There's nothing old about captives being delivered, sight being restored or the bruised being liberated

1.  We are all familiar with the litany of bad news presented every day with the accompanying attempts of the human mind to solve humanity's problems. Issues that do need to be addressed are continually rehearsed, analyzed, investigated; and even well-meaning human efforts are applied in hopes of resolution. Yet often when I listen to local news stations, it seems I'm hearing the same stories in variation that I heard when I was young. It's not too different. Celebrity personalities are paraded on screen and their behavior and lives scrutinized to satisfy the public appetite for personal sense. Yet, we would all have to admit that humanity has experienced progress...only, not through the carnal mind, through the leavening of the Christ, going on in consciousness. Seeing the leaders and representatives of North and South Korea sit together with leaders of the US during the winter Olympic ceremonies, was the result of the leavening of the Christ. It had to be the results of consecrated prayer and sincere effort. Likewise, the willingness to work on and sign a peace treaty between North Korea and the US shows progress for mankind toward greater harmony. The prayer of our own Association has to have played a part in it, since we cannot be mesmerized into thinking that God sometimes ignores us.

2. Obviously, the Science of Christ is the only thing worthy of the term "new." I found it interesting to note that there are two types of repeating. There are the constant stories that are either shocking, sad or simply banal. Then there is the "sign of Immanuel, or 'God with us,’ a divine influence ever present in human consciousness and repeating itself, coming now as was promised aforetime, To preach deliverance to the captives [of sense], And recovering of sight to the blind, To set at liberty them that are bruised." (S&H xi:16-21) 

There's nothing old about captives being delivered, sight being restored or the bruised being liberated. That can never get old! It is life giving and rejuvenating. I could hear about that every day and be inspired. I think it's also interesting to note that when the Christ repeats itself, it is always new to the recipient. God knows our thoughts intimately, knows what we need to hear and how we need to hear it. The same message can have a different connotation for each person, even though it might be the exact same Bible passage, for instance. That is the activity of divine Intelligence, Omniscience or Mind, not human conceptualizing.

3. This point has been repeatedly (no pun intended) brought to mind by a friend. Two years ago we were in another state at a workshop. While entering a huge conference room my friend tripped on some covered wires on the floor resembling something like a speed bump. She did not see it and fell face first on a cement floor. She did not immediately get up but lay there immobile. There was a rush of people who ran to help her. Among them were medical nurses, security personnel, friends as well as strangers. I also came to her side. I picked up her glasses and broken tooth, and kneeling by her side began to speak simple truths of God's love and protection that were upholding her then and there. To make a long story short, along with two other people I accompanied my friend to the hospital to be examined for a possible broken nose or concussion. She is not a Christian Scientist. All the way to the hospital and while waiting in the lobby to see the doctor I continued to speak assuring thoughts of God's loving presence protecting her. After several hours my friend was finally examined by the doctor who found nothing wrong with her but a broken tooth and two black eyes. We are in a Gospel choir and were due to perform that night on stage in front of hundreds of people. The doctor recommended that she stay in her hotel room and rest. However, my friend stated, "I did not travel thousands of miles to get here to sit it out in a hotel room. I'm singing tonight!" That night she performed in the front row, and no one noticed anything wrong.

The point of this healing in relation to our Association assignment is this: Every time my friend introduces me to someone new she tells this story. This is what she says:

"There I was lying on the floor. I could hear people talking to me. One medical nurse would say, 'this is what you should do' or 'this is how you should get up....be careful because of that, etc., etc." Then she heard me whispering in her ear things like, 'God loves you, He is taking care of you, you are fine, God is here.'"

This is what my friend heard, remembers and is what so impressed her that she repeats it two years later like it happened yesterday! Every time she retells the story she is in awe of the power of those healing thoughts and attributes them to her clean bill of health and her ability to perform that night. I am in awe that I hear it over and over again like something new and exciting. Now that's a different kind of repeating!

I think every healing is like that...we can relive it mentally like something ever new to us that teaches us something. Like Mrs. Eddy states in Science and Health p. 559, "The 'still small voice' of scientific thought reaches over continent and ocean to the globes remotest bound. The inaudible voice of Truth is, to the human mind, 'as when a lion roareth.’"