Christian Science Practitioner – Robert L. Wood, C.S.

My high school Alma Mater is Laguna Beach High School. Over the years, Laguna’s football team has had some great successes, and some less than stellar seasons. Traditionally, Laguna has had to battle through the perceptions of being too small, having too few players to be consistently good. Coaches have tried a variety of ways to be competitive, from trickery to simply throwing the ball as much as possible. It would seem that in an attempt to be “practical” about their chances, they accepted the perception others had of them.

This year has started much differently. My Laguna Breakers have a new coach, a new “old” coach, old as in old school that is. The new system is all about playing fundamentally sound football and running the ball. Before the season started the coach was quoted as saying, “We don’t have a lot of plays to begin with, but we’re going to learn how to run them right.”

Two weeks into the season, my Breakers have run the ball for almost 1,200 yards and won their first two games by a combined score of 125-47.

I have always said that sports teach lessons that last a lifetime. There are many lessons I’m sure these players have already learned. And there are many lessons we all can learn from their experience. One of the best lessons to consider is that there is nothing better than sound fundamentals. No matter what you are doing, make sure you have established a rock solid foundation on which to build.

I am reminded of the words Christ Jesus used when teaching this very point. He concluded the greatest of sermons, the Sermon on the Mount, this way, “Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.”

If you haven’t read the Sermon on the Mount lately, take a few minutes and do so. It is found in the Gospel of Matthew, Chapters 5-7. In most Bibles, it is just about 5 pages. Like my Breakers’ playbook, not all that long. But read it. Read it often so you know what to practice. The more you practice, the easier it becomes.

When we practice the lessons taught in the Sermon on the Mount, we are practicing the fundamentals of living Life to the fullest. There’s nothing tricky about it. There’s no razzle-dazzle. There’s no fear. There aren’t even that many lessons to learn. But the more we practice each lesson, the more we perfect each lesson, we are creating a rock-solid foundation on which we build our lives.

Share on Facebook

There are some Bible passages that truly stand on their own. They need no explanation. One of my favorites is 1 Corinthians 13. Here it is from the New Living Translation of the Bible (verses 1-7, 13):

“If I could speak all the languages of earth and of angels, but didn’t love others, I would only be a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. If I had the gift of prophecy, and if I understood all of God’s secret plans and possessed all knowledge, and if I had such faith that I could move mountains, but didn’t love others, I would be nothing. If I gave everything I have to the poor and even sacrificed my body, I could boast about it; but if I didn’t love others, I would have gained nothing.

Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.

Three things will last forever—faith, hope, and love—and the greatest of these is love.”

Share on Facebook

Technology has done wonders to help the advancement of mankind. We can do more in less time than ever before. News is reported in real time because everyone is now “tweeting” about everything they see. The demand for instant gratification has never been greater. Time is at a premium. We have never been busier. Ask someone to volunteer for something, and it seems the normal response is a list of his or her activities followed by, “Sorry, I’m just too busy.”

Thinking we are “too busy” is a temptation the subtle serpent whispers in our ear. It is a plea of mortal mind telling us we are limited, as if there is only a finite number of minutes in a day to accomplish what we need to do. But like all temptations of error, we must rebuke it from the very moment it attempts to enter our thought.

In Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, Mrs. Eddy begins her definition of “time” this way, “TIME. Mortal measurements; limits, in which are summed up all human acts, thoughts, beliefs, opinions, knowledge;…” (SH 595:17-19)

Accepting the limitation of time seems to be something most end up doing. But when we recognize time is a mortal measurement, and everything mortal is finite and temporal, we learn there is nothing constant about time. It is relative to each of our own experiences.

Time is relative to how much we want to do something. I say if you really want to slow time down, jump on a treadmill. Out of all the machines in a gym, the treadmill has to be one of my least favorites. Those have to be the slowest minutes ever. Sometimes I force myself not to look at the clock. I’ll be running, huffing and puffing, and when I think I must be nearing the end, I’ll look down and haven’t even reached the halfway mark.

The flip side is that the absolute quickest minutes in a gym are when you are giving yourself time to catch your breath.

Time is also relative to one’s understanding. In sports, it is normal that as one gets better, the speed of play gets faster. When an athlete moves from youth sports, to high school, to college, to the pros, the game gets faster and faster. However, for the athlete, once the adjustment is made, the game actually slows down, the athlete sees more in less time. For the best athletes, the ones who really understand, it’s often said that time stands still.

There is another understanding with which time is relative, our spiritual understanding. Mrs. Eddy explained, “…in proportion as you understand the control which Mind has over so-called matter [in our case ‘matter’ can be replaced by ‘the mortal measurement of time’], you will be able to demonstrate this control.” (SH 217:22-24) In other words, the more we recognize there is only one power in control, God, one Mind which directs us, in that proportion the limitations of matter, mortal mind, time, loses all control.

In the first example we see that when we don’t want to do something, it seems to take forever to get the job done. The second example demonstrates the more we know, the better our understanding, both practically and spiritually, time no longer is an issue, we’re no longer rushed, overwhelmed, or too busy.

