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[Overcome body worship and its crystallized limitations to express the infinity and harmony of Soul!]
CedarS Met
aphysical Application Ideas for the Christian Science Bible Lesson Sermon on
“Soul and Body”
for May 22, 2011
by Rick Stewart, CS, Dresden, Germany (0351 312 4736/rickstewartcs@aol.com)
[with bracketed italics by Warren Huff, CedarS Director, who is offering (and also seeking) Campership help as needed for Sunday School students to fill our 1 and 2 wk. sessions.  Most camper programs still have a few places, as doour adult and family programs with their FUN Bible Classes: May 27-30 Memorial Weekend; Aug. 14-18 Family Camp; & Sep. 15-18 Bible Conference]

[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]
 
Why in the world are you taking time to read this? And why study of the Bible Lesson daily?  Don't you already have enough to do?  Don't you have a test to study for or lots of home work? Or maybe a busy day at work? Or all the demands of raising a family; getting the house straight, cooking, cleaning, shopping, errands, the endless rounds of pickup and drop-off duties? Why are you going to take valuable time from all these legitimate demands to study your Lesson? If you are reading this, then you probably already know why? Study of the Christian Science Bible Lesson cherishes and changes our lives and the world for the better.   Here is second-hand reminiscence about the importance of these lessons from the possible overhearing (by someone other than William Curtis Coffman) of a conversation between Mary Baker Eddy, Martha Wilcox and Laura Sargent.  [Memoirs of a Christian Scientist, a reminiscence by William Curtis Coffman. I delayed sending the MET a few hours to consult with and support the good work being done by the awesome and accurate archivists at The Mary Baker Eddy Library. To find out about their “Object of the Month” and much more go to http://www.marybakereddylibrary.org/ ]
 
“Laura and Mrs. Martha Wilcox, in a conversation with Mrs. Eddy asked our Leader: ‘If you were in active work (today), what would you like (most) to do?' ‘What would you think I'd like to do?' replied Mrs. Eddy.  They then named everything they could think of in connection with the Church activities.  But Mrs. Eddy smiled and quietly answered, ‘No, that is not the most important work.'  ‘Why, we have named everything,' they said.  ‘Yes, you have named everything except the most important work I could do – to serve on the Lesson Committee.  You see, our text-book is complete, – a chapter on healing, one on teaching – and so on.  The book alone, will revolutionize the world's thinking.  But in active work – to prepare 52 lessons on 26 subjects – this is giving the world weekly treatments – surrounding it with the spoken word, 24 hours on Sunday.'  They were amazed, so Mrs. Eddy added. ‘why, you girls don't think you go to church to worship God as we used to, do you?  Our God isn't to be worshipped, but expressed.' (…‘neither is worshipped, as though He needed anything, seeing He giveth to all life and breath and all things.' Acts 17:25) ‘We study these lessons for six days,' she continued, then we go to Church to express God for the world – to give the world a treatment.' (S&H 583:14 Definition of Church) ‘The first subjects of the lessons are on God – His synonyms, attributes, etc. – the fundamental teaching of Christian Science.  Then come the subjects that are for the purpose of healing the world.  The prayers offered in Church are for the purpose of helping the organization do its work to express God.'” [pp. 55, 56]
So, “Auf die Plätze, fertig, los!”, „On you marks, get set, go !!”

This week's Christian Science Bible Lesson is here to free you from all mortal limitations regarding identity.  To set you free from what I think of as the “Jell-O Molds” of matter, to the boundless identity of reflecting an infinite, unbounded Soul, God.   As we discover a God, Soul that is never bound up or worshiped through matter, we also discover our true identity as the spiritual, soulful expression glorifying God throughout an unbounded creation. We will discover that all material limits; heredity, environment, material history, DNA, are all non-applicable to you, the real you. As our friend and editor of these METs, Warren Huff, often points out, the DNA that is often seen as the fundamental building block of material identity, becomes the Does Not Apply regarding immortal, infinite, Soulful identity.
 
Golden Text:  I Corinthians 3: 17 “…the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are.”
NLT – For God's temple is holy, and you Christians are that temple.
 
This translation from the New Living Testament reflects a similar spirit to what our Leader, Mary Baker Eddy may have had in mind when she may have said, “why, you girls don't think you go to church to worship God as we used to, do you?  Our God isn't to be worshipped, but expressed.”
Our Golden Text is taken from a letter that Paul sent to the churches in Corinth. I say churches although the form that early churches appeared to have taken is one of “house churches” or family churches. They usually met in homes and often in a larger home that could accommodate the congregation. There may have been lots of these “house churches” in Corinth when Paul was there.  So the temples or churches to worship in were not separate structures that existed just as a church, but a home that housed a congregation. So it is easy to see how this structure could reflect the idea that Mrs. Eddy states above, a church that is not a building that houses God, or accommodates worship of God, but rather a home that is filled with believers, a community that is there to express their living faith. (If you do a Google search, “Early Christian Worship in Corinth” you find lots of sites with similar info.)
In this week's lesson we will see how this God is expressed, lived not in temple or in matter, but in active witnesses to the reality of Soul, God. Not conforming to matter but transforming the world.  
 
