Sharing CS with friends

[AbigailModerator]

Hi, recently I’ve been thinking a lot and talking to people about sharing CS, I went to a CS camp at Easter and we had a disscusion group about it. So I was wondering how do you share CS, or don’t you? Do you wish you knew how to share it? Do you want to share it with your friends? What are your ideas on sharing CS?
Abigail

[Dawn-MarieParticipant]

Great questions! I share all them time, not always explaining that the things I share are CS, but most of the time I do. If someone appreciates what I’ve said to them, I want them to know the source of the info so they can get more if they want.

I feel like if I hear someone sharing a problem, I have information that they need. It’s kind of like if I over hear someone saying they need directions, and I know what’s being told to them isn’t quite right. If I don’t say anything, then I’m letting that person get lost when I can prevent that. So, unless I feel strongly that God is telling me not to get involved, which almost never happens, I say “excuse me, but I couldn’t help overhearing what you were saying. I pray about things like that. Would you like me to pray for you?” Or sometimes I talk to them directly about how they can think and pray about the issue.

I have given away many Science and Healths in places like restaurants, the grocery story, the book store, the car mechanic’s, the park. I try to keep at least one with me to be able to give away when I have an opportunity. Because of this, I have had opportunities to really help. Like this one time when I felt like I should talk to a woman about CS and Science and Health. I really didn’t have any reason to, but I really felt like she needed to know.

She looked at me as I talked to her with a completely blank stare. I got concerned that I had been wrong about her need to know, but then she told me her story. She was a recent recipient of a kidney transplant, and her body was rejecting the kidney. She was in the bookstore, where I met her, trying to find ways of reversing this problem. But if she could not find a way, her doctor had told her that she would likely be dead in 2 weeks.

I put my hands on her shoulders and told her that there was nothing about her that God had rejected and that she would be fine. She hugged me and said that she and her husband had just the night before been praying for a spiritual solution. She said she couldn’t believe I came to talk to her when I had no idea what she needed.

It has been experiences like this one that has kept me committed to sharing Science and Health and CS with as many people as are willing to listen. I’ve come to feel that I know things that others really need, and if I don’t share it would be like seeing my friends freezing in the cold and not giving them the extra coat I always carry with me.

How each of us shares is something we can each work out for ourselves as we pray to serve God and all of mankind. But some how, in some way, we need to share.

[marta.orParticipant]

Abigail,
Last week in my Sunday School class we listened to the TMC podcast #60 from 8/08/08, it’s about sharing CS. There are some really good thinks in it.

Also I have been working to listen to the small suggestions that come to me. Just this morning I was talking with a family member about financial concerns, and often when we talk about those things the conversation just takes a downward spiral and neither of us ends up feeling good. So today in the middle of talking I just quietly said “okay God tell me what to say cause everything I come up with makes this worse.” I couldn’t really tell you that I said anything profound, I think I said something like “I can’t give you a more solid sense of supply” (because Divine Mind will) anyway the mood just shifted and the conversation went in a completely new direction and we didn’t end up angry with one another. I know I wasn’t telling this person that I was sharing CS with them, but I definitely felt like I shared the Christ, and I thanked God for helping me find peace instead of an argument.

I think this is how we work toward sharing Christian Science with people because everyone can understand love.

[ayrlynParticipant]

I like to share CS with my friends. I think it helps that they know I’m not trying to ‘convert’ them or anything – that I’m talking about something I truly love, and want to share because of how happy it makes me. Although it always helps to listen in return, too! :D

[AbigailModerator]

thanks for your ideas.
i overheard someone in my R.E class saying that they didnt get the thing which a lot of Christians believe about Jesus being God incarnate or something, i cant remeber what his question was exactly, but we did a topic about it a bit last year. anyway i really wanted to tell him what i believed which makes a lot more sense, but i didnt. you see i havent really got any experience with talking about religion with anyone who isnt a CStist, and i think i need to be more confident and trust that God will give me the right things to say. the silly thing is, i really want to share Cs and one of the things we talked about at camp was that if we pray for the opportunity to share CS or even just good ideas then it will come. so i think that next time i hear someone looking for the answer to a question which i can help them with then i should just go for it, give a cup of cold water in Christ’s name and never fear the consiquences. im not sure where in S&H that is, its just come to me now, so i will have to hold on to it and work with it.
Abigail

[Dawn-MarieParticipant]

Just the fact that you are thinking about sharing is great! One of the best things you can say to someone is that you are still learning and don’t know everything. You don’t have to feel presured to represent CS. You just need to represent what you think. For example, in the case of your classmate, you can tell him later that you heard his question and was thinking about it. You could say something like, you don’t have all the answers but that you believe ___________ and that you think that way because of what you have learned in your CS Sunday School class and from reading the Bible yourself – something like that.

