Responsive Reading: Psalm 119 : 12, 16-18; Psalm 36 : 8, 9

12.     Blessed art thou, O Lord: teach me thy statutes.

16.     I will delight myself in thy statutes: I will not forget thy word.

17.     Deal bountifully with thy servant, that I may live, and keep thy word.

18.     Open thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law.

8.     They shall be abundantly satisfied with the fatness of thy house; and thou shalt make them drink of the river of thy pleasures.

9.     For with thee is the fountain of life: in thy light shall we see light.

1. Exodus 17 : 1-6

1     And all the congregation of the children of Israel journeyed from the wilderness of Sin, after their journeys, according to the commandment of the Lord, and pitched in Rephidim: and there was no water for the people to drink.

2     Wherefore the people did chide with Moses, and said, Give us water that we may drink. And Moses said unto them, Why chide ye with me? wherefore do ye tempt the Lord?

3     And the people thirsted there for water; and the people murmured against Moses, and said, Wherefore is this that thou hast brought us up out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and our cattle with thirst?

4     And Moses cried unto the Lord, saying, What shall I do unto this people? they be almost ready to stone me.

5     And the Lord said unto Moses, Go on before the people, and take with thee of the elders of Israel; and thy rod, wherewith thou smotest the river, take in thine hand, and go.

6     Behold, I will stand before thee there upon the rock in Horeb; and thou shalt smite the rock, and there shall come water out of it, that the people may drink. And Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel.

2. Matthew 14 : 14-21

14     And Jesus went forth, and saw a great multitude, and was moved with compassion toward them, and he healed their sick.

15     And when it was evening, his disciples came to him, saying, This is a desert place, and the time is now past; send the multitude away, that they may go into the villages, and buy themselves victuals.

16     But Jesus said unto them, They need not depart; give ye them to eat.

17     And they say unto him, We have here but five loaves, and two fishes.

18     He said, Bring them hither to me.

19     And he commanded the multitude to sit down on the grass, and took the five loaves, and the two fishes, and looking up to heaven, he blessed, and brake, and gave the loaves to his disciples, and the disciples to the multitude.

20     And they did all eat, and were filled: and they took up of the fragments that remained twelve baskets full.

21     And they that had eaten were about five thousand men, beside women and children.

3. Luke 12 : 22, 24, 27, 31 (seek)

22     And he said unto his disciples, Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat; neither for the body, what ye shall put on.

24     Consider the ravens: for they neither sow nor reap; which neither have storehouse nor barn; and God feedeth them: how much more are ye better than the fowls?

27     Consider the lilies how they grow: they toil not, they spin not; and yet I say unto you, that Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.

31     …seek ye the kingdom of God; and all these things shall be added unto you.

4. Matthew 17 : 24-27

24     And when they were come to Capernaum, they that received tribute money came to Peter, and said, Doth not your master pay tribute?

25     He saith, Yes. And when he was come into the house, Jesus prevented him, saying, What thinkest thou, Simon? of whom do the kings of the earth take custom or tribute? of their own children, or of strangers?

26     Peter saith unto him, Of strangers. Jesus saith unto him, Then are the children free.

27     Notwithstanding, lest we should offend them, go thou to the sea, and cast an hook, and take up the fish that first cometh up; and when thou hast opened his mouth, thou shalt find a piece of money: that take, and give unto them for me and thee.

5. Mark 12 : 41-44

41     And Jesus sat over against the treasury, and beheld how the people cast money into the treasury: and many that were rich cast in much.

42     And there came a certain poor widow, and she threw in two mites, which make a farthing.

43     And he called unto him his disciples, and saith unto them, Verily I say unto you, That this poor widow hath cast more in, than all they which have cast into the treasury:

44     For all they did cast in of their abundance; but she of her want did cast in all that she had, even all her living.

6. II Corinthians 8 : 9, 13-15

9     For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich.

13     For I mean not that other men be eased, and ye burdened:

14     But by an equality, that now at this time your abundance may be a supply for their want, that their abundance also may be a supply for your want: that there may be equality:

15     As it is written, He that had gathered much had nothing over; and he that had gathered little had no lack.

7. Psalm 23 : 1-6

1     The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.

2     He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.

3     He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.

4     Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.

5     Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.

6     Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.

1. 468 : 16-24

Question. — What is substance?

