2022 Association
April 20 Letter
Dear People,
With just a month to go before Association Day I find myself cherishing your contributions to the Address through your assignment responses and your questions. I sincerely hope you all will take part this year as there has been so much good inspiration and demonstration coming to light.
As always, whatever effort you put into these annual metaphysical projects brings blessings. The more you engage with them, the more you learn and grow, the more healing there is, the more we profit individually and as a movement.
Given the scope of this year’s undertaking, if you haven’t yet, it is really necessary to begin right away so that you can share a lived experience of the work (rather than a school essay style response at the last minute). Better to commit to just one of the five questions and work on it faithfully than give up or answer perfunctorily.
This year’s assignment was designed to take us back to the experience of being in class, when you devoted a full two weeks of your lives to this precious Science. God placed you in class and the “promising proclivities” you manifest in your demonstration of Primary Class Instruction made those two weeks a memorably profound experience. To a great degree, it was the effort and energy you put in that made that time so deeply meaningful.
Mortal mind pushes back against every influx of light and spiritual progress. Animal magnetism argues that “real world” concerns come first and Christian Science is either unrealistic or overly demanding, or we can take part cafeteria-style, picking and choosing what bits we like and accept. But that’s just what the carnal mind would say and as class-taught students of Mrs. Eddy’s revelation, we know better.
The saying goes, “You can’t spell ‘church’ without UR: you are church”. Church requires participants and Associations are just the same. They are formed by God but their expression requires our contributions of time, energy, devotion, and simply showing up.
Last year we read Nola Cook’s excellent talk on animal magnetism. She started this way:
"Many times we are tempted to believe that we are not handled by animal magnetism; and occasionally we are convinced that animal magnetism never bothers us, or that yes, animal magnetism was something Mrs. Eddy and her students had to contend with, but it is not a problem today.
But let me tell you about the parakeet. In 1972, I was asked by The Mother Church to speak at a Spiritual Goals meeting on the subject of animal magnetism. They furnished the title for my talk, and it was thus, “Our Defense Against and Safety from Animal Magnetism.” Some of you here may have been at that meeting and heard the talk. It started like this; I’ll read you the first few pages.
-
A young man sat at his desk early one morning reading the Lesson Sermon. About halfway through the second section, he remembered he should go into work early to drop off his car at the garage for a lube job. If he got there early enough he wouldn’t need an appointment. So he closed his books and hurried on his way.
-
A young mother said good bye to her school age children as they left for the day, and settled down to do some quiet praying for herself. It occurred to her that a load of clothes could be washing while she prayed. So she went to the basement, sorted some clothes, pretreated some for stains, and started that load of clothes. She returned upstairs to pray. Then she remembered the roast for that evening’s meal. She jumped up, went to the freezer, removed the roast to thaw, and again returned to her prayers. After a few moments of quiet, she remembered she had to prepare the readings for a committee meeting that evening. She got out her books, and made her selections. After retuning to pray again, the telephone rang. She answered it, and concluding her call, realized it was over two hours since the children left for school, and felt she really must get on with the chores of the day. She would do some really good praying tomorrow.
-
A Christian Scientist of many years finds the Lesson-Sermon no longer seems vital and meaningful to him so he dozes in church and he has not studied for weeks.
-
A young college student, really seeking the Truth, found himself mentally arguing every statement in the textbook, becoming more and more confused, and has finally stopped studying altogether.
-
A longtime student of Christian Science, who has a genuine love for the Truth, and who urgently, needs healing, falls asleep every time she start to study, or pray.
-
A friend of mine had several days of feeling uneasy, and irritable, for no apparent reason. She became sharp with her husband and impatient with her children, and soon began feeling guilty because she could not explain why.
-
An older teenager I know really intends to do some good studying of Christian Science every evening, but when his younger brother turns on the television, he finds himself irresistibly drawn to watch the program.
