How do I know God loves me? Inspiring new article from local surfer, Tressie Armstrong, published in the Christian Science Sentinel

January 23rd, 2021

How do I know God loves me?

When we see good things happening; feel a deep sense of peace, inspiration, or healing; or recognize beauty in a moment of nature, it’s all evidence of God loving us.

I was feeling a lot of gratitude one day about good things going on in my life and was sharing it with a wonderful person who has spent much time mentoring me in my spiritual growth. With his help, I’ve learned more about God’s ever-present love for us. His response to my story was, “That’s just God loving you!”

I love that. When we see good things happening; feel a deep sense of peace, inspiration, or healing; or recognize beauty in a moment of nature, it’s all evidence of God loving us.

How do we know God is real? We just need to look for the manifestations, the evidence, of His all-encompassing love. If we are looking to find God as an anthropomorphic being, a big man in the clouds, for example, then we are limiting God’s ability to be what the Bible says God is: omnipotent, all, everlasting, perfect, Love, Spirit.

If God is all and is Spirit, He must be everywhere at all times. And the good news is that our Father-Mother God actually is. How do we know this, especially at times that seem bleak? God is evident in all of His beautiful creation and in His tender love and guidance at hand. We may need to look deeply at times to see evidence of God, but He is always there and is not the source of any evil. In Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, Mary Baker Eddy, referring to God, defines creator in part as “the animating divine Principle of all that is real and good; . . . God, who made all that was made and could not create an atom or an element the opposite of Himself” (p. 583).

We can become aware of the evidence that God is, even when God’s ever-presence seems hidden. One time, when I was feeling a bit out of sorts, I decided I would go for a surf session. Once in the ocean, I just sat still for a bit and mentally embraced all of the beauty surrounding me. The sun was shining; the sky was crystal blue; the ocean was calm; a pod of dolphins swam peacefully past me.

There was no way I could deny God’s presence in that moment. I felt washed clean and fully embraced by the very present and tangible God, good. It was clear to me that what all of that beauty represented was an expression of God loving me. All I needed to do was look for the evidence—the love, grace, and peace—of divine Love’s presence.

We can become aware of the evidence that God is, even when God’s ever-presence seems hidden.

Oftentimes, God’s love is heard and made evident in quiet messages that come to thought. The Bible states in the book of Isaiah, “Thine ears shall hear a word behind thee, saying, This is the way, walk ye in it, when ye turn to the right hand, and when ye turn to the left” (30:21). The best way to resolve a problem or decide a direction to take is to listen and respond to the angel messages from God that guide us, often coming to us as quiet spiritual intuitions.

When I was expecting my first child, I drove to visit my sister. When it was time to return home, I had very distinct intuitions that I should travel a different freeway than the route I would normally have taken. The alternate route was a little longer, but the intuition was so strong that I decided to take it.

About halfway home, the car broke down, right at the offramp where it was safest and easiest to get assistance. I was able to walk to a very nearby gas station, where there was an attendant who kindly walked back to the car with me and helped get it running again. I made it home without further incident. That was God loving me, guiding me clearly.

In “the scientific statement of being,” Mrs. Eddy includes this affirmation: “All is infinite Mind and its infinite manifestation, for God is All-in-all” (Science and Health, p. 468). To be made manifest is to be visible, recognizable! God is made manifest in His perfect, dear creations. As it says in Genesis in the Bible, “God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them,” and “God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good” (1:27, 31). That includes you and me.

No one was a more pure and spiritual proof of God than Christ Jesus. In the book of John, Jesus declared that he was evidence of God, the Father. When people asked him if he was the Christ, he responded: “The works that I do in my Father’s name, they bear witness of me.  . . . though ye believe not me, believe the works: that ye may know, and believe, that the Father is in me, and I in him” (10:25, 38).

He also said that his followers could do these works, too: “He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also” (John 14:12). As spiritual children of God, we are each the evidence, the proof, that God is. God’s great goodness shines through our lives in transformation and healing.

When we’re faced with challenging situations of any sort—regarding finances, relationships, health, or anything else—we can open thought to see evidence of God loving us in ways big and small. In fact, in the last chapter of Science and Health, “Fruitage,” and in the Christian Science periodicals—the Sentinel, The Christian Science Journal, and The Herald of Christian Science—there are numerous examples of God’s love being made manifest in people’s lives.

