We can make of the Christian Science church services we attend merely casual, perfunctory experiences, or we can make of them holy, uplifting, healing, redemptive experiences. Which shall it be?
Do we feel that just taking the body to church and plunking it in a pew takes care of our obligation? Do we say, in effect, "Here I am God—go ahead and bless me!" If we are reluctantly present physically and are stubbornly absent mentally, what profiteth it us? Does a physically present deaf ear help us? Or anyone else?
Do we attend church because we think we should, because we fear that if we don't, we're going to get chastised for it sometime? Or are we drawn by the irresistible, all-loving attraction of Spirit?
We know that Church is not, in the truest sense, a material place we go to but a divine idea we take with us every day, wherever we go. The reality, then, is that we are always present with the Lord. As we realize that we are present with the Lord, not just twice a week in a material structure called a church, but moment by moment, and day by day, in constant spiritual at-one-ment with our infinite Father-Mother, Truth and Love, what we call our church services become holy and compelling, rewarding beyond measure.
A stranger can readily feel if your service is of the spirit. When you invite a friend, what kind of service do you pray for?
Referring to the need for Readers to take suitable time to prepare for reading, Mary Baker Eddy speaks of the Sunday Lesson-Sermon as "a lesson on which the prosperity of Christian Science largely depends." See Manual of The Mother Church, Art. III, Sect. 1. She does not say that the prosperity of Christian Science largely depends on those who read the Lesson on Sunday. Any lesson is effective only in the degree to which it is learned and practiced. Accordingly, doesn't this direct and important comment in the Manual of The Mother Church about "the Sunday lesson" apply directly to the studiers of that lesson, to the receptive beneficiaries of it?
Must the Lesson-Sermon of itself bear the responsibility for the prosperity of Christian Science? Or does the prosperity of Christian Science depend upon what we do with the Lesson-Sermon?
This Lesson, "on which the prosperity of Christian Science largely depends," is set into the church service as a precious gem is set into appropriate surroundings. And the beautiful setting that surrounds the Lesson-Sermon gem was wrought by Mrs. Eddy with care and with prayer. We can bring to the service such depths of spiritual preparation and expectation that every part of the service plays its ascending role in the expanding experience waiting there for us and for our fellow seekers, our "brother birds." See Poems, p. 6.
Music greets us when we arrive, music selected with careful regard to that "appropriate religious character" See Manual, Art. XIX, Sect. 1. described by Mrs. Eddy in the Church Manual. Music of an appropriate character supports a simple, expectant reaching out to God.
We seat ourselves quietly, keeping to a minimum the greeting of other members and friends out of loving respect for everyone's desire to drink deep of spiritual preparation, quietly, before the service begins. It is not a time to inventory those present, to review and appraise their hats or jewelry, to approve or disapprove the clothing or hairdos, to share vacation experiences past or future, to total the hymnal board, or to prepare to "audition" the organist, the soloist, or the Readers. Mortal mind, if it could, would reduce this sacred occasion to the level of a social event or a talent program. And then what effort is needed to elevate thought once again to a state of spiritual receptivity! Let us lend our prayerful weight to that of others engaged sweetly and humbly in welcoming to that service none other than the healing Christ. The healing Christ heals. Expect it.
This is as good a time as any to ask a few questions. When do we start praying for church? As we enter? After we sit down? During silent prayer? Following the benediction? Or do we start at the very beginning of the week, rejoicing at the prospect of having that wonderful Lesson to study and live throughout the week?
The First Reader rises to announce the first hymn, a hymn carefully selected from the ample reservoir of praise known as the Christian Science Hymnal. To praise, to glorify, the infinite is man's reason for being. As we rise to praise God in song, the service starts to build. We are acknowledging individually, and with the others in the congregation, our love for God and our gratitude for His love.
More spiritual food follows as the First Reader reads a selection from the Scriptures, a selection designed to tie in with the Lesson-Sermon of the week and lead on up to that Sermon.
Then we are all invited to unite in silent prayer. How do we do this? Just by all being quiet together? Just by each one of us reminding God at that point of whatever seems most pressing in his or her experience? No, Mrs. Eddy has indicated exactly how we can and should unite when she spells out the purpose of silent prayer in the Church Manual, Article VIII, Section 5: "The prayers in Christian Science churches shall be offered for the congregations collectively and exclusively." What love is expressed here! The power of prayer to help the individual present is multiplied many times over, as each and every member prays solely for the collective congregation. There's no personal sense, no mortal or material considerations—just pure prayer that includes all.
Following that spiritually refreshing silent prayer comes the repetition in unison—again we are united—of the Lord's Prayer, which Christ Jesus has given to his followers of the twentieth century just as surely as to his immediate disciples. And as we together address "our Father," we at the same time acknowledge that we are all brothers and sisters.
This repetition of the Lord's Prayer has a special dimension in Christian Science Churches. And I don't say that just because we refrain from galloping through that meaningful prayer— although a thoughtful pace in itself is a blessing. No, I refer to the extra dimension brought to the Lord's Prayer by Mrs. Eddy's spiritual interpretation of it. See Science and Health, pp. 16-17. Unfoldment and blessing are here as the light of Truth illumines Jesus' words for us all.
At this point in the service we anticipate with joy another opportunity to praise God in song. In the second hymn we again give voice to a heart growing more full of gratitude.
