"Precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept, line upon line, line upon line, here a little and there a little." Isaiah 28:10
"Precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept, line upon line, line upon line, here a little and there a little." Isaiah 28:10
I am very grateful for the opportunity to serve as a Sunday School teacher at my Christian Science Society. When I moved to this area several years ago there were no children in the Sunday School. I prayed about this, knowing that an active Sunday School is an important and natural manifestation of church. I also came to realise more fully the value of my own Sunday School education, in teaching me the basic principles of Christian Science, which I am continuing to build upon today.
As so often happens when we pray, things changed in the human scene! We now have wonderful children from two families attending Sunday School as often as they can. It is interesting to note that each of these families has had to overcome specific challenges in order to bring their children to church, and I see now that the leaven of Truth had been at work for a long time in breaking down these barriers.
My Sunday School work is a real blessing. It is inspiring to see the joy and pure thought of the children and their natural acceptance of Christian Science. However, I also appreciate the opportunity to identify prevalent elements of material belief in the thought of my students that need to be addressed in my prayers for young people more generally.
The need to prepare a Sunday School lesson almost every week has forced me to dig deeper into the spiritual meaning of Bible stories. I have to ask myself, "What does this story teach us about how to follow the Christ? What are the healing ideas we can apply?" I must confess that I have had to grapple with some of the First Lessons identified by Mary Baker Eddy in the Church Manual! The Beatitudes in particular had never really spoken to me before, but now I am seeing them through new eyes.
As our Sunday School activity increased, another challenge was presented in the form of the concern that we would not have enough church members available to read while I and another member were teaching. However, this need has always been met - through members being willing to step in to read even when it is difficult, and then later a regular visitor volunteered to read and has now become a member. This provision demonstrates that a right idea can only bless.
There are still challenges that need to be addressed in relation to our Sunday School, but I am so grateful for the progress that has been made so far.