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[Love everyone! "…for love is of God"——"We are of God"—–Man is …"of Love;"]
Metaphysical Application Ideas for the Christian Science Bible lesson on

“Love”
for July 29-August 4, 2019

by Kerry Jenkins, CS, of House Springs, MO
Kerry.helen.jenkins@gmail.com (314) 406-0041


Click here daily to listen to short CedarS Practitioner Talk(s) given after breakfast every morning (except Sundays) going forward (and backward to 2006)!
“Prac Talks” this session on new insights on Christian Science are being delivered by Kerry Jenkins, C.S. and are posted by ~9am (Central Time) for you to pray and practice with us. Feel free to share these with anyone you feel might be blessed by them.


have the great joy and privilege to be writing this from Cedars Camps where we are daily learning more about the newness and freshness of ideas from the Bible and writings of Mary Baker Eddy (in keeping with our theme this year "Behold I make all things new"). Every day councilors have time to share ideas from the Bible lessons during study hour with campers of all ages, so I want to make sure this is useful to them in their work with the campers if they should want some ideas to share!

We get a pretty good idea from the Golden Text (GT) of where we are headed in this lesson. Love is part of who we are as expressions of Love. I think it's pretty cool that the last four words of the GT are "…love is of God;" and the first four of the Responsive Reading are "We are of God:". We can say that we are of Love and that love and man are together, "of God". On page 475 of Science and Health, by Mary Baker Eddy, she says "Man is idea, the image, of Love; he is not physique." I have always noticed that comma, followed by "of Love", as opposed to how it is usually read: "Man is idea, the image of Love;". I'm so delighted to see a Biblical source for understanding why she might have used that comma! It may not be important, but it is a fun observation. We are not "of matter" but of Love. That makes acting out of love a natural part of who we are. It also gives the love that we naturally express, power. It might appear to us that we are facing powerful odds against us, we see this illustrated in story and verse in this week's Bible lesson, but this seeming opposition is as nothing to Love. And since we are "of love", well then, it is as nothing to man either!

Section 1: Love is infinitely delightful.

What can we do to begin to comprehend the hugeness of infinite Love and how we are embraced in that Love? The apostle Paul has the best words for this in citation B3. And look how it includes how we, "…being rooted and grounded in love…" (of Love), "… May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God." Being filled with that "fulness", there is no room for anything else. Our physical senses can seem to be at war (S4) with what we know to be spiritually true. And, as I'm sure many of you reading this have found, we cannot "logic" our way out of this state of "war". We can gain, step by step, a greater sense of Love as present, practical, powerful.

We can stop the "warring" thoughts in their tracks by rejoicing in God's abundant good, "affluence". As we learn this pattern of minute by minute rejoicing, we find that our love and worship of God is not done through following a set of religious rules or dogmatic beliefs. Instead we can't help jumping for joy through our days, knowing, that even on "bad days", we are enveloped in the affluence and “only-ness” of Love. Love's infinite delight is ever-present. Is that hard to feel sometimes? You bet. Christian Science does not mean that we won't be doing battle with the lie. But it does mean that we are given the underlying truth to stand on. Let's see how David handled the lie of an overwhelming military power that was engaged in hunting him down to kill him!

Section 2: Hatred has no legitimate kingdom or power.

King Saul was the first king of Israel. David was anointed to be the next, even before Saul's death, and in spite of the fact that Saul had a son/heir, Jonathan. David had been a very successful military leader for Saul. The people would dance in the streets over David's success! So, Saul probably felt some envy and concern that David's popularity exceeded his own. Partly for this reason, and, maybe mostly, because it appears that Saul struggled with some form of mental illness, Saul set out to kill David, using his entire army! In this story, we are reading about the second time that David came across Saul's army, got close enough to Saul to take something of his, and then called from a distance to show that he bore him no ill will. It is interesting to note the human "strongholds" mentioned in the Bible. You would think it impossible for an enemy to sneak up on the king, surrounded by his 3,000 men! This is literally and symbolically representative of the seemingly overwhelming power of material force. It could be seen as the power of government, something so big we might feel helpless. It could be like the power that injustice seems to possess. Whatever its symbolism, we are presented with what looks like a "practical" solution. Notice how mortal mind/Abishai, offers here to end this once and for all by not only killing, but disfiguring (this from a Bible commentary), Saul. But David is unwilling to harm "God's anointed". Saul had been anointed by Samuel, the prophet. But I think it is useful to regard this in a broader sense as applying to each child of God. E ach of us is a holy, anointed reflection of divine Love. David chooses instead to take Saul's spear and water jug and call from a distance to show that he had the opportunity to once again harm/kill Saul, but only showed mercy, love.

