"This was a hard topic."

"It made sense when it came up but I think it's a kind of paradox."

"In what way?"

"I mean we're dealing with a Science — you know, 2+2=4. So it's not really my own any more than math is. It's universal. Still, I have to master it and understand it or it won't be of any use in my day to day life."

"Does anyone who was here remember what the group was talking about when the topic came up?"

"We were looking at Laura Matthews' blog on Christian Science treatment and someone said she really tailors Science to meet the circumstance."

"Right. So I said we should give that a try ourselves. And voilà — or almost voilà — we had a topic."

"Well now, does anyone have anything to report?"

"I'll start. You've all watched and prayed with me as I've acquired a whole new life the last three years. When I first came here I was out of my mind and living on the streets. I've certainly had to make Christian Science my own. I've read Science and Health through and spent hours in the reading room. There's been no time for stagnation."

"How's the job going?"

"They give me plenty to do getting the place ready to open. The boss says he's looking for me to move ahead fast once we're operating."

"You mentioned stagnation — that's where my life's at right now. I'm in a rut and I need to break out. One thing — I'm on the board of my coop and there's been some tension over new carpeting."

"Sounds like a branch church!"

"It was usually bathroom curtains at my branch, but in my building I'm getting caught between two power-mad arbiters of taste and elegance. The amazing thing is, I totally forgot to use Science."

"Just like church."

"Is the problem still going on?"

"Yes. I guess I could pray about it starting now."

"I talked to you all Sunday about my situation at work. We're having a reorganization and I'd had a run in with one of the partners. So when my paycheck didn't clear on time and then my computer rejected my password, I became very concerned and went into a tailspin. I expected to be fired any moment."

"I remember you were on pins and needles Sunday."

"Well, I had to dig deep in prayer to get myself stable. On the way to work Monday I opened the August 8th Sentinel to an article by Mario Tosto titled, 'Cared For, Loved and Protected'. Here, look at all the parts I've highlighted. I like his point about seeing things through a spiritual lens. I'll read his quote from Mrs. Eddy: [#cit=3255#] All day long I tried to look at things spiritually and hold thought in line with reality."

"So how did things work out?"

"When I got to work I opened my Bible to [#cit=3256#]. That gave me a boost. Later I looked up [#cit=3257#] And, [#cit=3258#]"

"My Lord — you were certainly thorough."

"That's not all. I worked with Matthew and Science and Health too."

"Give me those quotes and I'll put them up with the readings."

"So, what was the upshot?"

"The check came through — late — but it came through. And I found out, as part of the reorganization, I've got a new computer password. The problem with the partner and whatever's going on with the overall shake-up — we'll have to wait and see."

"Anyway, sounds like you're fully armed with Truth."

"I guess that's what has to happen when the belief level gets wobbly."

"What's come up for me was a family member telling me to consult an actuarial table and plan to exhaust my savings based on the average life expectancy for my age."

"What if you outlive the predicted age and have no savings left?"

"Then you take the cyanide tablet."

"Yes. That's covered in the Republican drug bill."

"Consulting a mortality table is just drifting with popular opinions."

"I've got a thought about how to crash through the actuarial table."

"Go ahead!"

"It's a counterfeit of God's table of Life. We're predetermined and predestined to eternal Life. That's absolute. Life is all-powerful, it's God Himself in operation. These mortality predictions are silly moths that break apart when they hit the Truth and fall into dust."

"Good work! What I've been seeing is the need for constant curiosity — interest in what's going on. I'm like the widow that Elijah instructed on supply (I Kings 17:8-16). I'm drawing an endless supply of human life out of Life, God."

"I'd like to refer to our discussion at Sunday brunch about the so-called 1910 Coup."

"Some of us weren't at lunch. Can you fill us in?"

"Sure. After Mrs. Eddy passed on the Christian Science Board quickly stepped into her shoes and consolidated their authority. They preserved The Mother Church as the central power in the movement. Some people feel, however, they should have allowed what they see as Mrs. Eddy's intention to play out. The Boston church should hve been allowed to recede to the level of a branch church..."

