Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy (universal ebook reader .TXT) 📖

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sick is an absolute faith that all things are 1:3 possible to God,- a spiritual understanding of Him,

an unselfed love. Regardless of what another may say

or think on this subject, I speak from experience. 1:6 Prayer, watching, and working, combined with self-immolation, are God’s gracious means for accomplishing

whatever has been successfully done for the Christian-1:9 ization and health of mankind.

 

Thoughts unspoken are not unknown to the divine

Mind. Desire is prayer; and no loss can occur from 1:12 trusting God with our desires, that they may be

moulded and exalted before they take form in words

and in deeds.

 

Right motives

2:1 What are the motives for prayer? Do we pray to

make ourselves better or to benefit those who hear us, 2:3 to enlighten the infinite or to be heard of

men? Are we benefited by praying? Yes,

the desire which goes forth hungering after righteous-2:6 ness is blessed of our Father, and it does not return

unto us void.

 

Deity unchangeable

 

God is not moved by the breath of praise to do more 2:9 than He has already done, nor can the infinite do less

than bestow all good, since He is unchanging wisdom and Love. We can do more for 2:12 ourselves by humble fervent petitions, but the All-loving does not grant them simply on the ground of lip—

service, for He already knows all.

2:15 Prayer cannot change the Science of being, but it

tends to bring us into harmony with it. Goodness attains the demonstration of Truth. A request that 2:18 God will save us is not all that is required. The mere

habit of pleading with the divine Mind, as one pleads

with a human being, perpetuates the belief in God as 2:21 humanly circumscribed,- an error which impedes spiritual growth.

 

God’s standard

 

God is Love. Can we ask Him to be more? God is 2:24 intelligence. Can we inform the infinite Mind of anything He does not already comprehend?

Do we expect to change perfection? Shall 2:27 we plead for more at the open fount, which is pouring forth more than we accept? The unspoken desire

does bring us nearer the source of all existence and 2:30 blessedness.

 

Asking God to be God is a vain repetition. God is

“the same yesterday, and to-day, and forever;” and 3:1 He who is immutably right will do right without being

reminded of His province. The wisdom of man is not 3:3 sufficient to warrant him in advising God.

 

The spiritual mathematics

 

Who would stand before a blackboard, and pray the

principle of mathematics to solve the problem? The 3:6 rule is already established, and it is our

task to work out the solution. Shall we

ask the divine Principle of all goodness to do His own 3:9 work? His work is done, and we have only to avail

ourselves of God’s rule in order to receive His blessing, which enables us to work out our own salvation.

3:12 The Divine Being must be reflected by man, - else

man is not the image and likeness of the patient,

tender, and true, the One “altogether lovely;” but to 3:15 understand God is the work of eternity, and demands

absolute consecration of thought, energy, and desire.

 

Prayerful ingratitude

 

How empty are our conceptions of Deity! We admit 3:18 theoretically that God is good, omnipotent, omnipresent, infinite, and then we try to give

information to this infinite Mind. We plead 3:21 for unmerited pardon and for a liberal outpouring of

benefactions. Are we really grateful for the good

already received? Then we shall avail ourselves of the 3:24 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.

3:27 If we are ungrateful for Life, Truth, and Love, and

yet return thanks to God for all blessings, we are insincere and incur the sharp censure our Master pro-3:30 nounces on hypocrites. In such a case, the only

acceptable prayer is to put the finger on the lips and

remember our blessings. While the heart is far from 4:1 divine Truth and Love, we cannot conceal the ingratitude of barren lives.

 

Efficacious petitions

4:3 What we most need is the prayer of fervent desire

for growth in grace, expressed in patience, meekness,

love, and good deeds. To keep the com-4:6 mandments of our Master and follow his

example, is our proper debt to him and the only

worthy evidence of our gratitude for all that he has 4:9 done. Outward worship is not of itself sufficient to

express loyal and heartfelt gratitude, since he has

said: “If ye love me, keep my commandments.”

4:12 The habitual struggle to be always good is unceasing prayer. Its motives are made manifest in the

blessings they bring,- blessings which, even if not 4:15 acknowledged in audible words, attest our worthiness

to be partakers of Love.

 

Watchfulness requisite

 

Simply asking that we may love God will never 4:18 make us love Him; but the longing to be better

and holier, expressed in daily watchfulness and in striving to assimilate more of 4:21 the divine character, will mould and fashion us

anew, until we awake in His likeness. We reach the

Science of Christianity through demonstration of the 4:24 divine nature; but in this wicked world goodness

will “be evil spoken of,” and patience must bring

experience.

 

Veritable devotion

4:27 Audible prayer can never do the works of spiritual

understanding, which regenerates; but silent prayer,

watchfulness, and devout obedience enable 4:30 us to follow Jesus’ example. Long prayers,

superstition, and creeds clip the strong pinions of love,

and clothe religion in human forms. Whatever mate-5:1 rializes worship hinders man’s spiritual growth and keeps

him from demonstrating his power over error.