Responsive Reading: Romans 12, 8, and 6
J.B. Phillips has an outstanding and memorable translation of Romans 12:1-2:
“With eyes wide open to the mercies of God, I beg you, my brothers, as an act of intelligent worship, to give Him your bodies, as a living sacrifice, consecrated to Him and acceptable by Him.  Don't let the world around you squeeze you into its own mould, but let God re-mould your minds from within, so that you may prove in practice that the Plan of God for you is good, meets all His demands and moves towards the goal of true maturity.”  [On divine molding: “Desire is prayer; and no loss can occur from trusting God with our desires, that the may be moulded and exalted before they take form in words and in deeds.” S&H 1:11]
 
An interesting way of looking at these verses from the perspective of the Comforter is that our bodies do not make demands on us. But rather we dedicate or present our bodies to God to regulate, order, renew, or restore. As someone might dedicate their business to the Lord, know that it is His, and it is to serve Him, so we might realize that our bodies are there to bear witness to God. And we are not then governed by the body, but we let God govern the body. Isn't this a form of spiritualizing existence?
 
Rom 8:22,23   NLT – For we know that all creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. 23 And even we Christians, although we have the Holy Spirit within us as a foretaste of future glory, also groan to be released from pain and suffering. We, too, wait anxiously for that day when God will give us our full rights as his children, including the new bodies he has promised us
 
Section 1: Soul, God the life of man.
The physical body does not define man and is not the identity of man. Recently my son, Noah, and I had a little talk about Stephen Hawking, the famous physicist, writer, thinker, and speaker.  (Noah has a book written by Hawking and his daughter.)   Although greatly limited in bodily movement, ways have been found allowing Hawking to speak and write.  Yes, Stephen Hawking gives public lectures. He even appeared on the animated American TV series “The Simpsons”. And even though the “body” would try to limit his expression of ideas, ways have been found to enable him speak and write.  There are no limits to the expression of Soul.
This section of the Lesson allows us as Christian Scientists to break through the limits imposed on man as we change our concepts regarding the body and God. Both the Bible and Science and Health citations encourage and inspire us to discover that Soul is reflected by man, –“the genuine and perfect man, the immortal idea of being, indestructible and eternal.” …”Identity is the reflection of Spirit, the reflection in multifarious forms of the living Principle, Love. Soul is the substance, Life, and intelligence of man, which is individualized, but not in matter. Soul can never reflect anything inferior to Spirit.” (S-2)
These facts are daily expressed through demonstration of Christian Science healing. Years ago I fell from a 3-meter, cast aluminum step ladder, and landed right on top of one of the steps. Initially there seemed to be severe injuries to my arm and knee. I immediately turned from the accident to the facts of man as “indestructible and eternal.” (S-2)  The immediate effect was that I was able to walk and use my arm. I thought, “Oh, that wasn't such a fall.” And then I looked at the ladder. The step I landed on was turned inside out and broken in the middle!   My immediate realization, “Oh man is indestructible, as a spiritual idea!!”
 
Section 2: Living, moving, and having our being in God, Soul
In this section Paul tells us that we live, move, and have our being in God. (B-6)   This can help remove limits imposed by matter. “Soul and Spirit being one, God and Soul are one, and this one never included in a limited mind or a limited body.” (S-3)   “This is a leading point in the Science of Soul, that Principle is not in its idea.”
Two years ago my son, Johann, had a wonderful healing at CedarS. He had been playing in the cabin with his Trailblazer cabin mates. He really banged into his bunk and appeared to be severely injured. But the Science of Soul, almost immediately reversed this false evidence of injury.   When he first appeared at PAL house, (the practitioner's residence and office at CedarS), it was not a pretty sight to mortal sense. “To the five corporeal senses, man appears to be matter and mind united; but Christian Science reveals man as the idea of God, and declares the corporeal senses to be mortal and erring illusions.” (S-2) But as Papa, (the PAL practitioner that session), joined in prayer with Camp Director, Warren Huff, and Camp Founder, Ruth Huff, the body adjusted naturally and quickly. Evidence of a broken nose just faded away. And over the next couple of days all was healed and none of the wonderful activities of camp was missed. It is nice to learn that this “substance, Life, and intelligence of man” which is Soul (S-2) is the true identity of our beloved children and is demonstrable here and now. Their indestructibility, the “superstructure of Truth” is manifest. Kind of cool for kids to discover that even more than Superman, their spiritual identity equips them better than some alien shield or special force field. Although Johann is still not able to jump over tall buildings or run faster than a speeding bullet, with a little more practice, who knows?
 