-
A Second Reader, ordinarily very well organized, had three small children, and found a series of difficult Sunday mornings coming to a climax with:
o Misplaced car keys at the time to leave for church.
o The two year-old’s left shoe was nowhere to be found.
o Hot chocolate spilled down the front of a fully dressed five year old when it was almost time to leave.
o The zipper stuck on her own dress, it wouldn’t go up or down.
o A car that often refused to start.
These are all true stories. Are there any that sound vaguely familiar? Have you noticed the one factor they each have in common?
But, let me finish that last story. That Sunday morning this young mother saw the picture, clearly. She stood in the middle of the kitchen, fighting tears and the temptation to give up altogether. She looked at the clock, and then at her cocoa drenched child and spoke out loud almost vehemently. “Animal magnetism, you have worked all the mischief you can. But hear this! I am Second Reader. And it is my place to be at church in the ample time to prepare for the service. And I will be there. I will be there if the children are barefooted, or stocking footed, if they are in stained clothing, and even if I’m in my housecoat. The car will start because God will see that it starts and we will be there because that’s where God wants me to be and NOTHING can overpower God!”
The children were quickly made ready, the shoe found, the car started, and I got there just in time. And I never had another Sunday morning like that, and was never late. The children always looked fine, and the car was soon replaced."
Later in the account came the story of the seemingly dead parakeet coming back to life because of the faithfulness and insistence of the woman who would not be stopped from going to church.
As I said, there are great blessings to be had from faithfulness.
So if you haven’t started yet, begin today. Pick a gospel. Choose the question that you most would like answered yourself, and start reading with an eye to how Jesus answered the question. As you go along ask yourself, how does this teaching or example relate to what’s going on in my own life. How might I live more closely in accord with it. And then try to do so. I absolutely guarantee you that wonderful things will happen. And then, I sincerely hope that in the spirit of love and fellowship, you will share your experience.
I’m putting the assignment below again, for convenience. And remember, you may also send questions in that you would like addressed on Association Day.
In the words of St. John, "Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth. For I rejoiced greatly, when the brethren came and testified of the truth that is in thee, even as thou walkest in the truth. I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth."
(III John 1:2–4)
with love,
Caryl
Assignment and Association details:
Assignment:
Between now and next May, please consider the following questions. Find your answers to them through study of the Bible and Mrs. Eddy’s writings and through putting your solutions into practice yourself. As always, we want you to share what you find with the Association. You can send your responses one question at a time, several at once, or all right before Association, but do respond and share your experience with this work!
For each question, please cite Scripture and Mrs. Eddy’s writings to make your case.
1) How did Jesus explain the nature of God. Describe Jesus’ theology. What happens when you embrace this Christian ontology?
2) What did Jesus teach constitutes real being? Catalog what the spiritual qualities of being are and how they function in your experience.
3) How did Jesus demonstrate that "Christ presents the indestructible man, whom Spirit creates, constitutes, and governs." (SH 316:20–21) What does his demonstration mean to your own Christian practice.
4) How did Jesus deal with aggressive sense evidence? How did he stand porter at the door of thought and what instruction did he give his disciples for dealing with unwanted thought?
5) What specific advice did Jesus leave to his disciples (and to us) and what are the Scientific correlatives to his instructions - how do Mrs. Eddy’s writings clarify and make practical that advice?
Get started now. Take your time. Let the answers unfold. And let us hear from you!
Association details:
Where: Christian Science Student Organization: 315 N. Mills Street
When: Saturday, May 21, 2022 9 a.m.
As usual, copies of the previous year’s address will be available on Friday, the day before we meet, and the current address can be read on Sunday following the meeting.
March Assignment Example letter
Dear People,
I’m going to share with you one of the recent responses to the assignment. Normally I save these for the address, but this one is so timely and inspiring I thought it would be good for us all to consider now.
#2. What did Jesus teach constitutes real being? Catalog what the spiritual qualities of being are and how they function in your experience.
Jesus certainly taught us throughout his ministry about the true, spiritual qualities that constitute our real being. The list seems endless, so I decided to focus mostly on qualities presented in the "Sermon on the Mount," especially the Beatitudes. With the help of several Bible translations, the Interpreter's Bible, a thesaurus, and of course Mrs. Eddy's writings, I narrowed the list down.
