An expanded sense of freedom, joy, and power

How is Love defined in “Atonement and Eucharist”?

Love is the source of our true nature as children of God. Love redeems: “. . . Love means that we shall be tried and purified” (Science and Health, p. 22:21). Love is the Principle of the universe. Love impels sacrifice and the blessings that necessarily follow. Love sources harmony and healing according to “the Science of Love.” The demand of divine Love is that we follow our Master in departing from material sense into the spiritual sense of being. Love triumphs over hate; Love is power.  

From “The Dimension of Depth” by Robert Peel (Journal, March 1974): “Some have held, for instance, that the chapter ‘Atonement and Eucharist’ is at a ‘lower’ level than the rest of Science and Health because it speaks frankly of the human agony through which Jesus passed on his way to demonstrating the absolute unreality of all suffering, all death, all materiality. Yet Mrs. Eddy poured much of her own deepest experience into this profoundly stirring chapter, and she refers to it as one of the best possible means of understanding her demonstration of Christian Science. (See Miscellany, p. 136.) Without a grounding in its unshakable Christian wisdom, we are ill prepared to deal with the world’s opposition to truth.”

What is required to live as a transparency for Love, God?

To live as a transparency through which God’s love shines, requires repentance and spiritual regeneration; it calls for purity of thought and an ever-growing devotion to knowing and obeying God. It also calls for hungering and thirsting after an ever-deepening experience of our actual oneness with our Father-Mother God. 

A steep and rugged path leads up to this place of transparency, but the blessings that follow are beyond human speech. To feel that light shining through us is both humbling and exalting. With a false sense of self out of the way, our view is significantly expanded and our hearts are naturally enriched and deeply blessed.

How does a Christian Scientist fearlessly face down popular beliefs that oppose the practice of Christian Science?

“Jesus acted boldly, against the accredited evidence of the senses, against Pharisaical creeds and practices, and he refuted all opponents with his healing power” (Science and Health, p. 18:10).

We face down popular opposition to Christian Science by following our Master – through Christly demonstration. It’s not about personal courage, wisdom, or strength. It is about laying deep claim to the meekness and authority of Christ: awakening and yielding. Meekness is the inner strength that comes from recognizing that external forces and factors are missing the boat in a reality that is created, sustained, and governed by God through His Christ. Christ’s authority is issuing from Truth’s supremacy as the omnipotent and omniactive One. 

As we patiently and persistently seek to live this Christ, Truth, we begin to see the flimsiness and irrelevance of popular opposition. We learn to love our neighbors and our enemies, knowing that everyone belongs to God and is therefore made in the image of Love. Fear gives way to renewed confidence. “Be not afraid of sudden fear, neither of the desolation of the wicked when it cometh. For the Lord shall be thy confidence, and shall keep thy foot from being taken” (Prov. 3:25–26). When God’s truth is our confidence, popular beliefs are faced down fearlessly.

What are the benefits of building one’s life on the Rock?

Building your life on the Rock involves living a life defined by God-bestowed purpose and filled with the blessings that naturally flow from such a divine gift. It means having the assurance that an unalterably stable foundation is constantly under foot. It opens up the profound implications of being a joint-heir with Christ – a loved child of God. To live in this way involves an ever-increasing fulfillment of our immortal cravings – our fundamental desire to fully experience at-one-ment with the very source of Life and Love. As we build in this way, we experience healing – spiritual demonstrations large and small – and an expanded sense of freedom, joy, and peace.