Section 3:  Trying to “get up” to God always confuses.
When was the last time you yelled at God? You know, really praying hard, even shouting hoping that He would hear you in your need? Come on, we've all done it. Hey God, can't you hear me? And it all starts when we believe we are separated from God in some way. Like God is up in the sky and we are down on earth. Or what about the story we read in (B-8) Genesis 11. These folks were not only trying to “get up to God,” when they were getting close, the rug was pulled out from under them.
You know the phrase “the Tower of Babel” does not actually appear in the Bible; it is always, “the city and its tower” (אֶת-הָעִיר וְאֶת-הַמִּגְדָּל) or just “the city” (הָעִיר). Originally the city receives the name “Babel”, from the word from ancient Hebrew, “balal”, meaning to jumble. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tower_of_Babel)
 Although no actual Tower of Babel has been found archeologically, there was a tradition in ancient Babylon (now Iraq) of building a kind of flat-topped pyramid. These were called Ziggurats. Sometimes their base was around 100 meters by 100 meters and they did rise up pretty high. You can find out more at the following Wikipedia page. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ziggurat
Let's face it, everything gets jumbled up when we think we are separate from God. And when we start building our human pride to the sky, look out.   But another interesting thing from this story is the idea that mankind's interests and “the Lord's” interests were in competition. After all “the Lord said,…let us go down, and there confound their language.” (B-8) There are some other stories in the Bible where the seeming competition between “the Lord” and man leads to confusion, like the Adam and Eve story. A confused idea about God always seems to lead to confusion in human existence.
What a difference a little understanding makes. Citations S-6 through S-12 uncover this confusing “balal”, jumble of human theories and beliefs.  The Science and Health citations clearly uncover the shaky foundation of “unnecessary knowledge” (S-9) and encourage to learn “how Spirit, the great architect, has created men and women in Science. We ought to weary of the fleeting and false and to cherish nothing which hinders our highest selfhood.” (S-12)
Some years ago I received a call at night. An elderly friend appeared to have had a stroke. Her speech seemed limited and confused. I immediately went to her house.   She was alone, the grandchildren were off at college, and her daughter was away on business. We sat together and I read from Science and Health. She drifted off to sleep. I continued to read out loud from our textbook. It was amazing to see how many of the ideas applied directly to the human situation at hand. After some hours I also went to sleep in the chair where I was sitting. Morning came; we both awoke, and rejoiced together as all evidence of slurred speech and confusion were just gone. There had been no need of “shouting” to get God's attention, the God that never contends with man, but always cherishes His creation, was present from the first moment. The “Babel. Self-destroying error; a kingdom divided against itself, which cannot stand; material knowledge.” (S-6) , the tower of Babel, had been replaced by “the temple, or body, “whose builder and maker is God.” (S-11) God, Soul never contends with man, but blesses and is ever-present to heal and save.
 
Section 4: Don't listen to temptations, hear the freedom of Soul, (Quack, quack)
Recently I listened to a tiny part of an Oprah Winfrey show.  (Yep, just as she is about to leave the air waves, even Germany gets to watch Oprah!)  The guests were evidently a well-known couple in America.   I did not know who they were. But the husband had obviously been unfaithful and was trying to rebuild trust in his marriage. He outlined the steps he took in daily life to reassure his wife and to protect his experience from a repeat offence.    There was a lot of wisdom, respect and love in what he did. He could have learned a lot from Joseph. But he was doing everything he could to make it right again.
Joseph in the meanwhile got it right the first time. (B-12) He was tempted not just once, but repeatedly, “And it came to pass, as she spake to Joseph day by day, that he hearkened not unto her, to lie by her, or to be with her.”   Way to go, Joseph!   Another great reason for daily study of the Lesson. It keeps us “waterproofed”;  it reminds us daily who we are. Rather than the “day by day” taunts of error, we rejoice in the “daily proofs” of God's care.
Here is a good lesson in defense against sensualism. Perhaps you know the story about ducks and waterproofing.   Yes, ducks do have an oil gland located at the base of their tail.  They use their beaks to take oil from this gland and then spread it on their feathers. This cleans and grooms the feathers. But it does not “waterproof” the feathers. The waterproofing comes from the feathers very own make up and structure, their design.   The feathers are designed to shed water.  Feathers come in several forms, but they are all made up of the same basic parts, though those parts may be absent or rearranged a bit, depending on the main function of the feather.  And these feathers are designed to be waterproof. You can read more at: http://www.poultryconnection.com/quackers/feathers.html
But I love the idea that the actual structure, design of the duck's feathers are made to repel the water that might make life just a little cold, damp, and miserable. Just like life can seem when we have let the coldness of sensuality deprive us of our native rights.
So it is with you and me, by design, by make-up, by our Soul-derived purity, we are made to naturally resist evil in every form. No claim of addiction or false attraction can get to us, when we remember how we're made! [“Self-knowledge” is the “first stage of growth” that our CedarS family is striving to live this summer so as to make “healing not guesswork …. but instantaneous cure.” (Misc. 355:12) True self-knowledge shows us that] we are designed for purity, dominion, and self-government.
 “To hold yourself superior to sin, because God made you superior to it and governs man, is true wisdom.” (S-13) “God has endowed man with inalienable rights, among which are self-government, reason, and conscience.” (S-17) We are made to be free.
 