Shortly after I began this study, Russia invaded Ukraine. So I couldn't help but apply what I was learning to that heartbreaking situation. It made me include not just individual man, but collective man as well. After all, Mrs. Eddy tells us that Jesus' "mission was both individual and collective." (S&H p. 18) But she also says that "...the lie was, and is, collective as well as individual." (Retrospection and Introspection, p. 67)
So I found it useful to recognize that each spiritual quality necessarily precludes its suppositional opposite, --just as light, by its very nature, necessarily precludes darkness. When Jesus reveals to us that we are blessed, that necessarily precludes the possibility that we could ever be cursed. So here are some more of the qualities that do, and do not, constitute our real being:
-- We are individually and collectively truly happy. So happiness constitutes our real being. This precludes the suggestion that we can feel depressed or discouraged. Mrs. Eddy instructs us to "argue with yourself on the side of happiness." (Christian Healing, p. 10)
-- We are individually and collectively forgiven, never condemned or doomed.
-- We are individually and collectively sheltered, never unprotected. Of course that means everyone: soldiers, civilians, and refugees included.
-- Our real being is content and appreciative, never dissatisfied or ungrateful. We hunger for nothing but righteousness. This is true of everyone, in every nation.
-- Jesus certainly taught us that our real being is humble. He explained, "I can of mine own self do nothing," (John 5:30) and "...the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works." (John 14:10) So we can't help having humility, and therefore we can't possibly be arrogant or egotistic.
-- You, and I, and all are truly comforted, never distraught. "His arm encircles me, and mine, and all." (Hymn 207) -- Our real being is meek, never aggressive. No exceptions! -- Man is merciful, never cruel. -- Pure, never tainted. -- Peacemaking, never agitating.-- And man has a principled backbone, moral courage, and is never spineless or cowardly.
Again, there are no exceptions. There is no other kind of man!!!
Next I began to ponder the last part of this question -- how do these spiritual qualities function in our experience? Hmmmm. I felt I had to choose just one to start. I chose humility because it feels to me like a constant, running theme in Jesus' ministry to be humble. Poor in spirit. Childlike. Born again. Another reason I chose this quality, is that it's what I would most like to see in the leaders around the world. And of course, as the popular saying (attributed to Gandhi) goes, "Be the change you wish to see in the world."
So my current practice starts out: "'I can of mine own self do nothing.' Show me what You are doing, and how I'm not separate from that." I'm finding this approach very freeing.
And here's an example of how taking a similar, yielding approach once helped me tremendously when my husband passed away, and I had to find a way to deal with his children in a way that was fair to both them and me. I was praying very sincerely to handle everything in the right way. I didn't ever want to have any regrets, and I didn't want my late husband's children (who were all grown) to feel anything but justice and love. I came upon a chapter called "God's Will" in a book entitled, Addresses and Other Writings on Christian Science by Doris Henty. I trusted the message in these passages (p. 376-377):
"Mrs. Eddy wrote to Willian P. McKenzie, 'It is more important to know that right is, than to know what is right.' It is sufficient that intelligent Mind compels that which is right; and to this one right there is no alternative."
"Not only does Mind determine and declare what right is, but does it: 'he doeth according to his will...' Because of this a plan of action and its execution can be none other than the perfect will of God."
"that which is right is the un-optional consequence of God's government."
"...our prayer precludes the suggestion of any will, any power, any action or any consequence but that of God."
"We shall see the will of God evidenced humanly as flawless judgement and wisdom, revealing a plan thoroughly satisfactory to everyone concerned. The human situation will conform to the divine."
Yielding to this truth brought about wonderful solutions as to how to handle a memorial service, and how to distribute to my late husband's children what was rightfully theirs. All four of them appeared perfectly happy with the way everything unfolded, and those closest to me said so.
And now, rereading these passages for this assignment, I see how this truth is also perfectly applicable to the people of Russia and Ukraine right now. And since 2+2=4, then of course 2M + 2M = 4M. So this same truth has to be the case in every nation, right now: "[I]ntelligent Mind compels that which is right.”
