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[Walk ABOVE all waves of unreality—knowing “God is great, God is good!” (P.S.)]
Metaphysical Application Ideas for the Christian Science Bible Lesson on

“UNREALITY”
for Sunday, October 5, 2014

by Peggy Watkins, CS, Lakeland, FL
watkinspeggy.unLtd@gmail.com 863-802-3525

[Bracketed italics added by CedarS Director, Warren, who’s very grateful for gifts to support our staff & to upgrade our sound system for the Oct. 3rd TMCYouth College Summit & beyond!]

 Hi Campers! [and your fans!]  What a joy to study with you all this week, as we see God, Spirit as the only reality, embracing each of us in the universal family of one God, good. 

The Holy Bible is our guidebook, our instruction manual for immortality.  In it we see the spiritual laws and instructions that point the way to see a happy, harmonious life forever.  Cars, cell phones, electronics, and appliances come with an owners’ manual, to solve common problems, answer frequent questions, and instruct how to get the most useful lifetime of the product.  The first Tenet of Christian Science tells us that the inspired teachings of the Bible are essential for us.  “1. As adherents of Truth, we take the inspired Word of the Bible as our sufficient guide to eternal Life.” SH 497:3   Wow, what an important guide! Let’s keep our eye on eternal Life!

This week’s Bible Lesson Sermon on “Unreality”, is sandwiched between the Lesson Sermons on “Reality” and “Are Sin, Disease and Death Real?”  Obviously, these three Bible Lessons studied in order, guide us to realize reality so clearly that it becomes easy to tell the difference between what is real and unreal.

Golden Text:  Sing unto God, sing praises to his name:  … he bringeth out those which are bound with chains: (Psalms 68:4 (to:), 6 he (to 2nd:) 

Let’s celebrate mentally with singing, dancing and great rejoicing, since God’s love is never ending, always present and all powerful!  Concerns fall away and disappear, while trusting in the constancy of God’s goodness.  Sing along with Pharrell Williams and friends, “Because I’m happy -Clap along if you feel like a room without a roof [unlimited joy]- Because I’m happy – Clap along if you feel like happiness is the truth ”.  Declare: I am endlessly happy, because I worship a happy God!  We are singing, clapping, and dancing with glee in the certainty of the name and nature of God’s goodness and everlasting love. 

Responsive Reading:
These passages are the word of God as understood and written by the prophet, Jeremiah, a well-known spiritual seer (see-er).  According to The Interpreters One Volume Commentary of the Bible, these verses are specifically reversing any former prophecies of doom, with The Book of Comfort (Jeremiah 30:1-31:40) restoring hope and God’s covenant or endless promise for all the Hebrew people, referred to as Jacob and his spiritual name, Israel .

The entire lesson this week on “Unreality” is based on seeing spiritually, as God the all-seeing sees.  Jeremiah shares what God is doing, so we are assured that no matter what distress or stress we are experiencing, we are rescued by God’s law of good, the only power present.  With certainty, we can depend on the presence of good.  Discouragement or fear for the future, next week, or before a test, cannot worry us, because God is with us, and we know it!  God fills all space, every moment and every place throughout the universe, forever.

Note the certainty of verse 7,” yet he shall be rescued from it.”  No matter when or what the distress, rescue is certain, for God is present and has all power.  Omnipresence!  Omnipotence!

God’s promise is with us regardless of any condition. CS Hymnal p. 389 promises: “While Thou, O my God, art my help and defender, No cares can o’erwhelm (overwhelm) me, no terrors appall; The wiles and the cares of this world will but render more lively my hope in my God and my all.”  So the worse things seem to be, the stronger our hope in the all-ness of God.   Speaking of wiles of the world, in the classic cartoons, Wiley Coyote tries repeatedly to catch Road Runner.  No harm comes to the Road Runner bird. Only Wiley suffers from his own wily tricks, the sly deceits, and many sneaky lures.  “Beep, beep” is all we hear as Road Runner goes safely on his way every time.

This passage ends with Verse 11, “For I am with you” (always ever present), “says the Lord, to save you;” (with my omnipotence, the one and only power).  Yea! 

Section 1:   All we can see is good, as the all-seeing God is good!
Citation B1: This is more than an instruction or warning, it is an affirmation. Since God is of purer eyes than to behold evil, since God is almighty good, we cannot be overcome by evil. 