Answer. — Substance is that which is eternal and incapable of discord and decay. Truth, Life, and Love are substance, as the Scriptures use this word in Hebrews: "The substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." Spirit, the synonym of Mind, Soul, or God, is the only real substance. The spiritual universe, including individual man, is a compound idea, reflecting the divine substance of Spirit.

2. 206 : 15-18

In the scientific relation of God to man, we find that whatever blesses one blesses all, as Jesus showed with the loaves and the fishes, — Spirit, not matter, being the source of supply.

3. 530 : 5-12

In divine Science, man is sustained by God, the divine Principle of being. The earth, at God's command, brings forth food for man's use. Knowing this, Jesus once said, "Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink," — presuming not on the prerogative of his creator, but recognizing God, the Father and Mother of all, as able to feed and clothe man as He doth the lilies.

4. 91 : 16-17

Absorbed in material selfhood we discern and reflect but faintly the substance of Life or Mind.

5. 278 : 4-22

Spirit is the only substance and consciousness recognized by divine Science. The material senses oppose this, but there are no material senses, for matter has no mind. In Spirit there is no matter, even as in Truth there is no error, and in good no evil. It is a false supposition, the notion that there is real substance-matter, the opposite of Spirit. Spirit, God, is infinite, all. Spirit can have no opposite.

That matter is substantial or has life and sensation, is one of the false beliefs of mortals, and exists only in a supposititious mortal consciousness. Hence, as we approach Spirit and Truth, we lose the consciousness of matter. The admission that there can be material substance requires another admission, — namely, that Spirit is not infinite and that matter is self-creative, self-existent, and eternal. From this it would follow that there are two eternal causes, warring forever with each other; and yet we say that Spirit is supreme and all-presence.

6. 517 : 30-23

Divine Love blesses its own ideas, and causes them to multiply, — to manifest His power. Man is not made to till the soil. His birthright is dominion, not subjection. He is lord of the belief in earth and heaven, — himself subordinate alone to his Maker. This is the Science of being.

Genesis i. 29, 30. And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat. And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to everything that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is life, I have given every green herb for meat: and it was so.

God gives the lesser idea of Himself for a link to the greater, and in return, the higher always protects the lower. The rich in spirit help the poor in one grand brotherhood, all having the same Principle, or Father; and blessed is that man who seeth his brother's need and supplieth it, seeking his own in another's good. Love giveth to the least spiritual idea might, immortality, and goodness, which shine through all as the blossom shines through the bud. All the varied expressions of God reflect health, holiness, immortality — infinite Life, Truth, and Love.

7. 281 : 14-17

The one Ego, the one Mind or Spirit called God, is infinite individuality, which supplies all form and comeliness and which reflects reality and divinity in individual spiritual man and things.

8. 507 : 24-29

Infinite Mind creates and governs all, from the mental molecule to infinity. This divine Principle of all expresses Science and art throughout His creation, and the immortality of man and the universe. Creation is ever appearing, and must ever continue to appear from the nature of its inexhaustible source.

9. 60 : 29-31

Soul has infinite resources with which to bless mankind, and happiness would be more readily attained and would be more secure in our keeping, if sought in Soul.

10. 494 : 10-14

Divine Love always has met and always will meet every human need. It is not well to imagine that Jesus demonstrated the divine power to heal only for a select number or for a limited period of time, since to all mankind and in every hour, divine Love supplies all good.

11. 140 : 7-15

Not materially but spiritually we know Him as divine Mind, as Life, Truth, and Love. We shall obey and adore in proportion as we apprehend the divine nature and love Him understandingly, warring no more over the corporeality, but rejoicing in the affluence of our God. Religion will then be of the heart and not of the head. Mankind will no longer be tyrannical and proscriptive from lack of love, — straining out gnats and swallowing camels.

12. 577 : 32-18

In the following Psalm one word shows, though faintly, the light which Christian Science throws on the Scriptures by substituting for the corporeal sense, the incorporeal or spiritual sense of Deity: —

PSALM XXIII

[Divine love] is my shepherd; I shall not want.

[Love] maketh me to lie down in green pastures:

[love] leadeth me beside the still waters.

[Love] restoreth my soul [spiritual sense]: [love] leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for His name's sake.

Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of

death, I will fear no evil: for [love] is with me; [love's]

rod and [love's] staff they comfort me.

[Love] prepareth a table before me in the presence of

mine enemies: [love] anointeth my head with oil; my cup

runneth over.

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of

my life; and I will dwell in the house [the consciousness] of

[love] for ever.