"HOW can I progress most rapidly in the understanding of Christian Science?" This question, found on page 495 of the textbook, "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" by Mary Baker Eddy, is doubtless in the thought of many a seeker for Truth who has learned that Christian Science is the promised Comforter. Perhaps this plea is most pressing for those who, quite alone, wait for an increased measure of true understanding and for those who are in localities where strengthening associations with other Scientists are rare.
The textbook propounds the above query and deals with it, starting off with this counsel: "Study thoroughly the letter and imbibe the spirit." This precept was tendered with the full understanding that provision for this study would always be available in the most direct and helpful form.
We find one means for inspired study in our weekly Bible Lessons, which are published regularly in the Christian Science Quarterly. When we study and become imbued with the spirit of each of these lucid Lesson-Sermons and daily demonstrate this spirit, our thoughts are brought into at-one-ment with our Maker and with all true Christly thinking.
The lessons tend to unify human thought by bringing it into harmony with God, divine Principle, Love, and with God's expression everywhere. Just as the prayers of Christian Scientists in their churches are vitally effective wherever receptive thoughts are waiting, so the prayerful study of each Lesson-Sermon reinforces the awakening efforts of every student who is humbly and responsively attuned to the universal unfolding of Truth through the Bible Lessons.
At each moment, as a different part of the earth turns toward the light of day, we may know that somewhere the current Bible Lesson is being pondered by students of Christian Science, and its truths are being unfolded and established in human thought. This blessed activity never ceases to enlighten mankind.
As we thoughtfully study a Bible Lesson, we are not merely attempting to clarify for ourselves a helpful subject, but we are joining with other Christian Scientists throughout the world in exploring the same healing truths. In this atmosphere we bless and are blessed in one great brotherhood. When we understand the source of health and holiness, we can demonstrate the power of the one Mind, which is God.
Each of the twenty-six subjects, as well as the lesson for Thanksgiving Day, is divinely authorized, and regular study of each in turn will often reveal that every subject bears an interesting relationship to the one preceding it; each week's lesson prepares us for the next.
All of the Christian Science periodicals, which are steadily sent out to the Field, are a continual source of support and inspiration. As one of them, the Quarterly holds a very special place. Its function is to foster, through the Bible Lessons, individual and collective progress in the most effective way.
The Lesson-Sermons illumine the Bible and, in so doing, take us back to the foundation of inspired thought. The Scriptures have ever proved to be the basis of enlightened unfoldment when their messages have been spiritually discerned. Mrs. Eddy has provided in the Manual of The Mother Church for the fullest utilization of the Scripture by directing that Bible texts for the Lesson-Sermon extend from Genesis to Revelation. What boundless unfoldment awaits us!
With such wide range of reference, it is not surprising that each week's lesson is always fresh. Even though certain passages recur, their contexts in the individual lessons give these texts refreshing hues which enliven our study of the subject and at the same time expand the messages held by recurring passages. Never do we approach a subject from the same stage of progress as that from which we last approached it.
Our continual study of these sermons, with the accent on spiritual interpretation, makes us aware of the many ways in which the simple, profound message—perfect God, Spirit, and the perfect spiritual man —can be communicated.
A lesson may unfold during the week like a grand symphony. The lesson usually has an interesting and comforting exposition which leads to a rich and varied development, and then it moves on inevitably to a splendid, sustaining finale. But, as with all great symphonies, a lesson's formal pattern does not limit its mode of expression.
A lesson's message may also commence with simple statements, like melodies of reassurance, and rise later in a stirring crescendo which expresses the broad lines of fundamental Truth. Always the lesson is bound by a direct and powerful theme, characterized by harmony and soundness.
The message of a lesson on "Soul" unfolded to the writer on one occasion in an ascending scale. First his safety in Soul, or God, was felt; then its joy was revealed in the next section, followed by an understanding of Soul's harmony. Then he saw the inseparability of Soul and spiritual sense, and this truth led on to an appreciation of the pure fruit of man's unity with Soul and then, inevitably, to a glimpse of the heavenly bliss which an understanding of the glory of Soul brings.
The writer saw as never before that Soul satisfies so completely that mortal sense is not only redundant, but also completely fictitious. The Soul-sense which was gained through that week's study was not fleeting.
The points made by each section of a Lesson-Sermon, if firmly realized and joyously applied, may be used as a Christian Science treatment when dealing with individual or universal problems, because at any time the pure, clear Word of Truth is applicable, active, and effective.
Negative thinking, or human resistance to Truth, is all that seems to hide the forever unfolding of God's design. If we have allowed it to operate in our experience, the weekly lesson is always effective in overcoming negative thinking.
Earnest study of the lesson throughout the week furthers our spiritual understanding. Then the words of commendation in Jesus' parable of the talents will ring especially sweetly for us (Matt. 25:21), "Thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things."
Through diligent study we learn to discern the spiritual import of the Scriptures, as distinct from their literal sense. This discernment makes us alert to our duty as Christian Scientists to distinguish continually between the true and the false. We are much better fitted to accept the real and reject the unreal because of our constant training as discerning Bible students.
This consecrated study blesses us individually without measure because it not only enlivens our own receptiveness of the truth, but also leavens individual and collective human consciousness. Study requires humble listening for more understanding, which the law of Love graciously supplies.
The range of united contemplation of the teachings of Truth and Love finds graphic expression on page 559 of the textbook, "The 'still, small voice' of scientific thought reaches over continent and ocean to the globe's remotest bound."
Our individual needs are met in diverse ways, yet we are bound in mutual understanding through our inspired weekly Lesson-Sermons. As we daily commune with God, we find that our Bible Lessons pave the way for the unity in diversity which the Apostle Paul perceived when he wrote (Eph. 4:11-13), "He gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ."
