Join us for the best summer yet!

Turn to an all-powerful God to put confusion & illusion behind you!
A Lesson Met on “Ancient & Modern Necromancy, alias Mesmerism & Hypnotism, Denounced” for May 26 – June 1, 2003
by Warren Huff, CedarS Director (updated throughout the week)

Golden Text: “In thee, O Lord, do I put my trust: let me never be put to confusion.” Ps 71:1 Putting your trust in God’s wisdom is like letting in an all-transforming light, a divine order and a radiant fullness which instantly banish all darkness, chaos and lack. These hypnotic aspects of uninspired thought are described in the original Hebrew of Genesis 1:2 as “TOE-who,” or “confusion” (“without form”), and “BOE-who,” or “nothingness” (“void”). The rhyming Hebrew “who” words (TOE-who & BOE-who), remind me of Dr. Seuss’ catchy rhymes as well as of his Whos in How the Grinch Stole Christmas. In this book, the Whos down in Whoville turn their backs on the TOEwho and BOEwho (confusion and lack) in their homes and lives after the Grinch has ransacked them in his attempt to steal Christmas. Their attitude and mood are like a divinely-set thermostat instead of a wildly fluctuating thermometer. The Whos are inspired by and celebrate the real reason for the season. They join hand in hand to sing without the physical evidence of good, without any presents, except the presence of the Christ Spirit. So we will sing and praise thy power.” (Ps. 21:13, 5th section) When faced with confusion and lack, and even the robbery of death, we too can mimic the Whos, as well as all healers and prophets, and let our lives and memories sing with the continuing remainder of “all of good the past hath had.” (CS Hymn #238) Rather than focusing on the supposed reality and severity of the problems, loss or temptations we face, we should turn our backs on these phony counterfeits and rather rejoice in the presence and powerful simplicity of God’s complete solutions and pre-existing provisions. That’s our Christianly Scientific approach that meets all needs as outlined in the following “section summaries.” Each summary presents a unique Bible-based synonym for God that heals the problem presented. (The 7 synonyms for God are the capitalized words in Mrs. Eddy’s definition of God on page 587 of Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures) Turning to God stops the Grinch of confusion (with hypnotic personal sense or animal magnetism) from stealing our daily celebrations and demonstrations of the Christ.

Responsive Reading: (Allow divine Love’s plentiful provision to put behind you the illusion of lack & the confusion of bitter envying & strife!) When we fully understand that there is plenty of good to go around (and Thank God, there IS!), we know that there is absolutely no reason for envy or for fighting over limited resources. James clearly reasons that the same fountain cannot send forth at the same time both sweet water (good) and bitter (evil). (James 3:11) Dueling duality causes a built-in strife within all “belief systems” that support the reality of both evil and good. (See 1st section) How powerless and vulnerable we become when we believe either that a not-all-good God authors evil or that a not-all-powerful God allows it or cannot prevent it. “Such wisdom does not come down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, devilish.” (James 3: 15 NRSV) Diabolo, the name for Satan or the Devil in Spanish, means to try to throw or shoot in two opposite directions at the same time. “Resist the devil and he will flee from you.” (James 4:7) We need to heed “the wisdom from above (that) is first pure (2nd section), then peaceable, gentle, (3rd section) and willing to yield, (4th section) full of mercy and good fruits, (5th section) without a trace of partiality or hypocrisy (6th section).” (James 3:17 – New Revised Standard Version)

1st Section: (Trust Truth’s oneness to put behind you the illusion & confusion of dualism & wizardry.) Here are some applicable excerpts from my earlier met on the potential dangers of “Potter-Mania,” as well as blessings from re-directing thought. Plug in any fictitious movie idol of the day, like “Bruce Almighty” and Neo (of The Matrix) and they all pale by comparison to the real life and infallible feats and healings of Christ Jesus.
“Watch to not get lulled to sleep to believe in the reality, presence and power of evil that is both created by and fought by the supposed wonders of wizardry. By staying alert to reverse the lies of witchcraft, even these errors, by reversal, can “serve as waymarks to the one Mind.” (Science and Health, 267:24) When taking a toy or gift away from a child, it’s always good to have a better one to replace it. Here’s an attempt to explain and reverse some of the erroneous premises of Harry Potter and to give our youth (and their elders) a better gift and hero to emulate.