All creation is made to prove the supremacy and allness of divine Life, Truth, and Love—synonyms for God. So, the next time you see or feel a particularly good thing happening, for you or for others, you can joyfully know, “That’s just God loving me!”

JANUARY 11, 2021 ISSUE

You are invited to join us for our Sunday church service on zoom every Sunday at 10 am. To join please email us at christiansciencenote@gmail.com and we can send a link to our meeting. We meet for an hour and then have an open discussion about the week’s Bible lesson and/or testimonies of healing and comments and questions about Christian Science.

The Encinitas Reading Room is currently open by appointment only.

Phone (760) 753 4545

912 S. Coast Hwy. 101, Encinitas, CA 92024

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A spiritual response to political division and upheaval with Mark Sappenfield

January 19th, 2021

How can we address gaping political divides and the resulting turmoil? The Editor of The Christian Science Monitor offers a starting point for prayer in this short podcast.

If we look out at the world of politics represented by recent events in the United States, what do we see? We see division: disputed elections, angry voters storming Congress, and violence. Admittedly, division is a tough thing to address. You can’t legislate against it. You can’t declare war on it. You can’t outlaw it. So how do we get out of this spiral that we’re in?

While there’s no policy we can pass, no political platform that can do anything—and it seems like things are just getting worse—there is still hope. Because the lack of solution should actually awaken us to what we really need to be focusing on.

If we’re putting our faith in material processes such as policies and legislation, we’re going to be disappointed. The answer is really in our hearts—is purely spiritual. So, how can we see division through a spiritual lens?

Sometimes I like to do a little exercise in which I assign God a number—like in a math problem. And you can’t think about that very long without realizing that the number you have to ascribe to God is one. There’s no other number you can give God. You can’t have two gods. If you have two gods, then you have none. There’s only one God, which means there’s only one creation—and that creation is spiritual, harmonious, and whole, the reflection of that God, the creation of that God.

Jesus said, “If a kingdom be divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand” (Mark 3:24). And if you look at material thinking, there are twos everywhere. Twoness seems to be the basic building block of mortal-mind-based thinking. So much of what we see sets itself up as binary, as one or the other: man or woman, Black or white, Republican or Democrat, capitalism or socialism. You could go on and on. And what does this do? It tempts us to choose a side. It tempts us into believing that things are divided, that good is divided, and that it’s up to us as human beings to try and unite it.

We overcome the temptation of mortal twoness through the peace of divine oneness.

Think about it in terms of the Bible: What was the first two in the Bible? It was the tree of good and evil, the tree of knowledge in the Adam and Eve story in the book of Genesis. In that story, Adam and Eve were tempted to believe they needed two—both good and evil. The serpent said one wasn’t good enough. But isn’t that the core mistake of mortal thinking?

The very first act of biological life is the division of the cell. Division is baked into matter. If we never rise above matter-based thinking, then we can never rise above division. Division and mortal thinking spring from the same root.

Spiritual thinking is the perfect cure because it knows only one God, the oneness of grace, humble faith and moral confidence that Jesus taught. It frees us to live as witnesses to one God, good, as Isaiah said (see Isaiah 43:10).

At the last supper, Jesus said: “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid” (John 14:27). This peace is deeper than what mortal thinking can possibly know, and it protected and exalted Jesus amid the cruelest tribulation. It can do the same for us. We overcome the temptation of mortal twoness through the peace of divine oneness, which can only be known spiritually.

So when we see scenes like the recent events in Washington, it can be easy to think that our thoughts and prayers don’t matter. That we need to turn to material means to fight for what we think is right or tune out to avoid feeling depressed or scared. But the past few years have shown the exact opposite to be true. In fact, it becomes clearer and clearer by the day that there is no mortal solution to division.

But that also means the solution is in each of us as children of God—in seeing ourselves and all others in this singularly spiritual light and in holding fast to the oneness, the allness, the onlyness of God, good.

