OUR SUPPLY:

Most everyone has heard the expression, "Money is the root of all
evil." Are you aware the actual sentence reads: "For the love of
money is the root of all evil"? It is not money, itself, that is so bad.
Money, after all, is merely a tool to use. But lusting after money,
believing that money, or the lack of it, has power to determine the
harmony or destiny of our lives, is having "other gods."

We obey the First Commandment when we learn to trust God for
all our needs. Sometimes our supply can come in unexpected ways.
Money is not always the answer. Most Christian Scientists, at one
time or another, have had to face some situation where they seemed to
lack something necessary, and chose to turn to God in prayer for
help. If we believe that God is the heavenly Father of us all, and is
all powerful, we cannot believe that any so-called economic law or
cycle, or any belief of unemployment, or a depleted bank account,
can rob us of the provisions God has made for us. We just need to
obey the First Commandment, refuse to be afraid, and listen for what
God is telling you. This is when his angel messages might visit, or
an unexpected opportunity might arise, that will make adjustments in
your thinking and in your life, that will help you to meet your
financial and personal obligations and needs.

This has been proven countless times in the lives of practicing
Christian Scientists. Jesus once demonstrated that law when he
told his disciplies to go look in the mouth of a fish for the coins
necessary to pay a tax. We have to be willing to consider such
unusual sources on occasion, if God has directed you to it. Is any
demand of mortal mind beyond the reach of the one and only divine
Mind, the Father-Mother of the universe who is the source of all
goodness? Don't break the First Commandment by doubting God's
ability to provide. Pray the Lord's Prayer: "Give us this day our
daily bread."

TESTS AND EXAMINATIONS:

Are you bowing to the gods of fear, of ignorance, of loss of memory,
of lack of comprehension, or of pride of intelligence, just before
taking a test or examination? You can obey the First Commandment
by knowing that the one and only divine Mind is all-knowing, and is
reflected by each idea of God. Therefore, the same Mind that made
up the test questions, is the same Mind that knows the answers! You
can tap into this infinite consciousness when you have conquered
your fear of those other gods, or have humbled your own sense of a
personal intellect, to worship and adore the infinite and perfect
intelligence of the one God, whose Mind is yours by reflection. If
we let God use us to express the various qualities of Mind, we can
increase our own intellectual capacities right here and now ("Thy
will be done in earth as it is in heaven.") This doesn't mean that we
don't do the necessary preparatory work before a test. That would
not be using "wisdom." But, as we gain a right sense of where
intelligence comes from, we will use our time wisely, and prepare
more intelligently and efficiently. We turn to God for our wisdom.

Can Christian Science promise you a perfect score on your SATs?
No, but it offers you the truth of your being, and this truth can set
you free from fear, liberate you from ignorance and error, and set
you on path to fulfill your potential as an expression of divine Mind.

ADDICTIONS:

Many people already know that Christian Science teaches abstinence
from alchohol, tobacco, and drugs. You might assume that I would
say that you don't want to make cigarettes, drinks, or drugs into
"other gods," to idolize or worship. Well, that's true, but it isn't the
whole story. It isn't the cigarette, for example, that is the "other god"

we are to turn away from. The "other god" is actually the false
belief you are entertaining that there is pleasure in matter.

Addictions are mental convictions in the pleasure of matter. When
you reach the point that you realize that there is no real pleasure
coming to you from these unnatural appetites, you will be ready to
drop these bad habits. Mortal mind will want to fight you all the
way, but by yielding to the grace of God, and letting the truth that
the only true attraction or craving is for the things of Spirit, you can
rise above these "other gods" which would claim you as their own.

Many people have been healed of addictions through Christian
Science treatment. Some have been healed simply by reading the
textbook, Science and Health. They have found these mental
addictions vanish into nothingness, because that is all they are:
nothing but beliefs in other gods, other powers than God. Beliefs
can be changed through increased understanding of who we are.
Why would you want to continue to be a slave to a form of illusion,
a mental nightmare that has no true power to hold you in its grasp,
when you can turn to divine Love to lead you out of bondage?
Follow the First Commandment to your promised land of freedom!

HEALTH PROBLEMS:

To get a complete explanation of how Christian Science heals, you
will need to read the textbook, Science and Health with Key to
the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy. As you will learn there, one
of the key facts that enables us to heal is the First Commandment.
If there is only one perfect God, then His creation must reflect Him
in perfection. That means perfect health, harmonious bodily and
mental functions, and freedom from disability of all kinds, should be
a divine right for everyone, and not just a stroke of good luck.

