Article September 6, 1941 Issue

Sunday School Notes and Comments

Teaching the "first lessons" (Church Manual by Mary Baker Eddy, Art. XX, Sect. 3) to Sunday school children can be done with a great deal of joyous spontaneity and inspiration. Although she knew this to be a fact, one teacher found the preparation of the lessons on Commandments and Beatitudes becoming monotonous and dull. Her class of boys, ranging from eleven to thirteen years of age, knew the letter of the Commandments and Beatitudes perfectly, as well as many helpful definitions from the Glossary in the Christian Science textbook, "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" by Mrs. Eddy. In praying for inspiration to present Christian Science in its vital beauty to these active children, so as to hold their attention, she was led to study references in our textbooks which throw light on these "first lessons."

On page 340 of Science and Health, Mrs. Eddy explains why the First Commandment is her favorite text. She goes into detail in describing the benefits that come from obedience to it, and indicates that this obedience is the recipe for healing every discordant material condition and establishing universal harmony. Small wonder that it was her favorite text! The teacher saw that there was an unlimited field for research for Sunday school lesson material.

The next reference studied was from the Bible (Mark 12:28—31), where Jesus, in answering the scribe's question concerning the Commandments, replied that the first of them was, "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength;" and he added that the second one, equally as important, was, "Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself."

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