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[Stop just quoting the dead letter! Live its healing spirit!]
“Ancient and Modern Necromancy, alias Mesmerism and Hypnotism, Denounced”
CedarS MET, Metaphysical Application Ideas for the
Christian Science Bible Lesson for November 22 – 28, 2010
Rick Stewart, CS, Dresden, Germany
[bracketed Italics by Warren Huff]
 
[Editor's Note: The following application ideas for this week, and the Possible Sunday School Topics that will follow, are offered primarily to help CEDARS campers and staff (as well as friends) see and demonstrate the great value of daily study and application of the Christian Science Bible lessons year-round, not just at camp! You can sign up to have them emailed to you free — in English by Monday each week, or by each Wednesday you can get a FREE TRANSLATION in French thanks to Pascal, in German thanks to Helga or in Spanish thanks to a team of Ana, Erick, Claudia and Patricio. YOU CAN SIGN UP at www.cedarscamps.org/newsletters]
 
When I was a kid in Christian Science Sunday School this Bible Lesson subject always got a special reception by the class.  Our eyes would roll, there were usually a few “huhs?”, and some choice comments.  And of course a few laughs.  After a while we kind of got an idea about the funny word, “necromancy” and also had some good illustrations on hypnotism.
 
But I have to say over many years this has become one of my absolute favorite Bible Lessons.  It is always guaranteed to give you great ideas about defeating evil, and seeing Good triumph.  And it always offered a great wakeup call against the hypnotism of mortal thinking that tries to lullaby us to sleep every day. 
 
This Lesson always gives a powerful answer to the age-old false belief of “necromancy.” Simply put “necromancy” is a belief in a form of magic that calls on the spirits of the dead to receive information.  And it has evolved in use to be thought of as encompassing many forms of so-called “black magic”. A simple Google search will lead you to several interesting articles explaining its history and present forms.   And you will also find the Biblical verses that address the subject.  For example Moses tells us that God forbids the practice in Leviticus 9:26 and Deuteronomy 18:10-14.  
Isaiah 8:19 cautions, “When someone tells you to consult mediums and spiritists, who whisper and mutter, should not a people inquire of their God? Why consult the dead on behalf of the living?”
 
Take special note:   At the end of this week's “My Bible Lesson,” from the Mother Church you can find a special article by Cedar's camper, Claire Horton.  Her article, “Off the Bench,” tells of her play in a basketball tournament and the quick healing of a foot injury.  It is adapted from the original article published in the June 28, 2010 Christian Science Sentinel.  As her healing was taking place Claire tells of one concerned mother coming to her and explaining her experience with a similar injury and all the complications and long recovery.  Claire writes, “Her descriptions were so dramatic that instead of scaring me, they actually broke the spell, or the “mesmerism” of worry that had been bothering me.”  Later that same day Claire played and helped her team to a win.
  
[Later today find out how to “win without a fight” by using a spiritual, drug-free approach to healing stress in This week's chat: A spiritual response to Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) If you or someone you know is struggling with PTSD as a result of serving in the military, experiencing an accident or some other trauma, please join this chat with Janet Horton. -Tuesday, November 23, at 2pm EST]
 
Golden Text:
Romans 12:21 “Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.”
This call has echoed down the ages.  Moses saw his people living in lands where many evil practices were common, and he encouraged them to stick with their God.  (Deut. 18:10-14)
 
Responsive Reading (RR) 
Psalms 5 and Psalms 37 encourage us to look to God and trust Him rather than to worry about those around us who might seem to prosper while engaging in evil. It is good to remember that in Biblical times the people following God were often living in lands where the majority did not seek to follow God.  It is easy and instructive to compare those times to ours.  [The psalmist's RR promise that “The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord” has a corollary in Mary Baker Eddy's assurance that “God is our helper … and guides every event of our careers…. To understand Him, without a single taint of our mortal, finite sense of sin, sickness, or death, is to approach Him and become like Him.” Unity of Good 3:27] This introduces our Lesson's theme of looking to God and away from evil.
 
