subject - christian science

CHRISTIAN SCIENCE QUARTERLY MYBIBLELESSON © 2014 THE CHRISTIAN SCIENCE PUBLISHING SOCIETY ANCIENT AND MODERN NECROMANC Y, ALIAS MESMERISM AND HYPNOTISM, DENOUNCED Vi s i t myBibleLesson.com May 26–June 1, 2014

S U B J E C T

The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has never put it out.

Golden Text John 1:5

. . . when I sit in darkness, the Lord shall be a light unto me. 105 Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path. 111 Thy testimonies have I taken as an heritage for ever: for they are the rejoicing of my heart. 113 I hate vain thoughts: but thy law do I love. 115 Depart from me, ye evildoers: for I will keep the commandments of my God. 117 Hold thou me up, and I shall be safe: and I will have respect unto thy statutes continually. 121 I have done judgment and justice: leave me not to

mine oppressors. 125 I am thy servant; give me understanding, that I may know thy testimonies. 130 The entrance of thy words giveth light; it giveth understanding unto the simple. 133 Order my steps in thy word: and let not any iniquity have dominion over me. 135 Make thy face to shine upon thy servant;

Responsive Reading Micah 7:8 2nd when; Psalms 119:105, 111, 113, 115, 117, 121, 125, 130, 133, 135 (to ;)

2 0 1 4

®®

Christian Science Quarterly™ May 26–June 1

SECTION ONE: God is light, so walk in the light, not in the dark of mesmeric beliefs. Page 2

SECTION TWO: The light of Truth, or Mind, foils the deception of animal magnetism. Page 3

SECTION THREE: Immortal Mind possesses you, and nothing else does. Page 4

SECTION FOUR: The light of Christ, Truth, exposes and destroys the illusion of the material senses. Page 5

SECTION FIVE: Christian Science, the Comforter, proves itself to be a practical light. Page 6

SECTION SIX: The brilliance of Christian Science healing radiates and glows into glory. Page 7

The Golden Text is from the Good News Translation in Today’s English Version —Second Edition Copyright © 1992 by American Bible Society. Used by permission.

THE BIBLE Section SCIENCE and HEALTH with Key to the Scriptures | Mary Baker Eddy1


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1 | Proverbs 21:30

here is no wisdom nor understanding nor counsel against the Lord.

2 | I John 1:5 God

God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.

3 | Psalms 89:15–18

Blessed is the people that know the joyful sound: they shall walk, O Lord, in the light of thy countenance. 16 In thy name shall they rejoice all the day: and in thy righteous-ness shall they be exalted. 17 For thou art the glory of their strength: and in thy favour our horn shall be exalted. 18 For the Lord is our defence; and the Holy One of Israel is our king.

1 | 215:15–18

15 We are sometimes led to believe that darkness is as real as light; but Science affirms darkness to be only a mortal sense of the absence of light, at the coming of 18 which darkness loses the appearance of reality.

Light and darkness

2 | 103:15–23 (to 1st .)

15 The maximum of good is the infinite God and His idea, the All-in-all. Evil is a suppositional lie. 18 As named in Christian Science, animal magnetism or hypnotism is the specific term for error, or mortal mind. It is the false belief that mind is in matter, and 21 is both evil and good; that evil is as real as

The genus of error

good and more powerful. This belief has not one qual- ity of Truth.

3 | 510:9

9 Truth and Love enlighten the understanding, in whose “light shall we see light;” and this illumination is re- flected spiritually by all who walk in the light and turn 12 away from a false material sense.

4 | 511:11

In divine Science, which is the seal of Deity and has 12 the impress of heaven, God is revealed as infinite light. In the eternal Mind, no night is

Darkness scattered

there.

counsel: advicecountenance: face; presenceaffirms: declares; states; acknowledgesmaximum: largest possible amount or degreespecific: exact; uniqueseal: stampDeity: Godimpress: imprint; mark; character

T

error

Heave ho, me hearties— make error walk the plank! Savvy?

Shine yer lanterns of Truth and Love, for this’ll be error’s undoing!

Arrr, Cap’n Snakey, it’s mutiny ye have on yer hands,

so ’tis! This ship is free of your guff now!

Ahoy there! This is the tale of a brave group of mates who turned from their pirate ways and sent the evil Cap’n Snakey to Davy Jones’s Locker . . .

