"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
Have learned from experience that when an idea comes several times, it can possibly be from God and worth considering prayerfully. So when the idea of letting my name stand for the position of first reader came, although the first reaction was “that is preposterous, not possible with my work schedule,” eventually I opened up my thought to accepting this opportunity. And am I ever so grateful that this work has unfolded. It has helped to keep my thought focussed on God and the needs of others, in the church, local and world community. Definitely a growing and blessing experience, which is highly recommend to everyone!
From many years of teaching Sunday School, am well aware that it is a waste of time to share a truth which has not been demonstrated. The same is true for reading. Accordingly, the reading work impels an ever more consistent, hour by hour, moment by moment practice of Christian Science and consecrated in- depth study of our Pastor, the Bible and Science and Health.
At first I worked with the expectation that the church services should be healing services. And although this is true and very important, thought has deepened to understand that the church services are also there to support the daily practice of each member and attendee. In this way, the impact of church extends beyond Wednesday nights and Sunday mornings. The fruition is that more people are sharing testimonies and the healings are more often recent.
Because I am working in a full-time job and the services are in two languages, there is little opportunity for Wednesday readings to be drawn up at the last minute. Accordingly, they have been prepared several weeks in advance. Trusting that God knows the needs and is supplying the angel thoughts, am humbly grateful that the readings are always appropriate for that week. For example, the readings on the day after the recent terrorist attacks in Brussels were on Daily Defense.
Blessings have also come from daily reading through of the Bible, Science and Health, the Manual and a biography of Mary Baker Eddy.
For example: this year have walked hand in hand with Jesus and the apostles through the eyes of Luke, studying the book of Luke and Acts. As Luke was a physician and especially interested in healings, his books are action packed. This walk has been accompanied by Henrietta Buckmaster’s well-researched book “Paul, A Man who Changed the World”, which gives descriptive colourful background on the people, their thinking, style of living and circumstances. Sometimes we can be tempted to think that we meet more resistance to the Truth due to the rampant materialism of our day, than did the early Christians, but there are remarkable similarities.
I have now eagerly moved on to Paul’s letters, searching out the ideas that sustained him through extraordinary hardships - from stoning and imprisonment to shipwrecks and beatings. Reading his account of his trials might make one ask if it’s worth being a Christian! But his vision never left him, and his fearless, faithful work brought Christianity to the whole wider world.
The continual reading through of all four of our key books never fails to bring clear answers to questions that come up. It is impossible to measure or express enough gratitude for the countless riches which come through our study of Christian Science.