Instead of using a magic wand, Christ Jesus and his followers brandish their divine bond (John 10:30) of oneness with God to provide the newness of practical, spiritual solutions to every challenge known to man. (Phil. 4:13) As entertaining as Harry and Hermione’s fictional feats of wizardry & witchcraft (or the special effects of Bruce and Neo) are, they don’t compare to all the real life wonders performed by Jesus in “the greatest story ever told.” Give some thought to Christ Jesus’ amazing accomplishments and their promise for today’s students of his scientific methods. Appreciate the spiritual maturity of Jesus at age twelve, wowing the Pharisee Professors at the Temple instead of being intimidated by them. (Luke 2:41-52)

Consider how Jesus wins his showdown with the ultimate dark-side opponent, Satan, after forty days of prayer-based dieting (fasting) in the wilderness. (Matt 4:1-11) His method clearly shows the benefits of scriptural study and of the 20-year training program available at Christian Science Sunday Schools. Jesus demonstrates that an ability to readily recall and quote applicable Bible verses defeats all temptations that would make us doubt or abuse our bond with God. Thanks, not to a wizard transfiguration class or to special effects artists, but to a wholehearted acceptance of God’s beneficent allness, Jesus turns things into thoughts, (Science & Health 123:12) especially when there’s a need. At a marriage feast he turns water into wine (John 2:1-11) and twice feeds thousands by multiplying a few loaves and fishes. (Mark 8:19-20) Later, he himself is transfigured by a heavenly glow as he converses with Moses and Elijah, time-traveling spiritual beings who ascended centuries earlier and yet returned to help prepare Jesus for his upcoming crucifixion and ascension. (Matt. 7:1-13) Without a special effects crew, Jesus does some special traveling himself when he walks on the water and even helps muggle-minded Peter to do so. (Matt. 14:24-32) And, without using a drop of material fuel, Jesus takes a wooden boatload of disciples (more than a quidditch team) at the speed of thought across the Sea of Galilee. (John 6:21)

Without an invisibility cloak, Jesus walks through an angry mob that wants to kill him. (Luke 4:28-30) Without an owl, Christ Jesus can instantly be in touch with those at great distances, and even revive them from dying. (Luke 7:2-10; John 4:46-54) Without visiting a special bank vault, using GPS or fish-finding sonar, Jesus pays his own taxes (and Peter’s) with money he prophesied to be in the mouth of a fish caught by Peter’s first cast. (Matthew 17:24-27) More than once Christ Jesus also summons fish at His command to fill the nets of fishermen and so convince them to follow him. (Luke 5:1-11, John 21:4-6) Without divination classes, Jesus predicts future events and describes past ones. (Mark 11:13-21, Mark 14:13-16, Matthew 21:2, John 4:1-42) Furthermore, Jesus is able to read the minds of those around him (Matthew 12:25, Luke 6:8) and cast out demonic spirits (Luke 8:26-34) without using the sorcery of Beelzebub. (Luke 11:15-19) He can even control the weather and still a storm. (Luke 8:22-25)

Jesus walks through walls and instantly appears and disappears. (John 20:19-26, Luke 24:13-31) Without using potions, tears of a mythical phoenix bird or drugs of any kind, Christ Jesus quickly heals those who from birth are blind, deaf, dumb and lame, as well as the leprous, deformed, epileptic, chronically hemorrhaging and sick of every kind of disease. Without spells or necromancy, Jesus several times raises the dead (Luke 7:11-15, Luke 8:52-55) and at Lazarus’ tomb purposefully conveys to disciples in every age His gratitude-in-advance technique. (John 11:1-44) Jesus even fulfills ancient prophecies by letting himself be crucified to prove that death is nothing but an illusion that possesses only the reality and power we give it.

Without a crystal ball, Jesus forecasts the great news that we will not only do the amazing works he does, but also do greater works (John 14:12) when taught by the Comforter, or “the Spirit of truth,” which will surely bring all things to our remembrance and teach us all truth. (John 15:26; John 16:7-14; John 21:26) Christian Science Sunday Schools with branches throughout the world (and CS camps) are therefore better educational options than Harry’s Hogwart’s School of Wizardry. Christian Science Sunday Schools are untainted by the idolatrous belief in the reality of a power or powers apart from God, a mixed belief that is denounced by Jesus and his followers. (Matthew 12:25-26, 33; Science and Health 228:25, Deut. 18:10-11) In any situation whether at school, in a game, or at war, we would be foolish to not fully use all the resources at our disposal. Therefore, the questions are:

Are we learning all we can from the daily lessons and weekly Sunday School classes at our disposal?
Are we taking full advantage of the omnipotent wand of the divine bond that we’ve been given?

