 Posted Sunday, February 10, 2008 9:10 AM
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I would greatly appreciate some insight from some of you who went further in CS than I did. My sister is going to take class instruction. I understand that when this occurs, you are supposed to keep it quiet, so that your thought can remain spiritual. Her husband is not a CS -- and he is hurt that she is shutting him out from a lot of the planning, etc. For instance, she wants our other sister to take care of her kids while she's in class -- two of my sisters are CS. My brother-in-law came to me asking about the mystery surrounding class instruction. I could only tell him it wasn't anything personal -- that CS's are taught to spiritualize their thought at this time, so I suspect a non-CS would be seen as a roadblock in this.
Can someone expand on this issue? I'd like to know what the instructions are about taking class, and letting others know. I was raised in CS, but left it before I got to the stage of considering class instruction. Any advice I can pass along to him would be appreciated -- I really didn't know what to say, and he is very hurt. Their marriage is relatively new -- my sister and I get along, but since I announced a few years ago I'd left CS, there are certain areas my two sisters discuss which do not include me.
Siobhan
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Posted Sunday, February 10, 2008 1:17 PM
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| Please assure your brother-in-law that your sister's secrecy is a CS thing, not a personal thing -- he need not take any of it personally. I attended Principia College (a college for CSists) in the 1970's. My friends and I used to assume that someone was taking class instruction if they disappeared for two weeks with no explanation. We understood that part of the secrecy involved avoiding "mental interference" from others during this important time, since CSists believe that negative thoughts can harm (you may remember the terms animal magnetism, aggressive mental suggestion, mental malpractice, etc.). I'm not sure whether the secrecy goes all the way back to Mrs. Eddy's time, but it has certainly been a practice as long I can remember. You might find it helpful to read through the thread entitled Secret Class Notes.
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Posted Sunday, February 10, 2008 5:49 PM
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Thank you so much for your reply. It confirms a lot of the information I vaguely recalled from my teens about class instruction. The one person I would have wanted as a teacher died in her late 30s from undiagnosed leukemia. Just another death to lay at CS's door.
Siobhan
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Posted Saturday, February 23, 2008 7:57 PM
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Dare I ask, without seeming to be too "materialistic", what is the going rate, required amount, or "love offering" these days for C.S. Primary Class Instruction? I'm aware that the Manual (p. 84) mentions a fee of $100. Of course, this amount was substantial in MBE's day. It obviously doesn't buy much gasoline or groceries these days. What's the going contribution to a CS teacher nowadays? I left the church before going through "class" and thus never quite became a full-fledged, class-taught CS. Please forgive my monetary curiosity.
To be fair to my CS friends, and I still have several good ones, my current Protestant Church makes a big deal of pledging to the church, urges increased donations from the pulpit during Sunday services, etc. I've sat through several years' worth of "stewardship" sermons--all of them quite similar. The "worst" I ever had in the CS Church was one brief, friendly note that the church needed a new roof, and the treasurer would lovingly receive any contributions. Therefore, I'm not being too critical of the Scientists' monetary expectations for class instruction.
Midwestern Dude
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