"My quotes from the Bible are from the Responsive Readings for this week's Lesson on Substance. I was talking to a member during the week and we're both amazed how much our topics have resonated with Lesson topics lately."

"Your readings worked well with the other quotes brought in."

"You know there are several ways to look at our topic..."

"Give us some pointers."

"Okay. You could say I can't want for anything because the Lord is my Shepherd. I guess that's the usual theological explanation. But you might say it and mean I'm already fully satisfied, so I won't be wanting anything."

"How about, 'I won't feel any wants because I've been so disappointed in the past it's hopeless anyway?'"

"What I are we talking about?"

"So far we're referring to mortal mind's I, aren't we?"

"Definitely, even if it has the Lord as its Shepherd."

"What I'm getting at is that in Christian Science there's just one I or Ego, and it's God. My I, your I, our I is God. And of course God doesn't want because He's All that is."

"That's awfully extreme...

"From mortal mind's standpoint, yes indeed. It's the absolute view of Science and it's how Science heals. Most of us feel we're living in a separate state from God and others. It's a kind of mythological unfoldment based on a belief in I — a wanting, desiring, dualistic version of God's creation, in short a mortal."

"Then you'd have to say mortal life is desire, which means it's prayer."

"That's it! Mortality is our dreamy prayer, even if it's sometimes nightmarish. Lift prayer out of dualism and there's always a divine idea just at hand. "

"How would you evaluate Fred Phelps's ravings."

"Who?"

"The minister who advises that God hates fags."

"Let's work with Hitler. Phelps is beyond hope. Anyway, all the ranting and raving and hate — it's all prayer and a Scientist should be able to quickly locate the underlying divine idea. Maybe there's a theatrical complex here we could deconstruct, but bottom line Phelps, his clan and all of us desire health, harmony and immortality. So here we are, all these mortals crying out for perfection. Does God, our Principle, withhold it from us? No, as the 23rd Psalm brings out He gently leads us all out of mythology into the promised land."

"When I was deciding whether to leave California for New York I worked constantly with the first line of the 23rd Psalm and this passage from Science and Health: ' Desire is prayer; and no loss can occur from trusting God with our desires, that they may be moulded and exalted before they take form in words and in deeds.' (pg. 1) Pretty quickly it became clear that I should move. When I actually did so, I continued to pray along the same lines and everything fell into place. The transition was smooth. Mental and emotional stress were held in check and I quickly got a sense of belonging."

"You told me you're joining a branch church."

"Yes. I've cleared the intake hurdles and they've asked me to join. I just felt Christian Science had given me so much I wanted to give some back to the community."

"I suppose homosexuality is no longer an issue."

"It didn't come up. They asked if I was moral and I assured them I wouldn't try to steal their husbands."

"Let us know when your signing in ceremony is, so we can fill the bleachers."

"Your testimony last week about the 2 AM panic attack helped me work out a problem last night. For several months I've been under the illusion my tax bill this year would be minimal as I continued to deduct losses from the great crash of 2001. Yesterday my accountant called to warn me that I'd be paying quite a healthy bill in April. The tax write-offs did help, but not nearly as much as I thought. When I heard the news I sort of laughed it off, but at 4 AM this morning I was wide-eyed, spinning mentally about how I'd get together the cash to satisfy Uncle Sam. I kept trying to calm myself down with, 'Fear not' or, 'Don't be afraid.' I just became more hyper. Eventually I realized this approach was merely mortal mind trying to reassure itself. So I turned to God and reached out for help. This came through, 'Son, thou art ever with me, and all that I have is thine.' It's what the Father says to the brother of the prodigal son (Luke 15:31). I relaxed immediately and drifted off to sleep. This afternoon, my accountant called and said he'd made a mistake; I actually owe about half what he'd calculated yesterday."