2nd section: (Affirm & Savor the purity of Soul’s supreme happiness to put behind you the whimsical illusions of lustful looking & the cursed confusion of adultery.) This section on “David v. (versus) Bath-sheba’s bath” is a very instructive case from our Scriptural case book of divine laws applied to human situations. David’s falling for temptation is full of valuable warnings and lessons that are applicable to today’s explosion of body worship and flesh flashing. Had recently de-throned Division 1 coaches learned these lessons early and often, they would not have fallen from their dream jobs into the nightmare of dashed hopes and the disappointments that always come from turning away from the worship of God to the illusions and confusions of body worship. While they’d always hoped to be on the front page of Sports Illustrated, it was not in this way. No one wants his (or her) “wake-up call” from temporary insanity, or “moral idiocy” (S&H 103:24) to be in the national limelight. How these coaches and supposed role models for youth must wish they’d learned from the Bible, the CS textbook and Sunday School the truth of being “that there is no real pleasure in false appetites.” (S&H 404:8) We are indeed blessed to have with us our “dual and impersonal pastor, the Bible, and “Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures,” (Mis. 322:10) that both illustrate how to “conquer lust with chastity” and demonstrate how to “choke these errors in their early stages.” (S&H 405:7)

3rd section: (Practice Principle’s priority to put behind you the illusion of secret sin & the compounding confusion of unpeaceful, unlawful cover ups.) The violent group of protesters to the Group of Eight meeting in Evian, France were initially in favor of peace and peaceful protests. “The mild forms of animal magnetism are disappearing, and its aggressive features are coming to the front. The looms of crime, hidden in the dark recesses of mortal thought, are every hour weaving webs more complicated and subtle.” (S&H 102:16) ” Oh, what a tangled web we weave when first we practice to deceive!” How wonderful that bomb suspect, Eric Rudolph, turned up and was captured after years of hiding. This gives hope that secret cells in the terror network and other criminals and criminal thought processes will be revealed and self-destroyed. The lesson “point(s) out the evil in human thought, and expose(s) evil’s hidden mental ways of accomplishing iniquity.” (S&H 571:1) To live up to our obligations, we must be ever willing to oppose evil (as President Bush is espousing in Europe), but not to invest it with God-ordained reality.

4th section: (Make Mind your master so that you are “willing to yield” and to give up the illusion & confusion of enslavement to wrong desire & its self-imposed suffering.) The way Nathan revealed King David’s wrong-doing to him was brilliant and made him able to fully recognize and renounce it. May we be as effective in helping “the slave of wrong desire learn the lessons of Christian Science, and . . . get the better of that desire, and ascend a degree in the scale of health, happiness and existence.” (S&H 407: 17)

5th section: (Trust Spirit’s power to heal, to fill you with good works and to put behind you the illusion of “every sickness and every disease” (Matt 9:35) & the confusion over contradictory “material laws and penalties.” (S&H 389:22) Here are our marching orders to act like thermostats that control our bodies through Mind, instead of like thermometers that merely react to conditions and supposed penalties. “Mind is the master of the corporeal senses and can conquer sickness, sin and death. Exercise this God-given authority. Take possession of your body and govern its feeling and action. Rise in the strength of Spirit to resist all that is unlike good. God has made man capable of this, and nothing can vitiate the ability and power divinely bestowed on man.” (S&H 393:8)

6th section: (Without a trace of the hypocrisy of only partly “walking your talk,” walk in the full light of spiritual Life to put behind you the confusion of buying into “false theories and practices” (S&H 484:21) based on the five corporeal senses.) What is sure to enable us to bring “every thought to the obedience of Christ” (II Cor. 10:5) is catching the vision of our high calling, “chosen of God, and precious.” (I Peter 2: 4). The darkness will never satisfy you once you realize that “you are the ones chosen by God, chosen for the high calling of priestly work, chosen to be a holy people, God’s instruments to do his work and speak out for him, to tell others of the night and day difference he made for you —from nothing to something, from rejected to accepted.” (I Peter 2:9 as translated by Eugene Peterson in The Message)

American Camp Association

MAIN OFFICE
(November - May)
410 Sovereign Court #8
Ballwin, MO 63011
(636) 394-6162

CAMP OFFICE
(Memorial Day Weekend - October)
19772 Sugar Dr.
Lebanon, MO 65536
(417) 532-6699

Support our mission!

CedarS Camps

Back
to top