Section 5: Hearing unobstructed, I will listen….
Do you believe that hearing is based on physical structure and organized matter? Can you name the parts of the human ear that do the “hearing?” Are any of these organic parts keeping you from hearing clearly? Then, could you please explain this to me: A group of enthusiastic, joy-filled, bubbling-over teenagers are riding in a car. They are all talking at once. It is a real “balal” of sound, a jumble. Almost a roar. The radio is on. And suddenly the favorite song of one of the teenagers comes on. Stop, quiet! I have seen this happen so many times. Through the babble they hear what they love.  To me, it illustrates that we hear what we want to hear. That hearing is an active faculty. It is learned, and practiced. It is attentiveness, it is active listening. And when hearing seems impaired we begin our freedom as we “listen attentively” to Soul. [The same benefits of attentive listening applies to memory and to any upcoming tests of it. As Grace Wasson once said: “Where there's loving attention, memory is inevitable.”]   Teenagers “hear” [and remember the names, people, facts and] songs they love. And everyone has a right to hear [and to remember] the song they love, the song of the universe, the one song of harmonious creation. 
It is a spiritual acuteness of faculties. “Divine Science reveals sound as communicated through the senses of Soul-through spiritual understanding.” (S-20)
Jesus knew that hearing was a spiritual faculty and he opened the channels for this to be made manifest. And when his patient was hearing properly, clear speech followed. (B-17) There was no blockage to true communication.   “When it is learned that the spiritual sense, and not the material, conveys the impressions of Mind to man, then being will be understood and found to be harmonious.” (S-21)
When I was around 8 or 9 my mom became concerned that our house had a problem with termites. (These insects eat wood and are very common in Florida.)   Mom heard them chewing the wood in a wall and called an exterminator to get rid of them. She told the man exactly where they were in the wall. I was standing there when she pointed to the place. The man simply said, “Lady, nobody can hear termites in the wall.” And he began his plans to use a drill and make lots of probes in the wall to find out where the termites were. My mom insisted that he first look exactly where she said. And to his complete amazement the problem with the termites was exactly where my mom said they were. He was able to treat the area successfully with very little mess. And our termite problem was solved. Now there is a practical illustration of acute hearing that goes beyond what even experts say is possible. 
I love the thought, “If the medium of hearing is wholly spiritual, it is normal and indestructible.” (S-20)
A poem from our Leader includes the line, “I will listen for Thy voice…” Feed My Sheep, by Mary Baker Eddy. At the age of eight, Mary began to hear voices calling her name; she would go to her mother only to learn that her mother had not called her.  In her autobiography, Mary Baker Eddy relates one of these later experiences:
“One day, when my cousin, Mehitable Huntoon, was visiting us, and I sat in a little chair by her side, in the same room with grandmother, – the call again came, so loud that Mehitable heard it, though I had ceased to notice it. Greatly surprised, my cousin turned to me and said, 'Your mother is calling you!' Retrospection and Introspection p. 8 Finally, after speaking with her mother, the child Mary responded to the voice with the phrase from Samuel 'Speak, Lord; for Thy servant heareth.' ” When the call came again I did answer, in the words of Samuel, but never again to the material senses was that mysterious call repeated.” [Ret. p. 9]
“It is possible that the impressions from Truth were as distinct as sound, and that they came as sound to the primitive prophets.” (S-20)
 