To read a transcript of this Sentinel Watch, go to cssentinel.com/a-spiritual-response-to-political-division

You are invited to join us for our Sunday church service on zoom every Sunday at 10 am. To join please email us at christiansciencenote@gmail.com and we can send a link to our meeting. We meet for an hour and then have an open discussion about the week’s Bible lesson and/or testimonies of healing and comments and questions about Christian Science.

The Encinitas Reading Room is currently open by appointment only.

Phone (760) 753 4545

912 S. Coast Hwy. 101, Encinitas, CA 92024

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Join us this morning online for church. 1/17/21

January 17th, 2021

You are invited to join us for our Sunday church service on zoom every Sunday at 10 am. To join please email us at christiansciencenote@gmail.com and we can send a link to our meeting. We meet for an hour and then have an open discussion about the week’s Bible lesson and/or testimonies of healing and comments and questions about Christian Science. 

Screen Shot 2021 01 16 At 10.26.24 Pm
Also, there is a month long study for January on the Platform of Christian Science from Science and Health  page 330 to 340. The discussion is facilitated by Christian Science practitioner, Marsha Pecaut. To join this study and discussion go to the website Loveheals.us and click on Study the Platform.   www.loveheals.us

We will be on the 10th (XVII) plank this Sunday.  It’s not too late to get caught up 🙂

The Encinitas Reading Room is currently open by appointment only.

Phone (760) 753 4545

912 S. Coast Hwy. 101, Encinitas, CA 92024

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Counteracting chaos and disorder By Larissa Snorek from the January 8, 2021 Christian Science Sentinel

January 16th, 2021

Counteracting chaos and disorder

US President Abraham Lincoln stated in his annual message to Congress in 1862: “No personal significance, or insignificance, can spare one or another of us. The fiery trial through which we pass, will light us down, in honor or dishonor, to the latest generation. . . . The way is plain, peaceful, generous, just—a way which, if followed, the world will forever applaud, and God must forever bless.”

Watching the events unfold at the Capitol in Washington, DC Wednesday afternoon made one thing clear. There’s a ceaseless need for the values of honor, decency, respect, and pursuit of the common good that Lincoln’s message commended. Broadminded, selfless acts of individual leaders throughout history have inspired peace and progress. And they have contributed profoundly to the freedoms we cherish today.

When facing chaos and anger, Christ Jesus stood with divine Truth. This Truth, this divine, Father-Mother presence, was the spiritual power that motivated his every action and established divine law and spiritual authority. It enabled him to face down ignorance, misunderstanding, and desperation. The stability and constancy of God’s intelligent goodness is present now and can be seen and demonstrated in every situation.

What God is and does counteracts the chaos, disorder, prejudice, and self-interest that would corrupt individuals and disable governments. As Mark Sappenfield, Editor of The Christian Science Monitor, said in his podcast “A spiritual response to political division and upheaval,”  there is no material solution to division, as we’ve seen over the past few years. But the good news is that the solution is in each of us as children of God.

We can let peace begin with each of us, right where we are.

This highlights the need for daily prayer that affirms the absolute and forever presence of God, divine Love, the foundation on which freedom for all rests. Prayer for government that is inclusive of every citizen begins with the allness of God’s power, the all-encompassing divine goodness and justice, and the unity of God with each individual. It affirms the true nature of each of us as God’s spiritual expression. It negates and nullifies any supposed legitimacy of evil, danger, harm, and discord.

Holding in our own hearts the qualities we want to see exhibited in our government and living them in our lives is effective prayer. This prayer supports and elevates society. It arrests self-seeking, self-interested motivations and embraces the wisdom and goodness of God as divine Principle and unchanging Truth. American Mary Baker Eddy, Discoverer of Christian Science and Founder of the Church of Christ, Scientist, stated in 1900 that among “the most imminent dangers confronting the coming century” were “the claims of politics and of human power, industrial slavery, and insufficient freedom of honest competition; and ritual, creed, and trusts in place of the Golden Rule, ‘Whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them’ ” (The First Church of Christ, Scientist, and Miscellany, p. 266).

She recognized that the foundation of universal brother- and sisterhood required a spiritual basis: “namely, one God, one Mind, and ‘Love thy neighbor as thyself,’ the basis on which and by which the infinite God, good, the Father-Mother Love, is ours and we are His in divine Science” (Miscellany, p. 281).

