Lois Carlson
Reprinted from the May 8, 2006, issue of the CS Sentinel.
Primary class instruction in Christian Science teaches how to live under God’s authority, and how to recognize in ourselves a desire to heal and bless others.
Primary class instruction in Christian Science teaches how to live under God’s authority, and how to recognize in ourselves a desire to heal and bless others.
But living under God’s authority is no small task, and the resistance to learning how to do it can feel equally daunting. The details of class (the costs of travel and hotel), making the time to be away from our routine, the perception of family members, may all feel like huge obstacles.
Perhaps fear within argues as well. “Will committing to this discipline make me lose some of my own individuality? Am I really willing to be taught a new discipline of thinking?” Maybe even past experience discourages us, making us question the authority of goodness in our lives.
Resistance to class instruction, no matter how aggressive or subtle, is ultimately a denial of one’s true worth as a child of God. As much as the agony of self-doubt tries to be convincing, the reality is that even our modest talents enable us to give something to lighten the load of others and heal them.
When the qualities of Christ guide our thinking, we become more useful to others.
To live under God’s authority is to accept the qualities of Christ to be our own real nature. When the gentleness, meekness, compassion, and hope that Jesus lived guide our thinking, relationships become more meaningful, opportunities expand, and we become more useful to others.
But the real benefit of living in alignment with the things of the Spirit is that the motivation for getting up in the morning changes. Instead of desperately trying to juggle all our responsibilities, we find the freedom to acknowledge the loving God who is supporting His creation.
Chronic fear, which argues potential failure even when we’re most devoted, must yield to a deeper trust in God’s prospering of the creation He loves so much. One of the most important aspects of that trust is admitting that God is in charge of our spiritual education. The awakening of thought to our own freedom and willingness to heal is part of God’s love, nudging us to realize the blessings of our divine heritage.
Divine Love picks us up and shows us the way forward.
To honor God as the great Teacher makes us value the power working in our lives. Despite the heartaches, the disappointments, the mistakes, the failures, it is divine Love that picks us up and shows us how to go forward. It is the same influence that impelled Jesus’ disciples to continue healing in his name after he ascended.
The Bible reports that there was an influx of the Holy Spirit (or Holy Ghost) that not only rededicated the disciples to healing and saving others, but brought many newcomers into the understanding of God’s love. Finding the right Christian Science teacher is an outcome of this same divine influence.
In Science and Health, the Glossary definition of Holy Ghost is: “Divine Science; the development of eternal Life, Truth, and Love.” Instead of potential students getting stuck in decision-making about the details of class instruction—where to stay, getting time off, arrangements for the family, etc.—the Science of Christ operates to lift them naturally to see the steps in accord with that law of development.
The class is not an exercise in the human mind taking charge of spiritual growth. Its purpose is to show how God governs creation. Human opinions and efforts must yield to humbly honoring God’s nurturing, which forwards our spiritual progress.
Uncovering error begins to destroy its claim to power.
When we admit to ourselves that we want to face down the opposition to class instruction, the promise of joining a class begins to be realized. Mary Baker Eddy made it clear in her writings that uncovering error is the largest part of destroying its claim to power. Invariably, evil has to do with any influence that would make us disbelieve our divine inheritance.
Animal magnetism is the term Mrs. Eddy used to describe the pull toward such a viewpoint. Even though the pull can feel very persuasive, she wrote, “Animal magnetism has no scientific foundation, for God governs all that is real, harmonious, and eternal, and His power is neither animal nor human.”
No matter what form the resistance to class takes, whether voluntarily through misdirected will, or involuntarily through what feel like forces beyond our control, ultimately, animal magnetism is proved powerless. Just as a magnet cannot move pure gold or pure silver, our pure and perfect spiritual nature does not respond to carnal or other destructive influences.
The saving Christ awakens us to the reality of our spiritual nature.
It is such a relief to realize that we are not the source of any opposition to spiritual progress. Even though the feelings of inadequacy may come over and over again, the saving Christ awakens us to the reality of our own spiritual nature—and our natural desire to know it better. People have an innate attraction to learning about the infinitude of their own being, and nothing can thwart that attraction.
For me, the greatest benefit of taking class instruction was that it so expanded my understanding of God that it made me less afraid of my own faults, and therefore less afraid of other people’s faults as well.
My healing practice also began at this time. I found myself welcoming others into my heart and into my prayers in a way that said, “I can see in you the glory of God expressed, and I love it so much that I will defend it.”
As we develop a more universal appreciation of others, we are less appalled by their shortcomings and weaknesses. We find ourselves looking deeper, being spiritually curious about the goodness that must be as inevitable in their lives as it is in ours.
Meeting other students breaks down stereotypes.
It’s startling to meet in one’s class experience (and the annual association meetings that follow) the wide variety of people who are drawn together through God’s gathering. Getting to know other students breaks down stereotypes which, if unchallenged, can inhibit our usefulness to humankind.
The support of fellow classmates opens thought to the reality that not only do we enjoy advancing spiritually ourselves, but there is also great joy in seeing how God is working in their lives, too. This, in turn, helps us recognize that we each have a healing practice, even though we may be working in very different arenas of life.
Chronic procrastination about taking class may indicate a need for a greater willingness to pray for oneself. Over and over again, what has furthered my own healing practice is the willingness to accept a definition of myself based on my divine heritage instead of my human history.
She felt free of the limitations of her own personality.
One of my spiritual mentors said that after going through class, she felt free of the limitations of her own personality. Instead of defining herself according to the particular strengths and weaknesses she had seen in her life, she realized that, as God’s reflection, she could express whatever qualities of thought were needed to help heal and bless others.
If she needed to be bold, she could be forthright. If she needed to be patient in waiting, she could be humble. Joy, resolve, steadfastness, and willingness to change are not competing elements of the human mind. These diverse qualities express in each of us the infinite nature of God’s being.
Class instruction helps to close the gap between our highest aspirations and the living out of those aspirations. Welcoming this bigger view is as natural as breathing fresh air after being locked in a stuffy room.
Class instruction is a natural step forward because it affirms our fundamental reason for being—to express God in a way that makes Him known to ourselves and others. Nothing can change this substance of who we are. Nothing can stop our living and healing from this perspective.
Lois Rae Carlson is a Christian Science practitioner and teacher. She lives in Chicago.
July 13th, 2006 at 7:43 pm
This is a topic that many young people are thinking about. It is great to hear your perspective as a Christian Science teacher. Thanks!