Section 6: Spiritual Vision, blindness healed
It clearly states in Psalms 146 that, “The Lord openeth the eyes of the blind”. (B-18) Why is that nowadays thought to be a “thing incredible”? (See Acts 26:8) Why are we so ready to limit God in what we accept that He did and will do?
Although the world always looks to organs for sight and hearing, are we the only ones that have witnessed God's healing power, including healings of deafness and blindness?   You might be surprised. But the aggressiveness of the world and matter-based systems to monopolize often leaves a false impression of what is really going on.
“Recollections from an Indian missionary”
Dr. Paul Pilai is the Founder and Director of India Inland Mission, which plants churches among Hindus and has orphanages and a Bible College of 600 for training evangelists and pastors.  Formerly a Hindu lawyer, Paul was converted when healed through an Indian Christian's prayer.
The chief in another village became blind for three years. His eyes were opened through our laying on hands and praying.  The village came to Christ.   A large gathering came to hear the gospel in another village. A militant Hindu group organized a riot against it and tried to stop the meeting.  Our people started praying together in the spirit.  Suddenly thunder and lightning came.  The leader of the gang which attacked us became totally blinded.  That stopped the riot and the meetings continued for five days.  On the fifth day the leader of the riot who was blinded came forward for healing.  Jesus healed him and he accepted Christ and was baptized as a believer in Christ.” http://www.ukapologetics.net/lightning.html
“Firstly, my antipodean counterpart, Daryl Francis, District Manager for Australia and New Zealand, writes:  No two ways about it, Christian Science does heal.  A few years back my sight was restored, quite literally, through applying the principles of Christian Science.  At one point I simply could not see anything in front of me – whatever I thought to look at just seemed to disappear.  Let's just say it made crossing the road a bit tricky, and reading was impossible.   The healing was rapid, though the issue tried to resurface every so often for a few months.  Each time, I went back to what I knew to be true about God, and my indestructible relationship to Him – the principles of Christian Science – and the symptoms were reversed rapidly. They lost their hold on me as my fear of them diminished. My vision has been excellent for years now.” http://christiansciencecomsuk.wordpress.com/2011/03/09/healing-prayer-narrative-does-deteriorating
As I began to prepare for lecturing some years back I was asking my mom about healings in our family and early contacts with Christian Science. She related that there had been countless incidents of healing over a total of over four generations, including the healing of blindness. Both a great, great aunt and my great grandfather were healed of blindness.
 “Whatever is governed by God, is never for an instant deprived of the light and might of intelligence and Life.” (S-23) “Neither age nor accident can interfere with the sense of Soul, and there are no other real senses. …and there is no oblivion Soul and its faculties.” (S-24)
 
Section 7: Christian Science reveals, “Man as the expression of Soul.” (S-28)
Our Golden Text quoted Paul's letter to the Corinthians, 1 Corinthians 3, “the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are. ” In our last section we find, (B-23) 1 Corinthians 6:20, “therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's”
In this week's Lesson we have learned that Soul is reflected by man and that man is “the offspring of Soul.” (S-25) We have learned that “error will cease to claim that soul is in body, that life and intelligence are in matter…”(S-26).     And we have seen that Christian Science “lifts the veil of mystery from Soul and body.” (S-27) The result, we see that, “Man is the expression of Soul.” (S-28)
And who is it that shall forward our progress. Who is going to take care of you, heal you, get you out of the [old man, “moldy-oldie”, crystallized lies and] limitations of a matter body, why of course it is your creator, your Father-Mother.
 
J. B. Phillips translation tells us, “In this work, we work with God, and that means that you are a field under God's cultivation.    The foundation is laid already, and no one can lay another, for it is Jesus Christ himself.”   (B-22)   And in the NIV “For we are co-workers in God's service; you are God's field, God's building.”
We are not subject to the “Jell-O Mold” of matter's claims. Our identity is safe in God's, Soul's loving, tender care. And is this practical, is the knowledge of Soul's call to us something you can depend on, of course, in little and big ways.
To wrap up, here is something I just received, a little, but powerful, example!
A friend wrote:  “My girlfriend was leaving a baseball game with her five grandsons.  All but the littlest one plays baseball, but he attends all their games.  As they were heading to where the car was parked, the little fellow ran ahead on the gravel walkway, stumbled and went sliding headlong.  One of his older brothers immediately shouted, “SAFE!” as though a base run had been made.
Everyone laughed and the toddler picked himself up without a tear and without hurt–he was indeed safe.  Isn't that a great way to 'throw error overboard' with the shout “SAFE!” (untouched, upheld in Love).”
Soul holds each of us, cultivates us (B-22), eternally safe in our unbounded identity as “the expression of Soul.”

 [CEDARS weekly “Mets” or Metaphysical Newsletters, Possible Sunday School Topics (PSSTs) and Possible Younger Class Lessons (PYCLs) are all provided at no charge to the 1,200 campers and staff blessed each summer at CEDARS–as well as to thousands of CEDARS alumni, families, Sunday School teachers and friends who find these “Mets”, PSSTs and PYCLs weekly on our website or through CS Directory. We need generous contributions ASAP to complete our new Bible Time Travelers Trail and other fun additions to Bible Lands Park before Opening Day. Other CedarS needs are spelled out at http://www.cedarscamps.org/giving/ Just click here to use a credit or debit card (Visa, Mastercard, American Express, or Discover card) or a virtual check to make monthly and one-time donations to CedarS' funds that support spiritual growth.  International supporters can give to CedarS via PayPal using built-in currency exchange rates by filling in an amount under International Donors and clicking on the “Donate Online” button.  
Please help fulfill our mission by telling every “un-camped” family you know about CedarS!  We'll gladly send them–and you–a DVD and more to help get them to camp – including info on: CedarS
programs for all ages; session dates & rates; online enrollment info; transportation;   financial aid forms; & more.]
 [Camp Director's Note: This sharing is the latest in an ongoing, 11-year series of CedarS Bible Lesson “Mets” (Metaphysical application ideas) contributed weekly by a rotation of CedarS Resident Practitioners and occasionally by other metaphysicians.  (Ask and look for “Possible Sunday School Topics “and “Possible Younger Class Lessons”  in subsequent emails.) 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”and Sunday School ideas  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.]
 Enjoy!    Warren Huff, Executive Director  
director@cedarscamps.org

