"Let's go ahead without our chairperson. He'll probably come later. Do you all remember what his thinking was on this topic?"

"He felt we have too much of everything today. There's no time for calm reflection or spiritual insight."

"He mentioned the crowds everywhere and all the gadgetry of modern life."

"Well, let me just say I have a certain bias towards the good things of life. I worked in Angola during the revolution and there was much lack and suffering. People were starving in the streets and even those of us lucky enough to be in hotels had meager rations. There were no vegetables, no eggs, no dairy products. Dinner was either cuttlefish or camel meat, many times rotten."

"If we're overwhelmed by too much we need to make choices and learn to say no."

"And prioritize. I'd rather do this than that. I can't do it all."

"Ah — I think I see a metaphysical point looming here..."

"Like humans have to choose on their belief level?"

"That's definitely true, but what I'm seeing is along the lines of the reading from Unity of Good about the capital 'E' Ego versus the little 'e' ego. God is the infinite eternal Ego of man and the universe. At that level we do have it all. On the other hand the belief in many minds, souls and egos experiences this abundance as fluctuating extremes of too much and too little."

"So we have to fight to increase good and suppress evil."

"Yeah. That's what we suppose but Mrs. Eddy says our Ego's 'lap is piled high with immortal fruits' (Science and Health, pg. 494:28). Why do we settle for feast and famine?"

"I had an interesting experience this week about overloading on beliefs in disease. An organization I belong to helps disabled people master skills that help them lead fuller lives. We had a workshop the other night on sexual issues. Many of our people are quite shut down or tentative on the subject. The doctors we asked to address the group launched into descriptions of sexually transmitted diseases and the tests to identify them. There wasn't even a hint of how to prevent them, much less any attempt to educate about intimacy or caring."

"What's the quote from Mrs. Eddy? Here: 'Human fear of miasma would load with disease the air of Eden, and weigh down mankind with superimposed and conjectural evils. Mortal mind is the worst foe of the body, while divine Mind is its best friend.' (Science and Health, pg. 176:17)"

"Right — good. Well as each dire description was let loose I just said, 'That's BS! That's BS!' I hope I was saying it to myself but I was so angry I'm not sure some sound didn't leak out."

"That's good Christian Science. Treatments usually start with 'No' and that's a pretty emphatic negation."

"Can we put that word on the net?"

"I wouldn't. Just put BS."

"We're constantly being bombarded by images of disease and we need to dispel them."

"I was talking to a friend a few years back. He went on and on about his hemorrhoids. Well, a week later I had them too and it took a lot of work to rise out of that. I should have had it out with the belief as soon as it came a-knocking at the door of consciousness."

"Just the other day my aunt was having an allergic reaction to something — I think it was trees — and a few minutes later my eyes were itchy and red. When I finally saw what was happening I put it into reverse with Science and got out of it quickly."

"One thing that's helped me is to see all the overloading of the mortal atmosphere with disease as a counterfeit for the total occupation of space and time by overwhelming Spirit. Keeping ourselves in the reality of true being squeezes out mortal perceptions and problems."

"My area of concern is an overloaded apartment. A lot more comes in than goes out. I hang on to stuff and the place is becoming a landfill."

"I have lots of things in my apartment but I love them all. I'd be hard put to let anything go. I mean. I refer to my books and old recordings all the time."

"I think that's great. If you're using things I can't see a problem but if stuff isn't being used it could be given away or donated to charity."

"I agree but I feel like I have a kind of addiction. I feel hopeless and helpless around it — like alcoholism or overeating. Brave declarations in the morning trail off into inaction by nightfall."

"Are there 12-Step meetings for this?"

"I don't know. But you've given me an idea. The point of the 12 steps is to let go of personal control and surrender to divine control. What would that mean in Science? I guess finding the divine idea masquerading in this form. A home filled with stuff is mortal mind's desperate attempt to pattern the divine reality of Spirit filling all time and space."

"There you are. That's basically the same healing thought we came to about dispelling disease thoughts claiming to fill the atmosphere."

"It's a keeper. There's also the notion I hear often that we should thin out our belongings to make room for some new ones."

"I also like the idea of clearing space to leave it as space — uncluttered by stuff. I'm always struggling with my daughter to keep things simple in our apartment. When I left Cuba in 1968 we were allowed one suitcase of clothes for the whole family. Everything else had to be left behind . The government sealed the house and took over. It was tragic at the time but it made me keep the focus on what's essential."