Dorcas gazelles like this one live in the Middle

East and North Africa.

CO

MSTO

CK

/STOC

KBY

TE/THIN

KSTO

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of daily life for many Hebrews and were often used as symbols. Horns

represent strength, honor, and victory because some animals, such as rams, use them to defend themselves. They also bring to mind the grace and beauty of animals like gazelles.

ANIMALS WERE PART

How are you walking in the light today?


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THE BIBLE Section SCIENCE and HEALTH with Key to the Scriptures | Mary Baker Eddy25 | 207:8–10

God is not the creator of an evil mind. Indeed, evil 9 is not Mind. We must learn that evil is the awful deception and unreality of existence.

6 | 470:11–16 (to 2nd .), 23–24

Divine Science explains the abstract statement that 12 there is one Mind by the following self-evident propo- sition: If God, or good, is real, then evil, the unlikeness of God, is unreal. And evil can 15 only seem to be real by giving reality to the

The divine standard of

perfection unreal. The children of God have but one Mind.

Man is the expression 24 of God’s being.

Indestructible relationship

7 | 104:13

Christian Science goes to the bottom of mental action, and reveals the theodicy which indicates the rightness of 15 all divine action, as the emanation of divine Mind, and the consequent wrongness of the opposite so-called action, — evil, occultism,

Perfection of divine

government 18 necromancy, mesmerism, animal magnetism, hypnotism.

8 | 234:31–3

Evil thoughts and aims reach no farther and do no more harm than one’s belief permits. Evil thoughts, lusts, and 1 malicious purposes cannot go forth, like wandering pollen, from one human mind to another, finding unsuspected 3 lodgment, if virtue and truth build a strong defence.

9 | 72:9–12 As, 21–23

9 As light destroys darkness and in the place of darkness all is light, so (in absolute Science) Soul, or God, 12 is the only truth-giver to man.

Spirits obsolete

21 God, good, being ever present, it follows in divine logic that evil, the suppositional opposite of good, is never present.

10 | 471:18–19

18 God is infinite, therefore ever present, and there is no other power nor presence.

4 | Deuteronomy 11:16

ake heed to yourselves, that your heart be not deceived, and ye turn aside, and serve other gods, and worship them;

5 | Isaiah 5:20 (to 2nd ;)

Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness;

6 | Psalms 71:1–3

In thee, O Lord, do I put my trust: let me never be put to confusion. 2 Deliver me in thy righteousness, and cause me to escape: incline thine ear unto me, and save me. 3 Be thou my strong habitation, whereunto I may continually resort: thou hast given commandment to save me; for thou art my rock and my fortress.

7 | Psalms 112:4 (to :), 7, 9, 10

Unto the upright there ariseth light in the darkness: 7 He shall not be afraid of evil tidings: his heart is fixed, trusting in the Lord. 9 He hath dispersed, he hath given to the poor; his righteousness endureth for ever; his horn shall be exalted with honour. 10 The wicked shall see it, and be grieved; he shall gnash with his teeth, and melt away: the desire of the wicked shall perish.

8 | Isaiah 45:21 there, 22

there is no God else beside me; a just God and a Saviour; there is none beside me. 22 Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else.

habitation: home; dwellingresort: go tofortress: fort; place of security tidings: newsproposition: statement that can be determined to be true or falsetheodicy: defense of God’s good-ness in spite of the apparent reality of evilemanation: flow; outputoccultism: secret practice of magic or other alleged supernatural powerslodgment: shelter; home; accommo-dation

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Light of Truth

Surrender! I’ve got my cannons

pointed right at you!

Fortress of Truth evil tidings

hat ho! The night is dark. A pirate ship is drift-ing toward the Port of Thought, but our heroes are on watch . . .

W

Don’t be deceived; let the light of Truth show you God’s goodness!

I knew we wouldn’t find anything

real there.

THE BIBLE Section SCIENCE and HEALTH with Key to the Scriptures | Mary Baker Eddy


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39 | Ephesians 5:8–11 ye, 14 Christ

ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light: 9 (For the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth;) 10 Proving what is acceptable unto the Lord. 11 And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them. 14 Christ shall give thee light.