Possible Sunday School Topics for “Soul and Body”

The Christian Science Bible Lesson for Sunday, May 22, 2011
By Steve Henn, St. Louis, Mo steven.henn@gmail.com
 
PSST Overview:
Check out and discuss these Qualities present in this lesson
 
Extreme Worth
PSST Golden Text: 1 Corinthians
Do your students see themselves as holy seats for God, Truth? Jesus calls his body a temple before his crucifixion, the temple he raises in three days. If our bodies are temples, how should we treat them? If our thought is a temple, what should we let in to it? Use this conversation to combat the pressures surrounding your students to change who they are because they need to be something more…pretty, strong, macho, etc…
 
Selfless Service
PSST Responsive Reading: Romans
Why should we present ourselves as “a living sacrifice”? Discuss possible motives for this type of thinking, and then look in the responsive readi

 
   

ngs for other possible reasons. Why would we resist making this sacrifice? What does it look like to actually make this sacrifice? Is there too much gloom and doom in this reading? Have your students seen even small ways in which the reasoning of Paul here has been evidenced?

Point out the statement “transformed by the renewing of your mind” and ask what that looks like to your student. How does this transformation relate to the subject of Soul and Body?
In reference to the final citation of the responsive reading, ask your students, what is worth doing; what goals or purposes in life are worthy of an immortal dedication?
 
Our True Home
PSST Section 1: Leviticus, Ezekiel, Psalms, II Corinthians, I Corinthians
If God is our Father/Mother, consider how close that puts us to Him. We are always welcome in Her house. Perhaps this section can lead to a conversation on belonging. Where do your students truly belong? Where can they feel perfectly at home? If they are welcome in the home of God, the house of the Lord, how valuable must they be? Help your students both belong, and see their self worth throughout these citations.
Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures
Why does Mrs. Eddy begin her response to the question, “What are body and soul” with a discussion about identity? How does this section transform or challenge our current sense of identity? Do your students have a strong sense of their own identity right now? If so, what is it based on? If not, how can they use Christian Science to get a firmer sense of who they are, where they belong, and what/where they can call home?
 
God's Continual Service
PSST Section 2: Acts
Observe the use of present tense in this citation. Discuss with your students the importance of this. Do they recognize that God is, right now, providing breath, life and all things? Do they currently seek God in all they do? What does it mean for your students that in God we all live, move, and have our being? What does that look like in sports, academics, relationships? You might find out which areas of life your students find it most difficult to apply Christian Science. I have been surprised by the diversity of difficulties among high schoolers I have known. Some don't see it applying to sports, some athletics, some other areas. Ultimately it does apply everywhere, as this citation suggests. So expose those false assumptions that there is a place God does not fit, and discuss them.
Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures
The central point of this section appears to be that God is not in man, Mind is not in the brain, Life is not in the body. If these eternal truths are not in matter, where do they reside? How does this response impact our relationship to God? Is God more applicable to our lives or less if She is not in matter?
 
True Religion
PSST Section 3: Lamentations, Genesis, Isaiah, Psalms
The Bible gives us a story of imperfection, the town of Babel, infamously known for its ambitious tower. In this section of the Bible we also read about a city of confusion. What does this have to do with Soul and Body? How does material ambition impact our experience? What happens when we attempt to work for our own glory? Consider opening up the Bible to show your students the whole story of Babel. 
Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures
If a mortal, material, selfish foundation is not the foundation of true religion, what is? Hint: look in the marginal notes of SH12. Then open up the Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures to see what else is in this paragraph. Perhaps the best part about this section is that it gives us a roadmap to this true foundation. Spend time with your students looking for that roadmap. Ask them how they know if they are on the path or not. Ask them what the benefits are of being on this true path. Invite their challenges to this idea and then read with them the citations laid out here as a response to their challenges.
 
