First Church of Christ, Scientist, Asheville, NC
- KJV Acts 27:1, 14, 20-25, 41-44
- 1 …when it was determined that we should sail into Italy, they delivered Paul and certain other prisoners unto one named Julius, a centurion of Augustus’ band. 14 But not long after there arose against it a tempestuous wind, called Euroclydon. 20 And when neither sun nor stars in many days appeared, and no small tempest lay on us, all hope that we should be saved was then taken away. 21 But after long abstinence Paul stood forth in the midst of them, and said, Sirs, ye should have hearkened unto me, and not have loosed from Crete, and to have gained this harm and loss. 22 And now I exhort you to be of good cheer: for there shall be no loss of any man’s life among you, but of the ship. 23 For there stood by me this night the angel of God, whose I am, and whom I serve, 24 Saying, Fear not, Paul; thou must be brought before Caesar: and, lo, God hath given thee all them that sail with thee. 25 Wherefore, sirs, be of good cheer: for I believe God, that it shall be even as it was told me. 41 And falling into a place where two seas met, they ran the ship aground; and the forepart stuck fast, and remained unmoveable, but the hinder part was broken with the violence of the waves. 42 And the soldiers’ counsel was to kill the prisoners, lest any of them should swim out, and escape. 43 But the centurion, willing to save Paul, kept them from their purpose; and commanded that they which could swim should cast themselves first into the sea, and get to land: 44 And the rest, some on boards, and some on broken pieces of the ship. And so it came to pass, that they escaped all safe to land.
- KJV Acts 28:1-2
- 1 And when they were escaped, then they knew that the island was called Melita. 2 And the barbarous people shewed us no little kindness: for they kindled a fire, and received us every one, because of the present rain, and because of the cold.
- KJV I Cor 2:9-12
- 9 …as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. 10 But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God. 11 For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God. 12 Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God.
- KJV Romans 8:35, 37-39
- 35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? 37 Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. 38 For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, 39 Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
- KJV Nahum 1:7
- 7 The LORD is good, a strong hold in the day of trouble; and he knoweth them that trust in him.
- KJV Psalm 27:1, 4-5
- 1 The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? the LORD is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid? 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 enquire in his temple. 5 For in the time of trouble he shall hide me in his pavilion: in the secret of his tabernacle shall he hide me; he shall set me up upon a rock.
- KJV Psalm 46:1-3
- 1 God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. 2 Therefore will not we fear, though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea; 3 Though the waters thereof roar and be troubled, though the mountains shake with the swelling thereof.
- KJV Psalm 121:3-8
- 3 He will not suffer thy foot to be moved: he that keepeth thee will not slumber. 4 Behold, he that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep. 5 The LORD is thy keeper: the LORD is thy shade upon thy right hand. 6 The sun shall not smite thee by day, nor the moon by night. 7 The LORD shall preserve thee from all evil: he shall preserve thy soul. 8 The LORD shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in from this time forth, and even for evermore.
- KJV Psalm 139:1-5, 7-10, 17-18, 23-24
- 1 O lord, thou hast searched me, and known me. 2 Thou knowest my downsitting and mine uprising, thou understandest my thought afar off. 3 Thou compassest my path and my lying down, and art acquainted with all my ways. 4 For there is not a word in my tongue, but, lo, O LORD, thou knowest it altogether. 5 Thou hast beset me behind and before, and laid thine hand upon me. 7 Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence? 8 If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there. 9 If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea; 10 Even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me. 17 How precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God! how great is the sum of them! 18 If I should count them, they are more in number than the sand: when I awake, I am still with thee. 23 Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: 24 And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.
- S&H 295:5-22
- God creates and governs the universe, including man.
The universe is filled with spiritual ideas, which He
evolves, and they are obedient to the Mind
that makes them. Mortal mind would trans-
form the spiritual into the material, and then
recover man’s original self in order to escape from the
mortality of this error. Mortals are not like immortals,
created in God’s own image; but infinite Spirit being all,
mortal consciousness will at last yield to the scientific fact
and disappear, and the real sense of being, perfect and
forever intact, will appear.
The manifestation of God through mortals is as light
passing through the window-pane. The light and the
glass never mingle, but as matter, the glass
is less opaque than the walls. The mortal
mind through which Truth appears most vividly is that
one which has lost much materiality – much error – in
order to become a better transparency for Truth.
- S&H 303:25-14
- God, without the image and likeness of Himself, would
be a nonentity, or Mind unexpressed. He would be
without a witness or proof of His own na-
ture. Spiritual man is the image or idea of
God, an idea which cannot be lost nor sep-
arated from its divine Principle. When the evidence
before the material senses yielded to spiritual sense, the
apostle declared that nothing could alienate him from
God, from the sweet sense and presence of Life and
Truth.
