Sunday School Roundtable: Super Superintendents

8 Responses to “Sunday School Roundtable: Super Superintendents”

1. Mr. Raymond Kenneth Petry Says:
   January 31st, 2008 at 9:35 am

   Firstly: I was brought-up in Sunday School … nice … but it presents the problem too–

   Christian Science, is adequate for all mankind … but when one considers the range that is meant, it must be -that- Christian Science that is divine Science as it applies to humanity….

   Ask yourself: Can you teach the child of the Leader of your Church…?

   Put it another way: How do, you, distinguish God from man, when Mrs. Eddy did not claim to be a God, a Christ, a Pope (a Mome) …?

   (goddess, aka, wogod, the female of god: cf woman, the female of man)

   Humankind has this coming at it in every way: that humanity believes it is a creator of men: of children; that it’s ‘divine exemplar’ put-off the old man of father-on-earth (on-Earth); that it believes children know their fathers and their sins or else the children are blind to sin … but is that a true choice?– What if the children see the truth, even if their ‘father’s are blinded by the general assumptions of mankind … Are you honest if you believe children bring or can bring their problems to Sunday School … they don’t have…?

   (We read this in the Sentinel: about teenagers having problems.)

   For example, My dad tried making wine from the grapes on the fence in the backyard (tended grapes not of knowing both good and evil times) … But I not only did not pretend complaint that he was making the fruit of the laziness of mankind that spoils and turns alcoholic, though I heard that he got something akin to vinegar rather than wine,– but rather I assumed he was trying his experiment to find the -right- way to make wine: I, assumed, that there was a moment before the grapes turned, that the grapes tasted best … well, You know how much a child knows … But that’s the problem: Mrs. Eddy said that the effort put toward a proper result makes the effort possible to achieve … Now do you see the problem?– Did he, achieve it? Did he stop when he got the achievement…? … Decades later, recently, I found the true ‘wine’ of milk, when I’d prepared my daily cream-and-sugar (golden brown sugar: my version of milk-and-honey), in a combination of little events: I managed to put new milk in an old carton (day-before), and several hours later I tasted it and found it the ’super-tastiest’ milk I’d ever tasted: Its flavor was a special sweetness … amplified … but a few hours later it was spoiled and I chucked it … But, I did prove what I’d though my dad had tried to achieve: the perfect moment before it spoils … Had I had a refrigerator, I could have extended it, but, I’d had my fill, and in science we find not just the best way to do things humanly, but how to distinguish right from wrong … not just preference in taste, but how to recognize and achieve the good achievement: the ripe … point being: I’d proven what I’d assumed … because as a true child I knew the truth … so,–

   How do you distinguish God from man…?

   Moses said, I AM THAT I AM … but the child hears I am, that I-AM: German distinguishes, Das and Dass, -and they had a big problem with leaders-…. Man’s oneness with God must be distinguishable because it, is, the Truth of being the child of the Leader … Llike Solomon, I had a father on earth too because I sought Truth first…. something Jesus could not understand because he was an Egyptian orphan (but this I learned later about him: It gets really bad about him when you find he had the wrong story on Satan and thereby infracted the Ten Commandments by bearing false witness).

   The real problems children have, are, translating what teachers say, into what the child knows, when it knows, when it’s listening to Truth … That is the real mean of super-intending … Are you up, to super-intending…?

   Ray.

   Condamn this form: You put the Submit before the antispamcheck………..! (It did not show onscreen when I Clicked the Submit Comment button– and I do not need to try error: I said I found I was right, not wrong: not a sinner.)

2. Jeanne Fetner Says:
   February 4th, 2008 at 12:55 pm

   Can the Superintendent’s chat be pulled up on Real Audio or Media similar to the chats on spirituality.com? It is so easy to find the archived chats on spirituality.com and I’m not understanding how to pull up the Superintendent’s chat. I don’t have an MP3 player. Do I need one for these chats?

   Thanks for your help!