Moral Courage
PSST Section 4: Leviticus, Genesis, 1Corinthians, Galatians
How much of Joseph's story do your students know? When it comes to moral courage, Joseph, at this point in his career, is with it. But what does it buy him? He gets falsely accused of a pretty bad crime. How will your students respond when they are presented with this type of temptation? While this situation is not a happy one, the end of Joseph's story is, and it all has to do with his moral courage. What gave him this courage? How can your students build up this same courage as they move forward into situations where others will want to tempt them, just like Joseph was tempted here? And what of Potiphar's wife? Is she to be blamed? How will your students view those who are tempting them?
Again the metaphor of a temple is brought out. What does this metaphor say about each one of us? How does this metaphor help us resist temptation?
Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures
The basis of moral courage, according to Mrs. Eddy, is the change of base in our thought. What does that change of base look like? This section gives a number of ideas for the right and wrong basis of thinking. What makes up these two disparate foundations? How can your students be sure to develop strong moral courage? How can your students feel truly connected to moral courage that is their own, not just a set of rules someone else set down for them?
 
Witness to Listen
PSST Section 5: Psalms, Acts, Mark
Who is Jesus to your students? To some, he may be a mystery, not that his name would be unfamiliar, or that his acts would sound strange to them, but for someone who has not really considered Jesus' place in history, he could simply be an aberration, an outlier. In reality, he is our great example of how we should live, how we should relate to Christ every day. Is each student of yours willing to praise the work of the Christ they see today? Is each one listening closely enough to discern when Christ is speaking and when what we hear is only temptation?
Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures
How do we hear? Do various pressure changes in our ear drums cause us to hear? If all communication truly comes from God to His idea, then ear drums must not matter at all. This is not only important for people dealing with the belief of deafness, but for those of us who believe we hear with our ears…do we still “hear not”? Look at what Mrs. Eddy says about the great composers of our past, their hearing was much more tuned in than any HD receiver today. How do we hear that well? Begin with witnessing, then listen for more. What of the Christ do your students witness on a daily basis? What is God speaking to them each moment.
 
Believe and See
PSST Section 6: Psalms, James, Matthew
Notice the order of events in this healing, first faith, then healing. Can it be any other way? Help your students open their eyes to the infinite possibilities of Spirit to help them realize what is truly available to them through Christ. Look at James to discover the true source of our good gifts. If this is our true source, what can we not expect to receive? Help your students unlimit their expectations of good through an understanding of the inexhaustible nature of God, good.
 Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures
Notice that all the power present in the healing described in Matthew is clearly explained in this section. To avail ourselves of the power of Spirit, we must aquatint ourselves closely with Spirit. What does this section teach us about Truth, Life and Love? How can we more clearly know our Father, Mother better? Get very closely acquainted with Her, and watch the fireworks unfold.
 
Wholeness

PSST Section 7: Luke, I Corinthians, I Thessalonians
What are the qualities expressed in wholeness? What does our whole body express? Does wholeness suggest any sense of division, duality? Remember that the first lie was a lie of duality, separation: the idea that there is some power apart from God. Help your students recognize the importance of singularity and the resultant wholeness of a singular thought. One is a very powerful number.
Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures
What is the true idea of Soul? Look in this section for the attributes of Soul. Help your students walk away from class today with a much clearer sense of what Soul really is. How does this idea of Soul connect to the idea of wholeness presented in the Bible?


[PYCLs: Think like an architect; eliminate double-minded confusion & be filled with light!]
Possible Younger Class Lesson ideas for the Christian Science Bible Lesson
“Soul and Body” for 5/22/11
By Kerry Jenkins, CS of House Springs, MO: kerry.helen.jenkins@gmail.com (314) 406-0041
[with brackets by Warren Huff, CedarS Director, who reminds you that “It’s never too late–for you or your students–to have a happy childhood!”  May 27-30 Memorial Family Weekend; Aug. 14-18 Family Camp; & Sep. 15-18 Bible Conference]

[PCYL options: try thinking like architect; create a sanctuary.]
There are so many references this week to “temple”, “sanctuary”, “building”, “house”, “tabernacle”, “dwellings”, and so on that I think that we might try thinking like architects.  [As a registered architect, I (Warren) found inspiration in thinking about the 10 Commandments as God’s Architectural Specifications for us as described in an online met called “Ye are God's building:” 10 Specs for your soul & body by “Spirit, the great architect”.]