"One among many..."

"If the estoppel clauses in the Church Manual had been honored, there would have been a number of actions the Board couldn't take without Mrs. Eddy's approval."

"Did they try her phone?"

"She wouldn't pick up."

"Can you blame her?"

"The thing that concerns me about this information is why it isn't widely known — why it had to come out a hundred years later in renegade books and chat rooms. Why not through scholars like Robert Peel?"

"Are you kidding? If he'd mentioned even a whiff of it, he'd have become a non-person much quicker than he finally did."

"It's a shock to our dear Christian Science church members who've kept themselves bolstered in placidity."

"Maybe some of us think the salvation of souls and the world itself is more important than who's grimacing and shuffling papers in Boston."

"We've let the Board run the movement into the ground."

"Mrs. Eddy gave the Board absolute power on the belief level, but surely she expected us to vote and influence by seeking real power in God. If the movement is being driven into the ground, whose fault is it?"

"I'm just glad strong hands took over in 1910. Wouldn't Christian Science have flown apart and faded if the Board hadn't exerted control? That kept the essential message safe — like the Christ child in Egypt — until today, when we have the depth and restraint to study and practice it without a lot of heavy handed, uninspired organizational involvement."

"Six Feet Under ended the other night and I was stricken with grief. Not only was the series going off, forever, but all the major characters were shown dying over the following 80 years. That plus a special on another channel detailing 9/11 left me sleepless Monday night. My mind raced; I struggled and tossed."

"All because of TV shows?"

"Silly, huh? But of course it wasn't really about TV shows. Unless you want to deconstruct them as fair symbols of life in general. They touched off sadness about my own losses of loved ones and my own mortality. I progressed all the way to existential despair — like what's the point of it all?"

"I've been there."

"What'd you do?"

"I turned the light on and knew immediately what to look up. First, this from Science and Health:
[#cit=3259#]

Then this from the Hymnal:
[#cit=3260#]"

"That's alchemy — transforming leaden mortality into golden divinity."

"I was able to experience my innate quantum infinity"

"We don't have to see a white winged throng of angel thoughts as a sentimental 19th century palliative. She's reaching for Truth resplendent beyond dual concepts that leave us sad and deathly. The readings from Miscellaneous Writings, particularly the one about concrete being and abstract glory — wow! — that says it all for me!"
"Death seems inviting because it promises we'll transcend matter. But maybe it's the final stage of the total sanctification of matter. The body putrefies, turns to liquid and then gas. Corporeal gasification is a counterfeit of infinite being, which we already have! Becoming a gas cloud gets us nowhere — so I'll have to agree with Mrs. Eddy and Jesus that death's a sham."

"Okay fine. But the death of false beliefs is certainly needed in Science."

"One of my friends injured his wrist playing baseball, so he's using a kind of bandage or brace. I tried to comfort him with some Christian Science truths, without using the words or our usual jargon. I definitely didn't ask him to take off the wrapping. For one thing I use things like that from time to time myself and I'm just not up for a lot of hypocrisy right now..."

"Maybe later?"

"It's always lurking. But you know, it's hard to talk Science without the usual words. It comes off sounding like Methodism or Religious Science."

"I think that's okay. If you spouted absolute Science you'd scare him off. You can still think in the absolute."

"Hey, hey, hey! Welcome back!"

"You're just in time for dinner."

"Then I timed it right."

"So how was the trip?

"The trip was good. My Association was wonderful."

"What was the topic?"

"Honesty."

"Could you give us some highlights?"

"It'll have to be over dinner — we're running short."

"And we need a two week topic."

"Why two weeks?"

"We're only putting up notes every two weeks now."

"How would you all like to take on Honesty ourselves as the topic?"

"God — my Teacher'll kill me if she sees this."

"Oh please — there are no teachers looking at what we do. We're strictly entry level. Anyway why would she object? We're just spreading the good news."

"Do we agree on Honesty?"

"I love it."

"It's fine with me."

"Yes, fine."

"I hope my passport is current."