In the Christian Science Bible Lesson July 11, 2011 Issue

Living the good life

For the lesson titled "Life" from July 11–17, 2011

By Kathy Fitzer

To experience the genuinely good life— the constant goodness of God’s blessings—we must “choose life.” This week’s Bible Lesson, titled “Life,” shows us how: “Love the Lord thy God, . . . walk in his ways, . . . [and] keep his commandments” (Deut. 30:16, Section I, citation 5). 

This statement from Science and Health provides structure for the Lesson: “Man is not a pendulum [see Sect. II], swinging between evil and good [Sect. III], joy and sorrow [Sect. IV], sickness and health [Sect. V], life and death [Sect. VI]” (p. 246, cit. 4). 

Humanly, life appears to consist of ups and downs—days and nights. But God is unchanging. There are no pendulum-like highs and lows. There is no aging nor decline—just the daily revealing of good. God doesn’t know time. God makes no distinction between “one day” and “a thousand years” (II Peter 3:8, cit. 6). And a related passage in Science and Health says that “. . . Mind measures time according to the good that is unfolded” (p. 584, cit. 9). Life that is of God doesn’t include cycles of light (day) and darkness (night). Mind, Life, knows only the consistency of light. As light destroys darkness, the light of God destroys sickness and reveals health.