We can try building blocks like last week with new labels, or a big sheet of butcher paper on which we can design a “temple”; these things can be comprised of the qualities that make up God's “building”.  A discussion preceding construction can include ideas of what they think God's “house” might look like.  What sort of shelter does it afford?  How would it make you feel?  Would your sanctuary have pillows?  Blankets?  A lamp?  A favorite stuffed animal or book?  What do these things represent?  Would our sanctuary be full of Love, shelter us from storms, heat, cold? Keep us safe from evil or fear, give us peaceful, confident thoughts, fill us with joy, creativity, inspiration?  Think about the last line of the 23rd Ps and its spiritual translation in the textbook, “I will dwell in the house of the Lord [the consciousness of Love] forever.”  Would your sanctuary have a really great friend in it or a mom and dad?  With the little guys you could actually bring in things to make a cozy, “safe”, “sanctuary” and talk about it while snuggling in this created space.  We've talked about a sanctuary in a previous lesson and another spot might be under the table with a blanket or sheet over the top to create a private, “secret” place.  They could each hold a stuffed animal if that's not too distracting.  And again you could construct with blocks or draw on a large sheet of shared paper or individually.

[PCYL option:
Find a spiritual way to think of body shape, height, athletic ability, looks, etc.]
With older kids…how does this structure/temple compare with how we see our bodies?  Do we feel happy that we are fast runners, good dancers, swimmers or singers?  Are we disappointed with our bodies, our shape, height, athletic ability, looks, etc?  Find a spiritual way to see and think of your body.  For example: if you think you are not athletically gifted, try switching gears to think of all the ways you described “the temple of God”.  How might we see our “bodies” this way?  What is the point of a more unlimited view of ourselves?  Is it just to run faster, etc.?  Wouldn't that just be “better matter”?  Is there anything wrong with wanting to be faster, or …?  Maybe we can look at Mrs. Eddy's passage about prayer being desire and how we can allow that desire to be “…molded and exalted…”  Our body is an expression of our thought, what does that say about our thoughts?  You get the picture; the questions kind of keep going on.
 
[PCYL option: Discuss the double-minded confusion of a false sense of identity and body.]
Interestingly, the price of not understanding the true nature of temple is confusion.  We look to matter to set things right-adults look to money for security, diet and exercise for good bodies.  This is their tower of Babel and it gets torn down all the time as we keep trying and trying to solve our dissatisfaction through a false sense of our nature-the nature of God's man.  With kids-what “confuses” them?  Maybe when they listen to body to tell them whether they feel good or are hurt/sick.  Instead they can turn to that sanctuary/temple/consciousness of Love to give us right information.
 
[PCYL option: Knock over wobbly, skinny towers of Babel and discuss why “wider is better”.]
With your blocks if you have chosen them, show how a narrow base to a tall tower will lead to the tower's destruction. While a wide base gives a strong foundation and the building can be built tall and sturdy.  This narrow base can be likened to the shaky base that matter gives us when we build our identity on physique.  The small base represents the limiting nature of matter, while the large base represents the unlimited strength and abilities of Spirit.  Littler children will enjoy knocking over the wobbly skinny towers and seeing how tall they can stack a wider tower.  You might be able to use cardboard boxes if you have enough of them.  It may be fun to recall last week's definition of Church with the older ones, where it talks about the structure being based on Principle.  Also interesting to note that the Babel story illustrates the fact that the more we try to use matter to reach God or to “improve”, the farther we feel from Him and from our fellow man!
 
[PCYL option: talk about how Joseph brought his sanctuary with him to the pit, prison…]
This part of the story of Joseph might need to be modified slightly to apply more generally to running away from temptation.  I love that when temptation reaches out and “grabs” him he literally leaves his coat behind in the effort to get out of that house.  Is that house kind of the opposite of God's sanctuary?  Maybe you could talk about the way that Joseph brought his sanctuary with him pretty much everywhere he went, whether in the pit, in that house, or in prison.  How can we “bring” our sanctuary/God's sanctuary with us?  You could talk to the littlest ones about thoughts that they should “run” from.  Maybe they could take turns running away from bad “suggestions” using their fingers, or a small plastic animal or something like that.
 
[PCYL option: Demonstrate being “filled with light with no dark corners … your whole life … radiant, as though a floodlight were filling you with light”.  
The sections about hearing and vision are so lovely.  Maybe just broach the subject that these senses are completely spiritual.  What does that mean?  Like our discussion of body in general, these senses really have nothing to do with matter.  What does that really mean?  I think the passage from Luke (B21) is really fun to work with specifically.  Verse 34 from The Message is inspiring “your eye is a lamp lighting up your whole body.  If you live wide eyed in wonder and belief, your body fills up with light”.  And the New International Version says: “Your eye is a lamp that provides light for your body. When your eye is good your whole body is filled with light.  If you are filled with light with no dark corners, then your whole life will be radiant, as though a floodlight were filling you with light”.  Those are some powerful images to work with and share in a Sunday School class!  My four-year-old likes to share the short Bible verse “let your light shine”.  (sort of a paraphrase, but he gets the gist of it).  So I think that any age can work with these ideas of shining so that there are no “dark corners” –confusion? Clearly here the writer is not talking about the “eyeball”, so our discussion of what the eye represents is helpful.
 
As always, have a good time with your class!
 

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