Article December 26, 1914 Issue

Profiting by Opportunity

JOHN H. HISTED

Great thanks are due Mrs. Eddy for her loving foresight in providing so many means by which to aid students of Christian Science in their search after Truth, and to enable them to progress in understanding with the greatest possible speed and thoroughness. Those who are not able to attend the church services are not debarred from worshiping God; for even if we are many miles away from any Christian Science church edifice, we can, by the aid of the Quarterly, read and study the same Lesson-Sermon which is being read to thousands of others at the same time all over the world. God is ever present, and will reveal Himself to the ranchman reading it alone on the wide stretches of the prairie, just as surely as He will to the great congregations of our cities. Many of the lectures are also published in pamphlet form, and besides the Bible, and Science and Health and the other works of Mrs. Eddy, we have the Journal, the Sentinel, and the Monitor, with our other literature, to afford us reading matter, any of which can be read or borrowed at the Christian Science reading-rooms.

It is evident that hearty appreciation is felt by Christian Scientists all over the world for the able endeavors of the Publishing Society, the Board of Directors, and the Board of Lectureship. The Sunday services, the Wednesday evening meetings, and especially the lectures, are as a rule attended by large audiences. The attendance at the reading-rooms is relatively small, and for the reason in part that the privileges there offered are not realized or appreciated as a whole. Blessings are sometimes lost sight of because we fail to perceive what is within our immediate reach. The writer was brought to see some opportunities afforded by the reading-room, and having taken advantage of them and been greatly helped and blessed thereby, would like others to profit by his experience; and this hope prompts the present writing.

It is not so difficult for us to realize our spiritual existence when we are at home in the morning or evening with Science and Health and the Bible open before us; but it is during the day, when we are surrounded on every hand by seeming materiality, that we are most in need of wisdom and guidance. It is at such a time that our faith and our understanding of Truth are tested. We are judged by our actions, and if we would be true to our convictions, our actions must correspond with our professions. In the midst of the rush and bustle of a busy day we long for a few moments to clear our consciousness of mortal thoughts, to gain a fresh realization of God's presence, and to become renewed with the spirit of love that for the time may seem to be lost. For many of us the reading-room might be the avenue for substantial aid at such a time of need. Ten to fifteen minutes thus spent every noon hour would help a great deal toward solving any problem of the morning and clearing the vision to meet the problems of the afternoon. We cannot all avail ourselves of this privilege, but in so far as we can, it is well worth our while; and many more surely would avail themselves of this opportunity if they knew of the blessings they are missing.

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