The omnipresence and omnipotence of divine good overcomes any suggestion that evil has an influence that can trap or trick us. Understanding that there is one Mind, brings harmony and freedom.

Citation B3: We lean on, we trust God’s ever-presence and omnipotence, therefore limitations or fears (called bands, burdens, or yoke; also called chains in the Golden Text) fall away. God is protecting you. The Spirit of God has your back, in other words rear-guard or rere-ward.

Citation B4: The Glossary shares an inspired definition of “SPIRIT… all that is good; God; that only which is perfect, everlasting, omnipresent, omnipotent, infinite.” SH 594. When I see the phrase, “the Spirit of the Lord” I cherish that it includes all that is good.  We are filled with the grace, presence and power of God’s goodness.  There is no condition, situation, relationship or place where we could possibly be outside of the omnipotence, omniscience, omnipresence and omni-action of God, good.  We are filled with the Spirit of God, good, and are free.

 Section 2:  Elisha sees immortality instead of mortality!
We visit the prophet Elisha who discerns spiritually where the King of Israel and his men should be to avoid the increasing invasions from the Syrian army.  When the King of Syria learns that the action is being called by the prophet in Dothan, he sends his army to Dothan.  Elisha is not intimidated. Impressive!

As a native Floridian and alumni of Florida State University, one of my favorite college mascots is Chief Osceola and his Appaloosa horse, Renegade, who charge on the FSU (American football) field, to hurl a flaming spear into the turf at midfield before the game. I enjoy the spectacle of the historic Native American Chief on the beautiful spotted horse rearing up.  (Important note: this activity and costume has the approval of the Seminole Tribe of Florida.)  A former college football athlete on an opposing team says the Seminole warrior on horseback was the most intimidating mascot in his career. Although he was big and strong, it made him feel powerless and small.  He said, “I don’t think you realize how intimidating a horse and rider can be to a man on the ground.”  That makes me think of Elisha!

Not only was Elisha outnumbered and surrounded, by all accounts the Syrians were better equipped with the weapons of the day including horses and chariots. Gehazi was keenly aware of the situation of pending doom and death.  Elisha was even more keen to see the reality that only God had power, omnipotent Spirit, eternal Life.  God governs. God is Life.

(As read in last week’s lesson II Kings 2) Elijah had seen his mentor, the prophet Elijah, ascend to immortality in the Lord’s chariot of fire. He was able to share this insight of the presence of God so clearly that the Lord’s chariots of fire were seen all around them in Dothan, even by Gehazi. This story ends with the Syrians returning to Syria, unharmed after being fed by the King of Israel and healed by Elisha.  The invasions stopped.  The divine view did not see good guys and bad guys.  Good prevails, and man is seen as good, as the child of God.  This is still true for Syria and every country and government today.  It is the spiritual reality that we pray to see.  Man is governed by God, good. Citation SH 5 states that there can be only one God who is All-in-all. The first commandment guides us to have no other God than almighty good.  In citation SH 10 the all-knowing, all-seeing, omniscience of Spirit is expressed in man.  There is only one Mind.

Citation B6: Spirit, is the Lord of hosts, and sends as many angel ideas as you need to know there is no other might or power.

Section 3: Law and Light of Christ heals ills!
Citation B7 opens with the prophet Isaiah seeing God’s law in action, an endless promise for universal justice and light to all people. The next citation (B8) shows the fulfillment of this promise through the mission of Jesus Christ healing the ills (all sickness and sin) of all the people through the law of God.  

Citation SH14: The world has many counterfeits or false viewpoints changing all the time.  So we study what is real!  When I was hired to work for a big bank in Atlanta, Georgia, the head of security instructed all newcomers regarding counterfeit money.  Only a few common types of counterfeit USD bills were shown, since the tricks with fake money change all the time.  So, training was very specifically focused to confidently know what was real.  We identified, studied, and were tested on all the details of real currency.  When you work every day with real money, fake money becomes much easier to recognize as not real.  Fake money has no value.  When detected, it is always taken away, confiscated by the bank.

What God made is always good.  In reality, there will never be an element of sickness in God’s creation.  In citation SH15 Mary Baker Eddy tells us of an immediate healing of a woman suffering from a long lasting (chronic) stomach problem with many awful symptoms.  God’s law of ever-present good destroyed the false belief to restore harmony and health in moments.  Just as in citation SH 16 with a song, notes misplaced or mistakes played over the centuries, do not change the perfection of the original song (like Beethoven’s Ode to Joy, CS Hymn 58 (“Father, we Thy loving children lift our heart in joy today.”)  The mistakes were never part of the song or the harmony of the universe.  Our wholeness is real. 