Thanks to all of you for the work you are doing on the assignment.
with love,
Caryl
March 7 Assignment details letter
Dear People,
As preliminary answers to the Association assignment begin to come in, I’m seeing that it might help to explain the point of the questions.
You may recall the five points of Class teaching that cycle through Recapitulation:
-
What God is
-
What being is
-
What man is
-
What would distract us from that
-
How to practice the basic understanding
This year we are taking our own look at those points through the lens of the Gospels (Jesus’ teachings).
One of you remarked: “I’d much rather just come on Association day and have you tell me these things”.
While it is always nice to go to a lecture and be inspired by the lecturer’s presentation (which involved hours of study and corresponding demonstration), class and association are about your study and demonstration. Maybe you’re not ready to serve on the Board of Lectureship, but class taught you how to progress in Christian Science and Association is where we share our progress. Association assignments are what impel that progress. They’re not exams, aimed at testing your knowledge of C.S. metaphysics. They’re meant to get you thinking and working as you did in class, to remind you of what constitutes your practice and motivate you to keep digging deeper.
The first question is meant to send you on a search of how Jesus explained what God is. To answer this question you need to sit down with the Bible and read at least one of the Gospels through (or, if you have Concord or access to some other online Bible search engine you could type in a keyword (like God, or Father) and then look at each reference to that word in Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Share the things that resonated with you, that you related to most strongly.
The search should remind and reawaken your sense of what God is, bring you home to a spiritual sense of Deity, and inspire you to follow Jesus in his steadfast adherence to these spiritual facts. If we have the God that Jesus taught and demonstrated, our daily experience is going to be radically different. My expectation is that you’ll share your experiences of actually putting at least one of these teachings into practice.
The second question goes to what being really is. Again, you need to read the Gospels for what Jesus taught and showed us. Is being spiritual or material? Does Jesus say it is a mix of the two? What spiritual qualities does Jesus emphasize? What questions did your study provoke? How did you try to answer them? What did you find?
Share what you find in your study. You need to be writing down what you come across as you read the Gospels. You can’t do this without spending time with the Pastor! That’s the method of the assignment - to bring you back to the kind of immersion you experienced in class when you were close-reading God’s Word.
The third question is to find what man is in Jesus teaching. How did he show that spiritual sense presents the real man. What is the real man composed of - what qualities belong to man, to us? (this week’s Lesson is full of examples!) And now, what does it mean to you that this is who YOU are? How does focusing on real identity change the way you get through your day?
The fourth question deals with animal magnetism. How did Jesus handle it? How did he instruct his disciples to handle it? You can’t just remember the story of the healing of epileptic boy, write down, “Jesus said we have to pray and fast” and leave it at that. First of all, this can’t be about what you remember alone, it has to come from your time with the books, your search for truth. Secondly, you need to think in terms of what this means to you - for example, what does prayer and fasting even mean? You might need to search Mrs. Eddy’s writings for references to these words. This might take you on a long sojourn with the entire chapter on Prayer. You might need to spend some time at a Reading Room looking at past articles on the subject. The more you put into your search the more you will get out of it.
The last question is really: how do I do this? Specifically: how did Jesus say I can do this? What does Mrs. Eddy say about those admonitions Jesus left us. For example: He taught us the Lord’s Prayer, Mrs. Eddy says it’s the prayer that covers all human need. Now work with that prayer and see if she’s right and report back to us!
Fully answering these questions constitutes a life’s work. So don’t worry about providing exhaustive conclusions. Again, this isn’t like a school homework assignment. There are no grades attached to your answers and there is no one right answer. The “right” answer is the whatever deeply engages you with your books, moves thought, and inspires demonstration.
Don’t be daunted by the scope of these questions. They’re meant to be broad and deep. If you only manage to look deeply into one of Jesus' teachings on each of the questions then your study, you will have faithfully done the work and reaped wonderful fruitage. That’s a promise.
