Now

July 24, 2003

Because God is ever present, no boundary of time can separate us from Him and the heaven of His presence; and because God is Life, all Life is eternal.

Unity of Good, by Mary Baker Eddy

Now is certainly the time to face the facts of immortal being. But we had to get clear that now, like any other time, is a human concept and the facts are eternal.

The value of keeping focused on now as a metaphysical tool was summarized by the old saying: "Never put off till tomorrow what you can do today."

But what is it we can and must do now? "Take a good look at what mortal mind is saying in all its dualism, either pro or con — then let divine Mind say it non-dualistically," is how one member answered that. Here's how Science and Health puts it: "The divine must overcome the human at every point. The Science Jesus taught and lived must triumph over all material beliefs about life, substance, and intelligence, and the multitudinous errors growing from such beliefs." (pg. 43:27)

Christian Science emphasizes the here and now, rather than an afterlife. A member pointed out that the first passage of our readings from Science and Health was preceded by a rousing paragraph denouncing death. Here it is: "The educated belief that Soul is in the body causes mortals to regard death as a friend, as a stepping-stone out of mortality into immortality and bliss. The Bible calls death an enemy, and Jesus overcame death and the grave instead of yielding to them. He was 'the way.' To him, therefore, death was not the threshold over which he must pass into living glory." (pg. 39:10)

We talked of satisfaction, something we all agreed we want — now! Can it be attained through material motives and actions? Well, perhaps in belief, which sadly shifts and changes every moment. In Science satisfaction is an established reality or component of man. It's now. If we'd approach it from that angle, we'd have plenty of satisfaction in our daily lives.

Our chairperson for the evening (and under our system the member who requested the topic) described how he reminds himself throughout his day to do things now because he has the full resources of God at hand to accomplish any task. Here's one of his mantras: "If not now, when?"

A member told us of an article he'd read about Tutankhamen's inner golden coffin. It is thought to have represented his incorruptible or spiritual body — his "akh" in Egyptian. This appears to be in accord with a number of traditional beliefs about souls being "released" after death, but our member pointed to Jesus' transfiguration as releasing or showing forth his "akh" while still living. (See Mark 9: 2-10.)

This sparked an interesting remark from another member that sin, sickness and death — the popular gods according to Mary Baker Eddy (see Science and Health, pg. 347:23) — can be seen as focusing techniques employed by mortals to bring healing attention to outworn material concepts.

For instance, a member reported last week that her TV reception was re-established through prayerful treatment. Being without TV for a couple of days alerted her to how much time she was investing in junk programs. She's now addressing this situation in Science, on the basis that every addiction is a call from God materially perceived.

Here are some other experiences from the week.

1) One of our members has been on a murder case jury for the last three weeks. A guilty verdict was reached Monday and he's now free to talk of the case.

The murder, a knifing, occurred outside a Gay night club where butches and femmes intermix in the style of the fifties. It was not a hate crime per se, but internalized homophobia apparently boiled up in three men trying to maintain their macho images. One of them let his intent evolve in a matter of seconds from self defense through desire to inflict bodily harm, to intent to kill — which he actualized. The victim was the lover of one of the machos trying to break up the fight.

Our member prayed throughout testimony and deliberations with the view to judging righteous judgment and found himself able to give full spiritual weight to all the people involved in the incident, its investigation and the trial. He feels certain the perpetrator will benefit from his time in confinement.

He also was able to acknowledge and keep watch on his own disastrous evolutions of animosity. No, he hasn't pulled any knives (yet) but he's aware of the disrupted relationships and bodily harm caused by stifled anger. "This stuff needs meticulous defusing in Science." Here's an idea he's using: "The Christianly scientific man reflects the divine law, thus becoming a law unto himself." (Science and Health, pg. 458:23)

2) Another member partook of the energies of our topic "Now" to address her writer's block and signed up for a course that she hopes will help her remove it. She has a couple of hot and quite valuable books raring to leap forth.