Praying is not about ignoring world events or conflict, but about going up higher—elevating our thinking to recognizing what God is doing, now. We can let peace begin with each of us, right where we are, when we hold a purely spiritual view of all, especially those who we feel are at fault. Our unselfish actions and prayers do not excuse anyone’s wrongdoing or smooth it over; they strengthen the expression of integrity everywhere and foster individual acts of love and peace.

As we live the qualities we want to see exhibited in our nations, we are doing our part to elevate the collective consciousness that yearns for a solution to injustice. We hold in our hearts even those with whom we disagree. Living this spirit of Christ and striving to see others the way God sees them takes the life out of fear, turmoil, and hatred. We begin to see our fellow men and women as the direct outcome and expression of divine Love.

The fact is, no division or conflict can disrupt God’s government of all. Nothing can take away humanity’s God-given, eternal gifts of freedom and peace. As we dedicate ourselves to living our prayers, we can each experience this great blessing now.

Larissa Snorek, Associate Editor

 You might appreciate this related content: 

christianscience.com/governs

sentinel.christianscience.com/the-golden-rule-and-peace-on-earth

The Encinitas Reading Room is currently open by appointment only.

Phone (760) 753 4545

912 S. Coast Hwy. 101, Encinitas, CA 92024

Driving Directions

If you would like to receive information from our Christian Science Society of Encinitas which includes notices about our events and services, please enter your email address to the right in the subscribe window.  It is free, and you will then be sent an email to confirm your subscription.

Join us for inspiration!

January 9th, 2021

You are invited to join us for our Sunday church service on zoom every Sunday at 10 am. To join please email us at christiansciencenote@gmail.com and we can send a link to our meeting. We meet for an hour and then have an open discussion about the week’s Bible lesson and/or testimonies of healing and comments and questions about Christian Science. 

Screen Shot 2021 01 09 At 11.01.35 PmAlso, there is a month long study for January on the Platform of Christian Science from Science and Health  page 330 to 340. The discussion is facilitated by Christian Science practitioner, Marsha Pecaut. To join this study and discussion go to the website Loveheals.us and click on Study the Platform.   www.loveheals.us

We will be on the 10th (X) plank this Sunday.  It’s not too late to get caught up 🙂

The Encinitas Reading Room is currently open by appointment only.

Phone (760) 753 4545

912 S. Coast Hwy. 101, Encinitas, CA 92024

Driving Directions

If you would like to receive information from our Christian Science Society of Encinitas which includes notices about our events and services, please enter your email address to the right in the subscribe window.  It is free, and you will then be sent an email to confirm your subscription.

The Encinitas Reading Room is wishing you many blessings in the new year!

January 3rd, 2021

You are invited to join us for our Sunday church service on zoom every Sunday at 10 am. To join please email us at christiansciencenote@gmail.com and we can send a link to our meeting. We meet for an hour and then have an open discussion about the week’s Bible lesson and/or testimonies of healing and comments and questions about Christian Science. 

Screen Shot 2020 12 30 At 8.38.43 Pm

Also, there is a month long study that was just started yesterday January 1st on the Platform of Christian Science from Science and Health  page 330 to 340. The discussion is facilitated by Christian Science practitioner, Marsha Pecaut. To join this study and discussion go to the website Loveheals.us and click on Study the Platform.   www.loveheals.us

The Encinitas Reading Room is currently open by appointment only.

Phone (760) 753 4545

912 S. Coast Hwy. 101, Encinitas, CA 92024

Driving Directions

If you would like to receive information from our Christian Science Society of Encinitas which includes notices about our events and services, please enter your email address to the right in the subscribe window.  It is free, and you will then be sent an email to confirm your subscription.

Notice – the Christian Science Reading Room in Encinitas will have limited hours until further notice. Please call ahead before coming in or to make an appointment 541-753-6395. In addition, there will be no 3rd Thursday meeting/concert. Have faith in the certainty of God’s goodness!

March 18th, 2020

Oh dreamer where art thou. Are you getting too much information?

March 17th, 2020

We are told that it is better to give than to receive. This could include news and information as well. It’s important to be wise and informed, but have we taken a moment to be quiet today and do our works, to bless and and there for be blessed?