10 | Matthew 4:23

nd Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the

kingdom, and healing all manner of sickness and all manner of disease among the people.

11 | Matthew 12:22–29

Then was brought unto him one possessed with a devil, blind, and dumb: and he healed him, insomuch that the blind and dumb both spake and saw. 23 And all the people were amazed, and said, Is not this the son of David? 24 But when the Pharisees heard it, they said, This fellow doth not cast out devils, but by Beelzebub the prince of the devils. 25 And Jesus knew their thoughts, and said unto them, Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and every city or house divided against itself shall not stand: 26 And if Satan cast out Satan, he is divided against himself; how shall then his kingdom stand? 27 And if I by Beelzebub cast out devils, by whom do your children cast them out? therefore they shall be your judges. 28 But if I cast out devils by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God is come unto you. 29 Or else how can one enter into a strong man’s house, and spoil his goods, except he first bind the strong man? and then he will spoil his house.

12 | II Corinthians 10:4, 5

(For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;) 5 Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;

11 | 422:2

Wiser than his persecutors, Jesus said: “If I by Beelze- 3 bub cast out devils, by whom do your children cast them out?”

12 | 399:29

Our Master asked: “How can one enter into a strong 30 man’s house and spoil his goods, except he first bind the strong man?” In other words: How

Confirmation in a parable

can I heal the body, without beginning with so-called 1 mortal mind, which directly controls the body? When disease is once destroyed in this so-called mind, the fear 3 of disease is gone, and therefore the disease is thor- oughly cured. Mortal mind is “the strong man,” which must be held in subjection before its influence upon health 6 and morals can be removed. This error conquered, we can despoil “the strong man” of his goods, — namely, of sin and disease.

13 | 185:22, 32–10

Jesus cast out evil and healed the sick, not only without drugs, but without hypnotism, which is 24 the reverse of ethical and pathological Truth-

Jesus and hypnotism

power.

A patient under the influence of mortal mind is healed 1 only by removing the influence on him of this mind, by emptying his thought of the false stimulus 3 and reaction of will-power and filling it with

False stimulus

the divine energies of Truth. Christian Science destroys material beliefs through the 6 understanding of Spirit, and the thoroughness of this work determines health. Erring human mind-forces can work only evil under whatever name or pretence they are em- 9 ployed; for Spirit and matter, good and evil, light and darkness, cannot mingle.

14 | 162:4–5, 9

Christian Science brings to the body the sunlight of Truth, which invigorates and purifies.

9 The effect of this Science is to stir the human mind to a change of base, on which it may yield to the harmony of the divine Mind.

15 | 442:16–22

Neither animal magnetism nor hypnotism enters into the practice of Christian Science, in which truth cannot 18 be reversed, but the reverse of error is true. An improved belief cannot retrograde. When Christ changes a belief of sin or of sickness into

Christ the great physician

21 a better belief, then belief melts into spiritual understanding, and sin, disease, and death disappear.

. . . mffrm,snffrm rkmmm . . .

Arrrrg!

Mortal Mind “the strong man”

sin

disease

the strong man’s goods

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Our heroes bind Mortal Mind, the rogue, and destroy his possessions.

desolation: ruin; destructiongoods: possessions; waresbind: tie up

persecutors: harassers; oppressorssubjection: domination; controldespoil: deprive; dispossess; robethical: moral; honest; rightpathological: dealing with diseasepretence: disguise; false appearanceretrograde: go backward; become worse

The weapons we use in our fight are not the world’s weapons but God’s powerful weapons, which we use to destroy strongholds. We destroy false

arguments; 5 we pull down every proud obstacle that is raised against the knowledge of God; we take every thought captive and make it obey Christ.II Corinthians 10:4, 5—Good News Translation

Mary Baker Eddy’s article “Capital-ization,” which starts on p. 225 of The First Church of Christ, Scientist,

and Miscellany, explains the importance of using capitals for synonyms for God, like Mind. However, in the trial story told on pp. 430–442 of Science and Health, Mortal Mind is capitalized because it’s the name of a character.



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416 | 178:18–22

18 Mortal mind, acting from the basis of sensation in matter, is animal magnetism; but this so-called mind, from which comes all evil, contradicts itself, 21 and must finally yield to the eternal Truth, or the divine Mind, expressed in Science.