3. admin Says:
   February 4th, 2008 at 1:34 pm

   We do things a little differently than spirituality.com does as we would like our users to be able to download and keep these audio files (MP3’s) on their computer.

   All you need to do is right click the link that says “Download chat replay” and save it to your computer.

   Once it is downloaded you can listen to it in Windows Media (by double clicking and opening in Windows Media), or you can download and install the free popular MP3 player called iTunes (http://apple.com/itunes/download). Both work just fine. You don’t need an MP3 player, this is just a type of file called an “MP3″ that basically means it is an audio file.

   Alternatively you can hit the giant play button under “Share this” and it will play online. You don’t need any software for this.

4. Shellie Says:
   February 6th, 2008 at 5:45 pm

   Laurie,
   Could you share some more about how the Sunday school you were in grew from no students to 5 full classes? We are having our Sunday School workshop Feb. 23 and this would be something I would love to be able to share.

   Thanks

5. Laurie Says:
   February 7th, 2008 at 9:52 am

   Shellie - how great about your ss workshop!!!
   ok, not sure how much more there is to say than what i shared on the chat. but the keys to the growth, i think, were the members’ prayerfull attention to this (it wasn’t considered just the “ss staff’s problem” - ALL of the members were invited to join the SS Prayer Team), and finding 5 members who were willing to make a serious commitment to teaching ss. with the members’ clarity about the value of ss, and teachers ready and eager to teach, how could a ss not attract new students?! we were just witnessing what was already true about the children and parents in our community - their desire to know more about God. kind of reminds me of this from Science and Health, “As mortals gain more correct views of God and man, multitudinous objects of creation, which before were invisible, will become visible.” (page 264) the newly-enrolled students had been there all along.
   and as far as what human steps we took…not many. we set up 5 simple class spaces, opened the blinds to let the sun shine in :-), and put a sandwich board out on the sidewalk announcing what the ss offers and who was welcome to attend. i don’t think we did much else along those lines.
   does that help? just let me know if you have any specific questions and i’ll try to answer them.
   have the BEST ss workshop, shellie. laurie

6. Susie Says:
   February 7th, 2008 at 2:15 pm

   Hello Ray,

   Your post raises some very important points and questions for Sunday School - thanks for writing.

   First, to clarify, Science and Health, the textbook of Christian Science, says (p.127) that “…the term Christian Science relates especially to Science as applied to humanity.” It also says (p.561) of John’s vision in revelation that “John saw the human and the divine coincidence, shown in the man Jesus, as divinity embracing humanity in Life and its demonstration, - reducing to human perception and understanding the Life which is God.”

   This relates very closely to your question, “How do we teach a child?” It doesn’t matter who the child belongs to. It seems pretty clear from those quotes I cited above that it is God who does the teaching, through divine revelation. Jesus confirmed this (John 6:44, 45) when he said, “No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him:… it is written in the prophets, And they shall be all taught of God.”

   So yes, this revelation of God, Spirit is coming to humanity. How important then to be what Science and Health defines as a prophet: “A spiritual seer.” I would assume that you agree this kind of seeing is important, since you so rightfully honored in your post, the child’s innate capacity to see spiritual truth.

   Jesus (not an Egyptian orphan but the son of Mary), had the highest possible ability to see the perfect man, “who appeared to him where sinning mortal man appears to mortals.” Clearly there is a difference between mortal and immortal man, and seeing the spiritual man as Jesus did is the model for the Christian Scientist, and it heals.

   Yet, Jesus did face problems such as a king that wanted to kill him after his birth; people around him who appeared to be mortal and therefore sinning, diseased, and dying; people who didn’t understand him or agree with him and therefore persecuted him, etc. He did also say that prophets before and after him would face similar things.

   So, how compassionate it is for Sunday School teachers to do everything within their power to bring students in contact with Jesus’ teachings, so that in the face of similar challenges, they can see and hear for themselves, the Christ message, and to practice Christianity the way Jesus taught. To me this is a wonderfully honest achievement, and I am grateful for the quote you reference which says, “The devotion of thought to an honest achievement makes the achievement possible.”

