The greatest gift you can give your child is an understanding of God.
When a child understands God, they understand Love. They will feel loved, express love, and seek love.
When a child understands God as an all-knowing, all-wise Mind, they know they have a place to turn for solutions whenever faced with a problem.
When a child understands God to be their Life, they lose fear of death.
To understand God, is to understand how the universe works and how to live happily and healthily in it.
God is All. God is all there is to understand. There isn’t anything else.
Evil is a seeming absence of God. It’s temporal and its defeated by an understanding of God.
Armed with an understanding of God, a child can face the claims of evil with dominion, authority, and grace, and conquer those claims. Armed with an understanding of God as infinite, omnipresent good, a child can overcome evil and keep experiencing God’s good.
Peace of mind comes with understanding God. Understanding God leads to health, harmony and happiness that endures.
Give your children an understanding of God, and it will bless them for decades to come.
“Parents should teach their children at the earliest possible period the truths of health and holiness. Children are more tractable than adults, and learn more readily to love the simple verities that will make them happy and good”
(Science and Health, p. 236).
https://sentinel.christianscience.com/shared/view/2jz6ppog77y?s=e
‘Always in God’s presence’
..’”He shall give His angels charge over thee”.
God gives you His spiritual ideas, & in turn, they give you daily supplies..’ (Angels, Mrs Eddy, Mis.307:1-2)
[favorite childhood treat]
Whilst I was an adult st the time – although a child of God – the greatest gift I have received in my life has been being introduced to Christian Science..
Thank you to Evan and all SpiritViewers for your daily “dose” of guidance, inspiration and love.
Wow Evan, that is so metaphysically understandable and loving!
Decades ago I was sundayschool teacher, teaching the 3 year young ones. Of course I told them that God is Love and Spirit. And we went through the booklet “The House with the colored windows”. Perhaps some of our commenters remember this book.
But Evan’s explanations up here are much better, than I told my dear little ones.
Thank you very very much dear Evan for this so loving and clear advice for parents and sundayschool teachers. That is so helpful!♡
We are all children of God, so are all blessed with Love. Oh, Yes, Uta, I remember that book and what wonderful memories you just brought back of a dear, dear Sunday school teacher that had first presented it to me. She radiated Love. As I recall in the book, there was a white horse in the field and looking at it through the different windows, appeared to change it, but really didn’t, just as things sometimes appear to be something different through the untrue lens of material mind, rather than through God’s perfection.
Loved that book as a child Uta! Has brought back some lovely memories.
It is humbling to think “How do I give my children and any child an understanding of God?”.
My only answer is by the life that I live..can I have a living faith in God’s allness and goodness? Can I walk humbly with the Lord..Can I show my children by example what Mrs. Eddy calls “—the living beauty of Love, it’s practicality, it’s divine energies, it’s health-giving and life -bestowing qualities—“.( Ret. 88:13-14).
I love your reply, John. Many of us, including myself, have children (in my case, sons) who had all the beautiful privileges of being brought up in CS but were vulnerable to the pull of their friends activities, ie material sense, and have not been following it. My younger son told me once he marries and has children he wishes to return to church. I know the Good Father and Good Mother are always at their side and that they have eternity to work out the problems of being. And this is true for all God’s beloved children!!
Happily, my family started us off in a local Sunday School. However, the greatest gift that they gave me was taking me to a Christian Science Sunday School when they visited the church for the first time. It was the first time I truly felt at home and totally, absolutely safe. I remember at the age of 12 borrowing a record from the Sunday School library, with Mrs. Eddy’s poem, “Feed My Sheep” set to music. I played it over and over and over again. I felt a tad guilty/silly as I thought it a bit babyish for a 12 year old to be doing so, but that did not stop me. The poem’s message was so very comforting and encouraging. I wrote a Sentinel article, (now in the archives of JSH Online) “Sunday School Saved Me” explaining just how important Sunday School was to me.
: https://sentinel.christianscience.com/shared/view/2nhq4zg0ebc?s=e
I am not sure this will be a live link to Katherine’s good article.. If it is not, perhaps someone else can help.
The first six paragraphs were especially meaningful to me this morning as my papa just passed on an hour ago. I am grateful that he chose to study CS and become a member and a Reader at our local church. His greatest gift was raising me and my siblings in CS and I will be forever thankful for that.
He lives, moves, and has his being now, just as he always has. You can let that truth sink deeply into your consciousness, and let it bring you comfort. This idea was s big help to me when my mother passed on.
Dear Deborah,
The gift that your Dad gave you in understanding Life through CS is truly the most important and cherished nurture and the loving qualities he expressed will be with you always.
Much love to you
How I longed to know and understand God as a young child, but alas I was only taught of the fire and brimstone type God complete with a competing and literal devil. It was a great relief at age 18 to hear of a loving God in CS. I then read the New Testament straight through and was delighted because it made sense for the first time. Prior to that I had only occasionally cracked the Bible and then closed it because it was bewildering to me! How I wish I’d understood God from an earlier age. Could have helped me avoid some very dark times as an adolescent!