Then you are not trying to represent what ALL Christian Scientists think, just what you think. It is hard for someone to argue with you if you are just sharing your thoughts and experiences. Besides, you don’t ever have to feel like you need to argue. You can just tell someone that what you have shared is what you think from your experience, and leave it at that.

Speaking from your heart, telling your own story of how you believe, or your own story of healing is always the best way to share CS with someone. People want to know they can relate to what you are saying. If you are just talking about you, then even if they don’t fully understand or agree, they can respect your thoughts and feelings on a subject.

I hope that helps. :-)

[TreefrogParticipant]

I think a lot of the resistance I’ve felt about sharing CS comes from not wanting the other person to feel like I’m trying to convert them. Because with a lot of other Christian denominations that’s what they’re trying to do (even though it’s usually with a loving motive- to save them from eternal suffering or whatever!). How can we assure our friends that we’re not trying to convert them? If you say, “I’m not trying to convert you” then it kind of seems like you are!!

[David-BParticipant]

I was talking with a friend this past weekend about sharing Christian Science with others, and she and I realized that it really shouldn’t be a scary thing. We concluded that more often than not, people have been genuinely interested in hearing the ideas of Christian Science. I think that speaks to the fact that we all have a spiritual sense within us, and Christian Science speaks to that sense. So, when someone is hearing how they are actually spiritually perfect right now, that really speaks to them! It makes Christian Science not some abstract, weird religion, but actually something that’s very natural and logical to everyone.

[AbigailModerator]

It makes Christian Science not some abstract, weird religion, but actually something that’s very natural and logical to everyone.

when i was at Easter Camp and we did a discussion group about sharing CS, my dad said that we have not think that CS is a weird and abstract religion, so people might find it hard to understand, etc. we need to see it as natural and logical, i think that way thats the way they will see it, the way you are seeing it.
Abigail

[AbigailModerator]

Earlier on in this thread I said something about giving a cup of coldwater in Christ’s name. I am reading S&H and I came across the passage and I really liked that page, and thought it was appropriate for this thread. I really liked the whole page 570:14 – 571:21. But I’m just going to quote a few bits which I found helpful.
‘Millions of unprejudiced minds – simple seekers for Truth, weary wanderers, athrist in the desert – are waiting and watching for rest and drink. Give them a cup of cold water in Christ’s name and never fear the consequences.’

Mrs Eddy is saying that there are lots of people out there who dont have a set opnion on something which they prehaps dont know anything about (CS) and they are searching for the Truth, for God. I think she is saying that we have that understanding of God, so give them some of it share it and dont worry about what they think, which i think is quite a hard one, but we need to do it.

Some on earlier on said that we are not trying to save people, so we arent in such a hurry to share as other religions. however I found this bit interesting.

‘Many people are willing to open the eyes of the poeple to the power of good resident in divine Mind, but they are not so willing to point out the evil in human thought, and expose evil’s hidden mental ways of accomplishing iniquity.’

I found that quite hard to understand when i first read it. but i think she is say that we dont need to just tell them all the good stuff CS can do, we need to be willing to help them escape from mental bondage. finally i liked this bit.

‘ At all times and under all circumstances, overcome evil with good. Know thyself, and God will supply the occasion for a victory over evil. Clad in the panoply of Love, human hatred cannot reach you.’

To me that kind of ment that God would supply us with the oppotunity to share CS,and that we dont need to worry about what other people will say, because we are protected by God’s armour.
Abigail

[Dawn-MarieParticipant]

Great thouhts! Thank you for sharing them.

[AbigailModerator]

in a few weeks we are having this thing at school called deep learning week where you dont have normal lessons. one day we get a lesson where you have the science and RE deprtment working together. some of my friends were talking about this saying that the two subjects didnt really go together. i wanted to say to them that they can, religion can be scientific, but i want really sure that if they questioned this statement how i’d back it up. i suppose by saying that you can apply the laws of God or something?
Abigail

[Dawn-MarieParticipant]

I love your question. Religion, as most of the world views it, is not scientific and many times relies on this fact for its very existence. Faith without proof is very important to many religions and religious people. This is not something to argue with. Faith, even without proof, is important. It can carry us in times of great need. However, Christian Science teaches that one’s faith is increased when one can turn faith into understanding and understanding into demonstration.