 

Sorrow and reformation

5:3 Sorrow for wrong-doing is but one step towards reform

and the very easiest step. The next and great step required by wisdom is the test of our sincerity, 5:6 - namely, reformation. To this end we are

placed under the stress of circumstances. Temptation

bids us repeat the offence, and woe comes in return for 5:9 what is done. So it will ever be, till we learn that there

is no discount in the law of justice and that we must pay

“the uttermost farthing.” The measure ye mete “shall 5:12 be measured to you again,” and it will be full “and running over.”

 

Saints and sinners get their full award, but not always 5:15 in this world. The followers of Christ drank his cup.

Ingratitude and persecution filled it to the brim; but God

pours the riches of His love into the understanding and 5:18 affections, giving us strength according to our day. Sinners flourish “like a green bay tree;” but, looking farther,

the Psalmist could see their end, - the destruction of sin 5:21 through suffering.

 

Cancellation of human sin

 

Prayer is not to be used as a confessional to cancel sin.

Such an error would impede true religion. Sin is forgiven 5:24 only as it is destroyed by Christ, - Truth and

Life. If prayer nourishes the belief that sin is

cancelled, and that man is made better merely by praying, 5:27 prayer is an evil. He grows worse who continues in sin

because he fancies himself forgiven.

 

Diabolism destroyed

 

An apostle says that the Son of God [Christ] came to 5:30 “destroy the works of the devil.” We should

follow our divine Exemplar, and seek the destruction of all evil works, error and disease included. 6:1 We cannot escape the penalty due for sin. The Scriptures say, that if we deny Christ, ” he also will deny us.”

 

Pardon and amendment

6:3 Divine Love corrects and governs man. Men may

pardon, but this divine Principle alone reforms the

sinner. God is not separate from the wis-6:6 dom He bestows. The talents He gives we

must improve. Calling on Him to forgive our work

badly done or left undone, implies the vain supposition 6:9 that we have nothing to do but to ask pardon, and

that afterwards we shall be free to repeat the offence.

 

To cause suffering as the result of sin, is the means 6:12 of destroying sin. Every supposed pleasure in sin

will furnish more than its equivalent of pain, until belief in material life and sin is destroyed. To reach 6:15 heaven, the harmony of being, we must understand

the divine Principle of being.

 

Mercy without partiality

 

“God is Love.” More than this we cannot ask, 6:18 higher we cannot look, farther we cannot go. To

suppose that God forgives or punishes sin

according as His mercy is sought or un-6:21 sought, is to misunderstand Love and to make prayer

the safety-valve for wrong-doing.

 

Divine severity

 

Jesus uncovered and rebuked sin before he cast it 6:24 out. Of a sick woman he said that Satan had bound

her, and to Peter he said, “Thou art an offence unto me.” He came teaching and 6:27 showing men how to destroy sin, sickness, and death.

He said of the fruitless tree, “[It] is hewn down.”

 

It is believed by many that a certain magistrate, 6:30 who lived in the time of Jesus, left this record: “His

rebuke is fearful.” The strong language of our Master confirms this description.

7:1 The only civil sentence which he had for error was,

“Get thee behind me, Satan.” Still stronger evidence 7:3 that Jesus’ reproof was pointed and pungent is found

in his own words,- showing the necessity for such

forcible utterance, when he cast out devils and healed 7:6 the sick and sinning. The relinquishment of error deprives material sense of its false claims.

 

Audible praying

 

Audible prayer is impressive; it gives momentary 7:9 solemnity and elevation to thought. But does it produce any lasting benefit? Looking deeply

into these things, we find that “a zeal … 7:12 not according to knowledge” gives occasion for reaction unfavorable to spiritual growth, sober resolve, and

wholesome perception of God’s requirements. The mo-7:15 tives for verbal prayer may embrace too much love of

applause to induce or encourage Christian sentiment.

 

Emotional utterances

 

Physical sensation, not Soul, produces material ec-7:18 stasy and emotion. If spiritual sense always guided

men, there would grow out of ecstatic moments a higher experience and a better life 7:21 with more devout self-abnegation and purity. A self—

satisfied ventilation of fervent sentiments never makes

a Christian. God is not influenced by man. The “di-7:24 vine ear” is not an auditory nerve. It is the all-hearing

and all-knowing Mind, to whom each need of man is

always known and by whom it will be supplied.

 

Danger from audible prayer

7:27 The danger from prayer is that it may lead us into temptation. By it we may become involuntary hypocrites, uttering desires which are not real and consoling 7:30 ourselves in the midst of sin with the recollection

that we have prayed over it or mean to ask forgiveness at some later day. Hypocrisy is fatal to religion.

8:1 A wordy prayer may afford a quiet sense of self-justification, though it makes the sinner a hypocrite. 8:3 We never need to despair of an honest heart; but

there is little hope for those who come only spasmodi—

cally face to face with their wickedness and then seek to 8:6 hide it. Their prayers are indexes which do not correspond

with their character. They hold secret fellowship with

sin, and such externals are spoken of by Jesus as “like 8:9 unto whited sepulchres … full … of all uncleanness.”

 

Aspiration and love

 

If a man, though apparently fervent and prayerful,

is impure and therefore insincere, what must be the 8:12 comment upon him? If he reached the

loftiness of his prayer, there