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[Cherish ALL divine Mind is and is doing! Persistently keep out the neighbor's cat (thoughts)!2]
Metaphysical Application Ideas for the Christian Science Bible Lesson on
“Mind”

For Sunday, August 20, 2017

By Peggy Watkins, C.S., Lakeland, Florida

(863 802-3525) ~ watkinspeggy.unltd@gmail.com

“All is infinite Mind and its infinite manifestation, for God is All-in-all.” (S30, p.468) I love to sing this refrain from the Scientific Statement of Being. It is an absolute truth, a law, that pops into thought often. Sing it any way you like. We know that Jesus sang hymns, including the Psalms. At CedarS Ski Camp, fourth session, campers were asked in our daily Bible Lesson Study to set the “fruits of the Spirit” Galatians 5:22, 25 to a rap beat. Ski Director Jake Roometua spontaneously rapped the verses. Wow! By the next day, campers had their own amazing and full version to perform. Infinite possibilities in divine Mind!

There is one Mind. The one Mind is All; all-knowing, all-wise; there is nothing more. “All is infinite Mind and its infinite manifestation, for God is All-in-all.” This familiar line from the scientific statement of being expresses the oneness and allness of God, of what God is, and what God is doing.

Golden Text— “Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ, Jesus:” Philippians 2:5

Jesus acknowledged only God: as his Father and our Father, as the only source, the only Mind, wisdom, law; the only will to be done; the only Word so we may listen and obey.

Responsive Reading (RR): What a great insight from Isaiah that The Only One God, Mind, is All. [And that this divine nature (or name) you cannot "take…in vain" (Exodus 20.7), because it never returns void, without accomplishing its holy purpose in you and in all. Isa. 55:11, RR]

Isaiah 14:24; 45:5, 6; 55:6,7(to:),8-12(to:)

“The Lord of hosts hath sworn, saying, Surely as I have thought, so shall it come to pass; and as I have purposed, so shall it stand:  I am the Lord, and there is none else, there is no God beside me: I girded thee, though thou hast not known me: (sing this with Hymn 444/new 499)

That they may know from the rising of the sun, and from the west, that there is none beside me. I am the Lord, and there is none else.

Seek ye the Lord while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near:

Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts:

For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord.

For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.

For as the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater:

So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.

For ye shall go out with joy, and be led forth with peace:”

Section 1—Only One Mind, All Good [Hear “It’s All Good” Daily Lift by Blythe Evans, CS]

Both citations B1 and S1 open this week’s lesson with what we recognize as the First Commandment of the Decalogue, the Ten Commandments: “Thou shalt have no other gods before me.” This is a foundational law. There is one God, Good, one Mind, which created and governs all. Therefore, it is our blessing to know, love and respect God, Mind, with all of our being, our heart, soul, mind, with every thought and breath. When we love someone, we love to think about them. First, we love God. Then, we understand and love our own identity as a child of God, our inseparable relationship with God as the full reflection of God, made by God. At the same time we completely recognize and love everyone else, all our neighbors the same way as children of God like ourselves.

Jesus Christ taught his disciples how to pray with what we now call the Lord’s Prayer. It is a God-centered prayer, beginning and ending with God. Look how perfectly our heavenly Father is also the one divine Mind.

“After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.” (Matthew 6:9-13)

Jesus affirms that our heavenly Father, God, Mind, is the only Father, Creator of all of us. Mind is holy and thinks holy thoughts, has a holy name and nature. Jesus taught the gospel of the kingdom, that there is one kingdom, the kingdom of Spirit, Mind, Love, and God’s purpose is being fulfilled. [This heavenly kingdom is orderly and harmonious and results in “healing all manner of sickness and all manner of disease.” (B3) & W’s PS#1, Cobbey Crisler on Matt. 4:23]

As Mary Baker Eddy states in citation S4, “God is Mind: all that Mind, God, is, or hath made, is good, and He made all.” (311:4-6)

Section 2—Not mine! That is not my cat!

Some thoughts present themselves to us as though they are our own thoughts, but they are not. Regardless, they try to keep our attention (B8) like the talking serpent in Genesis 2 that lies with false suggestions of more than one Mind. Often, this thinking includes general world thought, illness, limitations, fears, doubts or even talking body parts as though a knee, head, toe or elbow has the intelligence to speak or influence our right thinking. Matter does not report to God nor to us.