Maybe you noticed the oddity of the circumstances surrounding David being able to sneak through this army without anyone knowing? The Bible here tells us that it was "…because a deep sleep from the Lord was fallen upon them." Doesn't that remind you of the sleep in the Adam allegory in Genesis? I'm sure it was a reference to that, because, I'm sure they found it impossible to explain in any other way! Rather than thinking of it as a God who intervenes when he's helping one side, and not another. It is more spiritually helpful to think in terms of the power of the divine law of Love which operates at all times for all mankind. David was working in harmony with that law, expressing love for his "enemy".

Since we are here speaking of a king, and a future king, it is interesting to note that the Science and Health citations use the term "kingdom of heaven, kingdom, and enthroned" in citation S8 and S11. Also, we see that the "army of conspirators" are not a military force for us (usually), but are the forces of mortal thought that challenge our sense of "health, happiness, and success." (S10)

"Human hate has no legitimate mandate and no kingdom." Let's not forget that! Hatred cannot govern us, influence us. We can walk through an "army" of hatred, experience safety, and feel the presence and power of Love alone.

Section 3: We can feel safe from hatred's effects in Love.

In this section we have human will and hatred grouped together. That is an arresting thought! If you look at the qualities that Mary Baker Eddy addresses in citation S16: "aggression, oppression, and the pride of power", it's easy to see how these might relate to hatred, especially in light of the story of Saul and David in Section 2. I would say that most of us don't see ourselves as hateful, so it is useful, in terms of seeking spiritual progress, to see what aspect of willful thinking we might want to uncover and let Love destroy. For example, are we stuck on having things follow a path that we see as the "right" way? Or, are we open to allowing Love to take the reins, so to speak, and point the way. Such willingness might point us in an unexpected path!

Any number of times, when I've been faced with what felt like an overwhelming task, I have found, without fail, that if I step back and wait with courage for Love to lead, I will always find a much better way forward than if I try to "finish" something through brute force. It can be tempting, especially when working with a deadline, to think that we must "keep our nose to the grindstone". But that can often be human will. Taking a step back is allowing Love to give our thoughts and actions divine wings instead. We may not be able to check something off our list in the timeline we "want", but the end result will always be better, since that "want" is often human will.

This kind of recognition of the action of human will is helpful. But what about when someone we think has been a friend "stabs us in the back"? Betrayal can feel especially painful, like love has left us altogether. If you look at the Bible verses in particular in this section, there is an eloquent urging to turn to God/Love, your ever friend. This may sound like small comfort when we are facing betrayal. But such circumstances push us to deepen our understanding of the capacity of divine Love to meet our human need. When we begin to understand Love as the divine power that it is– unopposed–we start to find the sting of betrayal lose its power over us. In large part, this release comes from a willingness to leave behind any sense of evil as a person. While this may, at first, seem impossible, when we are willing to let go of any willful desire to attach evil to a person, we find our true freedom from hurt. Evil is then just impersonal evil, it cannot offend and it is easily destroyed! This is divine Love's gift to us as we drop any human or personal will of our own!

Section 4: Revolutionary love, Jesus style.

Jesus was a revolutionary when he shared his thoughts on Love, and man's responsibility to love even our enemies. Jewish law said no such thing. Love those that love you, an 'eye for an eye'—these were the first enlightened steps of the law as it was laid down in Moses' day. It was a good step forward for the day as it kept neighbors from taking over-zealous retribution for smaller infractions. But Jesus took the law to a higher spiritual level that we still employ today because it was so deeply rooted in Love, "of Love"! Jesus purpose in preaching this message and in healing, was, as MBE states in citation S21, not only to restore health, "…but to demonstrate his divine Principle." What does that mean for us today?

We are engaging in the healing power of Love that Jesus demonstrated when we love our enemy, when we bless those that curse us. This obedience heals and demonstrates that we are "of Love". Since "principle" can be defined as "source", this makes especially good sense, because we are demonstrating our source to be divine Love ("of Love" yay!)! And we have a built in test of the efficacy of our prayers as we take on this task. "Do we love our neighbor better because of this asking?" (S22) I don't think that David's task was an easy one with Saul. Nor was Paul's, as we will see in the next section. MBE warns us that this task won't be like "falling off a log"–obviously not her words. She tells us that: "There is a cross to be taken up before we can enjoy the fruition of our hope and faith." This means simply that we need a spiritual and humble willingness to set aside the aggressive desire to carry a hurt or hate rather than facing it, and letting it die through forgiveness. This can take persistence, and it certainly takes desire.

Section 5: We are never separate from Love.

