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Run to meet and defeat your Goliaths!
Application Ideas on “Ancient and Modern Necromancy, alias Mesmerism and Hypnotism, Denounced,” The Christian Science Quarterly Lesson for May 22-28, 2006
By Gary Duke, C.S., Saint Louis, Missouri

Editor’s Note: The following background information and application ideas for the Christian Science Bible Lesson for this week are offered primarily to help CedarS campers and staff (as well as friends) see and demonstrate the great value of daily study of the Christian Science Bible lessons year-round, not just at camp.

Necromancy means, “The art of revealing future events by means of a pretended communication with the dead” (R1 is Resource #1 listed at the end). “Mesmerism or animal magnetism was first brought into notice by Mesmer in Germany in 1775. According to the American Cyclopaedia, he regarded this so-called force, which he said could be exerted by one living organism over another, as a means of alleviating disease” (S&H 100:1-6).

Golden Text: God Takes Away Judgments, Enemies, and Evil.
Does God judge us, know our enemies or know evil? No! Then how are judgment, enemies, and evil removed from our experience? Understanding that “the Lord, is in the midst of thee” reveals harmony and fulfills the promise, “thou shalt not see evil any more.” This understanding is in stark contrast to the common belief of God knowing about an opposing power and intervening on our behalf.

Responsive Reading: Defend Thought With the Armor of God.
Let’s list how the world believes we should be “strong”: muscles (go to the gym), meanness (assertiveness training), weapons (bigger gun or bigger toys), numbers (herd mentality), training (latest guru) and the list goes on and on. No wonder we sometimes feel worn out, trying in vain to meet all these standards!

Contrast the list above with the simplicity of what the apostle Paul suggests we need to be strong: “Be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might.” Whose might? His-very direct and simple! And this approach is effective because “we wrestle not against flesh and blood” but we wrestle against “the darkness of this world-” the hypnotic belief in a supposed power apart from God. Might this dependence on God and lack of human will leave us vulnerable? Not if we put on “the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day-.” Paul goes on to name six pieces of armor (qualities) we should wear daily as spiritual warriors:
1. Girdle [leather which covers the loins (waist), and to which other armament may be hung-R3] = truth;
2. Breastplate = righteousness;
3. Shoes = peace;
4. Shield = faith;
5. Helmet = salvation;
6. Sword = Spirit, the word of God;

Principality-“a prince; one invested with sovereignty” (R1).

Section 1: All-in-all.
When do you know you have considered all aspects of a problem or opportunity? If we approach things humanly, we may be left feeling very uncertain and seek out other human opinions, which often complicate matters even more!

How about first considering the All-in-all which the dictionary defines as, “all things to a person, or every thing desired” (R1)? Isn’t good what we truly desire in our lives? “The maximum of good is the infinite God and His idea, the All-in-all.” For “all” options to be truly considered in the minutiae our lives, we must first consult with “All”/God in every decision big and small. Then we’ll realize, “Evil is a suppositional lie-in reality there is no mortal mind” (S2).

A friend of mine introduced me to the “Opposites and Illusions Game” and it goes like this: What is the opposite of good? You might answer “bad” or “evil.” Gotcha! There is no opposite of good, therefore it must be illusion. Why? Because if there were another entity apart from God/good, there would be another power than God, but we know: “there is no God beside me” (B1); “evil can have no place, where all space is filled with God” (S3). In addition, we don’t even have to honor illusion/mesmerism/hypnotism with a cause or even a name, because it has no reality. Mrs. Eddy lumped it all under the term “animal magnetism” and devoted to its’ explanation chapter 5 in Science &Health, “Animal Magnetism Unmasked.”