If you haven’t yet, do get started (or if this changes the way you see what you’ve already done, get re-started).
It’s important: for you, for your church, for our world. This is how the Christ mission gets accomplished!
Don’t hesitate to write back or call if more clarification is needed.
with love,
Caryl
February Association Letter
Dear People,
We’re getting occasional glimpses of spring here in New Mexico and they remind me that we’re moving into my favorite season - the final few months before our Association meeting.
The address is unfolding, God is speaking (as always), but we’re listening a little more closely as we work on the assignment. It’s a time when faith can deepen into greater understanding and our spirit-ward efforts bear fruit bringing Reality nearer and dearer.
I had a conversation last week with someone who had been in Milton Simon’s final class which reminded me of how natural it is to cherish the opportunities that our Christian Science Associations provide.
Back in the 1960’s this student had come across some of Mr. Simon’s articles in the periodicals and felt, “this is my teacher”. She contacted him and he asked her if she was willing to travel from Wisconsin to Manhattan for an interview. These were the days of luxury plane travel and a ticket on Pan Am was way out of her price range. Also, her husband, who was not a Christian Scientist, would have a hard time understanding why his wife should be flying off to New York just to talk to a "religious teacher".
But without hesitation, she said, “Yes!”.
“No need then,” Mr. Simon replied. He accepted her application, gave her the details of the upcoming class and there followed demonstration upon demonstration that put her in that class at Third Church on Park Avenue. Class was inspiring and at the end, the next Association date was announced. This was a news flash to the student who hadn’t realized there were annual gatherings after class. But she joyfully went back to her hotel (chosen because it advertised in the Monitor) and booked a room for the next year. How on earth she would afford it or be able to leave her family she could not imagine, but she knew that it was right and that God would work it out.
She told of being God-led to break the news about annual trips to New York to her husband when he was in the midst of distress about a setback in his business, how it humanly had seemed the worst possible moment, but she listened to the Divine leading and his response had been to pause in his perturbation and tell her, “Of course”.
Now, much advanced in years, this woman was enthusing about her upcoming Association guest speaker and how much she was looking forward to attending. Mr. Simon has been gone for many decades, but this student has never missed an opportunity to be with her Association family.
If that sounds like old school devotion that just isn’t the norm any more, it is a good time to consider that hungering and thirsting after righteousness, a willingness to leave your nets for the Christ, and an unfeigned and fervent love of the brethren, is what is actually normal to all of us. God made us to value spiritual sense and divine good. Whatever connects us with spiritual sense is home to us.
I rejoice that we will be able to gather in person again on Saturday, May 21st at the Student Center in Madison. Being all of accord in one place is the best way for an Association (or a church, for that matter) to gather.
Attendance is an expression of devotion; for one weekend a year we drop our nets and discover that doing so makes us feel most like ourselves. Attendance affirms our love of Christ. Attendance is reliance of God’s provision; a demonstration of His love. If you heard that Christ Jesus was going to meet with his followers in Africa, I would imagine you’d start out right away and trust God would get you there.
If, as you read this, you find yourself mentally cataloging reasons why attendance is too difficult or why it doesn’t really matter, take a moment and remember the “promising proclivities” that are at the heart of your progress in Christian Science. That which Mrs. Eddy considered “promising” in students must be perpetually cherished by us in order to keep it alive and active.
What’s the alternative? The angel in Revelation said this to the church at Ephesus: “... I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love. Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent.” (Revelation 2:4, 5)
This spiritual demand may seem, well, demanding. But really, it is a call from Love to its own reflection, a call to remember what it is you really love; the mountaintop; a call to come home. And Love itself provides, meets the human need.
If you have concerns, don’t hesitate to call. Local students have offered a place to stay as well as financial aid if needed to help members get here. This is a demonstration well within all our reach.
For convenience, I am again including the assignment for this year’s address: The Spiritual Demand. The time you spend working on it will bless you.
Association Assignment:
For each question, please cite Scripture and Mrs. Eddy’s writings to make your case.