The story of Paul as he traveled and preached in Lycaonia is yet another example of love being met with misunderstanding, then hatred. Paul avoids a stoning in one location and flees to preach in another. While it is not in this passage, some background is helpful. When first he arrived in Lystra and Derbe, he healed a crippled man. The residents who saw this immediately claimed that Paul was "Zeus" and Barnabas, "Hermes", two Greek Gods. Paul loudly denounces this claim and distinguishes himself and Barnabas as "mortals" like the inhabitants. In other words, this healing power is not supernatural, but available to all through the "living God". He is pointing out that there is no separation between the "living God" and man. (I like to think of the "living God" as a way of noting how God is active, "alive" in our daily experience, rather than an aloof "being" somewhere "out there" who occasionally intervenes and does some spectacular act. ) But within a day or so of calling Paul and Barnabas gods, the people were persuaded to stone Paul. This indicates a lack of understanding of God's nature. Clearly, they did not see themselves to be "of Love"! Once again, we see that "At all times and under all circumstances…" evil or hatred is overcome by good, by Love. (S27) And, we are treated to Paul's famous letter to the Romans about how we can never be separated from the love of God.

The ultimate victory of Love over seeming opposition, comes with a "higher humanity". Mary Baker Eddy tells us that "The cement of a higher humanity will unite all interests in the one divinity." What an interesting statement! Cement, being a substance that is solid and bonds together, united with the idea of a "higher humanity". What is this "higher humanity"? Is it the spiritual, true idea that is "of Love"? This one Love doesn't have many conflicting "interests", or wills and desires, but only "interests" that are united in the one God–diverse perhaps, but spiritually compatible.

Section 6: All that "really exists" is "of God", "of Love".

This is such a short section that it almost seemed lost on the page when I looked for it in the printout for the My Bible Lesson! But it is an absolutely beautiful way to round out our deeper understanding of how man is "of Love", and love is "of God". It looks like a circle in which we have God-Love-man as points on the perimeter. The circle represents the infinitude of divine Love, with God, love and man feeding into one another. There is no room in this infinite and complete circle for anything but love to be felt, present, or have power. There are no gaps, no spaces where we could "add" something outside infinite Love to God's being. In point of fact, as we see in this week's Bible lesson, there is absolutely no power in anything outside of divine, eternal, infinite, Love.


Warren’s Postscript (W's PS#1): Check-out a custom poem for this week’s lesson called “Lessons in Love from a Local Tree!” by Ken Cooper. Ken writes of it: “When we look round with spiritual vision, we see the world of God’s perfect creation: it is one of Love expressing itself throughout infinity. Some years ago I was walking in the midst of a great gale, passing near to some large trees. They were really bending at the top with the wind, but their base was unmoved. Challenges I was facing seemed to leave me buffeted, but when I saw how stable the trees were in the ground it made me recognise that I too was “rooted and grounded in love”. As each tree fulfils its purpose, so too do we. This is what Love does for each of us, and we all share God’s love naturally and completely. Love is unconditional. The tree provides shelter for any that walk beneath. Our love must be the same.

The video sound recording is https://youtu.be/JDap3pOyIe0, while the PDF version are attached as PDF Downloads on CedarS “Latest Met” webpage at https://www.cedarscamps.org/metaphysical/articles/2019/7/love-everyone/


W's PS#2: Select citations from Cobbey Crisler and others will be available online and will be emailed as they can be completed during the opening Monday of CedarS Session 4.2. If CedarS Family Camp, Session 5 that starts on this Sunday, August 4, is a right way to comlete this summer for your family or for a family that you love, call 417-532-6699 (CedarS office) ASAP to explore a couple of remaining options and financial aid opportumities.


W's PS#3: Thank you, dear friends who have already given to the needs that we have made known—as well as to those of you who still want to make a big difference in 2019 to CedarS vital work, outreach and blessings!

We have a wonderful matching gift challenge to meet! You can double your donation by helping CedarS earn our "Adopt the Herd" $75,000 Match for the horses and riding program. (still ~$22,500 to go by Sept. 30, 2019.)

So, if you have been blessed by receiving this inspiration weekly and haven't given lately, or are in a position to be able to give more, we still have many needs, big and small, that you can help meet by clicking on https://www.cedarscamps.org/give/.

Current and planned gifts are a huge proof of your ongoing LOVE made visible and are greatly appreciated!! They not only defray the costs of running this service but also provide greatly needed camperships and essential program and operations support.

Please sign up to give whatever you can on a much-needed MONTHLY basis to support CedarS life-changing work! [You can start at any amount and adjust monthly as you wish at: www.cedarscamps.org/giving ] All of your gifts add up to big blessings in the lives of today's Sunday School students (tomorrow's joyous workers in our Christ-centered church)!

With heartfelt and ever-new gratitude and love,
Warren, Gay, Holly & your CedarS Family

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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. 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/meta

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