It is ignorance and false belief, based on a material
sense of things, which hide spiritual beauty and good-
ness. Understanding this, Paul said: “Nei-
ther death, nor life, . . . nor things present,
nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor
any other creature, shall be able to separate us from
the love of God.” 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 304:16
- Harmony is produced by its Principle, is controlled
by it and abides with it. Divine Principle is the Life
of man. Man’s happiness is not, therefore, at
the disposal of physical sense. Truth is not
contaminated by error. Harmony in man is as beautiful
as in music, and discord is unnatural, unreal.
- S&H 471:13-20
- The facts of divine Science should be admitted, –
although the evidence as to these facts is not supported
by evil, by matter, or by material sense, – because the
evidence that God and man coexist is fully sustained by
spiritual sense. Man is, and forever has been, God’s re-
flection. God is infinite, therefore ever present, and
there is no other power nor presence. Hence the spirit-
uality of the universe is the only fact of creation.
- S&H 512:8-13
- Spirit is symbolized by strength, presence, and power,
and also by holy thoughts, winged with Love. These an-
gels of His presence, which have the holiest
charge, abound in the spiritual atmosphere of
Mind, and consequently reproduce their own character-
istics.
- S&H 581:4
- ANGELS. God’s thoughts passing to man; spiritual
intuitions, pure and perfect; the inspiration of goodness,
purity, and immortality, counteracting all evil, sensuality,
and mortality.
- S&H 299:12
- These upward-soaring beings
never lead towards self, sin, or materiality, but guide to
the divine Principle of all good, whither every real indi-
viduality, image, or likeness of God, gathers. By giving
earnest heed to these spiritual guides they tarry with us,
and we entertain “angels unawares.”
- S&H 174:9-14
- The footsteps of thought, rising above material stand-
points, are slow, and portend a long night to the traveller;
but the angels of His presence – the spiritual
intuitions that tell us when “the night is far
spent, the day is at hand” – are our guardians in the
gloom.
- S&H 208:20-29
- Let us learn
of the real and eternal, and prepare for the reign of
Spirit, the kingdom of heaven, – the reign and rule of
universal harmony, which cannot be lost nor remain
forever unseen.
Mind, not matter, is causation. A material body
only expresses a material and mortal mind. A mortal
man possesses this body, and he makes it
harmonious or discordant according to the
images of thought impressed upon it.
- S&H 275:20
- Divine metaphysics, as revealed to spiritual understand-
ing, shows clearly that all is Mind, and that Mind is
God, omnipotence, omnipresence, omniscience,
– that is, all power, all presence, all Science.
Hence all is in reality the manifestation of Mind.
- S&H 465:16-4
- Question. – Is there more than one God or Principle?
Answer. – There is not. Principle and its idea is one,
and this one is God, omnipotent, omniscient, and omni-
present Being, and His reflection is man and the universe.
Omni is adopted from the Latin adjective signifying all.
Hence God combines all-power or potency, all-science
or true knowledge, all-presence.
- S&H 548:5
- In this Science, we dis-
cover man in the image and likeness of God. We see that
man has never lost his spiritual estate and his eternal
harmony.
- KJV Proverbs 3:5-6
- 5 Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. 6 In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.
Acts 27:1, 14, 20-25, 41-44
Acts 28:1-2
I Cor 2:9-12
Romans 8:35, 37-39
Nahum 1:7
Psalm 27:1, 4-5
Psalm 46:1-3
Psalm 121:3-8
Psalm 139:1-5, 7-10, 17-18, 23-24
Acts 28:1-2
I Cor 2:9-12
Romans 8:35, 37-39
Nahum 1:7
Psalm 27:1, 4-5
Psalm 46:1-3
Psalm 121:3-8
Psalm 139:1-5, 7-10, 17-18, 23-24
295:5-22
303:25-14
304:16
471:13-20
512:8-13
581:4
299:12
174:9-14
208:20-29
275:20
465:16-4
548:5
Proverbs 3:5-6
293…Rock of Ages, Truth divine
136…I love Thy way of freedom, Lord
73…Glory, honor, praise and pure oblations
Link to share this: https://pleasantviewer.org/whither-shall-i-go-from-thy-presence/
Beautiful readings on presence, Robbie. I haven’t had a chance to follow up with my friend about your staying with him as he’s been out of town. I think he’d be fine with it. Let me know when you have a sense of when you may be here.