Gratitude to God is a Defense Against Temptation
This week's Lesson Sermon Subject: Man
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Morning Prayer
“Keep your joy! This is the hour of demonstration, dominion and power, gratitude and glorification; for even with faults man is still Love’s idea.”
“I love to be where God wants me to be; I love to do what God wants me to do; without asking how, when, or why. I have my place in Principle; I have my work in Principle; I have my reward in Principle; and there is no law of mental malpractice that can act through any condition or circumstance to hinder or obstruct the perfect and complete manifestation of God’s plan for me here and now.”
from Collectanea, by Mary Baker Eddy, page 66
Daily Watch
143 — WATCH lest you believe that the spiritual idea, which is the real nature of man, can be lost, contaminated, or rendered inoperative, because of any human condition, happening or evidence. If you lost a diamond in a mud puddle, you would have faith that it would not be soiled or harmed by the experience, and a hard rain storm would wash away the mud and reveal the gem in all its purity. Once a Christian Science lecturer said, "Never believe that even your own folly can indefinitely postpone the destiny God has in store for you."
In Matthew 4:7 Jesus says, "Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God." If "the Lord" is God transformed into idea, or man, then our task is to realize that this Christ nature in ourselves or others cannot be lost, that it cannot be defiled or even tempted by any earthly suggestions or conditions.
When you are tempted to feel sick or to sin, you can realize that man’s real nature is superior to such phases of the dream of mortality. You can know that you continue to be a channel for good to all mankind, in spite of all that mortal suggestion or false testimony conspires to do, to attempt to pull your thought down from its high pinnacle.
Mrs. Eddy once said, "Error says we are sick or discouraged; we don’t say it. It is error talking about itself. If we admit it, we have accepted a lie. Truth says, ‘I have perfect eyes, perfect heart, perfect limbs, etc.; all there is to me is like God, like perfection.’ We should discard mortal mind judgment, and pray for the Christ Mind."
Once a woman had an internal displacement. She was a Christian Scientist, but she was greatly tempted to submit to an operation, because it seemed the only way to get relief. She started for her practitioner’s office in order to tell her what she planned to do, but on the way she became so grateful for Christian Science, that she determined to live up to its teachings to the best of her ability, even if she were never healed of the physical disorder (C.S. Sentinel, August 15, 1931).
This lady experienced her healing right then and there. Her declaration was really a determination to defend her recognition of the fact that she was a spiritual idea and reflected God, against being belittled or interfered with by any false testimony, or human suggestion.
"Do not tempt the Lord thy God." Do not believe that man’s spiritual selfhood, which is the expression of God's being, is susceptible to being tempted.
Mrs. Eddy once declared, "I must know that the definition of man in Science and Health applies to me. I am that spiritual man; I am God’s image and likeness, reflecting a full, perfect image of Life, Mind, action, etc., not under material laws or limitations." One could no more believe that this perfect selfhood could be tempted with evil, than that a bullet aimed at an actor in a moving picture, could harm him.
Discussion points
Too soon we cannot turn from disease in the body to find disease in the mortal mind, and its cure, in working for God.
from Miscellaneous Writings, by Mary Baker Eddy, page 343
Golden Text: Matthew 26 : 41
“Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation.”
The 1961 Association Address by Herbert Rieke
6. Matthew 4 : 1-11
1 Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil.
2 And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterward an hungred.
3 And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread.
4 But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.
5 Then the devil taketh him up into the holy city, and setteth him on a pinnacle of the temple,
6 And saith unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down: for it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning thee: and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone.
7 Jesus said unto him, It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.
8 Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them;
9 And saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me.
10 Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.
11 Then the devil leaveth him, and, behold, angels came and ministered unto him.
When Jesus dismissed all temptation to desire personal and isolated good for himself, angels came and ministered unto Him.
Notes from Association Addresses, 1943 to 1946 by Una Willard
7. 234 : 25-3
Sin and disease must be thought before they can be manifested. You must control evil thoughts in the first instance, or they will control you in the second. Jesus declared that to look with desire on forbidden objects was to break a moral precept. He laid great stress on the action of the human mind, unseen to the senses.
