God’s love for His flock is manifested in His care

Suzanne Givens presented the keynote address at the 2023 Beacon Haven Annual Meeting.

Provided below is the written copy of the address that Suzanne provided.

The complete recording of Suzanne’s presentation during the meeting in 2023 is provided at the end of this post.

 

 

God’s love for His flock is manifested in His care.

There are so many proofs of God’s love all around us. Here at Beacon Haven, you don’t have to go far to see God’s love in action. Christian Science nursing is proof that God’s love is manifested in his care.

Christian Science nursing is a reflection of God’s love, but it is also more than that. It is an essential part of Love’s healing ministry.

Love. Is. God.
We’re all familiar with the definition of God in the glossary of Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy:

… The great I AM; the all-knowing, all-seeing, all-acting, all-wise, all-loving, and eternal; Principle; Mind; Soul; Spirit; Life; Truth; Love; all substance; intelligence. (587:5)

The Websters dictionary definition of God is:

the supreme or ultimate reality; the Being perfect in power, wisdom, and goodness. The incorporeal divine Principle ruling over all as eternal Spirit: infinite Mind. A being having supreme value; a powerful ruler.

So, God is “all-acting, .. all-loving,” the supreme reality; the Being perfect in power and goodness; a powerful ruler – indeed, the Supreme ruler, the only ruler.

Sometimes, as we use the word God, we can replace God with any of the synonyms for God. So if we replace the word God with the word Love, that means that, [Love] is all-acting; Love is the powerful ruler of the earth; Love is the governor of the universe.

Isn’t it good to know that we can rely on Love as a powerful ruler – as the “divine Principle ruling over all as eternal Spirit.”

Love, as God, is supreme. Love is, in the spiritual reality of things, the only presence and the only power. This is the truth because Love is Spirit.

Love is the absolute being – our absolute being. Love is almighty. Father. Supreme being. This is the truth because Love is Life.

Love is the prime mover. The universal life force. Master. This is true because Love is Principle.
In Science and Health, under the marginal heading Inexhaustible, divine love, we find one of our favorite phrases:

Divine love always has met, and always will meet every human need. (pg 494)

“… always has and always will.” Infinite, inexhaustible, divine love.

• Love which never tires.
• Love which is always energetic.
• Love which is always enthusiastic.
• Love which never changes, never dies, never lessens.
• Love which never fails.

God’s love is always reliable. And God’s love heals. We can’t do anything to lessen God’s love for us or to turn off God‘s love. We can’t do anything to separate us from Her love. Because, as the Bible says in II Corinthians, “God … hath also sealed us …” (1:22). Sealed means, “two things joined together so as to prevent them from coming apart or prevent anything from passing between them.”

Rule for Motives and Acts

In the Manual of the Mother Church, we find something very familiar to Christian Scientists: “A Rule for Motives and Acts.” It says in part:

In Science, divine Love alone governs man…

Because divine Love alone governs us, we can never be outside divine Love’s reach. (Remember, we are sealed with Her.)

And notice what the rest of the Rule for Motives and Acts says:

… a Christian Scientist reflects the sweet amenities of Love …

Amenities: something that helps to provide comfort; that which delights. (online dictionary)
I like to think of amenities as niceties; the nice things.

You and I are the full reflection of God. And because we are that full reflection, we reflect the sweet niceties of Love. Because “divine Love alone governs” us, we really can never be anything less than Love’s expression. Being the manifestation of Love, we are the all-acting of Love. Our actions are expressions of Love; our conversations and our communications are manifestations of Love. Going back to the Rule for Motives and Acts, our actions and conversations are the nice things that help to comfort.

We all know that God heals; therefore, we know that Love heals. Big “L” Love, meaning God – the divine, the infinite, the eternal – this Love heals.

We can speak of the love of Love – or the loving of Love. Big “L” Love being the doer; little “l” love being the doing. So when we speak of our thoughts, actions, and lives as manifestations of divine Love, these are the doings and the actions of Love – the “sweet amenities” of Love.

Love is the Principle of divine Science which destroys all error, disease, and death. Love is infinite – it lasts through anything. Even though the senses may be telling us otherwise, Love lasts through everything because Love is infinite. Being infinite, Love has no limits and it is immeasurable. It is ever-present. So, as the Rule for Motives and Acts states, in Science, we can never be anything less than love in our lives.

And in our Lord’s Prayer, what does it say in the spiritual interpretation? “Love is reflected in love.” Big “L” Love is reflected in little “l” love – love as it relates to humanity – as it relates to mankind; love as it lives and moves in our day-to-day lives.

So, Love is reflected in love:

Big “L” Love is the doer; little “l” love is the doing.
Big “L” Love is the thinker; little “l” love is the thinking.
Big “L” Love is the actor; little “l” love is the acting.