1) How did Jesus explain the nature of God. Describe Jesus’ theology. What happens when you embrace this Christian ontology?
2) What did Jesus teach constitutes real being? Catalog what the spiritual qualities of being are and how they function in your experience.
3) How did Jesus demonstrate that "Christ presents the indestructible man, whom Spirit creates, constitutes, and governs." (SH 316:20–21) What does his demonstration mean to your own Christian practice.
4) How did Jesus deal with aggressive sense evidence? How did he stand porter at the door of thought and what instruction did he give his disciples for dealing with unwanted thought?
5) What specific advice did Jesus leave to his disciples (and to us) and what are the Scientific correlatives to his instructions - how do Mrs. Eddy’s writings clarify and make practical that advice?
Association details:
What: Association 2021: The Spiritual Demand
Where: Christian Science Student Organization: 315 N. Mills Street
When: Saturday, May 21, 2022 9 a.m.
As usual, copies of the previous year’s address will be available on Friday, the day before we meet (I’ll be in the Library at the Org. from 2:30 p.m. on), and the current address can be read on Sunday afternoon after church (also at the Org).
The demand is real and God will meet it!
with love,
Caryl
CHRISTMAS LETTER W/ ASSIGNMENT
December 28, 2021
Dear People,
It’s December 28th and the Christmas cards are still arriving.Some of you sent me lovely online cards after the 25th. Thank you for those perennially good Christmas sentiments.
Usually I write my Christmas letter to the Association before the 25th, but this year it is going out today and that’s a good thing because this year it seems especially important to keep the spiritual sense of Christmas before us as we go forward into the new year.
Back on the 17th I sent you all a copy of an article by Mr. Phinney - Unconventional Christmas. It was (and is) a powerful piece of writing, arguing not just for making Christmas about Christ, but about getting consistently free of the “cold conventionality of materialism” (SH vii: 15-17)
This paragraph stood out because it is so related to our assignment this year: "This spiritual understanding of original Christianity and Christian Science that God is man's Life is a shocking position to the human mind settled into all the conventions of self in material life. Yet it is this spiritual standpoint that is so essential to anyone desiring to live as a Christian Scientist. Increasing obedience to and demonstration of Christ, or Truth itself, and not just the adopting of associated truths and reassurances, is necessary in order to have a renewed sense of life and healing. To grow into such a spiritual understanding calls for strong progress Christward. It can't be done casually or superficially. It certainly takes everything you've got, and more.”
"It takes everything you’ve got and more," - that more would be supplied by our reliance on God. Just as Judge Hanna was able to accomplish all the work before him when he put in the time and effort to daily treat the thought of personal effort and responsibility and give the control to God. It does take daily time and dedication to specifically handle the aggressive suggestion that, "we are now living a thoroughly real material life, a human existence that has its entire basis and laws and limits in matter, and we must therefore meekly submit to a lifetime sentence of imprisonment within that fact”.
Our assignment for May’s Association was designed to address and correct this very claim.Here it is again, just to keep it in focus:
Between now and next May, please consider the following questions. Find your answers to them through study of the Bible and Mrs. Eddy’s writings and through putting your solutions into practice yourself. As always, we want you to share what you find with the Association. You can send your responses one question at a time, several at once, or all right before Association, but do respond and share your experience with this work!
For each question, please cite Scripture and Mrs. Eddy’s writings to make your case.
1) How did Jesus explain the nature of God. Describe Jesus’ theology. What happens when you embrace this Christian ontology?
2) What did Jesus teach constitutes real being? Catalog what the spiritual qualities of being are and how they function in your experience.
3) How did Jesus demonstrate that "Christ presents the indestructible man, whom Spirit creates, constitutes, and governs."(SH 316:20–21) What does his demonstration mean to your own Christian practice.
4) How did Jesus deal with aggressive sense evidence? How did he stand porter at the door of thought and what instruction did he give his disciples for dealing with unwanted thought?
5) What specific advice did Jesus leave to his disciples (and to us) and what are the Scientific correlatives to his instructions - how do Mrs. Eddy’s writings clarify and make practical that advice?