Section 1 – God is the only power, evil is but a belief.
If God is the only power, then how much wisdom is there in dabbling in beliefs that are based on a belief in evil?  (B-2 Romans 16:9)  Here we find the caution to be “wise unto that which is good, and simple concerning evil.” The Message Bible has an interesting take on this, “I want you also to be smart, making sure every “good” thing is the real thing. Don't be gullible in regard to smooth-talking evil. Stay alert like this.” 
These ideas from Science and Health in citations S-1 to S-4 could be seen as simple instructions.  They show that the seeming “power” of the magnetism, mesmerism, and hypnotism of mortal mind is “simply a belief,” an “illusion.”
 
Section 2 – Taken in, hypnotized, by error? No sweat, just wake up! A universal call to freedom.
Have you ever felt like you were hypnotized as you watched others succeed, sometimes through questionable methods, and you still stumbled along in seeming failure?  You are not alone in that. In citation B-7 Psalms 73 says “my feet were almost gone, my steps had well nigh slipped.  For I was envious at the foolish, when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.”  This section uncovers the true nature of hypnotism and how best to wake from its influence.  In a recent broadcast of German TV's “Supertalent,” a hypnotist made an appearance.  There was the typical show of inducing into a trance and performing actions that left the audience in wonderment.  Another illustration of the seeming power of one mind over another.  But is hypnotism a “parlor game,” just for fun and games?  Especially if you realize that your actions become the tool of an entertainer as he seems to manipulate your thought and actions.  How are you freed? Wake up.
 
Some years ago I remember a short drive to St. Augustine Beach.  I pulled up to an entrance ramp to the beach (in that part of Florida you can drive your car on the beach.)  I decided not to drive down, just park for a little while by the ramp and watch the surf.  Suddenly a wave washed a big school of baby fish onto the sand.  There were several surf fishermen standing there and they began to gather the little fish up in buckets and try to return them to the water before the fish died. (It was a school of baby blue fish, a favorite game fish.)  I jumped out of my car and joined in the effort.  In a short while we had most of the little fish back, safe and sound in the water.  We patted each other on the back and enjoyed a moment of accomplishment, and then I looked back at my car.  It was just being loaded on a wrecker, and being towed away. 
 
As I ran up the beach I planned my speech to the police officer. “I was just being helpful.  I didn't see the “No Parking” sign.  I couldn't afford an impound fee.”  And I heard him tell me, “Tell it to the judge.”  I was so upset.  This couldn't have come at a worse time.  I couldn't afford this.  Then as I pondered my next steps, a simple thought came to me.  “You don't own that car anymore.”  What?  That's right; I remembered that I had sold it recently.  But what was going on?  And suddenly I realized I must be dreaming.  I woke myself up with that thought, and guess what; I didn't have to pay the judge anything.  Freedom.  The citations in this section awaken us to the mesmeric nature of material sense reports.  We are not going to get into the necromancy of looking to mortality, to sin, sickness, and death to communicate what we need to know.  We are going to wake up, look to Life, God, and find our freedom and dominion.
 
Section 3 – Balak the king;  Balaam the prophet; and the impossibility of a curse on God's children.
Citations B11, B12, B13 from Numbers 22, 23, 24 include a request to curse a people that God had already blessed. That is a “mission impossible” for Balaam, the prophet.  And a curse against you, or any child of God?  Also a “mission impossible” when you read this Bible story and the citations from Science and Health that go with it.  But what if someone believes they can curse me, or curse at me?  It is your belief that matters, not theirs.  See citation S11 (S&H 151:21) and S12 (S&H 234:31).
 
A favorite cousin joined the Peace Corps some years ago as a young woman.  She was sent to the African country of Togo.  At one point in her time there she began to experience some unusual accidents and illnesses.  She was a student of Christian Science and began to address these claims prayerfully.  She established the basis of her thought; she prayed for her daily activities; and she prayed for those around her.  She knew who she was, God's child.  The accidents and the problems stopped.  Soon she found out through individuals in the village that the local shaman or witch doctor had been envious of her and supposedly cursed her.  As she recovered through her waking to the truth of who she was, this man stated: “Little white lady's magic very strong.”  The fact is that the true powers that be, the powers of God, Good, can only bless.  When we know the truth there is no power in a curse; as Balaam says, “How shall I curse, whom God hath not cursed.” [Enjoy life “clad in the panoply of Love” (S16) that protects completely–not just most of the time and under most conditions-but all the time and unconditionally.]
 