Animal magnetism

destroyed

17 | 194:17–1

The authentic history of Kaspar Hauser is a useful hint 18 as to the frailty and inadequacy of mortal mind. It proves beyond a doubt that education consti- tutes this so-called mind, and that, in turn,

Power of habit

21 mortal mind manifests itself in the body by the false sense it imparts. Incarcerated in a dungeon, where neither sight nor sound could reach him, at the age of 24 seventeen Kaspar was still a mental infant, crying and chattering with no more intelligence than a babe, and realizing Tennyson’s description:

27 An infant crying in the night, An infant crying for the light, And with no language but a cry.

30 His case proves material sense to be but a belief formed by education alone. The light which affords us joy gave 1 him a belief of intense pain.

18 | 490:31

Under the mesmeric illusion of belief, a man

Sleep an illusion

will think that he is freezing when he is warm, and that he 1 is swimming when he is on dry land. Needle-thrusts will not hurt him. A delicious perfume will seem intolerable. 3 Animal magnetism thus uncovers material sense, and shows it to be a belief without actual foundation or va- lidity. Change the belief, and the sensation changes. 6 Destroy the belief, and the sensation disappears.

19 | 293:28

Christian Science brings to light Truth and its supremacy, universal har- 30 mony, the entireness of God, good, and the nothingness of evil.

13 | Mark 8:18 (to 2nd ?), 21 How

aving eyes, see ye not? and having ears, hear ye not? 21 How is it that ye do not understand?

14 | II Corinthians 4:6, 8, 9, 15, 16 (to ;), 17, 18

For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. 8 We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; 9 Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed; 15 For all things are for your sakes, that the abundant grace might through the thanksgiving of many redound to the glory of God. 16 For which cause we faint not; 17 For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory; 18 While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.

15 | Isaiah 9:2 (to :)

The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light:

redound: return sensation: feelingfrailty: weakness; fragilityinadequacy: deficiency; failure; lackincarcerated: locked up; imprisonedaffords: providesintolerable: unbearable; repulsive; disgustingvalidity: provable truth; demonstrable logic

Shiver me timbers! There’s a hole in

me boat.

H

For God, who said, “Let

there be light in the darkness,” has made this light shine in our hearts so

we could know the glory of

God that is seen in the face of Jesus Christ.

—II Corinthians 4:6 New Living Translation

ny sea dog worth his salt knows

that the light of Christ, Truth, exposes the illusion of the material senses and so scuttles that ship.

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These little troubles are getting us ready for an eternal glory that will make all our troubles seem like nothing. II Corinthians 4:17—Contemporary English Version



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16 | Romans 13:12, 13 (to ;)

The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light. 13 Let us walk honestly, as in the day;

17 | Isaiah 14:27

For the Lord of hosts hath purposed, and who shall disannul it? and his hand is stretched out, and who shall turn it back?

18 | John 12:44–46

esus cried and said, He that believeth on me, believeth not on me, but on him that sent me. 45 And he that seeth me seeth him that sent me. 46 I am come a light into the world, that whosoever believeth on me should not abide in darkness.

19 | John 15:26 when, 27

when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me: 27 And ye also shall bear witness, because ye have been with me from the beginning.

20 | I Corinthians 2:12–14, 16 But

Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God. 13 Which things also we speak, not in the words which man’s wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual. 14 But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolish-ness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. 16 But we have the mind of Christ.

520 | 109:22–24

The revelation of Truth in the understanding came to me gradually and apparently through divine 24 power.

21 | 123:19–29

The revelation consists of two parts: 1. The discovery of this divine Science of Mind- 21 healing, through a spiritual sense of the Scriptures and through the teachings of the Comforter, as promised by the Master. 24 2. The proof, by present demonstration, that the so- called miracles of Jesus did not specially belong to a dispensation now ended, but that they illustrated an 27 ever-operative divine Principle. The operation of this Principle indicates the eternality of the scientific order and continuity of being.

22 | 10:12

12 Christian Science reveals a necessity for overcoming the world, the flesh, and evil, and thus destroying all error.

23 | 484:21 Animal

21 Animal magnetism is the voluntary or involuntary action of error in all its forms; it is the human antipode 24 of divine Science. Science must triumph

Animal magnetism error

over material sense, and Truth over error, thus putting an end to the hypotheses involved in all false theories 27 and practices.