Evil thoughts and aims reach no farther and do no more harm than one's belief permits. Evil thoughts, lusts, and malicious purposes cannot go forth, like wandering pollen, from one human mind to another, finding unsuspected lodgment, if virtue and truth build a strong defence.
8. 56 : 15-3
Infidelity to the marriage covenant is the social scourge of all races, "the pestilence that walketh in darkness, ... the destruction that wasteth at noonday." The commandment, "Thou shalt not commit adultery," is no less imperative than the one, "Thou shalt not kill."
Chastity is the cement of civilization and progress. Without it there is no stability in society, and without it one cannot attain the Science of Life.
9. 407 : 6-16
Man's enslavement to the most relentless masters — passion, selfishness, envy, hatred, and revenge — is conquered only by a mighty struggle. Every hour of delay makes the struggle more severe. If man is not victorious over the passions, they crush out happiness, health, and manhood. Here Christian Science is the sovereign panacea, giving strength to the weakness of mortal mind, — strength from the immortal and omnipotent Mind, — and lifting humanity above itself into purer desires, even into spiritual power and good-will to man.
10. 404 : 17-28
The temperance reform, felt all over our land, results from metaphysical healing, which cuts down every tree that brings not forth good fruit. This conviction, that there is no real pleasure in sin, is one of the most important points in the theology of Christian Science. Arouse the sinner to this new and true view of sin, show him that sin confers no pleasure, and this knowledge strengthens his moral courage and increases his ability to master evil and to love good.
Healing the sick and reforming the sinner are one and the same thing in Christian Science. Both cures require the same method and are inseparable in Truth.
To look into the world and see sin, sickness and death, that is hate — to look out into the world and see everything in God’s image and likeness, that is love.
Mary Baker Eddy’s Lessons of the Seventh Day, compiled By Richard Oakes
Kindness by H. Davies
from the February 3, 1912 issue of the Christian Science Sentinel
St. Paul, who wrote under the guidance and inspiration of divine Mind, laid strong significance upon kindness as a particular phase of Love's manifestation, for he does not rest satisfied in declaring the fact to the Corinthians, in that wonderful thirteenth chapter of his first epistle to them, where love is analyzed with such a wealth of profound apprehension, but we find him repeating the admonition, with unmistakable emphasis, to the church at Ephesus: "Be ye kind one to another, tender-hearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you;" and again, when he exhorts the Christians of the imperial city to "be kindly affectioned one to another."
When any one is described to us as kind, there looms before the imagination some one who is constantly performing kind acts, deeds which spring from a spirit of kindly solicitude for other people. We should expect to find such a one ministering to the welfare of all with whom he comes in contact, whether it be at home, at the office, in society; wherever, in fact, mankind foregather. A kind word, a smile, a kindly hand in assisting, as some one has aptly said, "lame dogs over stiles,"—of what incalculable service these kindly people are in the fierce strife of mortal existence. The very roughest place upon life's pathway may be made smooth by kindly sympathy, if only it is sympathy of the sterling sort,—encouragement and good cheer afforded to the forlorn and broken-hearted.
Perhaps, however, one of the most important ways, and none the less weighty because not ordinarily recognized as such, in which we can be kind one to another, is by punctually keeping appointments, being in our right place at the right time. It is, though we may not care to face the fact, one of the commonest, the most subtle forms of selfishness to keep other people awaiting our good pleasure. Lack of kindly regard for the feelings of others in this respect is manifested in a hundred ways. For instance, whole households are frequently thrown into confusion and much extra work is incurred if any member of the family is not at home at the appointed time for meals, or makes only a dilatory appearance at table. An endless amount of friction might be spared all round if the kindly habit of punctuality were more conscientiously cultivated.