Section 4- Caught a cold lately?  Stop fishing in the waters of mortal belief, the waters of death.  Be healed, now.
In citation B14 from Mark 1 Jesus preaches, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye and believe the Gospel.”  And he finds some good fishermen that are ready to catch something new; they are ready to change their methods!!  Simon, Andrew, James, and John are called to follow Jesus and they leave their nets and follow the Christ.   But are they asked to go away and think how bad they have been and turn over a new leaf?  The word translated as “repentance,” is “metanioa.”  Look what the online encyclopedia Wikepedia has to say about it,Metanoia (from the Greek μετάνοια, metanoia, changing one's mind) in the context of theological discussion, where it is used often, is usually interpreted to mean repentance. However, some people argue that the word should be interpreted more literally to denote changing one's mind, in the sense of embracing thoughts beyond its present limitations or thought patterns (an interpretation which is compatible with the denotative meaning of repentance but replaces its negative connotation with a positive one, focusing on the superior state being approached rather than the inferior prior state being departed from).”
 
Later in citation B14 (Mark 1:29-34) Jesus heals Simon's mother-in-law of a fever and later many others are also healed.  How?  By freeing human thought from the hypnotism of mortal mind (no more looking to the dead, mortal thought for communication here); instead, “the higher understanding that the divine Mind makes perfect, acts upon the so-called human mind through truth, leads the human mind to relinquish all error, to find the divine Mind to be the only Mind, and the healer of sin, disease, death.” (S20) S&H 251
 
False or distorted reports, an over-emphasis on sensation whether in the body or in the news cycle can result in a distorted picture of reality.  An interesting illustration of this comes from a recent email about a group of travelers who had just returned from a Holy Land tour [led by leaders who led a CedarS tour to Israel in the past.] Nancy Fischer and Olene Carroll (you might know them from the books written for the Christian Science Publishing Society on Jesus Healings, Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3) were the tour leaders who just shared some reports from their latest trip.  One of the comments was from their Israeli guide, Mishi Neubach.  Mishi had accompanied their travels and was talking with the tour group after the trip.  He remarked as follows, “You start a new experience with each group and each one is different.  Before I start a new tour, I get very quiet and am always a little nervous, even after all these years!  I am not a human tape recorder – so each group, each tour is different.  A dialog develops with each group – and I have really enjoyed the dialog with this group!  It has felt really comfortable.   Now, I want you to go home and share.  I'm sure you've felt that most of your cities are more dangerous than my country!  Your own real experience will show this country in better light than what the media presents.”
So, we remain alert to television and media reports that might mesmerize us into false impressions and misjudgments.  We pray to receive our messages not from necromantic sources that dwell on digging up reports of mortality and woe; we instead listen for those reports that reflect the Truth of God in world affairs.
 
Section 5 – Is sin, like a swinging watch, trying to hypnotize you?
Is man a mortal sinner, doomed to suffer from the mesmeric pull of sin?  Well, where are you looking for the reports and information about this?  Are you being a “necromancer” looking to death and inevitable doom, to mortality, for reports about how you or someone else is doing?  Turn from the “swing of the watch,” the hypnotic claims of sinful desire, and look to God to find out how you and all of God's children are really doing.
 
Citations B15 and B16 make it clear that we are the “followers of God, as dear children,” and “children of light,” with no “fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness.”
(B-16)  What a list we find in Galatians 5 of things we would not want to have anything to do with.  But we end up with them in our lives and the world.  Just how does that happen? Perhaps a little suggestive whisperer, a littler mesmeric, hypnotic thought that would have us belittle ourselves or another.  A mortal, limited and limiting view of existence, tempting us to commune with deadly mortal thought.  That is a form of necromancy we never need to include.  After all look at what the “fruit of the Spirit” is: “love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance, against such there is no law.” (B16) [Click here to read a recent TMCYouth blog by a CedarS “torchbearer”, Moriah Early-Manchester, who demonstrated overcoming a mesmerism or “fixation” on getting that award and instead gave it by radiantly reflecting and living all those “fruits of the spirit.” (B16)]
 
