all and publish.  One of the composers he included was Beethoven.  At first the irasible genius disdained the publicity ploy and the trite waltz as well, calling it a "Schusterfleck", a mere cobbler's patch.  But even though he tossed it aside, the tune apparently gestated in that great musical mind, and the result was perhaps the finest set of variations ever written:  the 33 "Diabelli Variations", a 50-60 minute masterpiece.  My point, long in coming, is that if Beethoven can do this with a humble cobbler's patch to start with, shouldn't we be able to realize unlimited unfoldment in our own contemplation of God and the truths of Christian Science?  It can be done, and must be done if we are to put off the old man and demonstrate the complete spiritual selfhood of the new man.

If need be, we should see and think of ourselves as artists as well as Scientists.  Did not Mary Baker Eddy call all of us sculptors and if sculptors, then artists?  I quote:  "We are all sculptors, working at various forms, moulding and chiseling thought."  (page 248 of Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures)  And as sculptors moulding and chiseling thought, I like to think of our working with the pliable in our consciousness as well as the resistant.

Mrs. Eddy continues on the same page:  "We must form perfect models in thought and look at them continually, or we shall never carve them out in grand and noble lives.  Let unselfishness, goodness, mercy, justice, health, holiness, love -- the kingdom of heaven -- reign within us, and sin, disease, and death will diminish until they finally disappear."

We cannot be content to merely think about the truths that come to us, but we must wrestle with them like Jacob until our thought is blessed by an uplifting angel message.  With all we have in Christian Science, how can we entertain the slightest inertia or feeling of limitation?  There should scarcely seem enough hours in each day to ponder all the angel thoughts which our loving Father is sending to us continually.



                        

Jesus' Golden Rule Essential

The way we treat others
Is of course paramount.
But what we are thinking
Does, to God, no less count.

For our thoughts of others,
Feelings of inmost heart,
Will keep us close to God,
Or bad for us, apart.

Oh what disservice we do
When ignoring Jesus' rule for living,
We indulge in thoughts of others
We ourselves don't like receiving.

For God's creation, perfect and complete,
Includes us all, includes us every one.
Mind has infinitely varied ideas,
And we all His daughter or son.

As our Father has made His man,
We can start to think of everyone today.
This is, to the good in store for us
A God-given/Christ-like/proven way.