Another method of showing kindness, particularly to tradespeople, who endeavor to serve their customers to the best of their ability, is not to wait until the telephone wires are blocked and overcrowded to give our orders, when the execution of them is almost beyond human possibility. It is unkind, nay it is callous, to treat others "like dumb driven cattle," when by a little kindly forethought on our part the work that has to be gotten through in a few harassed hours might be evenly distributed over other portions of the working day. Then there is the question which relates to our correspondence,—private letters, invitations, business communications, etc. Do we, in so far as we are able, pay nice regard to the feelings of others in these matters? To keep creditors waiting for moneys rightfully due to them, longer than can be avoided, is, we should bear in mind, neither kind nor Christian. It is not kind or courteous to delay either to accept or decline an invitation as soon after we have received it as possible. And to keep friends in anxious suspense, or to neglect some dear one, away perhaps in a distant land, because we are too lethargic or too much immersed in our own selfish pleasures to find time to write, is to be guilty of greater unkindness than we most likely care to admit. For who indeed among us has not at some time or another experienced what it means to watch and wait with hungering heart for home news which tarry so long by the way; but when, at last, they do arrive, they cheer and lighten the lonely banishment as nothing else can.
Or it may be we are at the library or reading-room, and although we are perfectly well aware that another is expectantly waiting for the book, magazine, or newspaper which we are reading, nevertheless we retain possession of it until we have selfishly gleaned its contents to the very end. Such wanton disregard for our neighbor, who very probably has neither so much time or leisure at his disposal as we have, but who is entitled nevertheless to an equal share of every communal privilege just as much as ourselves, is to cast aside St. Paul's binding admonition altogether. Ah, yes, now that we come to think of it, the ways we have of being kind or unkind to those we love or should love, surpass numeration. Their action covers the entire course of each day, and fills its passing hours with the glad sunshine of achievement or the dismal shadow of wasted opportunities.
In respect to those so-called small amenities of life, would it not be just as well if we paid more obedient heed to the great Teacher who said to his followers, "Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation." The temptation to err in the foregoing instances may seem almost too trivial for serious attention, but we ought prayerfully to see that we are not used as the channels of mortal mind, for the human mind is inherently selfish, and ofttimes so self-centered as to be altogether oblivious to the demands of Love, the divine Mind. Our revered Leader says: "If selfishness has given place to kindness, we shall regard our neighbor unselfishly" (Science and Health, p. 9); that is, we shall never injure or hurt any one, even in the very smallest particular, and we shall be unfailingly found doing to others as we would that they should do unto us. "After all, the one meaning of life is to be kind," said Abraham Lincoln, one day to a friend when at the zenith of power. Perchance the noble liberator spake more truly than he understood, for God is Love and Love is kind, and God is All-in-all.
To think kindly of those around us is to look in the right direction, but if our kindness stops short at that, we may be certain that it is insufficient in God's sight. Divine Love requires more, a great deal, at our hands than this. An active Principle demands active service, and there is but one way of being kind, and that is never to allow the chance of doing a kind action to escape us. This is to fall into line with the divine activity, for Love would not that even the least of His little ones should suffer. The poet sang,—
Kind hearts are more than coronets,
And simple faith than Norman blood,
and every Christian Scientist surely should live in agreement with this noble sentiment.
Watch diligently; never desert the post of spiritual observation and self-examination.
from Miscellaneous Writings, by Mary Baker Eddy, page 154
Watchfulness and Prayer by Annie M. Knott
from the August 8, 1914 issue of the Christian Science Sentinel
No professed Christian would deny the necessity for prayer, also for watchfulness, but the most sincere of these would readily admit that they do not avail themselves as they should of the protection and privilege therein involved. Even students of Christian Science, who are awakening to see the wide range of spiritual activity covered by watchfulness and prayer, are apt to excuse themselves for neglect of these requirements, on the ground that they are crowded out by other things, even by what seem the demands of duty. When, however, we admit this even for a moment, we unconsciously arraign the wisdom and justice of our Father, who never requires of us more than we can do; indeed, all that God requires of us is "for our good always," as Moses found out so long ago. It is well to remember here that Christ Jesus, who undoubtedly understood the Father's will, warned his disciples against long prayers and "vain repetitions," but he insisted upon constant watchfulness, and St. Paul advises us to pray without ceasing." If, however, we ponder these sayings in the light of Christian Science, we shall find them to be in perfect agreement with each other.