The mesmeric suggestions come from varied sources, but when [vehemently] countered with communications not from spirits but from the one Spirit, success and freedom are assured. [I will never forget the honor I had of witnessing Geith Plimmer, a past C.S. Lecturer from Great Britain affirm with a fervor that brought about an instantaneous healing: “The power of Christian Science and divine Love is omnipotent. It is indeed adequate to unclasp the hold and to destroy disease, sin, and death.”]
 
Section 6 – You are spiritually armored and equipped against all evil.
What if we find ourselves in a fully charged situation brimming with ill intent, misunderstandings, prejudices, distorted images, a real war theater?  Isn't it our responsibility to bring to this scene all that we know of God to break the mesmerism and bring a semblance of harmony to the conflict?
 
My mom once found herself witnessing a scene of brutal bullying in Stavenger, Norway.  She had spent six weeks in the city, taken a short course in Norwegian, and was enjoying her visit with the family of her youngest brother-in-law.  And now as she traveled through the city center, she saw before her eyes a group of hooligans tormenting and beating a young man on crutches.  He had been knocked to the ground and was being severely beaten by these bullies.  Mom immediately asked my aunt to stop the car, jumped out, and ran to confront the bullies.  A crowd had gathered around the scene, but no one was doing anything.  My mom stepped forward, placed herself between the attackers and the victim and demanded that they stop.  Knowing my mom she was also reaching out with all her heart to the presence of God's power and protection.  The attackers immediately stopped and ran away.
 
What is it in mortal thought that might cause such an attack?  And what is it in mortal thought that might allow such an attack to continue?  Nothing other than the mesmerism, the hypnotism that sees man as mortal, limited, aggressive, or victimized.  This is truly a deadly combination, a view of man as of the [dust of the] earth, a mortal, a sinner, a hater, one could say hypnotized into believing in the power or necessity of evil. 
 
Citation B17 tells us “we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.” 
[You can rest confidently in your indestructibility:] “And who is he that will harm you, if ye be followers of that which is good?” (B18)
 
This moral authority equipped my mom and enabled her to stand before the hatred and bullying.  “The Christian Scientist has enlisted to lessen evil, disease, and death; and he will overcome them by understanding their nothingness and the allness of God, good.” (S-27)  This had been my mom's life-long stand, a stand for divine order.  Mrs. Eddy writes, “…those who discern Christian Science will hold crime in check.  They will maintain law and order, and cheerfully await the certainty of ultimate perfection.” (S-28)
 
We read in citation B18 from I Peter, “For the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, and his ears are open unto their prayers: And who is he that will harm you, if ye be followers of that which is good?”  I cannot think of anyone that is more representative of those spiritual truths than my good friend, Gabriel Tatom.  At this time Gabe is flying Black Hawk helicopters for the US Army, stationed in Hawaii. Before Gabe began to fly he served in an artillery unit and was deployed in both Afghanistan and Iraq.
 
While on duty in Iraq Gabe was a Staff Sergeant assigned to “shepherd” convoys.  His squad would accompany these convoys as protection.  They were driving Humvees in this duty.  Since Hummers are issued with little armor, Gabe's squad had personally worked with the Motor Pool (vehicle maintenance) to outfit their Hummers with extra armor.  Although not heavily armored, their vehicles were much safer than standard issue.  And Gabe and his squad always prayed together before every assignment. (Sounds a little like a CedarS Metaphysical before every activity!)  The result had been wonderful protection.  Up to that point all missions had been accomplished with no one getting hurt.
 
Then someone with a little more pull was able to get a hold of the Hummers that Gabe's squad had armored.  It meant that their next missions would be a great deal riskier with the standard-issue Hummers.  Now remember that Gabe and his squad had consistently prayed together about their missions.  So is it any surprise that shortly before the next mission, his squad suddenly received ASVs, Armored Security Vehicles.  These vehicles are equipped with much heavier armor and weaponry than the Hummers.  And it was very unusual for them to receive these vehicles.
 
