"We've only done this topic once before."

"I saw that. Kind of amazing, but remember one of our members used to pooh-pooh Love as a synonym for God."

"What was his problem? He'd go into baby talk when we brought it up."

"I think he got it confused with human emotion and the rest of us weren't clear enough to help him out."

"Are we now?"

"I'll take a stab at it. Love as God is our perfection, our oneness and infinity. It's impersonal — trans-personal. We hope it'll be reflected in harmonious goings-on in our lives and relationships. But it's pre-existent infinite being — closer to quantum physics really than romantic fantasies."

"That's too bleak for me. What about the loving Father Jesus described in the prodigal story?"

"That's fine. You can describe our inner divinity in those terms — a loving Father and repentant son. But you could also describe it with metaphors like Con Edison and a light bulb."

"Or everyone and everything as infinite inter-penetrative idea. In other words , perfect God and perfect universe as one indivisible being."

"Great! You know Mrs. Eddy says '..there is but one Ego' at the bottom of page 249 of Science and Health."

"How would you use that in your practice?"

"You'd be a transparency for the presence of God and carry that perception everywhere. It's what's actually going on. You'd be an active participant in the fact that God constitutes man and the universe."

"That's pantheism!"

"Well, it is in a sense — because ' God is all ' to quote Mrs. Eddy. But in Christian Science we understand God-man-universe as one non-dualistic presence. Every person, place and thing is the inexhaustible coming forth of God's perfection."

"I saw that the other day when I fell on the ice and twisted my wrist. I'd been working with the line '...Love is reflected in love..' from Mrs. Eddy's interpretation of the Lord's Prayer line ' Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors '. As I got up I noticed the reflection of the sun on the ice and suddenly felt Love as all. Love was being reflected by me and the whole scene. I moved my hand around and the pain was gone. "

"Thank you! Let's bring our pure sense of divine Love to all the problems that show up on our path — whether they're individual or collective. "

"What do you mean by collective?"

"Like Libya, the economy, homophobia, areas like that. We're empowered to be a law not only to ourselves but to our universe. Why? Because we extend throughout time and space. We're infinite idea — including all right ideas."

"Let's get into sex.""I thought we agreed Love is not about sex and personal relationships...."

"Oh, please! Whoever heard of talking about Love without bringing up sex? I mean Mrs. Eddy asks us not to have merely personal attractions in the Rule for Motives and Acts. I think that means personal attraction is okay as long as that's not all it is. Always be sure to find its true depth."

"There are articles in New York Magazine for February 7th that show how kids are relating sexually online and how men are now actually avoiding relations with women — and probably men too — in favor of online porn."

"What's so shocking about that? We're an image addicted society. Anyway online sex is a lot cleaner, less dangerous and less emotionally draining than the so-called real thing."

"The real thing for a Christian Scientist is divine Love. Does it matter whether the associated imagery flickers on a screen or appears across a table?"

"Come on! A love relationship is much more than just sex. You wouldn't like to have a deep, loving relationship with another person?"

"I'd love it — but until that comes along why deprive myself of some porno sex or even a hired attendant? Anyway my focus now is on deeper friendships."

"Meritorious to be sure. But do you think God would delay giving you what you really want? Is a deep exploration of passionate intimacy outside the Love that's God? What did Jesus say about asking for a fish and getting a scorpion? He's with you on this!"

"Good point. I may be letting fear of entanglements and fear of abandonment get in the way."

"It's not all wonderful. Relationships of any kind are a cross to bear but it might be worth it if we stay close to Science and not just throw ourselves into the ever agitated waters of mortal mind."

"Love is a technical term in Science — it's not an emotion. It's our inclusion of all in and as ourselves. Bring that to bear in all circumstances — work, play, health, romance, bromance, whatever."

"I guess that'd handle the whole shebang."

"Right. But I have to remember that perfection is — it's not something I need to invent or make happen."
"Love's an invitation to get into the center of being and live the universal body."

"After the stroke the doctors said I'd get periods of depression. It's true — I'm having a pretty tough time. Can anyone suggest something?"

"They said the same thing about me but when I got down I'd reject it scientifically. You know, God's not depressed, so how can I, His idea, be? It was amazingly simple."

"The problem comes up mainly in the morning."

"I know. I always have to deal with a flood of fears and depressive thoughts when I wake up. I can go on automatic and it's hours before I think of my God-given right to put myself under God's governance and control."

"That's mesmerism — a kind of self-reinforcing belief in fluctuating evil and good."

"I prefer to think of it as a counterfeit of what really is. That way you don't flip completely out of the scene but locate and live the divine essence, right where you are."

"What's the divine essence of depression?"

"It's what's driving us right into our divinity. The pain is mortal mind's dissatisfaction with itself. Great! Let's move to oneness with divine Mind — all thinking, feeling, sensing and intuition. God's doing it all through us."

"We've just gotten the news that Deane Place passed away."

"No. How sad. He was very dear."

"And so important to Emergence."

"I shared a lot of wonderful times with him over the years."

"I didn't know him but we could apply what we've been talking about. Here's this belief — death — so what do we see?"

"Talk about depression! I'm really sad."

"I'm trying to see that Life is not subject to mortal mind and its array of false gods. Death is just an opinion — like any other belief of life. We all — whether so-called alive or dead — exist in Life, God, and we're in touch with each other through Mind."

"So we all exist in consciousness?"

"I'd say yes — there's a continuity of consciousness. When human consciousness becomes divine consciousness we've arrived in heaven. We're saved!"

"Mrs. Eddy sometimes recommended stepping right into the shoes of the synonyms. Like ' Be Love' or ' Be Mind'. So you're not just loving someone or something — you're the Love that's all. You're not conscious of something — you're the consciousness that's everything and everyone."

"No one could possibly keep that up. You'd have to come down."

"Sure. You'd start small but over time it would become a regular place to hang out."

"I'm not getting this."

"Here — here's something from the Blue Book..."

"The what?"

"It's a collection of Mrs. Eddy's otherwise not published statements. Anyway she says on page 12 — it's from 1903: ' When you are on the housetop, don't go down to take anything out of the house. I'm a great way out of the house ( body ) and it will not do for me to go down into the house...'. Okay, fine. That's standard treatment technique. I just wonder if it doesn't set up a dangerous dichotomy or stratification? If I step into Mind as all consciousness, I wouldn't stay on some rooftop but would be the whole house — the whole house as divine consciousness!"

"You're saying you'd be divine Mind. The house isn't mortal mind — it's divine Mind?"

"Right. House equals the universe. If we live the universe from the standpoint of divine Mind it's heaven! Heaven is the universe. What would that look like?"

"Goodbye to mesmerism."

"Let me revise a bit of Science and Health: Divine consciousness constitutes the universe when belief in something else has been dropped ."

"That's a good place to end. We need a topic for the next two months."

"Let's work on all the problems coming up.."

"Like Japan, Libya, the economy?"

"Yes — and our own individual situations."

"What's the opposite of mesmerism?"

"Harmony!"

"Looks like we're agreeing — okay. Harmony for April and May."