On page 4 of Science and Health Mrs. Eddy lays great emphasis upon "silent prayer, watchfulness, and devout obedience," which, she adds, "enable us to follow Jesus' example,' and on page 116 of "Miscellaneous Writings" she thus defines obedience: "Never absent from your post, never off guard, never ill-humored, never unready to work for God." Now it is quite possible that one may find one's self so crowded with worldly cares that the prayer which calls for retirement may seem to be ruled out, and material sense may argue that even watchfulness is extremely difficult. The fact is, that without watchfulness everything is likely to be not only difficult but discordant, and the busy hour is the time when we most need the yoke of the Christ-spirit, which makes every burden light. If we then watch our thoughts constantly, knowing that the one important thing is to maintain a Christlike attitude, we shall be astonished at the clarity of vision which results, even while we are under the pressure of earthly demands. We shall know how to do things in the best way and thus shall be "more than conquerors," to quote St. Paul.
This sort of watchfulness really merges into prayer, for it lifts thought into communion with God; but it furnishes no argument for neglect of the kind of prayer enjoined by the Master, when he said we should enter into the closet and shut the door. Respecting this, our revered Leader says (Science and Health, p. 15): "To enter into the heart of prayer, the door of the erring senses must be closed. Lips must be mute and materialism silent, that man may have audience with Spirit, the divine Principle, Love, which destroys all error." Christ Jesus said, "Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation," and we cannot too often recall this warning. It matters not whether the temptation come from a projected thought of error, or whether it be some phase of mortal belief which lingers in the student's own consciousness, it must be met and destroyed by Truth, not entertained until it has wrought discord where there should be harmony.
If, like Jesus' disciples in Gethsemane, we are tempted to sleep when we most need to be awake and alert, we should remember that the Master offered them the privilege of watching with him, and if they had responded rightly for that "one hour," who can tell how different would have been the pages of human history! Be that as it may, it rests with us to watch at this crucial hour, that the world's history may be written in letters of light, and the lives of all Christian Scientists become a mighty power for good, because they watch with the ever-present Christ. Who can estimate the influence of one life nobly lived, be the environment lofty or low! Prayer lifts us into man's "native air," and watchfulness forbids the intrusion of aught that is unlike God's perfect idea.
Final Readings
Lessons From The Garden by Blanche H. Hogue
from the September 1903 issue of the Christian Science Journal
A Love for nature helps one to understand the many simple and truthful lessons which multiply about the daily pathway, and opens a door through illustration and comparison, much that is of value. As experience enriches individual lives, the simple things of to-day's environment grow deep with meaning, for they bring the quiet assurance that one day, lived in patient obedience to the law of God, is the stepping-stone to another day which must necessarily be blessed and brightened by the faith and endurance of the preceding one.
Two lessons from the garden have recently strengthened and encouraged "patient continuance in well doing." The first has been learned from the recognition that the budding and blossoming of the spring and the fruitage of the summer are the result of a law which is absolutely inevitable in its operation and effect. In mid-winter, the evidence of the senses would establish the conviction that the blossom and beauty of the world had vanished forever. Were reliance placed upon this testimony, there would seem no possibility of approaching warmth and gladness. The frozen earth does not foretell the growth of future seed and blade and bud; the hard and relentless twigs give no promise of tender leaflet and dainty blossom; the hills and meadows hold no hint of the song-birds' ringing melody.—yet we know, beyond question, that the pressure of the oncoming season will transform the world into a garden of song and loveliness.
The first faint stirring of nature swells and softens the rough bark, neutralizing its resistance with such gentle hand that the most fragile blossom pushes its way unharmed into beauty and sunshine. The first warm touch of spring unlocks the rigid earth, and, pressing eagerly forward, undismayed by frost or storm, flings abroad a wealth of verdure and leafage, foliage and fruit. This manifestation of growth and beauty in the universe does not spring from external conditions or develop by reason of outward environment. It is the expression of that divine Mind whose action cannot be arrested or averted, and whose processes are in direct contradiction to the evidence of the senses.
Unquestionably this divine Mind, which governs the universe, cares for man. In the words of the familiar and well-loved hymn:—
That hand which bears creation up
Shall guard his children well.