The second shepherding assignment after the arrival of the ASVs found Gabe driving.  As they escorted the convoy, an IED, Improvised Explosive Device, exploded directly under the driver's seat that Gabe was occupying.  The vehicle was lifted into the air.  Shrapnel from the device, an artillery shell, flew all around.  One piece of shrapnel hit the driver's side window exactly at the level of Gabe's head.  The special plastic in the window was dented but not pierced.  If Gabe and his men had been driving the Hummer, nothing would have been left of the vehicle or the soldiers.  And the shrapnel would have gone right through the vehicle and Gabe.
 
Although their vehicle was disabled, there was a “strike squad” right in the vicinity that covered and protected Gabe's squad.  The blast had not hurt them.  And the presence of the strike squad had prevented the attacking insurgents from following up the explosion with the usual ground assault.  All came away safe and sound.
 
Gabe and his men completed over 44 missions without a single casualty.  Their spiritual armor was well-maintained by their regular prayers; and they were provided with the proper vehicle armor when it was necessary. 
 
Now Gabe has always been a great thinker and has had many, many proofs of answered prayer.  So I am sure those prayerful sessions with his squad were special. 
A special side note from my friend, Gabriel Tatom: 
He said that when his armored Hummer was taken from him, by surprise he was at first pretty upset.  They had spent a lot of time fitting it with the extra armor.  And then it was in someone else's hands.  He may have in passing thought, Well, I hope it takes care of them.  But at that point it looked like their next missions would be without armor.  Little did he know that his squad would receive the ASV, with the heavy armor.  And that armor was just what they needed.  If his Hummer had not been taken, he would not have received the ASV.  And not only did the armor protect him and his squad, but the shrapnel that hit the window would have surely taken his head off in the old Hummer, because the windows were not armored.  So he had exactly the armor that “suited” him when he needed it. 
 
Are each of us remaining just as alert in supporting our mission with prayer?  Is our armor intact?  Are we looking to our Father-Mother Life for messages that keep us awake?  Are we carefully avoiding visits to the graveyard of mortal belief?  Are we rejecting temptations to toy with seeking information from mortal sources (communing with so-called spirits of mortality)?
If so, then we can be assured that we will overcome evil with good and we will remain awake to the promises of our Father, and alert to the mesmerism of mortality. 


[PSST: Rise to every occasion without burden!]

Possible Sunday School Topics for Sunday, Nov. 28, 2010
Christian Science Bible Lesson on Ancient and Modern Necromancy, alias Mesmerism and Hypnotism, Denounced
by Steve Henn, CS of St. Louis, MO [with bracketed italics by Warren Huff]
 
PSST Golden Text (GT)
Do your students recognize good as omnipotent?  Use this as a launch-point for a conversation about good as being all-powerful.  Help your students see that there is no battle between a real power of evil and a real power of good – Good is the only power and evil is but a suggestion of power.  And yet, how often does evil seem to be a real power?  How do your students feel about this and how can they get past seeing evil as a power? [This may seem harder to acknowledge if one is head-over-heels into the latest Harry Potter movie and the return of the mesmericly-evil “Lord Voldemort”.]
 
PSST Responsive Reading (RR)
Discuss with your students their sense of righteousness. What does it mean to be righteous and what are the rewards of righteousness?  Is there any space in this RR for judgment?  Where does judgment lie?  This RR instructs us to be the commander of our own affairs, not those of others.  Help your students recognize and understand the value/importance of right for right’s sake – not in the context of others nor in judgment of others.  Help them build muscle for their own stand in righteousness – irrespective of the choices their friends may make.  [“If you aren’t willing to take a stand for good, you are likely to fall for almost anything.”] Help students also remain humble as they grow towards God.
 
PSST Section 1:
Pick up right from the conversation in the GT – the starting point of any right thinking needs to be God and His place as head above all. How do your students feel about this?  Do they trust that God can really have an impact on their lives?  Mrs. Eddy and the Bible are pretty well decided about this point.  Do your students begin every thought with this foundation?  You can introduce a conversation about the importance of daily metaphysical work in this part of the conversation as well. 
 
