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[BONUS: See the goodness of God and be filled with thankfulness inevitably!]
Metaphysical Application Ideas on the Christian Science Bible Lesson for

Thanksgiving

Thursday, November 26, 2015

Prepared by Jared Eggers of St. Louis, MO [jaredeggers@gmail.com]

[Warren: Jared’s given at CedarS in almost every capacity almost every year since 1990, including contributing five Thanksgiving Mets for us! This will be his last one for awhile since he was recently elected First Reader at his church. Congratulations and many thanks, Jared!]

The foundation of this year’s Thanksgiving lesson centers around the definition of "good" found in the glossary of Science and Health by Mary Baker Eddy.

Golden Text

The Golden Text quotes Psalm 33, “…the earth is full of the goodness of the Lord.” By definition the word ‘full’ means there is “no empty space” or “not lacking anything” (Merriam Webster). So there is no empty space in all the earth for anything other than good and there is no lack in all the earth because it is full of good. Even when mortal mind would try to spread fear, hatred, bigotry and terror by presenting the illusion of the most base and horrific acts of destruction, we must realize that right at those moments, God, as both the center and circumference of being, is filling all space with good.

Section 1 – God is all power.
In the first marker from Science and Health we find the definition of "good" stating that good, or God, is “omnipotence; omniscience; omnipresence; omni-action” (pg. 587). In other words, God is all power; all Science or intelligence; all present; all action.

Aren’t we grateful that God is the only power and that "the human belief called mortal man" (190:8) has no power of its own to destroy life and harmony? Nothing can create evil because there is no power apart from God. God is the only power and that power always creates and sustains good alone.

Citations B1 and B2 talk about David preparing to transfer the power of the throne to his son Solomon. Solomon is still young, but there is recognition that God is the real power that will govern him. God chose Solomon so He will watch over and guide him.

In citation S4 we see that it is the action of good that gives “the only power obtainable” (pg 192). Mortal mind may claim that it has the power to act through evil, that it has the power to destroy, to kill. How grateful we are to learn that in reality good works and right action reflect God's all-power and “Science, when understood and demonstrated, will destroy all discord” (S5 pg 130).

Section 2 – God is all intelligence.
Citation B7 asks the question from Job “…where shall wisdom be found?” and answers the question by showing many of the places where wisdom does not originate and by stating that wisdom and understanding come from God. We see the truth of this statement in citation B8 when the Jews marveled at the fact that Jesus could interpret the Scriptures even though he had never been taught in their schools. Of course he could read and understand the Scriptures spiritually. Jesus’ intelligence and spiritual understanding did not originate from a human brain; it originated from Mind.

Citation S9 says “God is good. Good is Mind.” (Pg 113) If God created man to be good (or perfect, as we learn in Genesis 1) and Mind is all good, then we can confidently state that man is the expression of Mind, all intelligence. Man could never have evil thoughts because man can only know what Mind knows, which is only good, always.

In citation S10 Mrs. Eddy talks about the starting-point of divine Science, stating that “God, Spirit, is All-in-all” and “there is no other might nor Mind” (pg 275). Every action starts with God and can only result in harmonious action—there is no other kind.

We can rejoice that all right thinking, intelligence or wisdom comes from Mind, God. Intelligence and right thinking can never be hijacked for an evil purpose. All intelligence originates in Good, Mind, and man does not have "a mind of his own, distinct from God, the all-Mind," (204:23), so there is never an origin for evil or hateful thoughts.

Section 3 – God is all-presence
Most of the Bible citations in this section speak of God as always present, in every place or filling all space. The other verses declare no separation between God and man. If God is always present, then no evil can hide or lurk in the shadows ready to pounce. If we feel that we are off guard in our thinking, we can remember that Mind is always alert and a “very present help in trouble” as we read in citation S13 (pg 444).

Why do we sometimes feel separated from God due to “ignorance and false belief”? (S16, pg 304) We feel separate because we ignorantly believe in something other than God, but citation S19 tells us that “The depth, breadth, height, might, majesty, and glory of infinite Love fill all space.” (pg 520) In reality we always know (and are grateful for) the fact that Love is everywhere. In truth, in every nook and cranny, around every corner and outside every door, in the skies above and in the earth beneath, and in the hearts of all, Love is only reflected in love. Therefore there is never any room for bigotry or hate.

Section 4 – God is all action.
In this section there are a lot of words that speak of movement or action–walking, dancing, and moving “in accord with Him” (S20, pg 515). In citation B15 Jesus was “moved with compassion” to heal the sick; and in citation B16 [and CedarS online Download 1] we read the story of Jesus healing a man who could not move on his own at the pool of Bethesda. For 38 years this man believed himself to live with limited mobility and yet in a single moment Jesus helped him see that God is the source of mobility, which is always expressed by God’s idea, man.

The selections from Science and Health remind us that unlimited action must be good and from God. Throughout the section we see the following phrases:

“moves in accord with Him” (S20, pg 515)
“action is harmonious” (S21, pg 239)
“action…is the ideal of Truth” (S22, pg 207)

How wonderful that all action comes from God, good, so there can be no subversive or destructive action. Any action that would claim to destroy or kill must be an error, or nothing claiming to be something. We can give thanks that there can be no evil acts because evil is unknown to God.

The final citation of the lesson urges us to “rejoice that we are subject to the divine ‘powers that be’” (S27, pg 249). At this special time of year, when we pause to give thanks for the abundant blessings of God in our lives, we can rejoice without restraint. We are subject only to divine power, which is the power of God who is everywhere, guiding all intelligence, impelling all right action and guarding every one of his precious children. Not one single child of God is ever separated from good, God. God cares for and protects all. So when we look around and see the goodness of God, how can we not be overwhelmingly thankful? We are not ignoring or overlooking evil but because we are so clearly seeing the unreality of evil, the reality and omni-action of God, good, is all that we can see.

[Special thanks to each of you precious subscribers who have given CedarS work so much generous, needed and sincerely-appreciated support! A thank-you photo collage from representative of CedarS 1,200 campers and staff from this year is available online as Download 2.]

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