Mr. Welz: When I was a Chaplain in the Air Force, the Chaplains of the base often all met together. On one occasion we were discussing the denominations, and a question came up as to which were majority and which were minority denominations. One Chaplain in particular remarked that Christian Science was a minority denomination. I asked him when he counted the members of his denomination, and he said, "Well, I guess I would count them on Sunday morning when they go to church." I said, "Well, I count mine on Monday morning when they're reading their Bibles." He said, "Well, realizing the Lesson-Sermon that you people study, I would say on that basis you have a majority denomination. I think there are more of yours studying the Bible than there are of mine."
Mr. Aylwin: I think it's heartening to consider that perhaps during every minute of the day and night, six days of every week, someone somewhere is prayerfully studying the Lesson-Sermon published in the Christian Science Quarterly. And around the clock on Sundays, people are hearing it from the desk in a Church of Christ, Scientist. In a very real sense this is praying without ceasing—scientific prayer that is leavening and uplifting the thought of mankind.
Mrs. Price: Once in Paris, when I was vacationing there, I woke up one morning feeling—well, I was just so ill that I couldn't get out of bed, and everything turned round in circles. I couldn't read, because the print was just a blur. I was wondering how I was going to help myself, when it came to me that there were probably hundreds of thousands of people all over the world studying the Lesson-Sermon at that moment, and the truth that everybody else was knowing at that time was available for me right where I was. Within a very few minutes I was completely well, dressed, and went down to breakfast. My friend, who was also a Christian Scientist, wasn't there. So I went up to her room and found she was having just the same trouble that I had. We had evidently been eating something that didn't agree with us. I told her of my experience, and both of us began to think of all the tremendous spiritual power that was being released into human thought through the reading of the Lesson-Sermon, and within a few minutes she was well.
Mr. Welz: That's terrific!
Mr. Aylwin: Mary Baker Eddy considered the Lesson-Sermon of such vital importance that she wrote in the Manual of The Mother Church, "The Readers of The Mother Church and of all its branch churches must devote a suitable portion of their time to preparation for the reading of the Sunday lesson,—a lesson on which the prosperity of Christian Science largely depends." Man., Art. III, Sect. 1; It seems to me it would be fair to say that the spiritual growth, health, and prosperity of each individual Christian Scientist depends on his study of the Lesson-Sermons. And it affects the world as a whole because of the leavening effect of individual, prayerful study. It can enter into world thought and uplift it.
Mrs. Price: In fact, it's a tremendous power that is operating in community, national, and international affairs.
Mr. Nav: Truth has a definite effect on supposititious error anchored in human thought. Truth will create a reaction simply because mortal mind does not want to release its mistakes, its whole erroneous concept of reality, of good, of what Love is, of what substance is. But it's not enough to arouse a ferocious bull; you have to know how to quiet him. Force will not do it, but the continuous worldwide study of the lesson, the declarations of truth which encircle the world will help to destroy the resistance of the carnal mind.
Mr. Welz: How do you feel about studying the whole lesson every day as opposed to studying only a part of it?
Mr. Nay: The lesson is a rounded treatment of the chosen subject. If you want to be fully dressed, you do more than put on your trousers. You have to put on your shirt and coat, too. We live daily, and so we need the daily assurance of God's active presence with us in order to have joy for the day, hope, health for the day, guidance for the day.
Mr. Aylwin: Merely reading the Bible Lesson as a formal duty or hurrying through a section or two before dashing off to work will do us very little good. The proper study of the Bible and Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mrs. Eddy is a form of prayer, of communion with Truth. It feeds us with "the bread of life"John 6:35; of which Christ Jesus spoke. We need to pause and savor words and phrases and sentences to get their deeper meaning and then apply what we learn to ourselves, our church, and the world. Studying the Lesson-Sermon is sheer joy. What a happy productive day we can have if we get up early enough to study it and establish unity with God! It was the Psalmist who wrote, "In the morning will I direct my prayer unto thee, and will look up." ps. 5:3;
Mr. Welz: Sometimes students say they read the Lesson-Sermon, but they can't stay awake; they can't really concentrate; they don't really know what they're reading. I know I had this problem when I first got out of college. I went to a practitioner, and he said, "Start at the beginning of the lesson every day and read until you get one idea that's new to you, that you can really use, and then close the books. Apply that idea all day long and see how it works." Then he added, "The next day go back and start at the beginning again and read until you get another new idea. Don't stop at the old one." These new ideas worked so wonderfully, and I got so excited about reading them, that I couldn't stop anymore, and I found myself reading the whole lesson every day. Everything I read was ideas. It wasn't a ritual; it was the ideas coming from God. This was the unfoldment of Principle, the action of divine Principle, in my consciousness.
Mr. Aylwin: Some mornings we may encounter considerable distaste in our thought —almost a rebellion—about climbing out of bed and getting down to work. Ever run into that?
Mr. Welz: I certainly have.
Mr. Aylwin: If everyone sees the study of the Lesson-Sermon for what it is, a divinely inspired means to a happy and productive day, he will not be fooled by the suggestions of laziness and inertia.
Mrs. Price: But we shouldn't have a superstitious feeling about reading the Lesson-Sermon — we shouldn't feel that if we don't read it something terrible is going to happen. God's law of protection and defense and perfection for us is already established. By reading the Lesson-Sermon we are learning more about this law. But if we do read the Lesson-Sermon and get the full inspiration out of every section of it, something wonderful will happen to us—something extra wonderful—because we are having our thought uplifted and spiritualized.
