In peace I will lie down and sleep, for you alone, O Lord, will keep me safe.
The ultimate rest is a consciousness of Truth and Love.
When you lie down to rest, first, settle your thought into the omnipresence and omnipotence of Truth and Love.
You will have the best sleep possible.
Very reassuring – thanks Evan
“Rest unto your souls”:
https://sentinel.christianscience.com/shared/view/fs9ij2mih2?s=e
Thank you Evan!
Thank you Angie for the article so comforting.
It seems to me that our thoughts seem busy because we are rehearsing mortal minds playbook..
When God becomes my All-in-all my thoughts become peaceful. They are focused on His goodness, provision, and care..
The only true rest is in the harmony of Soul.
Thank you here, John. Are you acquainted with these two similar authors? Mr. Wagers was very active at TMC and prolific in his put-down of the fictitious ‘oral playbook.’ John Hargreaves was a Brit with a worldwide practice, and lived in the US for a number of years as well. Both of them show us there NEVER WAS A PLAYBOOK !
TRUTH HANDLES MALIGNANT CONTAGION
“As Christian Scientists, we stand on the First Commandment. That is, we acknowledge the presence of but one God, one cause, one source, one substance, one power, one influence, one law. “Thou shalt have no other gods before me” (Ex. 20:3) demands that we acknowledge Spirit, Soul, to be the one and only cause of our being. Because Spirit is infinite, man lives in Soul, not in matter. Since Spirit is the only substance, no infectious substances exist. And so none can enter the spiritual atmosphere in which man lives and moves and breathes.
Error cannot take from us our God-derived individuality. It cannot induce us to exploit its evil predictions by accepting and spreading them. Divine law is fulfilled, not thwarted, protection Suggestions of evil do not impress us when we know that they are without authority. The power of Truth constituting our God-given consciousness forbids their entrance and so protects our thoughts, our bodies, our experiences.
Ideas such as these are imparted by the power of Christ, Truth, which is always active as our consciousness. These ideas are like the light shining in darkness. Truth is irresistible, and being superior to any fictitious material environment, it cannot be reversed, nor can it be annulled.”
Ralph Wagers, 3/29/58
YOUR PRESENT FACULTIES
“Error has no foothold in Truth and Truth does not put a toe into error. They do not mingle. It is for that reason that Science heals. The clarity of Truth is seen by Truth. Mind’s faculties are not vulnerable, and there are no other faculties. The indestructible faculties of Spirit cannot lapse from Spirit, and they exist solely in Mind and not matter. A human concept of these faculties is a myth, which you cannot work about or improve. It is Soul, the one I, that alone exercises the faculty of awareness. Your relationship is to Mind, Soul, and not to any outside demands. There is no outside pressure because there is no outside to allness. Truth is not true because we know it, but because it is that which IS. You constitute and remain as Truth’s perfection and you are in no way trying to demonstrate it.”
John Hargreaves 4/10/03
Thank you Evan. Thank you Angie. When having an interrupted nights sleep recently , I started to read the lesson sermon. It came to me that however alone I felt with the rest of the household, neighbours etc peacefully asleep, there are many Christian Scientists just beginning their day , working and praying to feel the ever presence of God. And so the leaven spreads❣️
Thank you Evan for this timely thought and thank you Angie for the reference from the 1960 CS Journal about sleep. . Much appreciated.
Love the poem to the little children written by Mary Baker Eddy.
Father-Mother God, Loving me, Guard me when I sleep; Guide my little feet Up to Thee.
Something I often say on retiring.
Blessing to all.
The poem is found in Miscellaneous Writings, by Mary Baker Eddy on page 400.
Every night before falling asleep, I ponder “ … if you fall asleep, actually conscious of the truth of Christian Science, — namely, that man’s harmony is no more to be invaded than the rhythm of the universe, — you cannot awake in fear or suffering of any sort.” (Retrospection and Intrspection by Mary Baker Eddy 61:8) I like to know during the day, too, that my “harmony is no more to be invaded that the rhythm of the universe”!
A practitioner told me years ago, that when
awake during the night pray for the world.
Someone, somewhere, is reaching out for help.
When we work for the universe we are sending
out Love.
What could be more peaceful then LOVE
It take human thinking out of the equation and
replaces it with quiet restful, Love thoughts.
And we are at peace.
This applies during days of concern. Stop to acknowledge God as the only presence, and
find rest. Send out, LOVE.
Happy God day everyone.
It’s been super helpful to put on an audio version of an article, discussion with practitioner from the Sentinel or Journal or a Christian Science lecture on YouTube. I get them from my phone or laptop which I put next to my bed. So, I can think about the spiritual truths rather than wonder if and when I’m going to fall asleep. If I’m awake for the whole hour of the lecture, then I listen to it again or another one. They are comforting and you keep gaining new spiritual insights.
All the comments this morning are understandable and appreciated.
Once I had a challenge that kept me thinking, climbing up and down 5 stories on a scaffold to initiate proper airplane landing lighting at a major airport. It took 35 hours straight with no breaks.