 Section 4:  Seeing sinlessness heals!
The old saying, “Don’t take any wooden nickels!” jokingly reminds us to be alert not to accept a substitute for what is real.  A nickel is a five-cent metal coin.  It used to be made primarily of the metal nickel, and so the name.  Wood and metal do not have the same substance or qualities. So it would be ridiculous for anything wooden to be mistaken for nickel.  We cannot be fooled by the appearance of man as sick or sinful or incomplete. Man is immortal, not mortal.

In citation B11 Jesus saw the real identity and value of everyone as directly related to God, our Father, and brought this higher view of selfhood into focus to correct and heal sinful habits.  This spiritual standpoint corrected the judgments of the scribes and Pharisees, and restored right thinking and action to those who had been deceived by sin through the temptations of false pleasures, material sense.  Citation SH18 & 19: Jesus proved the omnipotence of Spirit, Truth.

Citation SH 20: Instead of judging sinners, we can choose to refuse to accept sin as real about anyone, since it is unreal.  Sin has no power to attract.  Sin has no hold on anyone’s thought or action.  The divine authority is always, “GOOD. God: Spirit” (The full quote is:  “GOOD. God; Spirit; omnipotence; omniscience; omnipresence; omni-action.” (SH 587:19)  That is all there is!

Section 5:  Always Present with the Lord!
While the disciples struggle with all kinds of conditions – weather, time and distance rowing a ship to Capernaum (in citation B14), Jesus walks across the sea, making fast progress to catch up to them although they have about a three mile/five kilometer headstart (see myBibleLesson, [and also a P.S. commentary by Cobbey Crisler on this event]).  How did Jesus do this?  He had no fear or concern of any condition or law of matter.  Matter is not real.  God, Spirit is real now.  As Jesus joins his fellows on their ship, their struggle is over, as they become present at their port destination immediately. As CS Hymn 136 states, “I love thy way of freedom, Lord . . . Till time and space and fear are naught (or nothing)”

Citation SH 26: There are no limits to spiritual good. Whether you are rowing, water skiing, driving, studying or praying for your day, the Scriptures are true, that with God, all good is possible, and nothing is impossible (B15).  Divine Principle is ever-present and does not change. 

Section 6:  Confidence in real freedom!
Man is sinless, pure and free by eternal law!  This is the truth of being.  As citation SH 31 states there is nothing material in it!  Citation B16 adds that God, Spirit is omniscience, the divine source of the consciousness of the Christ.  This is the only consciousness we have as the sons and daughters of God.  Citation SH30 has the margin heading of “Real and counterfeit” beside the statement: “The confidence inspired by Science lies in the fact that Truth is real and error is unreal.”  The all-knowing God, good, only knows the real.  Truth recognizes only what is true. God, the all-knowing, expresses in man all wisdom and intelligence.  This consciousness is holy.  Therefore, like prophets, we may spiritually see all that is good, and have dominion over any limitation through the omni-action of good.  Understanding the reality of eternity and immortality (like Elisha and Jesus), we consistently seek and see the truth of being everywhere!

As a child’s blessing begins, “God is great, God is good, Let us thank Him . . .” Love, Love, Love!


[Warren’s P.S. of Cobbey Crisler’s Commentary on John 6:18-21 (B14) for the 10-5-14 Christian Science Bible Lesson on Unreality
John 6:18. “The winds that come suddenly sweeping down from the east and the desert, or from the west and the Mediterranean, often stir the sea up without warning.  They [the disciples] are having trouble negotiating their little boat.  'And the sea arose by reason of a great wind that blew.'

John 6:19, “Jesus is having no trouble approaching them on the sea.” This shows that he wasn’t really walking on the surface of the sea at all.  As my father once pointed out, if the sea were churned up, walking would be more laborious than being in the boat.  Jesus, however, had a method that was revolutionary and less laborious.  He must be walking above the sea, not in the peaks and valleys.  And if he were, then it’s walking on air.  But what’s the difference?  They’re both rather difficult to do from the  human view of it.  This sounds mighty logical to me. 

John 6:20. When he gets near he says, 'It is I; be not afraid.'
John 6:21, 'They willingly receive him into the ship.'