"I had such an interesting demonstration of supply this week. A few months back I started tossing my change into a tray at the end of each day. The next morning I'd take a handful of the change and put it in my pocket to hand out to homeless and helpless people on the streets. On Monday as I headed home I couldn't seem to find anyone to give to. I was overwhelmingly hungry. It was that hunger where you're weak and your stomach feels like acid is burning a hole in it. So I ducked into a deli and grabbed a coke from the refrigerator. Then I realized I'd left my wallet at the house. I decided to use some of the change — and you know, I had exactly the amount in my pocket that was needed to pay for the coke. I was the hungry helpless one that day!"

"You've reminded me of something that happened Tuesday I'm not proud of. It was during the snow storm and I was rushing to appointments when I saw a woman shrouded in a blanket sitting on the sidewalk. She was covered with snow and shaking. I had to move along and it as 57th St. and Fifth Avenue after all. Surely someone else, maybe even the police, would care for her. Her plight has haunted me the last couple of days and I haven't resolved it yet."

"There was something I came across in the Cedars Camps commentary that might help. It's about Section II of the Lesson on Substance, where Deuteronomy 15:7 and 8 instructs us to give to the poor among us. Cedars says we help others most by understanding their God-given wealth. We can do that for her and all right now."

"Last week I described my feelings of helplessness around romantic relationships. Tonight I've got hope, based on some spiritual breakthroughs during the week. Tuesday I attended a lecture that included deconstructing a Polynesian myth about a woman's growth from puppy love through passive schizoid-paranoid sex relations, finally landing in a fully integrated relationship with one man."

"One man, one woman — wonderful!"

"It's a myth and here I am a Gay man drawing sustenance from it!"

"Okay. Where are you in the growth pattern of the myth?"

"Well, I'm pretty much out of puppy love. I'm probably in the schizoid-paranoid phase. But just yesterday I talked to a practitioner about the situation and she made me aware of the deeper meanings of charisma. I always thought it was the property of rock stars and politicians. But it can be much more when it's divinely based — Christ based. That's what we're really attracted to. When I feel attraction to someone, or he feels it towards me, we're both actually attracted to the Christ."

"So it's a threesome: you, Christ and the other."

"Or maybe a 'onesome', with God being all."

"I don't think we can let a meeting on supply end without working on the financial mess the country is in."

"You mean like social security, torts, bankruptcy and the minimum wage?"

"Have you been reading the newspapers again?"

"The Republicans are pushing legislation in all those areas now and they have a bearing, but I'm basically referring to the budget and trade deficits. Normally these things adjust by currency and interest rate fluctuations, but this time those countries running trade surpluses with us recycle their funds into dollar investments, leaving long term interest rates and exchange rates flat. So there's no adjustment and we sail serenely on — just like the Titanic — until Lord knows what."

"Well, what?"

"I honestly don't know. That's why I brought it up here."

"Isn't there a liquidity bubble?"

"Oh yes. And it's pumping up prices in real estate, houses, commodities and even the stock market."

"This is the ownership society that George Bush has given us."

"Aha. That's it. All the rich folks can own a piece of America. Poor folks can be managed with that batch of legislation you mentioned plus the Patriot Act and the slate of Bushite judges awaiting approval."

"Poor Louis XVI — if only he'd lived to be part off this. "

"Let's shine some Science on this please."

"Here's a thought. I was reading recently that the natives in Tierra del Fuego were literally unable to see Magellan's ship parked offshore. Why? Because oceangoing vessels were not within their frame of reference. Their shaman had to first see the ship himself and then slowly, with a lot of smoke and incantations, help his people drop their blinders. Here's a correlative passage from Science and Health: 'As mortals gain more correct views of God and man, multitudinous objects of creation, which before were invisible, will become visible.' (pg. 264)"

"How would you visualize the needed adjustment?"

"Oh, I suppose from my limited perspective it should include rising Asian currency exchange rates, increased US exports, rising US interest rates and moderating house prices. I'd like to see sensible government restored and financial rectitude. But I'm trying to leave my thought as free as possible and accept divine unfoldment."

"We're running over and need to close now. But we also need a topic for next time."

"How about Success?"

"Okay."

"Fine."

"And we just set a new record for coming up with a topic."