Editorial February 2, 1946 Issue

Are We Praying for Enrichment?

John Randall Dunn

The newcomer to Christian Science will soon discover in the Church Manual the beautiful prayer used by all Christian Scientists: "'Thy kingdom come;' let the reign of divine Truth, Life, and Love be established in me, and rule out of me all sin; and may Thy Word enrich the affections of all mankind, and govern them!" (Manual of The Mother Church by Mary Baker Eddy, Art. VIII, Sect. 4.)

Mrs. Eddy does not merely recommend that her followers use these words or pray along these lines. She states definitely that it is the duty of every member of The Mother Church to pray thus daily. And since the true Church is to be found in the consciousness and affections of its members, is this healing evangel functioning with the Scientist who is lulled into lethargy and fails to pray daily for himself and the world?

What an amazing prayer is this! Analyze it, if you will, statement by statement, and it will be found to cover a multiplicity of human needs. Beginning with the Master's words, "Thy kingdom come," one gives voice to the innate yearning of every honest heart for harmony to supplant the unhappy, discordant presentments of the carnal mind. Then comes the expressed desire for the establishment in human consciousness of "the reign of divine Truth, Life, and Love;" and if early each morning one strives to establish his concept of day, not as a passage of twenty-four hours but as the unfolding of timeless, deathless being, what arguments of limitation, and of the bugbears of decadence, can be silenced! When spiritual truth reigns in individual consciousness, is it not a foregone conclusion that sin must be ruled out? With this clarification of thought, one may with Christian consistency pray for the enrichment of the affections of all humankind, and for their government by divine Principle.

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February 2, 1946
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