The limitations time tries to impose come in many forms. Whether it is a subtle but constant feeling of building anxiety, or an onslaught of overwhelming exhaustion, it will never be more than a temptation to accept there can be something outside of God’s control. When we learn to truly live in harmony with the Laws of God, time will forever stand still.

Share on Facebook

Love heals.

Plain and simple, love heals.

Love heals, for “God is love.”

All healing comes from God. Therefore, all healing comes from love.

The world needs healing. The world needs God.

The world needs healers. The world needs love.

Christ Jesus gave us the commandment, “Love one another.”

He also taught, “whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them… And whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain. Give to him that asketh thee, and from him that would borrow of thee turn not thou away. Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy. But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you.”

Love.

Love and forgive.

What raised Lazarus from the grave? Love.

When the soldiers came to arrest Jesus and Peter cut off the ear of one of the soldiers, how did Jesus restore the ear? Love.

When the woman touched the hem of Jesus’ robe and was healed, what healed her? Love.

In The First General Epistle of John, we read, “God is love… If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and his love is perfected in us.”

It is this perfect love that allows us all to be healers.

In Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, Mary Baker Eddy uses Love, with a capital “L,” as one of seven synonyms for God, along with Principle, Mind, Soul, Spirit, Life and Truth. She explains, “These [the seven synonyms] are His attributes, the eternal manifestations of the infinite divine Principle, Love.”

“Love is reflected in love,” she writes. When we love, we are reflecting God, we are expressing God, and we know God is with us, as he always is.

There are many ways of expressing Love. Paul explained in his First Epistle to the Corinthians, “ Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.”

Love requires reaching out, giving to another.

God told Moses, “I AM THAT I AM.”

We are because God is.

We are because God is Love, and Love cannot exist alone, nor can one love alone.

Practice loving. See Love.

Practice healing. See healing.

Love heals, plain and simple.

Share on Facebook

It’s been almost a month since I posted my first blog article. I have worked on a number of different articles since then, but have yet to feel any are ready to share. Then it hit me that I have been trying too hard to be profound, too hard to post ultimate articles that bring incredible insight. But let’s face it, those are few and far between. What I really needed to do, and the purpose of a helpful blog, is to consistently put thoughts out there to make the reader think, to offer something that is (hopefully) interesting and could prove useful in the course of the day.

I recall a quote from Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy, speaking of spiritual understanding, she said, “This understanding is not intellectual, is not the result of scholarly attainments; it is the reality of all things brought to light.” (SH 505:26-28) She also wrote, “The tender word and Christian encouragement of an invalid, pitiful patience with his fears and the removal of them, are better than hecatombs of gushing theories, stereotyped borrowed speeches, and the doling of arguments, which are but so many parodies on legitimate Christian Science, aflame with divine Love.” (SH 367:3)

With this, the anxiety of trying to provide intellectually deep and overwhelming arguments for Truth fell by the wayside. I realized that all I really wanted to do was offer experiences I have enjoyed as a student of Christian Science.

This, in itself, was a wonderful lesson for me, a lesson to not over-think and over-analyze things. I learned I needed to cherish the simplicity that is Truth, God.

From this perspective, I thought about Jesus when he explained, “Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child shall in no wise enter therein.” (Luke 18:17)

This passage always brings a smile to my face, and it is not very hard to understand what he meant. All we need do is understand what it means to be a child.

Realizing he was speaking to his disciples, grown men, he wants us all to humble ourselves, to recognize that all our learned intellect and world experience does not automatically earn us a fast-pass into the Kingdom of God.

As we humble ourselves, we also need to see ourselves from a different perspective. We need to recognize the childlike qualities of purity and innocence that always have been and always will be a part of us. Jesus first presented this concept in the Sermon on the Mount when he said “Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.” (Matthew 5:8)

Perhaps a point not as apparent is that Jesus was reiterating something he said earlier, when he said, “Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.” (Luke 12:32) After all, everyone understands that it is the parent’s role to provide for his child and we all can rejoice that the Kingdom of God is given to us by our Father-Mother, God.

Mrs. Eddy also addressed the need for childlike qualities. She said, “Children are more tractable than adults, and learn more readily to love the simple verities that will make them happy and good… Jesus loved little children because of their freedom from wrong and their receptiveness of right.” (SH 236:25)

As I look over the number of half-finished articles each exhibiting profound potential not yet realized, I could not help but think of the silly acronym, K.I.S.S., Keep It Simple, Stupid! It was time to simplify things and cherish the child within. It was time to drop all the clutter of worldly impositions, and hold tight to the pure and innocent.

As First Reader for our branch church, I get to choose an appropriate benediction each week. Today, I read from the New Living Translation a verse from Psalm 18. It states, “The Lord rewarded me for doing right. He has seen my innocence.” What a blessing! Not only are we rewarded for doing right, but the Lord, he sees our innocence. In fact, that is all he knows of us. And if that is how he sees us, shouldn’t we do the same?

In writing this blog article, I thought I should offer an example of how this idea of simplifying my life and enjoying the childlike qualities we all possess has been demonstrated. I then realized that just as soon as I publish this article, the demonstration has been made for all to see.

Share on Facebook