"What'd you all do for Thanksgiving?"

"I went to my ex's that afternoon and a friend joined us. We were going to stay a couple of hours but ended up staying till eleven o'clock, joking and laughing. I had a great time."

"Well, I managed to get to three parties and partook heavily at each one. So, I'm in recovery mode right now."

"I went to see my family in the South and we had several pig-outs. My brother, who's Gay, has eleven grandchildren and they were fun to be with. After a while maybe the energy and sound levels got a bit stressful but I'm glad I was there."

"I've been thinking about how gratitude figures into Christian Science. You hear lots of testimonies about how important it is in healing. But it's definitely a human concept — like desire. It's important in getting us to healing place, but it's dualistic and can't heal per se."

"Psychologically speaking, gratitude is an important indicator. The person who can't feel it is stuck in a narcissistic state where there's no reality to other people."

"But metaphysically, man as divine idea wouldn't be grateful to God because he's literally one with God. The mortal version of the divine idea may need gratitude to break the spell of materialism and go up higher.'

"I'll certainly be grateful when my case is settled and I get the money!"

"Of course — but start being grarteful now! Jesus and all the great spiritual thinkers said we need to be grateful before the demonstration is made."

"Do you have any pointers on how?"

"Well, okay — how would you feel if you got a call right now saying the money is yours?"

"I'd be happy — elated! Questions and problems would fade out."

"Great! Now up that feeling to a spiritual level — like ' Of course, I'm joyful because I'm infinite eternal being, at-one with God.' "

"Jesus thanked God before demonstrations — for instance, the feeding of the five thousand and the raising of Lazarus."

"Weren't his thank-yous basically concessions to human belief? He even says so at John 11:41 and 42. To accomplish such huge healings the Christ had to be in full control of Jesus — and now we're beyond human gratitude. We're in the realm of Unus Mundus, the oneness of God and His universe."

"Look how he works on Martha's thought to get her focused on the presence of LIfe right then and there."

"What verses?"

"From 21 to 27."

"That gives you a glimpse of his own work in Science. He couldn't just go out to the grave and say 'Thanks God'. The gratitude he voiced was for the ears of those who still believed Lazarus was dead. But Jesus was so in touch with the Christ he could already experience Lazarus's eternal being — and call him forth!"

"This is good from Mrs. Eddy: ‘Are we really grateful for the good already received? Then we shall avail ourselves of the blessings we have, and thus be fitted to receive more. Gratitude is much more than a verbal expression of thanks. Action expresses more gratitude than speech’ (S&H 3: 22-26)."

"If we have big problems we ought to be grateful for the challenge. Science has big answers for big problems. Mrs. Eddy says in one of her hymns: 'Make me glad for every scalding tear, for hope deferred, ingratitude, disdain! Wait, and love more for every hate, and fear no ill — since God is good, and loss is gain'."

"Doesn't she say the reverse of error is true?"

"Right. So we can joyfully let go of our limited dualistic perspective and allow the oneness and allnes of being to reign supreme."

"And do the needed healing."

"When I lost my job a couple of years back, I remember the first reaction of people in this group was to point out I was still fully employed as God's expression. That was my real employment and I kept focusing on that as I went through all the steps of collecting unemployment, checking out leads, interviewing and so on. I dealt with fear of lack by being grateful for all I did have — a roof over my head, food, friends, family — and bottom line, Christian Science."

"Didn't your new job come through just the week unemployment ran out?"

' Exactly! I remember being grateful for the time I'd had off from work — time to spend with friends and family — and to find a whole new career path."

"You really gave us some wonderful lessons on gratitude in action during that time."

"Time's getting short. We need a topic for the next three weeks."

"Will there be a meeting on Christmas?"

"No. But I'd like to meet on New Years Day."

"Okay. We need a topic."

"Do we want to work on a Christmas theme?"

"We've done that for years. How about something to do with woman or the feminine? There's been some back and forth in Emergence on the subject. Here's the quote from Miscellaneous Writings that's moved people: ‘This is woman's hour, in all the good tendencies, charities, and reforms of to-day (Mis 245: 19-20)'. "

"I like it. Woman's Hour! "

"As the patriarchy with its bluster and grandiosity crumbles, perhaps simpler, more homespun and affection-based ways will come over us."

"Fine. Woman's Hour — three weeks."