Sunday, September 15th, 2019 Roundtable
Morning Prayers
May our Father-Mother God, who in times past hath spread for us a table in the wilderness and “in the midst of our enemies,” establish us in the most holy faith, plant our feet firmly on Truth, the rock of Christ, the “substance of things hoped for” — and fill us with the life and understanding of God, and good will towards men.
— from “Prayer for Church and Country” Christian Science versus Pantheism by Mary Baker Eddy, page 15
Discussion points
19 — WATCH lest you endeavor to interpret the Bible with any sense of God being separated from man, or operating in the universe except through man. It might even be helpful to declare that man is the expressed activity of God, or God in action, if such a statement would aid one in eliminating any sense that God operates apart from His reflection, man. When the Bible says, “Thus saith the Lord,” it means that divine Mind was expressed through the demonstration some individual made to voice God. To trust in the Lord means to trust in one’s ability to demonstrate God’s presence and power. Whenever the Bible speaks of God, if the text involves more than a definition of Him, it must include the fact that God is being reflected by man, or as man. The Lord is our Shepherd through our ability to reflect His protecting presence. Thus the Lord must mean the ever—presence of divine Love demonstrated or reflected by man.
— from 500 Watching Points by Gilbert Carpenter
Golden Text — “All things work together for good to them that love God.”
— I Romans 8 : 28
Victoria Sargent to Mrs. Eddy, ” … you represent the God-crowned woman mentioned in the Apocalypse.” Mrs. Eddy’s response was to point upward and say, “That is from above,” meaning it came from spiritual insight and understanding, not from personal sense.”
— from In Defense of Mary Baker Eddy and the Remnant of Her Seed, by Paul R. Smillie, page 200
Forum post — “Our God Will Supply Every Need” by Florence Roberts
Forum post — “A Table in the Wildernesss” by Parthens
Rules for supply:
Give thanks.
Tithe.
Unselfed love.
— from Roundtable discussion.
RESPONSIVE READING: I Chronicles 16 : 8-12, 23, 24
8. Give thanks unto the Lord, call upon his name, make known his deeds among the people.
9. Sing unto him, sing psalms unto him, talk ye of all his wondrous works.
10. Glory ye in his holy name: let the heart of them rejoice that seek the Lord.
11. Seek the Lord and his strength, seek his face continually.
12. Remember his marvellous works that he hath done, his wonders, and the judgments of his mouth;
23. Sing unto the Lord, all the earth; shew forth from day to day his salvation.
24. Declare his glory among the heathen; his marvellous works among all nations.
— from this week’s Lesson
O, when we see God’s mercy
Widespread in every place
And know how flows the fountain
Of His unbounded grace,
Can we withhold a tribute,
Forbear a psalm to raise,
Or leave unsung one blessing,
In this our hymn of praise?
Our gratitude is riches,
Complaint is poverty,
Our trials bloom in blessings,
They test our constancy.
O, life from joy is minted,
An everlasting gold,
True gladness is the treasure
That grateful hearts will hold.
— Hymn 250 from the Christian Science Hymnal
Hold thought steadfastly to the enduring, the good, and the true, and you will bring these into your experience proportionably to their occupancy of your thoughts.
— from Science and Health, 1910, by Mary Baker Eddy, page 260
In the April, 1898, Journal, Mrs. Eddy, speaking of the financial problem as she experienced it, says: ‘After four years from my discovery of Christian Science, while taking no remuneration for my labors, and healing all manner of diseases, I was confronted with the fact of no monetary means left wherewith to hire a hall in which to speak, or to establish a Christian Science Home for indigent students (which I yearned to do), or even to meet my own current expenses, and halted from necessity. I had cast my all into the treasury of Truth, but where were the means with which to carry on a Cause? To desert the Cause never occurred to me, but nobody then wanted Christian Science, nor gave it a half penny. Though sorely oppressed I was above begging, and knew well the priceless worth of what had been bestowed without money or price. Just then God stretched forth His hand. He it was that bade me do what I did, and it prospered at every step . . . It was thus that I earned the means wherewith to start a Christian Science Home for the poor worthy student, to establish a Metaphysical College, to plant our first magazine, to purchase the site for a church edifice, to give my church the Christian Science Journal, and to keep the ‘wolves in sheep’s clothing,’ from preying upon my pearls, from clogging the wheels of Christian Science.’
— from In Defense of Mary Baker Eddy and the Remnant of Her Seed, by Paul R. Smillie, page 268
Article — “Finance” Collected Writingsr by Bicknell Young