Centuries before the Christian era, Jeremiah prophesied: "After those days, saith the Lord, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people. And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the Lord." This prophecy is being fulfilled with the coming of Christian Science, a religion which teaches each one who turns to it how to find God for himself. "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" is the book in which Mrs. Eddy has given this new-old truth to the world, and this book makes it abundantly clear that we need no intermediary to lead us to God. The opening words of the Preface are, "To those leaning on the sustaining infinite, to-day is big with blessings," and in the next paragraph we read, "Ignorance of God is no longer the stepping-stone to faith. The only guarantee of obedience is a right apprehension of Him whom to know aright is Life eternal."

Countless people who in time of distress have turned to this book for help and have honestly sought "the right apprehension of Him" have gained a new understanding of God, a spiritual awakening, and have found their troubles turned to joy. These same people are then faced with the problem of applying this truth to their everyday living, and by and by the temptation may come to them to fall back on other people's advice, to ask their help rather than to seek to be led by God. The suggestion may present itself that experienced Christian Scientists must know better than they what is right and so it would be best to take to them the problem which has arisen. At such a time the beginner does well to remember that Jeremiah declares "all" are to be taught of God, "from the least of them unto the greatest."

Whenever we ask some person's advice instead of turning to divine Principle for help it is because we look on the experiences which come to us as ends in themselves. We are so desperately anxious to make the right move in our business, to secure the right house to live in, or the work we feel ourselves best fitted for, that we do not realize that all these things, indeed the whole of our everyday life, is just a training ground in which we may attain the "excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus" of which Paul wrote. It does not matter much what one's income is, where one is living, or what one's work is, but it does matter supremely whether or not each one is endeavoring every day to draw nearer to God, to listen more obediently for His voice, and to strive more earnestly to do His will. Simply to do the so-called right thing because others tell you to do it leads nowhere. On the contrary, it is stagnation; for whenever we depend on people we shut out God's voice and to that extent bar the way to further progress. It is the motive that counts and when we honestly and whole-heartedly desire to do right then we shall be led aright.

The Bible states clearly that each one must seek God for himself, and in Science and Health Mrs. Eddy quotes or refers to Paul's well-known admonition to the Philippians no less than eight times. For instance on page 22 she writes: "'Work out your own salvation,' is the demand of Life and Love, for to this end God worketh with you. 'Occupy till I come!' Wait for your reward, and 'be not weary in well doing.'"

It by no means follows from this that we have nothing to learn from other people's experience. Obviously, we can be of help to each other, and those who have already passed some of the pitfalls can lend a helping hand to others who follow along the same path. The right attitude toward the opinions and counsel of other people is to weigh carefully what is said to us, to try to understand the reasons which may be advanced, but to accept no advice merely out of respect for the person who gives it. With their fuller experience practitioners and teachers of Christian Science are able readily to see that this craving for human advice is merely an expression of mortal mind's desire to seek other gods. Constant watchfulness on their part is needed. They have resolutely to refuse to be put in the place of Principle. They, too, must remember that even "the least" are to be taught of God. Any student of Christian Science who finds himself quoting "my practitioner" or "my teacher" at every end and turn needs to pause and ask himself to whom he is looking for guidance. A teacher or a practitioner may have cleared away some difficulty for him by reasoning strictly on the basis of metaphysics, for this right reasoning is essential to Christian Science practice. If he has proved for himself the truth of their explanations then it becomes for him a self-evident truth and he no more needs to quote any person's authority for it than for the statement that any two sides of a triangle are always greater than the third.

All of us, whether beginners or not, may well ponder that portion of Mrs. Eddy's Message to The Mother Church sent in 1898, where she writes (Miscellany, p. 121): "Selfdenial is practical, and is not only polite to all but is pleasant to those who practise it. If one would follow the advice that one gratuitously bestows on others, this would create for one's self and for the world a destiny more grand than can issue from the brain of a dreamer. That glory only is imperishable which is fixed in one's own moral make-up."

Paul had gained the strength and spiritual joy which must come to the man who seeks out the heavenly path for himself instead of slavishly following others, and so he could write to the Ephesians, "Making mention of you in my prayers; that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him: the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints, and what is the exceeding greatness of his power to usward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power." "The spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him" can only be gained by those who earnestly desire it and constantly strive for it. If we distrust our ability to be guided by God in small, everyday matters, then how can we hope to reach that oneness with God which of old enabled the disciples of Jesus to imitate his mighty works? The only way to advance is to practice the little we have learned. We need not hesitate to take our every problem directly to God and to seek only the guidance of divine Principle, for the Bible abounds in God's promises of help. It is written in Isaiah, "Before they call, I will answer; and while they are yet speaking, I will hear."