To doubt the coming of deliverance and salvation, while the "winter of our discontent" argues for its tenacity, means that one's eyes have not been lifted higher than his immediate surroundings. To trust the eternal goodness of God, to gather courage because of the promise of deliverance, means that one abides in the knowledge of that divine Love whose action in blessing mankind is as ever-operative and unfailing as the law which clothes the earth with bud and blossom and brings forth food for man's use.
The other lesson was a very simple one,—just a robin singing in the rain. Sitting on a leafless tree, drenched by the downpour from cold gray skies, chilled by the heavy wind which ruffled all his feathers and swayed him on his cheerless perch, he sang "with grace in his heart to the Lord." Nothing in his dismal surroundings inspired that song. Only the promise of soft skies, mellow sunshine, and all the tangled greenery of summer's leafage, could prompt the outpouring of that ringing prophecy. His was a song of gratitude, born of the intuitive assurance that storm must eventually give place to the coming of warmth and sunshine.
How many of us, like the little robin, are singing in the rain? How many of us, when lonely, oppressed, and blown by the rough winds of adversity, are yet triumphant, are yet rejoicing, because we know that these things are not our inheritance, and that the eternal goodness of God will eventually dislodge them from our experience?
Christian Science is teaching mankind that the burden of evil is a temporary belief, and not an eternal fact. It is for that reason passing, and each day's battle against its encroachments brings the evil nearer to the hour of its final disappearance. From past events, and from present experiences, one can recognize that the activity of evil never accomplishes anything but its own undoing. It may have threatened to reverse the results of one's best efforts, to bring to pass sorrow and calamity, ruin and distress. It may have argued failure and disaster in every direction, involving the loss of all that life holds most dear. It may have struck the blow which one most dreaded, and yet, when all is done, the heart which trusts in God rises serenely to pursue its upward way, and all that lies wrecked at one's feet, is the evil itself. Evil always threatens the consummation of evil, but to the man who confidently dwells in God,—to the man who steadfastly refuses to listen to the voice of evil,—it can only threaten; it can never accomplish its purposes. "The very circumstance which your suffering sense deems wrathful and afflictive, Love can make an angel entertained unawares" (Science and Health, p. 574).
The knowledge that evil is powerless to fulfil its prophecies, because of the omnipresence of God, should sustain the student of Christian Science at all times and under all circumstances. Every adverse condition should find him, like the robin in the garden, singing. This brave little robin, pouring forth his song of joy despite his dismal surroundings, brought inspiration and courage to one who listened, one who was also struggling with the vicissitudes of a rainy day. If he could sing so cheerily, with only the instinct within his breast which bade him hope for better things, cannot the man who is having abundant daily proof of the goodness of God, rejoice always? If his little message brought comfort and cheer to one who heard it, how much more of peace and blessing can be wrought through the men and women who by smile and word and deed are singing their way into the kingdom of heaven!
Patience in affliction is the test of fidelity. Cheerfulness in affliction crowns fidelity with peace. James says, "My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience;" and Paul continues, "And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience; and patience, experience; and experience, hope: and hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us."
In the first experiences and early lessons in overcoming evil with good, gratitude and joy need to be cultivated, like flowers in a garden, because the natural tendency of the human disposition is toward ingratitude, complaint, and discouragement, and the weight of daily thinking and living leans heavily in that direction. Thought must be watched, and the capacity for gratitude enlarged by the continual remembrance of one's blessings. The determined and righteous effort to think patiently and unselfishly upon the right and the bright side of every question, brings its own reward. Through this action of thought the joy which goes hand in hand with righteousness comes gently, and almost unnoticed, into consciousness, until the life is transformed by floodtides of gladness, which become spontaneous in their presence and action.
When we remember that however much we may be oppressed, however urgently evil argues for place and power, however discouraging and desolate the whole environment may be, it is just as impossible for this condition to arrest the coming of God's deliverance as it is for winter's dreariness to stay the advance of spring. We must needs look up, not down, and while waiting for the sunshine, like the little robin, give voice to gratitude and gladness, because we know that sunshine is coming.
"For as the earth bringeth forth her bud, and as the garden causeth the things that are sown in it to spring forth; so the Lord God will cause righteousness and praise to spring forth before all the nations."