Section 2: Realizing that power is not found in person, place or thing, we too can run to meet and defeat our Goliaths.
What Goliaths are we fighting right now (B5)? Are we doing battle with another: person (family, friend, enemy, boss, coach, immigrant, world population), place (choice of college, career, popularity, Middle East) or thing (money, health, house, “toy”, oil)? Think again. “Evil has no reality. It is neither person, place nor thing” (S6). These Goliaths aren’t what we’re fighting-we’re not wrestling against “flesh and blood” (matter), as we learned in the Golden Text, but instead the battle is with the illusion of power apart from God. David saw battle from the spiritual perspective and not the physical. David realized “the battle is the Lord’s,” so he didn’t use traditional armor (human opinion, human ways and means). He was girded with truth, which allowed him to be successful with what he had already proved, his sling and stones. How many times are we looking for that next citation, that next practitioner or a material method instead of realizing that the truth we already know and have already proved is sufficient to realize the kingdom of heaven right now! The result will be evil “falls, never to rise” (S8), just like Goliath.

B5: “Six cubits and a span” is approximately 9′-9″ with each cubit being about 18″ and a span about 9″ (R6). “Choose you a man” was a challenge to settle the whole matter by dual combat (R3).

Section 3: Right Place.
Isn’t it interesting the tests David received after he was anointed by Samuel to be king (I Sam. 16)-first Goliath, then a potentially lethal game of hide-and-seek due to Saul’s jealousy over David’s success in battle (B9). Even greater challenges followed. Didn’t Jesus also experience temptation by the devil immediately after baptism (Matt. 4)? This phenomenon suggests that often when we start to progress, “The mild forms of animal magnetism are disappearing, and its aggressive features are coming to the front” (S10).

When we’re being attacked by another, like David was by Saul (B9-11), we will be safe in proportion as we acknowledge God and “behave wisely,” as the author said about David. “There is no place where God is not” which then protects us from harm and we experience the truth, “evil becomes nothing” (S9). David’s honesty felled “the weapons of bigotry, ignorance, envy” (S11). And didn’t his angels come from a wonderful source, Saul’s children! The love of Michal and Jonathan proves, “Clad in the panoply of Love, human hatred cannot reach you” (S13).

B10: bolster is a pillow or long cushion (R2).

Section 4: Overcome Evil with Good.
David had the opportunity to kill Saul in a cave in which David and his men were hiding. In fact, David’s soldiers used a spiritual argument to try and convince him to proceed in killing Saul, similar to the devil’s scriptural temptation of Jesus. But David was both wise spiritually and politically, choosing to do good instead of evil to Saul, “the Lord’s anointed” (B13). David chose not to solve the confrontation with Saul humanly. Instead he knew “the battle is the Lord’s” (Section 2) and that “God will supply the wisdom and the occasion for a victory over evil” (S14). David’s wisdom was rewarded by becoming king after Saul died in battle with the Philistines (B14). Because of his righteous treatment of Saul, David had an easier time unifying the factions loyal to Saul. What a powerful lesson for us when hypnotically tempted to fix our challenges through human reasoning rather than starting with divine revelation.

B13: Sheepcotes are sheep pens and a good place to camp (R3).

S17: Theodicy is “defense of God’s goodness and omnipotence in view of the existence of evil” (R2).

Section 5: Moral Courage is Requisite.
The eldest remaining son of King David, Adonijah, treated his dad as if he had already died (similar to the Prodigal Son asking for his inheritance while his dad was still alive-Luke 15) and proclaimed himself king, to preempt Solomon from his claim. Because the prophet Nathan and David’s wife, Bathsheba, both had the courage to speak up for what they thought was right, David immediately proclaimed Solomon king thereby foiling Adonijah’s coup d’etat (B17; R3).

“Moral courage is requisite to meet the wrong and proclaim the right” (S19). Remember Abigail’s courageous petition of David to spare her husband Nabal (I Sam. 25)? About 500 years later, Queen Esther also spoke out bravely on behalf of her people when Haman threatened annihilation of the Jews (book of Esther). We too have moral courage to “point out the evil in human thought, and expose evil’s hidden mental ways of accomplishing iniquity” (S20). Didn’t Jesus and Mrs. Eddy expose many injustices of the day and teach us how to defend our thought against animal magnetism (S23)? And we can do so safely; “Never fear the mental malpractitioner-God is the only power” (S21). Today we’re seeing a trend regarding ethical behavior being good business. These ethics carry over into all relationships, both personal and professional.

