Responsive Reading: Psalm 89 : 5, 6, 8, 9, 11, 12, 15-17

5.     The heavens shall praise thy wonders, O Lord: thy faithfulness also in the congregation of the saints.

6.     For who in the heaven can be compared unto the Lord?

8.     O Lord God of hosts, who is a strong Lord like unto thee? or to thy faithfulness round about thee?

9.     Thou rulest the raging of the sea: when the waves thereof arise, thou stillest them.

11.     The heavens are thine, the earth also is thine: as for the world and the fulness thereof, thou hast founded them.

12.     The north and the south thou hast created them.

15.     Blessed is the people that know the joyful sound: they shall walk, O Lord, in the light of thy countenance.

16.     In thy name shall they rejoice all the day: and in thy righteousness shall they be exalted.

17.     For thou art the glory of their strength: and in thy favour our horn shall be exalted.

1. Psalm 19 : 1, 2

1 The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork.

2 Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night sheweth knowledge.

2. Genesis 1 : 1, 26-28, 31 (to 1st .)

1     In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.

26     And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.

27     So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.

28     And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.

31     And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good.

3. Job 12 : 7 (ask)-10

7     …ask now the beasts, and they shall teach thee; and the fowls of the air, and they shall tell thee:

8     Or speak to the earth, and it shall teach thee: and the fishes of the sea shall declare unto thee.

9     Who knoweth not in all these that the hand of the Lord hath wrought this?

10     In whose hand is the soul of every living thing, and the breath of all mankind.

4. Joshua 1 : 1 (it)-3, 5, 10

1     …it came to pass, that the Lord spake unto Joshua the son of Nun, Moses’ minister, saying,

2     Moses my servant is dead; now therefore arise, go over this Jordan, thou, and all this people, unto the land which I do give to them, even to the children of Israel.

3     Every place that the sole of your foot shall tread upon, that have I given unto you, as I said unto Moses.

5     There shall not any man be able to stand before thee all the days of thy life: as I was with Moses, so I will be with thee: I will not fail thee, nor forsake thee.

10     Then Joshua commanded the officers of the people, saying,

5. Joshua 3 : 5 (Sanctify)-7, 15, 16 (to 1st :), 17

5     …Sanctify yourselves: for to morrow the Lord will do wonders among you.

6     And Joshua spake unto the priests, saying, Take up the ark of the covenant, and pass over before the people. And they took up the ark of the covenant, and went before the people.

7     And the Lord said unto Joshua, This day will I begin to magnify thee in the sight of all Israel, that they may know that, as I was with Moses, so I will be with thee.

15     And as they that bare the ark were come unto Jordan, and the feet of the priests that bare the ark were dipped in the brim of the water, (for Jordan overfloweth all his banks all the time of harvest,)

16     That the waters which came down from above stood and rose up upon an heap very far from the city Adam, that is beside Zaretan:

17     And the priests that bare the ark of the covenant of the Lord stood firm on dry ground in the midst of Jordan, and all the Israelites passed over on dry ground, until all the people were passed clean over Jordan.

6. Psalm 114 : 1-8

1     When Israel went out of Egypt, the house of Jacob from a people of strange language;

2     Judah was his sanctuary, and Israel his dominion.

3     The sea saw it, and fled: Jordan was driven back.

4     The mountains skipped like rams, and the little hills like lambs.

5     What ailed thee, O thou sea, that thou fleddest? thou Jordan, that thou wast driven back?

6     Ye mountains, that ye skipped like rams; and ye little hills, like lambs?

7     Tremble, thou earth, at the presence of the Lord, at the presence of the God of Jacob;

8     Which turned the rock into a standing water, the flint into a fountain of waters.

7. Mark 3 : 7 (Jesus)-10 (to ;)

7     …Jesus withdrew himself with his disciples to the sea: and a great multitude from Galilee followed him, and from Judæa,

8     And from Jerusalem, and from Idumæa, and from beyond Jordan; and they about Tyre and Sidon, a great multitude, when they had heard what great things he did, came unto him.

9     And he spake to his disciples, that a small ship should wait on him because of the multitude, lest they should throng him.

10     For he had healed many;

8. Mark 4 : 35-41

35     And the same day, when the even was come, he saith unto them, Let us pass over unto the other side.

36     And when they had sent away the multitude, they took him even as he was in the ship. And there were also with him other little ships.

37     And there arose a great storm of wind, and the waves beat into the ship, so that it was now full.

38     And he was in the hinder part of the ship, asleep on a pillow: and they awake him, and say unto him, Master, carest thou not that we perish?

39     And he arose, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, Peace, be still. And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm.

40     And he said unto them, Why are ye so fearful? how is it that ye have no faith?

41     And they feared exceedingly, and said one to another, What manner of man is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?

9. Psalm 24 : 1, 2, 10 (to 1st .)

1     The earth is the Lord’s, and the fulness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein.

2     For he hath founded it upon the seas, and established it upon the floods.

10     Who is this King of glory? The Lord of hosts, he is the King of glory.

1. 295 : 5-8

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.