24 | 546:24

24 The great spiritual facts of being, like rays of light, shine in the darkness, though the darkness, com- prehending them not, may deny their reality.

Dawning of spiritual facts

27 The proof that the system stated in this book is Chris- tianly scientific resides in the good this system accom- plishes, for it cures on a divine demonstrable Principle 30 which all may understand.

disannul: abolish; canceldispensation: special state or order decreed by Godever-operative: always activevoluntary: arising from one’s own free will or choiceantipode: oppositehypotheses: ideas that are being tested to see if they are validtheories: ideas that have been suggested but not yet proveddemonstrable: provable by action; showable

J

wab the decks, provision the ship, and set sail on a glittering sea. Science—that practical light—dispels the darkness of error’s cold night.

S Armor of light

We have our orders, lad! Let us sally forth!

The night is far gone and

the day is almost here. Let us then drop (fling away)

the works and deeds of dark-

ness and put on the [full] armor

of light.

—Romans 13:12 Amplified Bible

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translation of the Greek word psykhikos, but the two words don’t mean quite the same thing. Psykhikos refers specifically

to what has breath and so is material. It could also be translated as animate or even animalistic.

NATURAL IS A

7CHRISTIAN SCIENCE QUARTERLY MYBIBLELESSON © 2014 THE CHRISTIAN SCIENCE PUBLISHING SOCIETY ANCIENT AND MODERN NECROMANC Y, ALIAS MESMERISM AND HYPNOTISM, DENOUNCED Vi s i t myBibleLesson.com May 26–June 1, 2014

THE BIBLE Section SCIENCE and HEALTH with Key to the Scriptures | Mary Baker Eddy625 | 298:2

Life, Truth, and Love are the realities of divine 3 Science. They dawn in faith and glow full-orbed in spiritual understanding. As a cloud hides the sun it cannot extinguish, so false belief silences for a while the 6 voice of immutable harmony, but false belief cannot destroy Science armed with faith, hope, and fruition.

26 | 450:29

Knowing the claim of 30 animal magnetism, that all evil combines in

False claims annihilated

the belief of life, substance, and intelligence in matter, electricity, animal nature, and organic life, who will deny 1 that these are the errors which Truth must and will annihilate? Christian Scientists must live under the con- 3 stant pressure of the apostolic command to come out from the material world and be separate. They must renounce aggression, oppression and the pride of power. 6 Christianity, with the crown of Love upon her brow, must be their queen of life.

27 | 442:30

30 Christian Scientists, be a law to yourselves that mental malpractice cannot harm you either when asleep or when awake.

28 | 446:24–27

24 Resisting evil, you overcome it and prove its nothingness. Not human platitudes, but divine beatitudes, re- flect the spiritual light and might which heal 27 the sick.

Iniquity overcome

29 | 367:17

A Christian Scientist occupies the place at this period 18 of which Jesus spoke to his disciples, when he said: “Ye are the salt of the earth.” “Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill can-

The salt of the earth

21 not be hid.” Let us watch, work, and pray that this salt lose not its saltness, and that this light be not hid, but radiate and glow into noontide glory.

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NIKKI P

AULK

et the light of Christian Science shine brighter than gold—and prove yourself a worthy mate!

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21 | I Thessalonians 5:5, 6 2nd let

e are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness. 6 let us watch and be sober.

22 | Matthew 5:14–16

Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid. 15 Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house. 16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.

23 | Matthew 10:8

Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils: freely ye have received, freely give.

24 | I John 2:8 the

the darkness is past, and the true light now shineth.

sober: clearheaded; calm; alert; earnestfruition: results; fulfilmentapostolic: relating to one or more of the

apostles (in this case, Paul)renounce: give up; relinquishoppression: injustice; tyranny; subjugationplatitudes: dull, trite sayingsbeatitudes: declarations of blessedness

QUICK FACT

An orb is a sphere such as the sun. At dawn, the sun is still below the horizon, but the sky is getting brighter. When the sun is completely over the horizon we see it in all its brightness, full-orbed, because the entire sphere is visible.