And, if Love is the actor, … WHO is the acting? YOU!

If Love is the thinker, who is the thinking? You.
If Love is the doer … you are the doing of love.

I’m going to repeat something I said before: in Science – or in other words, the divine law, God’s law, the only law – you and I can never be anything less than Love’s manifestation. In Science, we can never be anything less than

• … Love’s doing.
• … Love’s acting.

That’s the Truth about you and me because it has the law of God, or divine Science, behind it – the divine Principle backing it up and supporting it.

Because we are the children of Love, how might this love – the doing and the acting – show up in our lives? In what ways do the sweet niceties work in our lives? These sweet kindnesses, – the doing, the acting, the thinking of Love – how are they showing up in your life?

We’ve already established that divine Love heals. Then, your “doing” of Love, your “acting” of Love, your “thinking” of Love heals, too, just as the divine Love heals. Your caring and your kindnesses have the potential to heal when they have their roots in divine Love. So we can expect our loving and kind actions to heal when they’re based on divine love.

Love inspires us. Love settles us. Love brings the peace that is the presence of the divine Spirit.

Love is omni-action – all acting, the only acting. It motivates us – moves us forward. Love moves us into action – into loving and kind action. And every kind action we do and every loving thought that we hold, has divine Love behind it, sustaining it.

The world needs our healing love – it needs our kindnesses and our caring. Your neighborhood needs your kindnesses and your caring. Our communities need our loving and nurturing, our kindnesses and our caring.

Love is an action word. As children of Love, we are that action. We are:

• the kind action
• the loving gesture
• we are the patience that waits to bless
• the gentleness of affection

What blesses one blesses all. So as you go about your life doing these gentle niceties, who is blessed? Who benefits from your kind and loving actions? YOU do! Everyone benefits from these sweet niceties of Love, of course. But I want to stress that you do. You receive the great benefits from your loving actions.

Yes, everyone benefits from our loving and kind actions. When we are loving and kind those actions have healing ripples that permeate the atmosphere of earth and have no boundaries. So, everyone benefits from our gentle niceties – all the time – as we reflect the love of Love.

Let’s note all those who benefit from our expressing Love:

• Your family
• Your neighbor
• Your church
• Your fellow church members

Because love has no boundaries, your loving thoughts and actions in your life benefit the house next door, and the house across the street, … and the house behind you. It benefits the next street over. It benefits:

• the next state
• the grammar school in your neighborhood
• the high school down the street, … the school in the next district. And the college on the other side of town.
• Your downtown benefits
• Co-workers and colleagues
• The world benefits!
• Everyone!
  • Your enemies
  • the people you are angry with
  • the people who are angry with you!
  • those people that you are finding hard to like
  • those people who may be finding you hard to like!

Every act of love that you do and every loving thought you have helps to heal the polarization in our world. The neighbor that annoys you is blessed by the Love that is unchanging, enthusiastic, and inexhaustible. “… all whom your thoughts rest upon are thereby benefited.” (The First Church of Christ, Scientist, and Miscellany, Mary Baker Eddy, p. 210:9).

The Bible says:

“Love worketh no ill to his neighbour: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.” Rom 13:10

Because Love is God, Love is Truth. Love is the truth about you and me. Love is the truth about creation. Love is the truth about our neighbors. Love is the truth about our enemies. Love is the global truth.

Anytime you are kind and caring, you are in God’s personal service – you are in Her healing ministry. “Anyone who leads a life of love is joined to God. And God is joined to them.” (New International Version)

Being loving is giving thanks to God.

The Bible also says: “I will put my law in their inward parts.” (Jer. 31:33) Do you know what that means? That means that you are hard-wired to Love. You are always connected to the source. Love’s live-wired actions are constantly being supplied to you.

The world needs those healing currents of your ministry! Everyone needs the benefit of your loving life. Our neighborhoods, our schools, our colleges, our churches, and our cities need your kind, embracing, and caring, sweet niceties of Love.

Go! Send out those healing currents of Love!

I’d like to close with a benediction from the Bible, The New Century Version.

“… I pray that Christ will live in your hearts by faith and that your life will be strong in love and be built on love. And I pray that you and all God’s holy people will have the power to understand the greatness of Christ’s love—how wide and how long and how high and how deep that love is. Christ’s love is greater than anyone can ever know, but I pray that you will be able to know that love. Then, you can be filled with the fullness of God.” (Ephesians)

AMEN!

WATCH THE VIDEO RECORDING OF SUZANNE’S KEYNOTE ADDRESS AT THE 2023 BEACON HAVEN ANNUAL MEETING