You may have an easier time talking to your friends about the synonyms for God: Love, Principle, Truth, etc., instead of using the word God.

Here are some ideas to think about. If you were to ask them to define the pure versions of these, you would find that you all agree or at least come very close to it. Pure love has no anger or hate in it. It is totally unselfish, forgiving, not judgmental, comforting, gracious, kind, etc. Principle is unbreakable law that exists and operates even if no one knows how. Truth has no hint of mistakes, errors, or lies. It is truth no matter what anyone does or says. Nothing can change truth.

So, once you establish that there are pure forms of these ideas that can be agreed upon, consider what you think the world would be like if individuals chose to work to be always loving, always principled, always truthful. Efforts in that direction would instantly improve life for anyone willing to try. Right? It would also improve life for those who would be the receivers of the love, principle, and truth being demonstrated, expressed.

So, what is science? There are a few definitions, but science can be explained as a set of ideas and practices that, when employed in the same ways, always yield the same or similar results. Also, science has the element of experimentation and proof. So, if religion is teaching its followers to challenge assumptions/theories about life, if it is teaching that those who believe must put their ideas into practice in their lives and work until they yield the expected results, then you can see scientific method applied in religion.

Christian Science is a science because it starts with a hypothesis – there is an infinite intelligence that is the creator of all things. The creator and the creation are eternal and completely good.

Then that hypothesis is challenged literally every moment of our lives, and we have to them employ methods to work with those challenges until we either prove or disprove our hypothesis. Our “experiments,” which we call prayer and healing, have the desired outcome when the rules are followed well, when the Principle is understood and properly employed. For CS, the Principle is Love.

*Continued in next post.

[Dawn-MarieParticipant]

So, each Christian Scientist is expected to learn the Principle to its highest levels and employ that Principle in their lives the best that they can. In many ways, it is like a mathematician who is expected to learn as much about math as possible and then employ that knowledge in every situation that arises, sometimes even creating those situations. Though they may know the highest levels of math, they may still make mistakes, errors, but that will not invalidate math. It simply requires them to find their error and correct it. If the error goes undiscovered for long periods of time, the answers are further and further from the truth, but again, not because of a fault in the principle.

Christian Science blends pure logic with pure Love and requires us to put into practice what we know to the best of our ability. We may make mistakes. We may not understand that we have or what those mistakes are, sometimes for a very long time. But as soon as we know where we have gone wrong in our concept and demonstration of Love, Life, Truth, Principle, Mind, Spirit, Soul, we can correct that mistake, and the error is removed as the irrelevant nothing it always was.

This is a big explanation for you so that you have a some ideas to think about. But for your friends, you can use simple logic and explain that, for you, faith must be based on proof, on understanding, or it is not strong enough to rely on. In Christian Science we are encouraged to test the ideas/experiment with them (pray), record our findings (testimonies), and use what we learned for the next challenge. If that’s not science, I don’t know what is. :-)

[franciscusjuniParticipant]

Cornettd said: “You don’t have to feel presured to represent CS. You just need to represent what you think.”

While this is true, and no doubt a stance I’ve adopted many a time in the past, but is this ultimately an honest, fair, and progressive approach to take? (I’m not trying to tell you off Cornettd – I’m just trying to get some ideas out – hope that’s ok!) Insofar as Christian Science does represent a fairly specific range of beliefs and practices (as set down in Science and Health), and has been manifest in a movement (ie TMC & churches of Christ scientist), is it not the duty of everyone engaging with those beliefs and practices and that movement, to represent, as far as it is possible to them, those tenets that are fundamental to CS?

Maybe what I’ve got in mind is a trip to a masonic temple I once made in the states: those stonemasons keep some pretty unusual ideas, but the young and keen tour guide was keen to distance himself from the more patently unorthodox notions, (which were perhaps some of the most profound logical continuations of stonemasonry) that we necessarily came across in the course of the tour. The phrase ‘this is just my personal interpretation/belief…’ came up, and I felt like the door was being closed!

This is not to say we are entitled to our own understanding – but freedom of interpretation and opinion has to find its peace with the firm teachings of the Bible and S&H, if we are to successfully represent those teachings. Perhaps the sense of duty to fulfil that task prohibits holds me back somewhat from sharing CS – - -

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