QUICKFACT


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FRONT COVER PHOTO ATTRIBUTION:©Hemera Technologies/Photos.com/Thinkstock, mod: silhouette of a sailing ship

LOVE CASTS OUT DEMONS By NateTHIS STORY STARTS like any Halloween tale: on a dark, rainy night in a far-off place. But, this account—unlike the usual Halloween narra-tive—will warm your insides. It’s also true.

It was dusk in the foothills of Darjee-ling, India, when I schlepped through misty streets and entered a dilapidated hospital. I was met with gnarly images of sickness and deformity. I bear-hugged my hiking guide in the lobby, then we walked through the dingy hallways to visit a patient, my friend from the nearby foothills. We opened the old, creaky door and stepped into the room.

Our friend’s eyes were rolled back. He spoke unintelligible madness as he twitched in his fold-out bed. His family noti-fied us that a demon had pushed him while he was chopping wood. He fell on a half-cut tree. They said when they found him he was possessed by the very demon that had apparently attacked him.

I was so grateful for Christian Sci-ence at that moment because it had already taught me that demons and disease are not real ! Since God is good and everywhere, it’s clear that anything demonic can’t control or hurt us. God controls us. Completely.

Now let me back up. The week be-fore, I was hiking the Singalila Ridge along the Indian/Nepali border with a local guide. On the second day of the hike, I crashed at a family-run guesthouse in a little outpost called Tum-ling. My sweet hosts befriended me, and I stayed up late laughing and breaking bread with them. We were all enjoying ourselves, except one brother in the family who was grumpy and belligerent the whole night. I remember thinking: “That guy needs love!”

When I returned from the trek, I heard the news that this same brother was hurt and close to death. I decided to visit him in the hospital and express love, giving him a “dose” of God, Love itself. His family hadn’t asked me to pray specifically, but I decided that instead of letting those images in the hospital intimidate me, I would make a conscious effort to “Blot out the images of mortal thought and its beliefs in sick-ness and sin” (Mary Baker Eddy, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, p. 391). I si-lently prayed until I could sense that those thought-pictures were not of God, there-fore powerless and unreal. God’s harmoni-ous being was actually present right there. I don’t remember all the specific ideas that came to me. But I do remember spiritually discerning something of Love’s presence where madness and disease seemed to be. Mary Baker Eddy, the great Christian healer

who discovered the Science of divine heal-ing once wrote: “No evidence before the material senses can close my eyes to the scientific proof that God, good, is supreme” (Miscellaneous Writings, p. 277 ).

After praying at my friend’s bedside for about 15 minutes, I left. I had a good feel- ing about his permanent, healthy, God- made identity. But I continued in prayer for many hours to get over the strong mental impressions of fear, sickness, madness, etc. that I encountered in the hospital. I had to further clarify in my own thought that sick-ness is utterly unreal and that harmony is always and only present; that God is the life of man and that Life can’t be hid.

The next week, I decided to return to the Singalila Ridge for a longer trek—and this time without a guide. On my second day in, I returned to my friend’s guesthouse. It was an indescribable moment when I saw the

brother who was sick in the hospital meet me with a twinkle in his eye and a bounce in his step. There was something about his joy that was perfect. He had “miraculously” re-covered after I visited the hospital and had returned to his village. I’m sure others were praying for him too. My gratitude for God was unspeakable that day.

Reflecting on this incident, I’m reminded of the crippled man in the book of Acts, who after being healed of an inability to walk was found “leaping, and praising God” (Acts 3:8). Seeing my friend completely free of what had been deemed demonic posses-sion and rise like a new man, made me jump for joy inside.

Before this incident, I didn’t really take Jesus’s command to “cast out demons” (Mat-thew 10:8, Revised Standard Version) very seriously. Even though I was quite inter-ested in Jesus’s teachings and studied them daily, some of the things he commanded struck me as culturally specific. I mean, I just didn’t happen upon many folks possessed with demons or suffering with leprosy, so I hadn’t had much of a chance to test out his teachings about “cast[ing] out demons” or “clean[sing] the lepers” (Matthew 10:8).

But since this incident, I have continued to study Christian Science daily and one thing that I really like about it is that it applies Jesus's commands to my everyday experi-ence, which is usually in the United States.