2. 102 : 13 (man)-15

…man, reflecting God's power, has dominion over all the earth and its hosts.

3. 69 : 6-10, 13-16

Mortals can never understand God's creation while believing that man is a creator. God's children already created will be cognized only as man finds the truth of being. Thus it is that the real, ideal man appears in proportion as the false and material disappears. … Spiritually to understand that there is but one creator, God, unfolds all creation, confirms the Scriptures, brings the sweet assurance of no parting, no pain, and of man deathless and perfect and eternal.

4. 124 : 14-31

The universe, like man, is to be interpreted by Science from its divine Principle, God, and then it can be understood; but when explained on the basis of physical sense and represented as subject to growth, maturity, and decay, the universe, like man, is, and must continue to be, an enigma.

Adhesion, cohesion, and attraction are properties of Mind. They belong to divine Principle, and support the equipoise of that thought-force, which launched the earth in its orbit and said to the proud wave, "Thus far and no farther."

Spirit is the life, substance, and continuity of all things. We tread on forces. Withdraw them, and creation must collapse. Human knowledge calls them forces of matter; but divine Science declares that they belong wholly to divine Mind, are inherent in this Mind, and so restores them to their rightful home and classification.

5. 209 : 10-24

The world would collapse without Mind, without the intelligence which holds the winds in its grasp. Neither philosophy nor skepticism can hinder the march of the Science which reveals the supremacy of Mind. The immanent sense of Mind-power enhances the glory of Mind. Nearness, not distance, lends enchantment to this view.

The compounded minerals or aggregated substances composing the earth, the relations which constituent masses hold to each other, the magnitudes, distances, and revolutions of the celestial bodies, are of no real importance, when we remember that they all must give place to the spiritual fact by the translation of man and the universe back into Spirit. In proportion as this is done, man and the universe will be found harmonious and eternal.

6. 192 : 11-26

Erring power is a material belief, a blind miscalled force, the offspring of will and not of wisdom, of the mortal mind and not of the immortal. It is the headlong cataract, the devouring flame, the tempest's breath. It is lightning and hurricane, all that is selfish, wicked, dishonest, and impure.

Moral and spiritual might belong to Spirit, who holds the "wind in His fists;" and this teaching accords with Science and harmony. In Science, you can have no power opposed to God, and the physical senses must give up their false testimony. Your influence for good depends upon the weight you throw into the right scale. The good you do and embody gives you the only power obtainable. Evil is not power. It is a mockery of strength, which erelong betrays its weakness and falls, never to rise.

7. 134 : 26-10

Jesus said: "I knew that Thou hearest me always;" and he raised Lazarus from the dead, stilled the tempest, healed the sick, walked on the water. There is divine authority for believing in the superiority of spiritual power over material resistance.

A miracle fulfils God's law, but does not violate that law. This fact at present seems more mysterious than the miracle itself. The Psalmist sang: "What ailed thee, O thou sea, that thou fleddest? Thou Jordan, that thou wast driven back? Ye mountains, that ye skipped like rams, and ye little hills, like lambs? Tremble, thou earth, at the presence of the Lord, at the presence of the God of Jacob." The miracle introduces no disorder, but unfolds the primal order, establishing the Science of God's unchangeable law. Spiritual evolution alone is worthy of the exercise of divine power.

8. 507 : 15-8

The universe of Spirit reflects the creative power of the divine Principle, or Life, which reproduces the multitudinous forms of Mind and governs the multiplication of the compound idea man. The tree and herb do not yield fruit because of any propagating power of their own, but because they reflect the Mind which includes all. A material world implies a mortal mind and man a creator. The scientific divine creation declares immortal Mind and the universe created by God.

Infinite Mind creates and governs all, from the mental molecule to infinity. This divine Principle of all expresses Science and art throughout His creation, and the immortality of man and the universe. Creation is ever appearing, and must ever continue to appear from the nature of its inexhaustible source. Mortal sense inverts this appearing and calls ideas material. Thus misinterpreted, the divine idea seems to fall to the level of a human or material belief, called mortal man. But the seed is in itself, only as the divine Mind is All and reproduces all — as Mind is the multiplier, and Mind's infinite idea, man and the universe, is the product. The only intelligence or substance of a thought, a seed, or a flower is God, the creator of it. Mind is the Soul of all. Mind is Life, Truth, and Love which governs all.

9. 240 : 1-9

Nature voices natural, spiritual law and divine Love, but human belief misinterprets nature. Arctic regions, sunny tropics, giant hills, winged winds, mighty billows, verdant vales, festive flowers, and glorious heavens, — all point to Mind, the spiritual intelligence they reflect. The floral apostles are hieroglyphs of Deity. Suns and planets teach grand lessons. The stars make night beautiful, and the leaflet turns naturally towards the light.

10. 471 : 18-20

God is infinite, therefore ever present, and there is no other power nor presence. Hence the spirituality of the universe is the only fact of creation.