3) Another member recently found himself overwhelmingly turned on by an androgynous figure in the street. Long, wavy auburn hair atop a slender strutting male body kindled "top" energies in him he didn't know he possessed. He has richly explored his bottom imagery for many years, so this latest arrival on he scene is a welcome counterweight. What does it all mean? He's letting it take its course — letting "the 'male and female' of God's creating appear." (Science and Health, pg. 249:5)

4) Another member felt it was a tragedy when his city job was brusquely terminated a few months back. He is the holder of a number of engineering and other expert licenses but these were held in suspense during his city employment. Now that he's free from that, he has started selling his services for repairs and inspections to private clients. He's having a lot more fun now and making big bucks. Here's the quote he studied in Science and Health: "The very circumstance, which your suffering sense deems wrathful and afflictive, Love can make an angel entertained unawares." (pg. 574:27)

This testimony led directly to our topic for next week: Abundance.

The Bible

Now Moses kept the flock of Jethro his father in law, the priest of Midian: and he led the flock to the backside of the desert, and came to the mountain of God, even to Horeb. And the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush: and he looked, and, behold, the bush burned with fire, and the bush was not consumed. And Moses said, I will now turn aside, and see this great sight, why the bush is not burnt. And when the Lord saw that he turned aside to see, God called unto him out of the midst of the bush, and said, Moses, Moses. And he said, Here am I. And he said, Draw not nigh hither: put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground.

Thou hast turned for me my mourning into dancing: thou hast put off my sackcloth, and girded me with gladness;

Therefore said he unto them, The harvest truly is great, but the labourers are few: pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he would send forth labourers into his harvest.

Say not ye, There are yet four months, and then cometh harvest? behold, I say unto you, Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields; for they are white already to harvest.

Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, by Mary Baker Eddy

"Now," cried the apostle, "is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation,"—meaning, not that now men must prepare for a future-world salvation, or safety, but that now is the time in which to experience that salvation in spirit and in life. Now is the time for so-called material pains and material pleasures to pass away, for both are unreal, because impossible in Science. To break this earthly spell, mortals must get the true idea and divine Principle of all that really exists and governs the universe harmoniously. This thought is apprehended slowly, and the interval before its attainment is attended with doubts and defeats as well as triumphs.

Life is eternal. We should find this out, and begin the demonstration thereof. Life and goodness are immortal. Let us then shape our views of existence into loveliness, freshness, and continuity, rather than into age and blight.

We must not seek the immutable and immortal through the finite, mutable, and mortal, and so depend upon belief instead of demonstration, for this is fatal to a knowledge of Science. The understanding of Truth gives full faith in Truth, and spiritual understanding is better than all burnt offerings.

The only fact concerning any material concept is, that it is neither scientific nor eternal, but subject to change and dissolution.

Faith is higher and more spiritual than belief. It is a chrysalis state of human thought, in which spiritual evidence, contradicting the testimony of material sense, begins to appear, and Truth, the ever-present, is becoming understood.

To understand God strengthens hope, enthrones faith in Truth, and verifies Jesus' word: "Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world."

Genesis i. 11. And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth: and it was so.

The universe of Spirit reflects the creative power of the divine Principle, or Life, which reproduces the multitudinous forms of Mind and governs the multiplication of the compound idea man. The tree and herb do not yield fruit because of any propagating power of their own, but because they reflect the Mind which includes all. A material world implies a mortal mind and man a creator. The scientific divine creation declares immortal Mind and the universe created by God.

Infinite Mind creates and governs all, from the mental molecule to infinity. This divine Principle of all expresses Science and art throughout His creation, and the immortality of man and the universe. Creation is ever appearing, and must ever continue to appear from the nature of its inexhaustible source. Mortal sense inverts this appearing and calls ideas material. Thus misinterpreted, the divine idea seems to fall to the level of a human or material belief, called mortal man. But the seed is in itself, only as the divine Mind is All and reproduces all—as Mind is the multiplier, and Mind's infinite idea, man and the universe, is the product. The only intelligence or substance of a thought, a seed, or a flower is God, the creator of it. Mind is the Soul of all. Mind is Life, Truth, and Love which governs all.

Miscellaneous Writings, by Mary Baker Eddy

That man must be evil before he can be good; dying, before deathless; material, before spiritual; sick and a sinner in order to be healed and saved, is but the declaration of the material senses transcribed by pagan religionists, by wicked mortals such as crucified our Master,—whose teachings opposed the doctrines of Christ that demonstrated the opposite, Truth.

Man is as perfect now, and henceforth, and forever, as when the stars first sang together, and creation joined in the grand chorus of harmonious being.

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