PSST Section 2:
This section helps approach the topic of mortal mind.  How do your students deal with it? Can they recognize it?  Often it goes unnoticed in our experience.  This section can be used to uncover the deceptions of limited, erroneous, mortal thought.  Look at both the Bible and the Science and Health in this section to learn more about how your students can respond to these as well.
 
PSST Section 3:
How often do your students face the same challenge presented to Balaam in this section?  Peer pressure is one of perhaps the most consistent and universal issues facing adults, teenagers, and even younger people as well.  What can your students (and you) learn from Balaam?  Examine his connection to God and his willingness to stand firm on that footing.  How willing are your students (how willing are you) to lean on God in the face of pressure from other human opinions?  Look at citation S16 in particular – what does it mean to “know thyself”?   What does it take to do this?  What are the rewards/results?
 [From an earlier insight on citation S16: “A friend shed new light on our focus passage with this one-line insight: “ABILITY (the wisdom) and OPPORTUNITY (the occasion) are coordinate ideas.” By accepting this divine law and knowing yourself spiritually, you will never have ability without being given opportunity to express it. (no unneeded bench-sitting) And, you'll also never be given opportunities (like the seven listed) without having the God-given abilities to rise to the occasion!”]
 
PSST Section 4:
The Bible speaks of Jesus’ commanding presence (as compared with the scribes).  What gives Jesus the authority he speaks with?  How can your students build or develop that authority?  The results of this authority are clear – demonstration, healing, the ability to bless all mankind.  Is this an authority your students are interested in having?  What is Jesus’ motivation?  What motivation for spiritual growth do your students have?   For us to follow in Jesus’ footsteps, we must relinquish our own human methods of doing things and put God/Mind as head above all…does that interest your students?  How can they learn to lean on Mind, listen to Mind better?  Discuss with your students “the basis of thought and demonstration.”  Look at the whole of Science and Health in this section to discover how to build that basis.
 
PSST Section 5:
One hard thing about Christian Science, or Christianity for that matter, is that it doesn’t appear very “sexy” to society as a whole.  Major conversations abound swirling around how being a “good Christian Scientist” means giving up a lot of human things that your students think they want.  Break down this passage in Galatians and see if it doesn’t help them see how being humanly “sexy” or attractive may not be all it’s made out to be.
Mrs. Eddy furthers this discussion and directly attacks sin, saying there is no real pleasure in it.  What a statement!  And one that your students should be challenged with.  What temptations approach them on a daily basis – and don’t stop with the “big sins” such as sex, drinking, stealing – those may be part of their lives, but they’re not the only ways our students (or even we) are tempted.  What about the temptation to fall asleep or be distracted during difficult work (homework or spiritual growth)?  What about the temptation to think poorly of one of God’s perfect children?  Help your students see their dominion through divine Love’s omnipotence (not allowing for any power of their own) in the little things – this will lead to great dominion in life over the big things.
 
PSST Section 6:
Don’t let your students leave class this week feeling burdened with the work that is ahead of them.  [The work of beingenlisted to lessen, disease, and death (S16)] Do not let them be disillusioned about it either.  It is a difficult human path that is before them, however, if they lean on God, that difficulty can be overcome.  [overcome them by understanding their nothingness and the allness of God, or good. (S16)] Look to this section for both a true assessment of the challenges ahead and a comforting reminder of how important it is to get close to Love, Truth, Life and how strong they can be in that confident company.
[To break through the mesmerism of feeling burdened (or ineffectual in teaching Sunday School), I have found helpful the extra ammunition below from page 222 of Education at the Principia by Mary Kimball Morgan. The Principia School store (314-434-2100) can mail you a copy with the full version and more]
[Spiritually Light-Hearted

[See to it that you do not let your work drive you. . . . Always insist on being master of your work. God would not give you something to do and fail to give you the wisdom, strength, and grace necessary to accomplish it. He does not demand of us what He does not equip us to do. Then we should go about our work confidently and joyously, grateful for every opportunity to serve God and mankind.
           