   The more spiritual the achievement, the better and more enduring. As the experiments of both you and your dad proved, anything that is material, no matter how good it may be at any one point, will eventually spoil. So again, how great to have a Sunday School, which focuses on the entirely spiritual nature of God and His perfect creation!

   As for your comments about Mary Baker Eddy, the discoverer and founder of Christian Science, you are right that she didn’t claim to be a God (since there is only one), a Christ (since there is only one), nor a Pope. (My. 343). As for who she was, that is a long story, I recommend reading the threads about her on this site, and on http://www.christianscience.com.

   As for your great and repeated question, “How do you distinguish God from man?” I’ve posted that on the Sunday School discussion forums, and I hope to hear from you and others there.

   All love to you, Susie

7. Mr. Raymond Kenneth Petry Says:
   October 15th, 2008 at 4:48 pm

   Why, would you insist that Jesus was-not an orphan adopted by Mary and Joseph, when adoption was common, and Mary wanted to protect her own baby from the sword?!– so she adopted an older boy to cover her own….

   This was all the setup by the then-contemporary ‘Magi, Watchers’, making history: You think the Magi were one-shot-gift-bearers… played by Depp? (Depp’s typical-character would be good, afore Herod “King of the Jews”.)

   James, her birth-son, was “the Beloved”– because he was her own… And James, became, first-son upon Jesus’ ‘death-and-replacement’ by his own twin whom Mary did not recognize, per the custom in the far east ‘Anubian heaven’ mountain-range, or, the ‘Nubian’ Egyptian, since before Abraham was, I am … talking about… Jesus himself gave every clue that he was not born in Judea but of the Melchizedek order fully clothed at birth (adopted; sired by a Watcher living atop the eastern ‘heaven’ mountain, nom. Iran).

   And all the evidence points to Jesus being Scriptured-learned in Egypt … His run-in with the Jews in the temple was probably because he ignored a reason the Jews start from Abraham: who didn’t kill his firstborn … so they picked up stones threateningly to remind him of “before Abraham” and he reminded them -challenging them as usual- that Abraham did not do that: Jesus maligned their thoughts by connecting them to the murders-before: That’s why the Jews insist(ed) they were Abraham’s seed not Zeus-Unas’.

   And Mary’s firstborn’s sire (distinguish, sire, not father) was purportedly a certain Pantera who most likely was Mary’s great-father, because that too was the eastern way since before Abraham was, I am … concerned with … That’s why a ‘young, virgin shall conceive’– Jewish morality hid, facts, but did-not extinguish them: The Bible was updated-history, -law, -morality,….

   The story of Adam and sister Eve is not some allegorical contrivance that you have to hide from PG-13 Sunday Schoolers: They’re ready for truth– Aren’t you…?– Eve was born of Adam’s rib, because Jehovah was born of Ra and Adam was born of Jehovah, and Mrs. Jehovah didn’t want Kwt (i.e. T’Kwt T’Hot, Thoth to you), because he was second-lineage and she was first-lineage trying to keep-lineage as was her-custom above-9000-years.

   If there is any synopsis on Jesus’ ‘Christianity’, it is that it was Egyptian: In records of the gods before Abraham, they didn’t care about legal science but just did what came naturally, and lived long and prospered, over man. Seth being the third son had to clean-up the mess Cain-gu kept dumping: That was one of the duties of the second-son (third but for ‘Abel’s death).

   Jesus was merely championing mankind, as Horus and Cain and Enki and Marduk, had done … all murderers from the beginning… before Abraham.