Mr. Welz: After quite a lengthy discussion with a man who teaches speed reading, I decided one day that I would try to read the lesson in ten minutes. I found it was an exhilarating experience, because instead of mentally mouthing every word I was really getting the meat out of it. So instead of spending half an hour going through it laboriously, I could spend half an hour and go through the lesson three times, and really pull out some wonderful ideas. The whole thing of efficient reading, efficient study, is very important. Of course, we don't want to use that as an excuse to cut down on the amount of study we do!
Mr. Nay: Also as we read thoughtfully, we will naturally apply the ideas to our own thought, to our anticipations for the day, and our recollections of yesterday.
Mr. Aylwin: Sometimes a particular Lesson-Sermon subject or the specific handling of a subject may seem difficult or uninspiring. I have found it helpful, then, to remind myself that all twenty-six subjects came to us from divine Love through the clear transparency of Mrs. Eddy's thought. Every subject, then, is essential to one's spiritual education and demonstration. Perhaps one needs to approach his study more humbly, and, like a little child, thank divine Love for every word. How it helps if we bring joy and a sense of adventure to our study! As Mrs. Eddy tells us, "Right motives give pinions to thought, and strength and freedom to speech and action." Science and Health, p. 454; And how important that we go at our study of the Lesson-Sermon unselfishly. It comes alive in our thought as we seek to understand it because of the good which may unfold to all men through our happy, scientific understanding of its spiritual message.
Mrs. Price: Yes, I think the approach is very important. I like to remember that Mrs. Eddy said about the Lesson-Sermon, "Your dual and impersonal pastor, the Bible, and 'Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures,' is with you." Miscellaneous Writings, p. 322. I think that I get most out of the Lesson-Sermon when I approach it as my own personal, "impersonal pastor" and realize that it is speaking directly to me and is going to meet my need at that particular time. A newcomer to Christian Science or a mature student, an American or a Britisher, a native of Fiji or Lapland—they can all feel that this "impersonal pastor" is actually speaking to them and meeting their individual need right where they are.
Mr. Welz: What about the use of the Lesson-Sermon in the Sunday School?
Mr. Nay: That depends upon the age of the Sunday School children. But whatever age they are, the inspired teacher, and he had better be inspired, will find the way to utilize the ideas in the Lesson-Sermon. I found it to be a good way to ask the students a question out of the Lesson-Sermon and say to them, if they are fairly grown, "Now, let us suppose that I am not a Christian Scientist and am coming to you and asking you what this means?" There have been wonderful results because they are really challenged to explain it to a fellow student.
Mr. Welz: What about with the younger pupils? Do you think the teacher who goes to the class with the Lesson-Sermon in mind, with the ideas of the Lesson-Sermon in mind, will be able to apply those ideas though not actually talking about the Lesson-Sermon to the smaller children?
Mrs. Price: I was teaching a class of four-year-old children, and I always got them to learn the subject of the Lesson-Sermon every week. One day I was sitting with my little class before Sunday School, and I heard one small boy coming right through the church foyer, and he was saying to everybody he could possibly get hold of, "Look, I've fallen down; I've hurt my knee." And this I heard coming all through the foyer—to every usher he met, "Look, I've fallen down." So when he came up to me, he was just going to start on this "I've hurt my knee" business, and I said, "Now, Tim, what's the subject of the Lesson-Sermon this week?" He was very pleased with himself because he had learned it. "Adam and Fallen Man," he said. So I said, "That's just wonderful. You really have learned your lesson, haven't you?" Then I asked him, "Are you Adam?" He said "No, I'm not Adam." So I said, "Are you fallen man?" He never said a word. He gave me a long, hard look, and then he went and sat down on his chair. And we never heard another thing about this hurt knee until after the Sunday School was over. His father came and asked me what we had done about Tim's knee, because it was completely healed. He said it had actually seemed to be a bad graze. Now, I think that's a very good example of how children can really understand something in the Lesson-Sermon although maybe at that age you can't go into great detail, but they can get the idea.
Mr. Welz: I had a Sunday School teacher one time who was a substitute. I just had her for one Sunday, and on that one Sunday she taught us that no matter what problem we had, there was an answer in the Lesson-Sermon. I never forgot it.
Mrs. Price: I'd like to go into why we go to church on Sunday and listen to the Lesson-Sermon being read, when we've already studied it all through the week.
Mr. Welz: Doesn't the study of the student actually affect the reading on Sunday?
Mr. Aylwin: Yes, the uplifted consciousness of the congregation, enriched by their daily study, brings to the auditorium an atmosphere which is healing. It supports and inspires the Readers, thus strengthening the impact of the message from the desk.
Mr. Nay: Our expectation is that at every service there will be non-Scientists, newcomers who know nothing about the lesson. Because the majority of the audience consists of Christian Scientists, their collective work will make the message read from the desk more effective for the newcomer.
Mr. Welz: I think we've all had the experience, as Readers, of being really uplifted to the point where we are getting something ourselves out of that Lesson-Sermon on a Sunday that we never got before. That's because of the consecrated work done by individuals in the congregation.
Mr. Aylwin: Yes, I've often heard the lesson read after studying it all week, and it sounded entirely different. I got new ideas and inspiration that I missed during the week—haven't you?
Mrs. Price: Oh yes, often. One looks forward to the day when everyone who comes to a Christian Science church service will be healed, no matter how sick he may be. And this will surely happen when every member of the church takes with him to the service the inspiration he has gained during the week by his daily study of the Lesson-Sermon.