Then the First Reader reminds us through notices and announcements of the Christian Science activities available for everyone's inspiration and growth. And this may bring to thought the need for specific prayer in support of these activities. We may hear mentioned the Sunday School, the Reading Room, local or neighboring lectures, the church services, the privilege of becoming members of The Mother Church or of the branch church we're attending. Our appreciation grows for all our blessings in Christian Science and for the manifold loving provisions Mrs. Eddy has made to encourage and foster spiritual growth.
A solo follows, carefully chosen to adhere to the theme for the week. Thus, the setting for the Lesson-Sermon is complete. The Explanatory Note is read, and then the moment has come for our pastor, the Bible and the Christian Science textbook, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mrs. Eddy, to speak. Article XIV, Section 1, of the Church Manual states, "I, Mary Baker Eddy, ordain the Bible, and Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, Pastor over The Mother Church,—The First Church of Christ, Scientist, in Boston, Mass.,—and they will continue to preach for this Church and the world." And preach they do, "a sermon undivorced from truth, uncontaminated and unfettered by human hypotheses, and divinely authorized." See Christian Science Quarterly, "Explanatory Note for Church Services," p. 2.
The subject of the week and of this service is announced, followed by the reading of the Golden Text, which is a kind of keynote for the entire Lesson-Sermon.
Again we share in praise as we alternate with the First Reader in repeating Bible verses from the Responsive Reading. These might be thought of as the vestibule leading into the healing and inspiring temple of the Bible Lesson itself.
Then we again take in the Lesson-Sermon we have studied all week. The various sections each contribute a facet to the overall Lesson prism. We contribute and receive inspiration as this Lesson-Sermon "on which the prosperity of Christian Science largely depends" unfolds in all its strength and beauty.
This is the culmination of our week's work. Every day we have gained deeper spiritual understanding of the great Bible lessons that the citations from Science and Health explain. Each day we have glimpsed more and more clearly the relevance and applicability today of what the Bible Lesson unfolds. Each day we find our spiritual armor protecting us more completely through our quickened awareness of God's allness and error's impotence and nothingness.
Following the Lesson-Sermon, with hearts overflowing with gratitude and lives further enriched, our heart-tithes of "love currency" are gladly placed in the collection basket as it makes its rounds.
Then another hymn. A psalm of rejoicing, of fulfillment, from "hearts made whole, from lips redeemed from woe," Hymnal, No. 66. as a loved hymn has it.
The hymn is over. A hush settles over all. Then follows that spiritually powerful statement the like of which this world has never before known: "the scientific statement of being" from the Christian Science textbook. See Science and Health, p. 468. Then the Bible correlative, from First John, rings a glad bell in our hearts: "Beloved, now are we the sons of God ..." I John 3:2. Right now we are all that God has made us to be as His spiritual offspring. We need not wait.
The benediction seals the service and sends us home rejoicing, rededicated, refreshed, conscious again of our inseverable oneness with God. Following the benediction, our hearts sing along with the piano or organ as a postlude in praise to God bursts forth.
That holy service heals, regenerates, attracts, and lingers in thought. It's the only type of service worthy of a Christian Science Church. And we can always have such a service. It all depends on you and me. One more word. Do not lose the blessing through unnecessary busyness following the service. Treasure that blessing!
I mentioned that a Christian Science service is a healing service. Let me illustrate.
One Sunday evening a Christian Scientist sank into the church pew with a sigh of fatigue before the evening service. She had the temporary full-time care of two young robust grandchildren, and that day had been more hectic than usual, it seemed. This grandmother could feel resentment lurking in her thinking, which added weight to the heavy physical burden she seemed to be carrying.
She thought to herself, "I've already raised my family, and I've so looked forward to the time when I would have more freedom to do the things and see the places I've always wanted to. And here I am tied down again, with the raising of a second family! It just doesn't seem fair."
As the service progressed, this type of thinking persisted. Then something cut right through these self-pitying thoughts as she heard the First Reader announce, "The evening service is a repetition of the morning service." See Quarterly, p. 2.
She remembered the joy and vigor and strength that were hers in the "morning service" of her life when her own family was small. How gratefully she had tackled and finished each daily task. How often and with what deep sincerity she had thanked God for His allness, His love, His guidance, and protecting care. How grateful she had been for her growing understanding of Christian Science and for the inspiration of branch church activity.
Again she found herself thinking about the announcement that had roused her. She thought, "If my 'evening service' is a repetition of my 'morning service,' then the joy and vigor and strength of my 'morning service' must be repeated now. My much-expressed gratitude to God for His goodness to me during earlier times must be repeated now. And my gratitude for Christian Science and the inspiration of branch church activity, all so much a part of that time, must be repeated now."
She found her weariness slipping away and in its stead a new sense of dominion. She accepted wholeheartedly the promise that "the evening service is a repetition of the morning service," and never again felt inadequate during the period before a new home was provided for the young family. She found herself free again and a very whole woman indeed.
At that point she was deeply grateful, not just for release to do those things that she felt further promoted her growth in Christian Science, but for the demonstration over self-pity and over the enslaving beliefs of advancing years.
How helpful this one brief announcement proved to be! Our prayer for church can help make each aspect of the service a healing one.