"What about overloading on work? Like multi-tasking and running from appointment to appointment."

"Well, that's just about what I was doing last week when I strained my ankle. The recovery involved rest and prayer. I had to withdraw from activity and face how manic I was becoming."

"New York's a manic town. It attracts people in hypomania."

"Good point. I can be fully prayed up and calm when I leave my house and within minutes feel rushed and crazed if I'm not careful. You need to be vigilant and pay attention to people's divinity. When I see scowls or ugliness or some disharmony I almost instinctively pray something like, 'You're safe,' or, 'Welcome to heaven.'"

"The other day at the office nerves were cracking and three people screamed at me. Somehow I stayed calm and held to my center. Later I biked over to the river to finish studying the Lesson. What a relief — what a glorious safety-valve!"

"I've used that statement by Jesus about my Father worketh hitherto and I work (John 5:17) in tense work situations. I feel God working through me and others and problems get resolved."

"Earlier today I was getting copies of our notes xeroxed and the man doing the job was in a snit. He was making mistakes and slinging faulty copies into the waste basket. I immediately sensed homophobia. But let me fully admit I do not know whether he was suffering from that or not. It may have been entirely my projection. Anyway there was suffering, so I went to work in Science. I can't remember any specific thoughts — I just felt out to God for the harmony I knew was really there. Things righted themselves and the copies were soon, and impeccably, finished. He smiled beautifully as I gave him a nice tip and we parted."

"I'm still hounded by lavish sexual desires but I seem to be getting the hang of seeking guys' spiritual identity. It gives me a lot of joy. And this time there's no outlining — or, well just a little — about seeing their divinity so maybe we can go to bed. In any case trying to get them and their divinity into bed never worked for me. It was like the mouse continuing to go down the no-food hole over and over again. I'm studying this quote from Science and Health: 'Soul has infinite resources with which to bless mankind, and happiness would be more readily attained and would be more secure in our keeping, if sought in Soul.' (pg. 60:29)"

"You know Soul is the metaphysical word for body. So you're not excluding the body by any means. You're affirming the God-body."

"Or divine embodiment. In other words, the universe."

"I was thinking a lot about Paul this week as he struggled with an overload of orthodox opinions and practices. He suffered mightily, I think basically because he only barely saw what we have access to with Science, that man is already perfect. And we'll suffer too if we keep to Paul's path of fighting and overcoming."

"As we discussed recently, Paul's way builds our ego rather than allowing the one Ego to rule."

"Why is there no healing today in Christian Science?"

"I hear about healings all the time here and at church and in the periodicals. You need to get out more!"

"But still it's not like a hundred years ago."

"Or maybe we're having to handle larger issues. Like atomic weapons and suchlike, rather than merely physical illness. Medical people do a fair job there. But if I used a medicine man I'd still want a Christian Science practitioner in my corner."

"Many practitioners won't touch a medical case."

"Talk about being overloaded with false beliefs. And I certainly wouldn't want a practitioner who saw it as a medical case."

"The Board of The Mother Church is having town meetings around the country. They'll be here November 19th."

"What's their purpose?"

"Probably money."

"I don't know. Maybe they're a friendly gesture, trying to reach out to the field and get to know our concerns."

"I heard homosexuality came up at the meeting at Principia."

"You knew that was coming. They've been skirting that issue for years."

"Well the administration has skirted it, but the students have had near riots over it."

"We need to end soon — and still no chairperson. I think we did his topic well. Can we come up with something for next week?"

"We had an email from an internet friend pointing out that the Old Testament God was just what the people of that era needed. A tough crowd needed a tough God."

"Think of the atrocities laid at the feet of that God. It was a really rough group to need all that. And they certainly knew how to offload the overload of their sins. It was all God's fault — or maybe because of those pesky heathens."

"We're not talking about the real God, we're talking about the God-concept of that period. As we've evolved so has our concept. Our Internet friend said even in spite of all the cruelty and mayhem, you can discern the presence of Love on every page of the Old Testament."

"I think with all the right wing religions slinking around, Jehovah is on his way back. We'd better get to know about that concept, so we can see through it."

"We've got a lot on the table. Why don't we take a topic like Challenges. That'll free us to work on and handle whatever's pressing. Religion, church, personal situations."

"Sounds okay to me. Is everyone else in?"

"Okay."

"Fine."