Prepared by Tom Taffel for the 2007 Emergence International Annual Conference Sunday Service held in Phoenix Arizona, November 4, 2007
Hymn #179 “Love one another, word of revelation”
The Bible I John 4:8 God is love.
Mark 10: 9 What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder.
I Samuel 18:1-4. 20:30-34. 23:16-18 And it came to pass, when he had made an end of speaking unto Saul, that the soul of Jonathan was knit with the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul. And Saul took him that day, and would let him go no more home to his father’s house. Then Jonathan and David made a covenant, because he loved him as his own soul. And Jonathan stripped himself of the robe that was upon him, and gave it to David, and his garments, even to his sword, and to his bow, and to his girdle. Then Saul’s anger was kindled against Jonathan, and he said unto him, Thou son of the perverse rebellious woman, do not I know that thou hast chosen the son of Jesse to thine own confusion, and unto the confusion of thy mother’s nakedness? For as long as the son of Jesse liveth upon the ground, thou shalt not be established, nor thy kingdom. Wherefore now send and fetch him unto me, for he shall surely die. And Jonathan answered Saul his father, and said unto him, Wherefore shall he be slain? what hath he done? And Saul cast a javelin at him to smite him: whereby Jonathan knew that it was determined of his father to slay David. So Jonathan arose from the table in fierce anger, and did eat no meat the second day of the month: for he was grieved for David, because his father had done him shame. And Jonathan, Saul’s son arose, and went to David into the wood, and strengthened his hand in God. And he said unto him, Fear not: for the hand of Saul my father shall not find thee; and thou shalt be king over Israel, and I shall be next unto thee; and that also Saul my father knoweth. And they two made a covenant before the Lord: and David abode in the wood, and Jonathan went to his house.
II Samuel 1:26 I am distressed for thee, my brother Jonathan: very pleasant hast thou been unto me: thy love to me was wonderful, passing the love of women.
Ruth 1:14, 16 And they lifted up their voice, and wept again: and Orpah kissed her mother in law; but Ruth clave unto her. And Ruth said, Entreat me not to leave thee, or to return from following after thee: for whither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge: thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God:
Matthew 22:30 For in the resurrection they neither marry, nor are given in marriage, but are as the angels of God in heaven.
Psalms 133:1 Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!
Psalms 27:4 One thing have I desired of the Lord, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to inquire in his temple. Psalms 23:6 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.
And From the writings of Mary Baker Eddy
S&H 578:16 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.
S&H 58: 21 Home is the dearest spot on earth, and it should be the centre, though not the boundary, of the affections.
S&H 15: 26-27 Self-forgetfulness, purity, and affection are constant prayers.
S&H 57: 22-30 Human affection is not poured forth vainly, even though it meet no return. Love enriches the nature, enlarging, purifying, and elevating it. The wintry blasts of earth may uproot the flowers of affection, and scatter them to the winds; but this severance of fleshly ties serves to unite thought more closely to God, for Love supports the struggling heart until it ceases to sigh over the world and begins to unfold its wings for heaven.
S&H 61: 4-6 The good in human affections must have ascendancy over the evil and the spiritual over the animal, or happiness will never be won.
S&H 4:3-5 What we most need is the prayer of fervent desire for growth in grace, expressed in patience, meekness, love, and good deeds.
MIS 107:13 More love is the great need of mankind. A pure affection, concentric, forgetting self, forgiving wrongs and forestalling them, should swell the lyre of human love.
S&H 248: 3-5 Love never loses sight of loveliness. Its halo rests upon its object. One marvels that a friend can ever seem less than beautiful.
RET 80:27 There are no greater miracles known to earth than perfection and an unbroken friendship. We love our friends, but ofttimes we lose them in proportion to our affection. The sacrifices made for others are not infrequently met by envy, ingratitude, and enmity, which smite the heart and threaten to paralyze its beneficence.
S&H 304: 9-14 This is the doctrine of Christian Science: that divine Love cannot be deprived of its manifestation or object; that joy cannot be turned into sorrow, for sorrow is not the master of joy; that good can never produce evil; that matter can never produce mind nor life result in death.
S&H 60: 4-8 Kindred tastes, motives, and aspirations are necessary to the formation of a happy and permanent companionship. The beautiful in character is also the good, welding indissolubly the links of affection.
S&H 68: 9-15 Jealousy is the grave of affection. The presence of mistrust, where confidence is due, withers the flowers of Eden and scatters love’s petals to decay. Be not in haste to take the vow “until death do us part.” Consider its obligations, its responsibilities, its relations to your growth and to your influence on other lives.
S&H 59: 1 Matrimony should never be entered into without a full recognition of its enduring obligations on both sides. There should be the most tender solicitude for each other’s happiness, and mutual attention and approbation should wait on all the years of married life.
S&H 64: 17-21 Marriage should signify a union of hearts. Furthermore, the time cometh of which Jesus spake, when he declared that in the resurrection there should be no more marrying nor giving in marriage, but man would be as the angels.