Often when people come to my front door, they comment on my beautiful cat or tell me that my cat wants in. But that cat is NOT my cat. It has a loving home with my neighbors, but he often rests on my sunny porch or on my plants. “Bob” comes inside my door every chance he gets. So I have to be more persistent to keep him out, than he is determined to welcome himself in my door. He may be a “good ol’ cat” but he can be disruptive to the harmony of our home since he is not always kind to my dog and cat, although he is happy to snack on their food or nap in their spot. Once when I was out of town, my neighbor called and asked if I had seen Bob. I told her that I was in Boston, and she said she knew where I was, but they had not seen Bob since I left. I explained that Bob had been eager to run inside, and I had put him out three times as I was trying to leave. With permission, she went in my house, where she found her very contented cat. He had torn into a bag of pet treats, and had everything he needed for a restful vacation (while my pets and I were away). He had slept on my bed and in my favorite chair. But Bob is not my cat. Nothing Bob can do or think will change the fact that he is not my cat. He does not belong to me. After many years of having this cat at my door ready to run in, of me chasing the cat through the kitchen or down the hall to catch him before he gets under my bed, I asked, “Father, tell me, what I need to know here.” The lesson I learned from Bob the cat is that: It doesn’t matter how often he comes. I must always be more alert and persistent to guard my door, my thought, than the cat is determined to come in. Just because everyone regularly assumes that Bob belongs here, does not make him mine. That is not my cat!

What God gives us is good, only good, and harmonious. It is not a mixture of good and bad, or both material and spiritual. Refuse to accept any other god, any strange thought, as real. God, good is All, there is nothing besides All.

In a paragraph titled: The divine completeness, Mary Baker Eddy says,“. . . all is Mind, and that Mind is God, omnipotence, omnipresence, omniscience, — that is, all power, all presence, all Science. Hence all is in reality the manifestation of Mind.” (S11, p. 275:21)

Section 3— Omni-action of the one Mind corrects any possibility of more than one mind. [See Warren’s CC insights in PS#3.]

We cannot begin with matter, and expect to find Spirit. There is no communication from matter to God, or from non-thinking matter, including brain or nerves, to us. Mind is the only source.

As citation S16 puts it, “Remember, brain is not mind.” (372:1)

In Luke 8 (B12), we find the account of a man being restored to his right mind. After years of being punished by the belief of more than one mind, possibly keeping count of wrongs, feeling judged, as well as his own judgments of village activity and attitudes (such as the pig farmers and villagers), a man meets Jesus Christ as his ship comes ashore. Although the Gadarene coast is Gentile country, not part of the land of the Jews, this man recognizes the presence and power of the Messiah. He experiences the correction from Jesus that there is One Father, Almighty Mind, God. God is the only Mind, and man must express this. In sharp contrast, the man refers to his human identity as Legion, as many minds, an entire, rowdy Roman military unit of four thousand to six thousand troops, definitely not the harmony of one Mind. The authority of the Christ has silently or aloud commanded, that the man be whole, and single-minded as God made him. The evil thoughts are afraid to be cast into the endless depths of the sea, and ask to be sent to the nearby herd of swine. The herd mentality immediately responds by plunging into the sea to their end. Evil is self-destroyed. This was a big thing for the villagers to see. It made a big impact on the villagers, not only to realize that evil turns and runs to destroy itself, but also that the man was unharmed, pure, healed, restored, whole and holy, and able to stay and minister to them as Jesus instructed him to do.

God is Right, with a capital R, the source of all that is right, and righteousness.

Our Golden Text theme is restated in citation B13: “Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 2:5)

Years ago as I was driving home, I felt ill with cold or flu type symptoms. I just wanted to go home and go to bed for a few days. But I knew that I did not have Kleenex tissues—or anything to make soup. So I began to make a mental shopping list of what I would need, dreading having to go to the store the way I felt. Suddenly, I realized that my shopping list was like preparing to entertain company, but the uninvited guest was symptoms of illness! I refused! No, I was not going to welcome, cook, or even buy tissues for illness. I certainly was not going to prepare to be sick. I went straight home instead, and knew that God could not send illness, that I would only entertain angels, God’s thoughts. I was healed quickly that day.

