Our chairperson started the meeting by reminding us of the so-called Annunciation where Mary was impregnated by the Holy Spirit (see the readings from Luke). He noted that while joy is not specifically mentioned in the story, it is certainly a result of this and other expansions of consciousness and human possibilities.

Another member offered an aside that any conceptualization of God — as say a Father, Mother, Husband, source, cause etc. — will bind us to dualism or mortality.

This led to a discussion of the deadening downward pull of seeming mortal existence. It's only a belief, of course, but if we go along with it, we may suffer to the point of seeking "exit strategies" like drug and booze taking, overeating or even death. These may give a momentary illusion of bliss which soon fails. Mary Baker Eddy, the discoverer of Christian Science, has some better advice, based on metaphysical realities — such as, "...leave the mortal basis of belief and unite with the one Mind," to experience "the proper sense of God's unerring direction and thus bring out harmony." (Science and Health, p. 424: 6).

A member amplified this idea with a passage from The Blue Book of Mrs. Eddy's otherwise unpublished writings (p. 128) "...there is joy unutterable in knowing that Christ had no birth, no death, and that we find in Christ, in the true sense of being, life apart from birth, sorrow, sin, and death."

We also heard this, taken from William Segal writing in Parabola (Summer 1998), "...the moment I throw myself away, joy — even ecstasy — bursts through me. The onset of the ecstatic moment does not depend on, nor does it come from, outside oneself. It is a call from the 'purity in oneself' ...to be in touch with one's essential reality."

As long as we were dabbling outside standard Christian Science literature, the member who had just read us the quote from Parabola speculated as to whether tantric Buddhism wasn't what fully integrated Christian Science was getting at. Could what Mrs. Eddy refers to as the "spiritual senses" be described as leading to "a perfect Buddha-land, where every sensation, thought, and emotion becomes saturated with 'holy bliss.'"? (Miranda Shaw, Parabola, Summer 1998).

We went on to healing experiences.

1) A member, struggling with financial stability, opened the Bible to I Samuel. The word "inheritance" kept popping up. He worked with this a bit, eventually coming up with the play on words "in here". As reflection of God, he has everything "in here". His birthright is sole identity as God's idea. He let this truth "wash over" him. Business picked up immediately.

2) Several members described how much joy and well-being they experienced when they realized that it is God who heals us and expresses Himself as us. We have only to let it be so. One member quoted this: "God expresses in man the infinite idea forever developing itself, broadening and rising higher and higher from a boundless basis." (Science and Health, p. 258:13)

3) Another described the elation he felt as he once watched Gertrude Lawrence traipsing and flouncing along Fifth Avenue in a playful mood.

4) Three members involved in the performing arts told of their recent returns to performance, after laying off for periods normally associated with diminution of ability. With the application of Science there was no lessening of powers. Indeed there was a greater appreciation of what was truly taking place — God as all-beauty, all-action, all-presence acting through them and their audiences. One of them said this: "The infinite individuality of Soul includes all identities in One."

5) Our member who lost his roommate two months ago continues to deal with and process grief. He found this statement comforting: "If grief causes suffering, convince the sufferer that affliction is often the source of joy, and that he should rejoice always in ever-present Love." (Science and Health, p. 377:3) He has now broken through to a very deep intimacy with his friend, at the level of the "inner child", and has been able to understand to an extent this from Science and Health: "Willingness to become as a little child and to leave the old for the new, renders thought receptive of the advanced idea. Gladness to leave the false landmarks and joy to see them disappear,—this disposition helps to precipitate the ultimate harmony." (p. 323:32)

6) Another member, finding herself midweek severely blocked in her lower digestive tract, prayed in Science and eventually called 911 for assistance. She was taken to an emergency room where no aid was offered for over two hours. She left, knowing all the while that she would find a solution. Eventually she located a woman who could give her a good colonic and she's fine.

7) Another member talked of some developing friendships. He is finding that he must approach them with "charitableness" — i.e., feeling himself and others as whole and complete already. Complaining, manipulating and kvetching are out; abundance and joy are in.

8) Another member told us how he discerns between sensualism and the joys of Soul. He recalled sharing a precious, hoarded candy bar with a fellow soldier while they were enduring the rigors of bivouac. His taste buds screamed to have the whole thing, but something in him (Christ?) caused him to give half to the other man. He still feels the joy that accompanied this act; the taste sensation of the candy bar faded long ago. He also mentioned the joy he felt later when he addressed an overeating problem. Again as his taste buds and emotions pleaded for more and more food, his better self directed him to weigh and measure quantities. The result of consuming less food than his cravings wanted was and is still, calmness and bliss.

For next week we want to look at entrenched hatreds and fears, as in the Holy Land, Kashmir or Northern Ireland. There might even be some lurking in our own psyches. We chose the word Oneness as the topic. It's oneness beyond all dualisms, where we all truly exist.