On January 19th, winter conditions. Reels and rails had to function properly to keep everyone safe.
There was no one else available to help with the arduous task. One by none the runways were once again functional. I went hone after that successful effort, not able to rest having been filled with elation of a job well done.
Now I can relate to Mr. Qualtrouth’s comment. My remedies include reading my lesson, and other Christian Science literature. Till I can read no more.
Peace is what is needed. Spiritualization of thought, till error is eliminated.
Psalms 4:8 I will both lay me down in peace, and sleep: for thou, Lord, only makest me dwell in safety.
Love that thought!!!!
I try to go to sleep and wake up from sleep with a meditation, mainly on the truth and scripture I rely on. I think of Beginning Rightly by Dan Jensen. I hope to begin and end rightly.
Thank you, Evan, and thank you all with your helpful thoughts and reminders. To add, I find hymn #148 always calming and helpful.:
“In heavenly Love abiding,
No change my heart shall fear;
And safe is such confiding,
For nothing changes here…”, and send that out into the world prayerfully, metaphysically, for a calming strength for others in need of calming too.
Such a blessing that we all have spiritual sense to experience this ultimate rest. To retreat from the unrest of mortal mind’s distress and false beliefs,- to lay off the old man, and enter into the realm of reality, to surrender to the all good, pure, perfect Principle divine Love. This is true rest, – peacefully awakening from the dream of duality.
Evan, the picture says it all! So precious!
Oh my, today’s SpiritView is definitely worth keeping! Thank you Evan for introducing this idea, and everyone else’s beautifully developing thoughts .
Love
Thank you for this post Evan – and for the responses it brought out from others. You and our SpiritView friends make me a better Christian Science practitioner – enabling me to live these ideas not for myself alone but for all, universally.
Our sleep should not be disturbed in any way by beliefs of unease in our own homes or unrest in the world. I have no problem getting to sleep myself. However, my sleep is sometimes interrupted by the waking or needs of others. My desire, my prayer, has been to be able to help them to rest in God’s care with the same confidence that I have.
So, thank you Angela for sending me to ‘Retrospection and Introspection” by Mary Baker Eddy 61:8 – especially to “. . . you cannot awake in fear or suffering of any sort.” To me that includes the belief in fear or suffering of others. The entire article “The Great Revelation” is an article for me to ponder and to share.
Nadine’s reminder of Dan Jensen’s “Beginning Rightly” also reminded me of this. He told his Primary Class students that before we sleep we can know and dwell in the truth of our being, at peace and at one with God. And with a lighthearted twinkle in his eye and a big grin, he told us about a sign on a country road that read, “Choose your ruts wisely – your going to be in them for awhile.”
Excellent comments everyone. Catholic family members keep a cross above their bed as a constant reminder of God’s presence and protection as they sleep. I’ve always found that comforting. And I love that Christian Science shows us that God’s law of unerring harmony and peace is always with us, not just when we are asleep. If worried and anxious thoughts are keeping me up at night, it’s literally a “wake up call” that I need to see things from a higher perspective. I like this quote, “There are not many minds, but many spiritual ideas, all obedient to the action of divine Mind. Everything originates in and proceeds from this one and only Mind”. The idea of being obedient seems very restful.
“Right here is the law of God that stops us from waking in fear or suffering. It brings peaceful, undisturbed rest.” …by Mary Beattie
https://sentinel.christianscience.com/shared/view/1ki0xs6vfsa
“J” This article states the very same Psalm that I was led to share. There is but one Mind… Thanks for the article.
You’re welcome David. Love the synchronicity of the one Mind.
I sometimes fall asleep listening to the weekly Bible Lesson on the phone line of the joint Christian Science Churches and Reading Rooms of Southern California. The phone number in the US is (323) 805-8700. Very comforting to drift off to (you can also listen to Daily Lifts and Sentinel Watch podcast on this line).
Thanks everyone for great insights today. I appreciate the quotes shared by Angela and J that let me know I can’t awake in fear or suffering of any sort if I fall asleep conscious of the Truth. This is helpful in recognizing the falseness and unreality of anxiety /adrenaline rushes that try to plague me in the early morning as I awake. I declare that my sleeping and waking are in God’s loving care.
Love the photo, pure innocence and love!
Thank you so very.much, Evan, very needed, also all the wonderful comments are very helpful♡
Evan’s Bible text is very loved and applied. However I do also remember two helpful passages by MBEDDY from Science and Health, I. e. “Man is the humble servant of the restful Mind.” (Page 119 bottom) And on another page “we rest in God, and God rests in action” in that sense. All that I use in prayer. But most helpful is to feel God’s loving presence. But for this Evan gave us a special SpiritView not long time ago.
But I also listen to lectures on YouTube or read the article given us here by Angie or someone else or read a suitable SpiritView of Evan. Am very thankful for all these helpful and blessing sources for any situation to be healed.
Thanks a lot for this innocent. lovely and calming foto, dear Evan!♡