Association details:
What: Association 2021: The Spiritual Demand
Where: Christian Science Student Organization: 315 N. Mills Street
When: Saturday, May 21, 2022 9 a.m.
As usual, copies of the previous year’s address will be available on Friday, the day before we meet, and the current address can be read on Sunday following the meeting.
As you may have noticed, the emphasis in the assignment is on Jesus’ teaching and demonstration. He is our Master, our Lord, our Exemplar. He is the Way-shower who reveals the spiritual demand and how to meet it. That is what our day will be all about in May.
I recognize that some of you may feel a bit daunted by the size of the assignment. One guest responded to that concern by taking one question, working on just that question and mailing me her response as soon as it was done. I would highly recommend this approach.
Take on this work, share with us how you are striving to meet the spiritual demand. That effort will bless you and bless us all.
I’ll end with the final words of Unconventional Christmas: "In humility we each must admit how far we have to go in comprehending the wonder of the Science of being, let alone proving a small portion of it. But the same humility which leads us to see that the Saviour has come, urges us to live on the basis that the Christ and Holy Ghost are here. And to do that is to know the spirit of Christmas a lot more often than once a year.”
With much love and gratitude for your faithful work,
Caryl
October 20, 2021 ASSIGNMENT LETTER
Dear People,
I trust you have all had fruitful summers!
Each Association cycle we have the opportunity to prove what we are learning and find the wisdom Mind unfolds to be practical in our lives. It seems fitting that the topic and assignment for our next Association should come at harvest time - they represent a ripening of thought and a gathering of fruitage:
The title of the address will be: The Spiritual Demand
These passages from this week’s Lesson (Probation after death) elucidate the theme:
During the sensual ages, absolute Christian Science may not be achieved prior to the change called death, for we have not the power to demonstrate what we do not understand. But the human self must be evangelized. This task God demands us to accept lovingly to-day, and to abandon so fast as practical the material, and to work out the spiritual which determines the outward and actual. (SH 254:16-22)
When we wait patiently on God and seek Truth righteously, He directs our path. Imperfect mortals grasp the ultimate of spiritual perfection slowly; but to begin aright and to continue the strife of demonstrating the great problem of being, is doing much. (SH 254:10-15)
Let us learn of the real and eternal, and prepare for the reign of Spirit, the kingdom of heaven, — the reign and rule of universal harmony, which cannot be lost nor remain forever unseen. (SH 208:20)
Class prepares us for this work. Association reminds us of that preparation and kindles the desire to go up higher.
Assignment:
Between now and next May, please consider the following questions. Find your answers to them through study of the Bible and Mrs. Eddy’s writings and through putting your solutions into practice yourself. As always, we want you to share what you find with the Association. You can send your responses one question at a time, several at once, or all right before Association, but do respond and share your experience with this work!
For each question, please cite Scripture and Mrs. Eddy’s writings to make your case.
1) How did Jesus explain the nature of God. Describe Jesus’ theology. What happens when you embrace this Christian ontology?
2) What did Jesus teach constitutes real being? Catalog what the spiritual qualities of being are and how they function in your experience.
3) How did Jesus demonstrate that "Christ presents the indestructible man, whom Spirit creates, constitutes, and governs."
(SH 316:20–21) What does his demonstration mean to your own Christian practice.
4) How did Jesus deal with aggressive sense evidence? How did he stand porter at the door of thought and what instruction did he give his disciples for dealing with unwanted thought?
5) What specific advice did Jesus leave to his disciples (and to us) and what are the Scientific correlatives to his instructions - how do Mrs. Eddy’s writings clarify and make practical that advice?
Get started now. Take your time. Let the answers unfold. And let us hear from you!
Association details:
Where: Christian Science Student Organization: 315 N. Mills Street
When: Saturday, May 21, 2022 9 a.m.
As usual, copies of the previous year’s address will be available on Friday, the day before we meet, and the current address can be read on Sunday following the meeting.
with love,
Caryl