Christian Science teaches that believing in the reality and power of

germs, bacteria, viruses, hereditary diseases, accidents, certain kinds

of weather, or any other cause than the one Supreme Being, is having
"other gods" before Him. We believe that Jesus demonstrated for
us that disease, as well as sin, can be destroyed by the operation of
the Christ, Truth in our consciousness.

Many people believe, however, that God gave us medicine to use for
our healing. This is hard for me to say, however, since I feel that if
that is the case, Jesus would have used medicine and promoted its
use. However, he taught us to have dominion over diseased beliefs,
and that is the key: disease is a belief of the mortal mind, and not a
reality of a material body. In that way, Christian Science teaches us
how to control our body by controlling the thoughts we project upon it.
We also learn that our morals can affect the quality of the thoughts we
entertain, and that is why Mrs. Eddy urges her followers, especially
the children just being taught Christian Science, to learn the "First
Lessons" of the Ten Commandments, the Beatitudes, and the Lord's
Prayer. Those lessons practiced every day will provide a firm
foundation for a moral life. A moral life, is a life being purified daily,
and a purified life will be able to connect to spiritual sense. It is with
our spiritual senses that we come to "see" or understand God.

One more thought. Having a perfect, materially healthy body is not
the goal of Christian Science. We can get so caught up in trying to
heal this, heal that, that we might come to worship a healthy body as
a form of "other gods." Our motive is always to glorify God. We can
glorify God in our body, too, by seeking to turn away from any wrong
thinking that would harm our health. But it is for the purpose of
proving God is supreme that we use Christian Science to heal. It is
not to be used for making a matter body comfortable in its material
surroundings without regard to our moral, Christian, and spiritual
progress. Jesus did not heal everyone. He could have. But the
healings that are recorded in the Bible are there to teach lessons.
The primary purpose of Jesus' demonstrations, and that of Christian
Science, is the healing and ultimate destruction of all the beliefs in sin
and evil.

For those who do choose to go to doctors, or need to in an emergency,
you can also use the First Commandment. God never abandons us, no
matter the situation. We can know that because there is only one Mind,
there is no other mind separate from Him. Therefore, all the doctors
and nurses involved in your case can only manifest perfect intelligence,
perfect intuition, perfect skills, etc., as they diagnose and treat you.
You can pray to know that because there is only one Spirit, or substance,
and that is under God's control, then matter cannot have the intelligence
to act by itself; it is under the dominion of God. Because God is the
only source of Life, matter does not have life in it. You cannot lose
your life as long as God is the only Life. Do not make matter or your
body another god. Obey the First Commandment by sticking with God.

If we are required by law to have vaccinations or immunizations of
any kind, we can obey the First Commandment by knowing that these
chemicals have no power to harm you, God's children. There are no
"lesser gods" which can even temporarily displace God's control of us.
So, no medicine can poison us or harm us if we understand why.


HEALING SIN:

If we believe in one God, then we must know there is only one Soul
-- one Ego, or divine Consciousness. Man reflects the one Soul,
and manifests all the wonderful qualities of Soul in sinlessness and
purity. There is no sinful soul separate from God. God did not
create evil, and did not make man with the capacity to fall from grace.
There is a chapter in the textbook, Science and Health, called
"Genesis." In it, Mary Baker Eddy discusses the creation story, and
Adam and Eve's dilemma in detail. If you are interested in knowing
more about what Christian Science teaches about evil and sin, and
how they operate in human affairs, that chapter is good to study.

If you are tempted to dive into any kind of activity that you know is
sinful, clinging to God and demanding of yourself to obey the First
Commandment will be a source of strength to you. How can sin be
more powerful than the divine Mother Love of God. God's love for
you is more attractive, more satisfactory than anything that matter or
its vapid pleasures can give you. Love is the infinite Giver of all
good. You, the offspring of the one Father-Mother, share in Love's
infinite bounty. You are loved and you are spiritually complete.

I have given you an idea of how the First Commandment can be
practiced in daily life based upon the teachings of Christian Science.
Please read the Christian Science textbook, Science and Health with
Key to the Scriptures, by Mary Baker Eddy, for the most complete
explanations.