In my life in Boston, Massachusetts, I don’t run into many folks possessed with a demon or looking like a werewolf, except those at Halloween parties! But, “demons” often ap-pear in more subtle forms. Mary Baker Eddy gave evil, or the power that seems to op-pose God in the human experience, an in-teresting name: animal magnetism. And she says that “So secret are the present methods of animal magnetism that they ensnare the age into indolence, and produce the very apathy on the subject which the criminal desires” (Science and Health, p. 102).

It’s good to be awake to the subtle ways that animal magnetism may try to invade your day. You may feel overwhelmed by stress, or negatively influenced by medical predictions, or pressured by the influence of others’ opinions, or even unnecessarily drowsy. We can see these things as a form of demonic possession that we can cast out. Right now, cast them out ! As children of God, we are completely free from nega-tive influences and sickness of any kind. Expressing God’s nature, we never are cap-tive to animality (undisciplined behavior) or mesmerism (mortal attractions). As Jesus said, “You are the light of the world” (Mat-thew 5:14, New International Version) and the Apostle Paul continues “You are all chil-dren of the light and children of the day. We do not belong to the night or to the dark-ness” (I Thessalonians 5:5, NIV).

Since we possess the Christ light that Jesus embodied and demonstrated in his healing words and works, we have the authority to brighten any dark place we encounter. We can annihilate any demonic or ungodlike force and heal the broken-hearted and the sick. It’s a matter of tossing aside dark images in thought and knowing that God alone is present and governs.

This Halloween, I may dress up as some-thing funny and have a few laughs with friends. But I’m going to spend most of my time doing something altogether differ-ent—casting out demons! Feel free to join in. Let’s cast every negative mental picture “behind” us (see Mark 8:33) and be faithful Christians. When we do, it’s natural to wit-ness God’s perfection and feel joy like we’ve never felt before.

I silently prayed until

I could sense that those

thought-pictures were

not of God, therefore

powerless and unreal.

This article was originally published in the Oct. 29, 2012 issue of the Christian Science Sentinel.

You can find this piece (and thousands more!) at jsh.christianscience.com.

All nonattributed graphics, photos, and digitally modified images by mBL staff.

Pearl Hint: God is your rock and fortress.

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BIBLE INFO:TRANSLATIONS: All Scriptural quotations used in the text of myBibleLesson are taken from the King James Version of The Holy Bible, unless otherwise indicated.

The following are verbally equivalent translations used for In Other Words. These translations tend to use the oldest available and most recently discovered manuscripts to translate the literal meaning of the text word-for-word.Amplified Bible: Scriptural quotations marked Amplified Bible are taken from the Amplified Bible, Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. (www.Lockman.org)

Contemporary English Version: Scriptural quotations marked Contemporary English Version are taken from the Contemporary English Version Copyright © 1991, 1992, 1995 by American Bible Society. Used by permission.

New International Version: Scriptural quotations marked New International Version are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. All rights reserved worldwide. Used by permission.

New Revised Standard Version: Scriptural quotations marked New Revised Standard Version are taken from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Revised English Bible: Scriptural quotations marked Revised English Bible are taken from the Revised English Bible © Oxford University Press and Cambridge University Press 1989.

Revised Standard Version: Scriptural quotations marked Revised Standard Version are taken from the Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright 1952 [2nd edition, 1971] by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

The following dynamically equivalent translations are used for In Other Words. These translations attempt to convey the thoughts expressed in the text in common, everyday English.Good News Translation: Scriptural quotations marked Good News Translation are taken from the Good News Translation in Today’s English Version—Second Edition Copyright © 1992 by American Bible Society. Used by permission.

New English Bible: Scriptural quotations marked New English Bible are taken from the New English Bible © Oxford University Press and Cambridge University Press 1961, 1970.

New International Reader’s Version: Scriptural quotations marked New International Reader’s Version are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Reader’s Version®. Copyright 1996, 1998 by Biblica, Inc. All rights reserved worldwide. Used by permission.

New Living Translation: Scriptural quotations marked New Living Translation are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

The following paraphrases are used for In Other Words. These are not literal translations, rather they attempt to present to modern readers the text’s tone, rhythm, and ideas as its earliest audiences might have experienced it.The Living Bible: Scriptural quotations marked The Living Bible are taken from The Living Bible, copyright © 1971. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

The Message: Scriptural quotations marked The Message are taken from The Message, copyright © by Eugene H. Peterson 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group.

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