Evan, thank you for reminding me of my children attending SS until the age of 9 & 14. My daughter does often turn to God for help in various situations. My son will repeat: I’m God’s perfect child.” (And smile). But mostly, rather than call an ambulance in a situation, they honored my wishes & called a practitioner. Train up a child in the way & when he is old (and you are older) he will not depart from it. I’m grateful that they support my choice of healing & not medical belief. God is Love…
Inspiring thanks Evan!
Beautiful, thought provoking guidance today. I’m afraid I’m out on a limb here amongst some of you because my childhood times in a CS Sunday School were rather spasmodic. Then I wandered through my life with only the Journal and Science and Health to refer to when I personally needed it. My children attended a Methodist Sunday School ( their Fathers choice) and subsequently don’t seem to have any religious views at all these days.But..I can say that obviously some of what I was taught could never be taught ‘out ‘of me, unlearnt or erased. That is because whatever the stage of our thought now , the truth is that we are ALL the loved children of God, belonging to God ..not some material disorder or belief. How wonderful for this to be shared with your children now. But even if, like me, it only becomes clear at a later stage what a wonderful process to become aware of ….our spiritual consciousness. Thank you Evan and everyone❣️
I too felt the greatest gift my papa gave me was Christian Science. When we moved from England to Australia I was enrolled in Sunday School that was not close to us. We would take the train to church. When I was run over by a bike I remember prayer alone healed my injuries. I am most grateful for this Science and to my dear dad for this gift.
Thank you Evan for this lovely blog!
This. Just knowing this….something we learned in C.S. Sunday School….something that is missing in the upbringing of so many children. This is what worries me most
When I was in my early 20’s, before I knew anything about Christian Science, I wrote a poem that expressed a vision of the children I longed to have. I’ve shared it with only a few people in my life, but feel it’s appropriate to Evan’s topic to share here with my SpiritView friends. Here it is:
Their words will flow in harmony with God’s eternal script
And on their faces you will see expressed the blessed gift
Of soul-searched peace, and sustained love, within, without, with all
The guiding light of Truth above will hear their every call
And send true revelation to their wisdom seeking minds
Bringing forth their real creation and the nature of mankind.
Set free from sinful bondage, they will reap the fruits of life
In result of Divine knowledge, they’ll have faith to ease all strife
Every joy and every sadness they experience will be
For the sake of ideal goodness,- for the love of purity.
I pray that God’s will be as such to grant to me this vision
And give to me the worthiness to bear these saintly children.
Looking back on this, I can see how ready I was to discover Christian Science, which came into my life shortly after writing this poem. I never had my own children, but was so blessed to teach the 7 & 8 year old children in the Christian Science Sunday School. The journey we take here doesn’t always work out the way we outline, but God’s blessings come to us in forms we don’t always expect. And life and growth are eternal!
Thank you Evan for your wisdom, clarity and love, and all of you for your precious shares.
Thank you for sharing that Linda.❣️ It is startlingly beautiful.
Such a purely beautiful sharing of yours from the heart, Linda. Thank you. Every child we pass, smile and/or wave at, is our child, as we are all one family in God’s kingdom. A smile and a few words or prayers for their well-being blesses them and can truly help them onward. Today I plan to read Unity of Good for our universal family and for the unity and moral strength of our government and citizenry.
Thank you Linda for sharing your moving and beautiful poem. I was touched by its sincerity, so well written and heartfelt. You were a Christian Scientist already without knowing it.
Absolutely love these ideas Evan. I loved it so much, I had to share it. Looking forward to diving deeper with my understanding of God and seeing the infinite blessings that come from this deeper understanding.
Thank you Cathryn and Barbara for your touching responses. What a lovely thought Cathryn, that every child we pass, smile or wave at is our child, – All of us being one in the family of God’s kingdom. I will take this idea with me and mentally embrace each child I see, knowing that God is our divine parent, blessing and uniting us all in His Love.
Very tender and beautiful topic today. I didn’t grow up in Christian Science but was fortunate to encounter it when my daughter was about 5 years old. I used to read to her from the CS periodicals and always taught her to pray and to trust and lean on God in all things and how to identify error.
She is in her early 30’s now and I am grateful that she leans on God, calls a practitioner as needed, and we have grand spiritual discussions about many of life’s ups and downs to see through the mists and lies that mortal mind tries to present. Very blessed.
Also grateful that though I didn’t grow up with spiritual teachings, my mother had a simple faith and often told me that God was walking by my side and protecting me. I never thought much of this at the time and my father was pretty much an atheist, but she planted a seed which grew in later life. Thank you SpiritViewers, blessed to be in the company of like-minded speakers of Truth!