Saturday, April 28, 2018

Life Made New

        "If any man be in Christ, he is new creature:  old things are passed away;  behold, all things are  become new."

        I can never read these words without thinking of a dear friend of ours, who incidentally was just here mowing our lawn.

        Gaspar first came to Tennessee several years ago from Guatemala, and apparently was quite a rowdy individual.  Drank a lot, got into brawls in pubs, was arrested more than once  Well, this one time while sitting there in jail, he picked up a copy of a Spanish New Testament someone had left,which he looked through.  And there something Jesus had said so captured his attention, he couldn't stop thinking about it.

        We heard about this experience when he and his wife were having Christmas dinner with us and at the finish of the meal, he said:  "I'm not the man I once was."  We were not prepared for what he shared with us of his earlier life.  We had known Gaspar for several years, and you couldn't find a sweeter, harder working, more meek, reliable individual than he.

        That night in jail, he told us, he vowed to become the kind of man he felt Jesus would approve of.  He stopped drinking, got a job, led a totally different life from then on.  And inspiring to us, when he's not doing the yard work he needs to do to pay his bills, he devotes his time to preaching the words of Christ.

        So powerful are the words of our great Master, anyone who takes to heart what he said and taught, and  begins living the Truth, will see  life made new.

Sunday, April 15, 2018

A Practical Appreciation of Christ Jesus

        We were showing some out-of-town friends the stained-glass windows in a famous church when we came to one depicting an event in the life of Christ Jesus. As we stood there in reverent appreciation of the Founder of Christianity, I couldn't help thinking about what an enlightened, practical understanding the teachings of Christian Science bring to the words and works of our Master.


        Many people gain inspiration and comfort from thinking about the man Jesus.  Rightly so.  But perhaps even more important, we need to gain a practical understanding of the Christ-power he expressed.


        The purpose of Jesus' unequaled example was not merely to inspire mankind but to show us how to be free from every form of bondage, physical suffering included.  He promised, "He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also.":  (John 14:12)


        Underlying Jesus' words and deeds was eternal divine law, which we all can apply.  Through prayer that springs from an understanding of God as the perfect, totally good, Principle of the universe, and of man's actual nature as His image, we can experience a restoration of harmony.  And it makes no difference whether our problem is physical, financial, emotional, or moral.


        Christian Science teaches the eternal Biblical truth of man's indestructible relationship to God.   Many have found freedom from sickness and other ills through the study and application of this truth.  Perceiving something of man's actual nature as spiritual and whole, reflecting the perfection of Spirit, they have proved by healing that no one need be subject to such debilitating conditions as sin, disease, lack.


        On the basis of man's eternal likeness to God, Jesus healed all types of troubles.  His works vividly illustrated the fact that man, as God created him, has never fallen from his original, spiritual state of being; that nothing can really interfere with his harmony and well-being as the reflection of divine Love.  Our Master healed pain, impairment--apparently hopeless difficulties of every sort--through this Christly understanding of divine law.


        Mary Baker Eddy, the Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science, points out, "The Christlike understanding of scientific being and divine healing includes a perfect Principle and idea,--perfect God and perfect man,--as the basis of thought and demonstration."  (Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, page 259)


        Not mere admiration or reverence for Christ Jesus' teachings, but a correct understanding and application of the scientific, spiritual rules of these teachings, is what establishes genuine well-being.


        And this understanding is available to every one of us.




Thursday, April 5, 2018

The Epitome of Humility

            "Are you going to watch the re-do of "Jesus Christ, Superstar" a friend of ours asked me the other day.  I didn't because the concept of Jesus acting like a star is the very opposite of the way he lived his life. Whether this was the intent of the producer or not, it didn't appeal to me in the slightest.


         Jesus seemed to me to be always hiding himself, never trying to be a star.  And his words, "I can do nothing of myself" says it all.  Someone said to me years ago, this statement of Jesus is the epitome of humility.  I've thought of this many times and realized, if our Exemplar couldn't do anything of himself, then the rest of us certainly cannot.


        And Mary Baker Eddy has in her book, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures this statement I've found very instructive, something to strive to live by.  Referring to Jesus, she wrote: "He claimed no intelligence, action, nor life separate from God."  (page 136) To acknowledge our heavenly Father as the source of all we do, to realize that God is actually the doer leads to more productivity in our daily lives I am finding, more actions that bless others.


        And on the subject of humility, Albert Schweitzer has a beautiful essay which he ends by saying:  "L'humilite est la gloire de toutes les vertus.  Humility is the glory of all the virtues, in English.


        When my husband was serving in the Army in Seoul, Korea, I did secretarial work for a Ph.D from Penn State who was in Seoul doing research for the Department of Defense.  I happened to mention a book by Schweitzer I found inspiring.  Dr. Clauser asked me one day, "How is it you admire someone like Schweitzer when you're a Christian Scientist?"  Of course, as I told him, I am not against doctors in any way, do not look down on those who rely on the medical profession and find it meets their needs.  It's just that Christian Science does for me all I could wish, and more.


        But back to humility, to think we have in Christ Jesus someone totally selfless, totally devoted to seeing that God was glorified.  A shining example of this virtue--the epitome of humility.


       

Sunday, April 1, 2018

To Carry on Christ's Work

                            (This written for Someone to Christ Brand New)   




 "Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature",
                                  our beloved Master said. 






Since I don't know
Where this poem will go
Let me say, my friend,
God not only loves you so,
He needs you, yes, you
To carry on His Son's work.
You may never have been
Told such a thing,
But it should make
Your heart sing,
Give you a life purpose,
Peace and joy unimagined,
You can't find any other way.
"Help carry on Christ's work?
This could not apply to me!"
You may be thinking.
Oh, but it does.
To all of us every one.
Let me say again,
God specially needs you
There is so much good
That needs to be done,
So many who need
To hear the Word.
And this can be done,
Just think, by just one,
It can be done by you.