As citation S18 states “Every function of the real man is governed by the divine Mind. The human mind has no power to kill or to cure, and it has no control over God’s man. The divine Mind that made man maintains His own image and likeness.” (151:20-24)

Section 4—Don’t be impressed by the scene, heal it.

Sometimes folks are impressed by the drama of the mortal mind to control the body. Error isn’t real, so sometimes it acts very dramatic to try to convince us that it is real. Like a liar, who lies, and then says, “Honest, honest! For real!” Just because it is a big show doesn’t mean it is true.

In Luke 9 (B15) we find that the disciples are so impressed by the nature of an illness and its symptoms, that it is not immediately healed. (Hint: don’t be fooled by the material picture!) So, the parent asks Jesus to heal the boy— and the child is healed. I love the persistence and expectancy of the parent. Although everyone sees a debilitating lifelong condition, the dad has hope and expectation for a complete healing. Jesus is not considering the condition first, even when the condition seems to get worse, Jesus is looking to God, listening first and only to the divine Mind. This is the most scientifically effective “First Aid”—to turn to ever-present, omnipotent Mind to know and see what is always true. Jesus corrects his disciples by assuring them that they already know how to heal even dramatic-looking conditions. No fear, no doubt. God gives us an answer of peace. Whether the storm is harsh weather at sea, or severe illness in the family, the antics of mortal mind are overcome by the power and presence of God. There is only one Mind, and that Mind is God, good. God is All.

As citation S21 puts it, “Consciousness, as well as action, is governed by Mind, — is in God, the origin and governor of all that Science reveals. Material sense has its realm apart from Science in the unreal. Harmonious action proceeds from Spirit, God. Inharmony has no Principle; its action is erroneous and presupposes man to be in matter.” (480:10-16)

Citation S24 concludes “The understanding that the Ego is Mind, and that there is but one Mind or intelligence, begins at once to destroy the errors of mortal sense and to supply the truth of immortal sense. This understanding makes the body harmonious; it makes the nerves, bones, brain, etc., servants, instead of masters. If man is governed by the law of divine Mind, his body is in submission to everlasting Life and Truth and Love.” (216:11-18 )

Section 5—First deal with the dog.

Do not ignore the elephant in the room, stepping on tip toes to try to avoid the obvious. Recognize the fear that must be corrected, and correct it.

As citation B12 states “First bind the strongman.” (Mark 3:27) A neighbor dropped by to tell me that a worker might come while she was at an appointment, and that she had told the worker to come to me if she wasn’t home when he arrived, so I could deal with the dog. Happy to help! She had taken in a big dog whose previous owners had rewarded him for aggressive behavior. In the past, he has been known to bite. No one enters their home without dealing with the dog first.

So, what is the “strongman” or “big dog” in our healing work? Mortal mind. It may appear that it is the human body that needs healing attention. However, we are wisely advised: “We can never treat mortal mind and matter separately, because they combine as one.” (S29, p. 397) Since the “so-called mortal mind which directly controls the body,” (S26) then “The action of so-called mortal mind must be destroyed by the divine Mind to bring out the harmony of being.” (S27)

Harmonious being is best stated in the scientific statement of being (S30): “There is no life, truth, intelligence, nor substance in matter. All is infinite Mind, and its infinite manifestation for God is All-in-all.” (p. 468)

Just so you know, even the neighbors’ big dog is learning that aggression is not his job, that he doesn’t have to act that way, and certainly it is not the way God thinks. He still barks loudly when he sees me, but smiles and wags his whole being with joy.

Section 6— One Mind, Our Father, our family.

Our Father is the One Mind, and we are his loved family. This is the only Mind, and only family that there is. Everyone lives in the harmony, the kingdom of God, where God’s goodness governs all and is All. There is no other mind or minds. The fullness of the mind of Christ is ours now. Peace, Love, Joy for our universal family.

Love, Love, Love!


Click to enjoy CedarS Online version of Cobbey Crisler insights on select Bible citations from this Christian Science Bible Lesson on “Mind” for August 20, 2017.


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[CedarS 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.

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