If you ever find your work is becoming burdensome, just stop and place the responsibility where it belongs-in your Fathers hands. Get rid of the sense of burden before continuing your work, for heaviness of thought cannot glorify God.
           
Be watchful that your thought does not become clouded by the human thinking of another. In spite of what another may think, you have your own thoughts to establish on a scientific basis, under the direction of divine intelligence. You are an independent thinker, untouched by human opinion, for you are the individual reflection of the all-knowing Mind-you are what God knows. Consequently, you are not a person but a divine idea-equal to every demand He makes upon you. 
            “Maintaining this attitude, we shall rise above the mist of human mesmerism . .”]

[Important Matching Fund Grant Offers Recently Renewed for Year-End Givers:
Donors made a recent pledge, that if CedarS can raise $25,000 by year-end for “Maintenance Musts”, they will matching those gifts to cover the whole need! This will enable timely off-season repairs to buried pipes, floors, decks, equipment, vehicles, … After last weekend's meeting of CedarS not-for-profit Board of Trustees, we have “only” $8,400 to raise by 12-31-10 in order to receive a $25,000 grant to accomplish all this overcoming of evil with good! And, thanks also to a recent pledge from other donors, if CedarS can raise $50,000 by next summer for our “Adopt the Herd” Riding Fund, they will match those gifts to cover the needs of feeding, shoeing and caring for our large and precious herd!] 
[AND OF COURSE, donations are always needed and welcome for camperships because without campers there would be no camp!  Funds are also being gratefully realized and spent to help complete CedarS Bible Lands Park (BLP) and its “Mediterranean S(k)ea”. We will be happy to share more details if you wish to help any of these divine ideas come to their full fruition! 


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Writing a monthly check would be an answer to prayer. Please make it payable to “CedarS Camps” and mail it to: CedarS Camps Office, 1314 Parkview Valley, Manchester, MO 63011; or call Warren or Gay Huff at (636) 394-6162to discuss gifts of securities or property you are considering giving to help underwrite all the spiritual growth and progress at CedarS.]
 
[CedarS weekly Metaphysical Note Newsletters are provided at no charge to the 1,200 campers and staff who have been blessed each summer at CEDARS–as well as to thousands of CEDARS alumni, families, Sunday School teachers and friends who request it, or who find it weekly on our website or through CS Directory. But, current and planned gifts are much-needed: to cover the costs of running this “free” service; to provide camperships to make inspirational opportunities possible for deserving youth; and to help our facilities keep pace with our mission. (Click on —http://blog.cedarscamps.org/— for pictures and write-ups on CedarS Bible Lands Park part of this mission.)
 
 [Camp Director's Note: This sharing is the latest in an ongoing, 10-year series of CedarS Bible Lesson “Mets” (Metaphysical application ideas) contributed weekly by a rotation of CedarS Resident Practitioners and occasionally by other metaphysicians. (To keep the flow of the practitioner's ideas intact and to allow for more selective printing “Possible Sunday School Topics” come in a subsequent email.) These weekly offerings are intended to encourage further study and application of ideas in the lesson and to invigorate Sunday School participation by students and by the budding teachers on our staff. Originally sent JUST to my Sunday School students and 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, application 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. The thoughts presented are the inspiration of the moment and are offered to give a bit more dimension and background as well as new angles (and angels) on the daily applicability of some of the ideas and passages being studied. The weekly Bible Lessons are copyrighted by the Christian Science Publishing Society and are printed in the Christian Science Quarterly as available at Christian Science Reading Rooms or online at eBibleLesson.com or myBibleLesson.com. The citations referenced (i.e.B-1 and S-28) from this week's Bible Lesson in the “Met” (Metaphysical application ideas) are taken from the Bible (B-1 thru B-24) and the Christian Science textbook, Science and Health With Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy (S-1 thru S-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 the ideas helpful in your daily spiritual journey, in your deeper digging in the books and in closer bonding with your Comforter and Pastor.]
 
[You can now click on the pdf symbol (at the right of the webpage) to download a pdf version of CedarS Lesson mets for easier printing and for better reading from mobile devices.
Enjoy!     Warren Huff, Executive Director   director@cedarscamps.org]
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

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