   There’s a funny concept we don’t have right about the Phoenix Bennu bird of creation, rising from its ashes every 500 years putting off old murders … There is something in Ra’s pre-history that says armageddon happened … The fact, that Jehovah was a young, god, while Amun-Ra was seven-times older than Ptah at his birth, says the main lineage had already cracked-off: 500 years, is an estimate for supernovae– and their collateral damages….
   __

   Anyway, I did a quick search in the Forum but did not find your references to distinguishing, God from man … the answer to Rev. Eddy’s question is– The original can say, I am the One (who is that One that is God on Earth); But my question to you was the same as I put to my Dad teaching Sunday School– “I’m having trouble distinguishing God from man:” Think, from his perspective as Dad, and you may perceive -my- challenge: Teach so-that children, understand despite your not-knowing-God-as-a-man on Earth … Unless I am mis-taking the perception of children, too high up from merely presumptuous ‘Christian Science’ to real Christian Science… Understand, What, you teach: Don’t merely logicize what you read as inked symbols…!

   Being Sunday School Teacher, is real work by time you reach high school children: You’re either with them or behind them, or in the way ot the truth. (Myself, I never felt I could be a Sunday School Teacher, because I had to teach myself everything I was ever taught … and I expect that of children– It’s the reason I understood Christian Science and mathematics sciences.)

   One last point: The Manual specifies children to the age of 20 … but those last few years are different by anything you’ve learned, unless you’re CSB. I did have one CSB teach my Sunday School– I think he was not expecting me: He taught what kids needed, but still didn’t reach my, original, thought; and if you don’t reach the child’s original thought, you don’t find Mrs. Eddy.

   Try reading again the books by Kimball and Eustace, the older-timers: Like reading a classic thinker reaching deeper than their contemporaries… You have to do the same reaching deeper today, or you’re not reaching at all… The archaic gods ran into trouble with beer: they ruled but couldn’t reach– they didn’t understand their own super-elders, they didn’t understand their near-elders, they loved to test the new things on the old– the East Wind … and totally cut themselves off from their universal immortal past and future, before they even understood what that past and future is-was-and-shallbe.

   If you put dead bodies behind you, as Paul did Jesus, Enki Ea the-wise did Jehovah, (befooled by Cain), Marduk did the senior mother of all gods, the mother of Ra, Jehovah, Adam and Eve, the Directors did Mrs. Eddy, you’re just perpetuating informational history: A future RaymondKennethPetry will have to recover what actually, happened, today…..
   __

   And a cute note: We had a visitor to the university tell us of his worldwide research in relic and dying languages … but I heard Sumerian meaings in the phrases he shared, (I’m a beginner): On some island, the greeting of children is, Yama, but I heard Ya-ma Lord-Ea-is-great, cf Allah Akhbar, as greating; another phrase he explained a word, Gning, meant lacking food as hunger, but I heard, Nin (in its ng-variant): I’m a princess: feed me…. In the modern world, the Mardukian-ignorance of immortal-lineage pervades mankind’s thoughts, and would hide even that before Abraham was, I am.

   Ray.

8. Barbara Boltin Says:
   November 24th, 2008 at 6:07 pm

   Hi! Wonderful chat. I\’d like to share a discovery from Robert\’s Rules pertinent to the comment that the Manual tells us what we CAN do (as to who reads the Scientific Statement of Being, for instance), but not what we CAN\’T do. Nowadays we\’re not so familiar with Robert\’s Rules, but it clearly states that if the Bylaws state that \”If the bylaws authorize certain things specifically, other things of the same class are therby prohibited. There is a presumption that nothing has been placed in the bylaws without some reason for it. There can be no valid reason for authorizing certain things to be done that can clearly be done without the authorization of the bylaws, unless the intent is to specify the things of the same class that may be done, all others being prohibited. Thus, where Article IV, Section 1 of the Sample Bylaws (0p. 578) lists certain officers, the election of other officers not named, such as a Sergeant-at-Arms is prohibited.\” pp. 582-583, 9th edition of Robert\’s Rlules of Order, Newly Revised.

   I think this is such a helpful insight into the nature of bylaws, and will help eliminate controversy. If the bylaws specifiy that the Superintendent read the Scientific Statement of Being, that very specification prohibits others from reading it. I do hope you\’ll give this some thought–as I\’m sure you will, given your deep love for the Manual and for MBE\’s intentions.

   Sincerely and appreciatively,
   Barbara Boltin, CS
   First Church, Spokane, WA

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