Section 6: Allness* of God Heals.
Jesus healed the multitude (B20) and showed his disciples how to do so as well (B22). Who are his disciples? Yes, there were the 12, but all of us are his disciples too by definition, which reads in part, “all Christians are called his disciples, as they profess to learn and receive his doctrines and precepts” (R1). “Jesus mapped out the path for others” (S26), meaning you and me, and Mrs. Eddy wrote down the theology and methodology of this Science. And how did Jesus accomplish his mighty works? “Christlike understanding-perfect God and perfect man as the basis of thought and demonstration” (S27). Was he fixing or rearranging matter? No! “Our master cast out devils (evils)” (S28; B21). Jesus handled the erroneous suggestions of mortal mind instead of being impressed with the symptoms of matter. That is our promise too.

Section Summary Benediction:
Understanding God takes away judgments, enemies and evil. We defend our thought with the armor of Godlike qualities as we yield to All-in-all; yielding to “All” when considering “all” details, both great and small. Realizing that power is not found in person, place or thing, we too can run to meet and defeat our Goliaths. We are in our right place when we overcome evil with good. Moral courage is requisite to see the allness* of God which heals.

*Editor’s note: The Spell Check tool in Microsoft Word program keeps trying to replace allness with illness, but refuse to accept the suggestion. The human mind can’t comprehend allness, prophesy or spiritual healing which are possible only to the oneness and allness of the divine Mind.

Resources:
1. American Dictionary of the English Language, By Noah Webster 1828, 800-352-3223, website www.face.net

2. Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary, Tenth Edition 1993

3. Researched Bible Guide, 561-776-5711, e-mail DayBreakPlease@cs.com

4. The Interpreter’s One-Volume Commentary on the Bible, Edited by Charles Laymon

5. The Message: The Bible in Contemporary Language, By Eugene H. Peterson, NavPress 800-366-7788, Website www.MessageBible.com

6. The New Westminster Dictionary of the Bible, By Henry Gehman

7. The One Volume Bible Commentary, By J.R. Dummelow

Camp Director’s Note: The above sharing is the latest in a long series of CedarS Bible Lesson “mets” (metaphysical application ideas) contributed weekly by a rotation of CedarS Resident Practitioners and occasionally by other metaphysicians. This document is intended to initiate further study as well as to encourage the application of ideas found in the Weekly Bible Lessons as printed in the Christian Science Quarterly and as available at Christian Science Reading Rooms. * Originally sent JUST to campers, staff and CedarS families who wanted to continue at home and in their home Sunday Schools the same type of focused Lesson study and inspiration they had felt at camp, CedarS lesson “mets” are in no way meant to be definitive or conclusive or in any way a substitute for daily study of the lesson in the books. The thoughts presented are the inspiration of the moment and are offered to give a bit more dimension, background and daily applicability to some of the ideas and passages being studied. The citations referenced (i.e. B1and S28) from this week’s Bible Lesson in the “met” (metaphysical application ideas) are taken from the King James Version of the Bible (B1-24) and the Christian Science textbook, Science and Health With Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy. (S1-30) The Bible and Science and Health are the ordained pastor of the Churches of Christ, Scientist. The Bible Lesson is the sermon read in Christian Science church services throughout the world. The Lesson-Sermon speaks individually through the Christ to everyone, providing unique insights and tailor-made applications for each one. We are glad you requested this metaphysical sharing and hope that you find some of these ideas helpful in your daily spiritual journey, in your deeper digging in the books and in closer bonding with your Comforter and Pastor.)
Enjoy!
Warren Huff, Director          
director@cedarscamps.org
CedarS Camps Office
1314 Parkview Valley
Manchester, MO 63011
(636) 394-6162

Met Posted : 5/14/2006

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