S&H 57: 4-11 Union of the masculine and feminine qualities constitutes completeness. The masculine mind reaches a higher tone through certain elements of the feminine, while the feminine mind gains courage and strength through masculine qualities. These different elements conjoin naturally with each other, and their true harmony is in spiritual oneness. Both sexes should be loving, pure, tender, and strong.
S&H 65: 7-11 If the foundations of human affection are consistent with progress, they will be strong and enduring. Divorce should warn the age of some fundamental error in the marriage state. The union of the sexes suffers fearful discord.
MIS 52: 11-17 What do you think of marriage? That it is often convenient, sometimes pleasant, and occasionally a love affair. Marriage is susceptible of many definitions. It sometimes presents the most wretched condition of human existence. To be normal, it must be a union of the affections that tends to lift mortals higher.
MIS 290: 1-3 A third person is not a party to the compact of two hearts. Let other people’s marriage relations alone: two persons only, should be found within their precincts.
MY 5: 4-5 It is the Adam-dream according to the Scriptural allegory, in which man is supposed to start from dust and woman to be the outcome of man’s rib, — marriage synonymous with legalized lust, and the offspring of sense the murderers of their brothers!
S&H 234:31-3 Evil thoughts and aims reach no farther and do no more harm than one’s belief permits. Evil thoughts, lusts, and malicious purposes cannot go forth, like wandering pollen, from one human mind to another, finding unsuspected lodgment, if virtue and truth build a strong defense.
MIS 119:8 Each individual is responsible for himself.
MIS 223: 25-27 There is immense wisdom in the old proverb, “He that is slow to anger is better than the mighty.” Hannah More said, “If I wished to punish my enemy, I should make him hate somebody.”
MIS 12:2 Hate no one; for hatred is a plague-spot that spreads its virus and kills at last. If indulged, it masters us; brings suffering upon suffering to its possessor, throughout time and beyond the grave. If you have been badly wronged, forgive and forget: God will recompense this wrong, and punish, more severely than you could, him who has striven to injure you.
MIS 223: 27-6 To punish ourselves for others’ faults, is superlative folly. The mental arrow shot from another’s bow is practically harmless, unless our own thought barbs it. It is our pride that makes another’s criticism rankle, our self-will that makes another’s deed offensive, our egotism that feels hurt by another’s self-assertion. Well may we feel wounded by our own faults; but we can hardly afford to be miserable for the faults of others.
S&H 66:6. 10-11 Trials teach mortals not to lean on a material staff, — a broken reed, which pierces the heart. Trials are proofs of God’s care.
MIS 224: 11-28 We should remember that the world is wide; that there are a thousand million different human wills, opinions, ambitions, tastes, and loves; that each person has a different history, constitution, culture, character, from all the rest; that human life is the work, the play, the ceaseless action and reaction upon each other of these different atoms. Then, we should go forth into life with the smallest expectations, but with the largest patience; with a keen relish for and appreciation of everything beautiful, great, and good, but with a temper so genial that the friction of the world shall not wear upon our sensibilities; with an equanimity so settled that no passing breath nor accidental disturbance shall agitate or ruffle it; with a charity broad enough to cover the whole world’s evil, and sweet enough to neutralize what is bitter in it, — determined not to be offended when no wrong is meant, nor even when it is, unless the offense be against God. Nothing short of our own errors should offend us.
MY 364:1 No mortal is infallible, – hence the Scripture, “Judge no man.”
S&H 451: 2 Christian Scientists must live under the constant pressure of the apostolic command to come out from the material world and be separate. They must renounce aggression, oppression and the pride of power. Christianity, with the crown of Love upon her brow, must be their queen of life.
MY 149:31 Remember, thou canst be brought into no condition, be it ever so severe, where Love has not been before thee and where its tender lesson is not awaiting three.
MES ’02:20-25 Happiness consists in being and in doing good; only what God gives, and what we give ourselves and others through His tenure, confers happiness: conscious worth satisfies the hungry heart, and nothing else can.
S&H 340: 23 One infinite God, good, unifies men and nations; constitutes the brotherhood of man; ends wars; fulfils the Scripture, “Love thy neighbor as thyself;” annihilates pagan and Christian idolatry, —whatever is wrong in social, civil, criminal, political, and religious codes; equalizes the sexes; annuls the curse on man and leaves nothing that can sin, suffer, be punished or destroyed.
S&H 74:29 In Christian Science there is never a retrograde step, never a return to positions outgrown.
S&H 485:14-17 Emerge gently from matter into Spirit. Think not to thwart the spiritual ultimate of all things, but come naturally into Spirit through better health and morals and as the result of spiritual growth.
S&H 66:14 Each successive stage of experience unfolds new views of divine goodness and love.
MY 270:24 What we love determines what we are.
S&H 224:31 No power can withstand divine Love.
Silent Prayer
Hymn #31 “Love” “Brood o’er us with Thy sheltering wing”
Hymn #182 “Make channels for the streams of Love”