We are open today at the Encinitas Reading Romm until 4:00. If you need a quiet place to be focused to give some time for us all, you are welcome here or to call and share something, or or find an idea for your works, we are ready and available for you.

Pic10The Encinitas Reading Room Staff.

Phone (760) 753 4545

912 S. Coast Hwy. 101, (just South of H Street – across from Starbucks), Encinitas, CA 92024

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Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy – Exodus 20. * Why not take a fast today from the bombardment of information and center yourself. Let us find our peace of Mind today and let that be contagious. You have the right to be free. Find your freedom and calm in what ever way works best for you and feel the Divine energy of Spirit.

March 15th, 2020

And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made.
Gen II

We will be coming together today, Sunday, March 15th at the Christian Science Reading Room in downtown Encinitas at 10am to enlarge our understanding of how “faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen ” – Hebrews 11.

Join us in person, or call in from the comfort of your home to this healing service.

You can Also join the Sunday service at The First Church of Christ, Scientist, in Boston, Massachusetts. The service is broadcast live via the Internet and phone at 10 am Eastern time, and an audio replay is available all week.

ONLINE SUNDAY CHURCH SERVICES

Phone (760) 753 4545

912 S. Coast Hwy. 101, (just South of H Street – across from Starbucks), Encinitas, CA 92024

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Cure for Epidemics From the March 16, 1899 issue of the Christian Science Sentinel Weatherford (Texas) News

March 13th, 2020

This article is a great starting point for Christian Science Practice and the application of Wisdom.  You might find it helpful in your works.

Also, we wanted to remind everyone how we are all needed right now and always to be calm and not be tempted to join in the frenzy. Because we are doing our prayerful work, we can all be at peace and express calm; and let that be contagious.
The Encinitas Reading Room is open today until 5 and tomorrow, Saturday, from noon until 5 if you or anyone needs a place to study or to be focused to do their work or have need of some support.

By our Fruits we shall be known.

Be wise, keep cleansed in body and mind, and do whats right.

Encinitas Christian Science Reading Room

https://sentinel.christianscience.com/shared/view/ey36d0wuhg?s=f

Cure for Epidemics From the March 16, 1899 issue of the Christian Science Sentinel Weatherford (Texas) News

1. Stop talking and thinking about contagious diseases.

2. On arising in the morning repeat the Lord’s Prayer in the spirit of holiness.

3. As soon as breakfast is over, before taking up your duties of the day, take your Bible and carefully read the Ninety-first Psalm, knowing ” that God is, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him.” You might linger over the lines of this beautiful Psalm : ” He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress : my God ; in him will I trust. Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler and from the noisome pestilence. He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust : His truth shall be thy shield and buckler. . . . Because thou hast made the Lord, which is my refuge, even the most High, thy habitation ; there shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling.” (You will observe that David said, ” His truth shall be thy shield and buckler.” Evidently David had more faith in God’s protecting power than he had in vaccine virus and poisonous lotions.)

4. When conversation or thoughts about disease and contagion come to you during the day, think over the inspiring words you read in the morning.

5. In the evening read the twenty-third Psalm, re-read the Ninety-first Psalm, repeat the Lord’s Prayer, and take care above all, to observe the first of the Ten Commandments, ” Thou shalt have no other Gods before me.” If you observe this commandment ” in spirit and in truth,” you will not let disease of any name or nature become the chief in your thought and conversation.

It is but just to state that we got the inspiration for this prevention and cure of disease, from the writings and teachings of Rev. Mary Baker G. Eddy, Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science, and have found this mode of treatment of infinite value in whatever case it has been applied.

It has been asked what Christian Scientists will do in a time of contagion. This is what one Christian Scientist has done to direct the thoughts of the people into higher and healthier channels. If there is anything pernicious in this advice we hope it will be pointed out to us.

Weatherford (Texas) News.

Phone (760) 753 4545

912 S. Coast Hwy. 101, (just South of H Street – across from Starbucks), Encinitas, CA 92024

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If you would like to receive information from our Christian Science Society of Encinitas which includes notices about our events and services, please enter your email address to the right in the subscribe window.  It is free, and you will then be sent an email to confirm your subscription.