"That shouldn't ever happen to anyone!" I said unhappily to myself one Sunday some time ago as I drove home from church, disturbed because I had slept through a portion of the service. I was determined to put an end to these occasional lapses by better spiritual preparation.
I tried to analyze the situation objectively. The Readers had good voices, good diction, and they read with freshness and understanding. Certainly I couldn't blame my drowsiness on their presentation. I had been studying the Lesson-SermonIn the Christian Science Quarterly; that week and had a good overall impression of the content of the selections from the Bible and from Science and Health by Mrs. Eddy. So I couldn't say that the subject was too much for me.
I identified (for the purpose of denying) impersonal elements of general world belief that would undermine the effectiveness of church services and undermine the effectiveness of the Christian Science movement. Reluctance to attend church, indifference to church work, skepticism about the healing potential of Christian Science treatment— these and other mesmeric tendencies of mortal-mindedness would intimidate and discourage those who are endeavoring to center their lives on spiritual goals and values. These delusive deflecting pressures are animal magnetism, which, if left unchallenged, would draw our thought to deleterious and even evil habits, pastimes, and activities.
In Christian Science we have the right and the duty to deny that we can be the conscious or unconscious agents for any pseudo power. Our receptivity to truth is not dependent on how many hours we slept last night or how fatiguing our schedule has been. We have the spiritual right to resist every form of mesmeric suggestion. A negative force is no force at all, since it has no law of God to support it. We can stay wide-awake in church!
Citations listed in the Concordance to Science and Health on waking, alertness, listening, and sleep are helpful. A familiar hymn gives an invigorating command to anyone struggling with the church-dozing problem: "O dreamer, leave thy dreams for joyful waking." Christian Science Hymnal, No. 412; The wide-awake, attentive, receptive thought hears and believes the Word of God—with joy.
In the weeks that followed, I "got ready for church" in a new way. I would give myself a listening assignment, a different one for each service. Here are a few examples I've found inspiring.
• Listen for every fact describing the nature of the real, spiritual man and apply these truths to the whole congregation. In the Manual of The Mother Church, our Leader, Mrs. Eddy, heads a Section "Prayer in Church." It reads: "The prayers in Christian Science churches shall be offered for the congregations collectively and exclusively." Man., Art. VIII, Sect. 5;
• Note positive statements of healing in each section, and be able to tell yourself three or four of them after the service.
• Find one statement in each section to which you haven't paid much attention during your study.
• Listen for biblical promises of safety, health, and well-being, and affirm them.
• Listen carefully for your obligations as a student of Christian Science.
• Agree with and affirm every statement of Truth being read from the desk. Refuse to resist or argue against even one phrase.
• If you find your mind wandering, instantly challenge the interruption by knowing that man cannot be made to daydream or doze by any mesmeric sleep-inducing agent.
• Listen for every statement relating to the revelation of the Science of Christ to Mrs. Eddy. What are some of the ways she defines "Christ"?
I have found that this kind of focused listening has brought me renewed enthusiasm for church services. Drowsiness and mortal-mind-wandering have diminished. My study of the Lesson-Sermon is even more invigorating because I'm actively seeking the truth instead of just letting waves of words sweep over me, only to wash back listlessly, leaving very little impression on my mental "beach."
When Christ Jesus found his disciples sleeping at Gethsemane during his challenge to rise even higher spiritually, he asked a searching question: "What, could ye not watch with me one hour?" Matt. 26:40; Let our answer to this still-ringing question be a resounding yes at each church service. This unified effort to resist the weakness of the flesh will prove that "the spirit . . . is willing," v. 41. as Jesus said. Our church services will then be the invigorating, uplifting, healing occasions they are capable of being.
This shall be the covenant
that I will make with the house of Israel;
After those days, saith the Lord,
I will put my law in their inward parts,
and write it in their hearts;
and will be their God,
and they shall be my people. . . .
Thus saith the Lord,
which giveth the sun for a light by day,
and the ordinances of the moon and of the stars
for a light by night, which divideth the sea
when the waves thereof roar;
The Lord of hosts is his name.
Jeremiah 31:33, 35