They learn a lesson in transportation.  Space and time, as obstacles, can be overcome.  “Immediately the ship, the disciples, everybody is beached.  They’re right there at the destination.  It’s a wooden boat.  No one says it ended up in fragments. No one was holding their heads and complaining that they hit their head against a sonic boom or something.”
The Book of John, A Walk with the Beloved Disciple, p. 42]


The weekly Metaphysical Newsletter is provided at no charge to the 1,200 campers and staff blessed each summer at CedarS, as well as to CedarS alumni, families and friends who have requested it. However, current and planned gifts are a big help and are greatly appreciated in defraying the costs of running this service and of providing needed camperships, programs and operations support.  Click http://www.cedarscamps.org/giving/ for more about how you can provide even monthly support online.  Or you can always call the Huffs at 636-394-6162 get information or discuss privately how to transfer securities or other assets to help support and perpetuate CedarS work.

You can also MAIL your tax-deductible support to our 501C3 organiztion (#440-66-3883):

The CedarS Camps, Inc.        THANKS TO YOU PRECIOUS DONORS

19772 Sugar Drive                      FOR YOUR ONGOING, GENEROUS and NEEDED SUPPORT

Lebanon, MO 65536               OF CedarS IMPORTANT WORK!

LETTING 2 SPECIAL NEEDS BE KNOWN – Funding is still needed to help underwrite these special opportunities:

1        The College Summit (formerly CSO or "College Org" Summit) over the first weekend in October 2014 (Oct. 3-6) at CedarS for all college and university students and professors as well as high school juniors and seniors!  Here is a link so that you can help spread the word about this event sponsored by TMC Youth (The Mother Church Youth committee).  It includes workshops offered by Christian Science lecturers, speakers and writers for the Christian Science Monitor, Journal and Sentinel.  You can find details on program, registration and financial aid in the emailed links, on inside covers of recent periodicals, at tmcyouth.com & on CedarS website.  CedarS & our donors have already subsidized over $5,000 to cover our expenses for this event. About $2500 is getting our senior counselors here to serve as cabin hosts and help lead the daily 90-minute camp activity in exchange for their $125 registration fee and $25 bus fare from St. Louis. (We feel it's a worthwhile investment, as there's no better way to improve the quality of the staff than to encourage their spiritual growth year-round!) The other $2500 is going toward the $1,000 needed to upgrade our old sound system to make it completely reliable and fully FCC-compliant for wireless mic frequenciesGifts given here (as everywhere at CedarS) will keep giving for decades to come through our equipment and people!

2        "Maintenance Musts" Matching Opportunity!  Generous donors who are aware of the ongoing maintenance needed to have CedarS facilities measure up to its mission will give two dollars for every dollar donated by year-end! (up to our needed $25,000 goal)

3    “Adopt the Herd: Matching Opportunity! Generous donors who are aware of the ongoing horse care needed to have care of CedarS herd measure up to its mission will give a dollar for every dollar donated! (up to our needed $50,000 goal)


The Met application ideas above are provided primarily to help CedarS campers and staff (as well as friends) see and daily demonstrate the great value of studying and applying the Christian Science Bible lessons throughout the year, not just at camp!  YOU CAN ALSO SIGN UP for weekly emails from past CedarS staff of possible ways to share Bible Lesson applications with older, as well as younger, Sunday School classes by clicking the "Subscribe Now" button (lower left) at http://www.cedarscamps.org/metaphysical/ ]


[Additional Director's Note: You can sign up to have these application ideas emailed to you free – by Monday each week in English; or by each Wednesday you can get a FREE TRANSLATION: in German, thanks to Manfred and Jeanette; or in Spanish, thanks to a team of Ana, Erick, Claudia and Patricio, or in Portuguese, thanks to helpers of Orlando Trentini in Brazil.  A voluntary French translation by Rodger Glokpor, a Christian Scientist from Togo (West Africa) has been contributed.  Thank you, Rodger and all translators! Go to http://www.cedarscamps.org/ and click "Newsletters" to sign-up for a free translation into these languages.  This sharing is the latest in an ongoing, 13-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 emails to follow.) 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 serve as 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 and in a variety of useful formats 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-26) and the Christian Science textbook, Science and Health With Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy (S-1 thru S-32). 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.  http://www.cedarscamps.org/videos/

 

 

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