[A paper read before the Christian Science Literature Distribution Committee of The Mother Church by William R. Rathvon]

In its higher sense our literature distribution work is Christianly scientific service. It is giving without waiting to be asked; it is seeking our own in another's good; it is sowing seed by the wayside that the harvest may be reaped by hands unknown. It is launching our reassuring messages in the stream of human consciousness; and who is there that can measure how far they may travel or know the ports they may enter!

Every piece of Christian Science literature that is intelligently distributed becomes a missionary, and each Christian Science Literature Distribution Committee is a home and foreign mission society that daily sends out thousands of paper delegates, each one of which is silently carrying a message of "on earth peace, good will toward men."

The hundreds of tons of white paper which annually pass through the great presses of The Christian Science Publishing Society, and are then folded and bound into the familiar forms of our periodicals, verily overspread the face of the earth. I like to think of them as a fleet sailing the seven seas of human experience, each unit bearing healing with it. If it were possible for these units to sail back home and tell the tale of their adventures, what wondrous stories we would hear of sickness healed and health restored, of sin destroyed and righteousness evoked, of sorrow dispelled and joy enthroned! Doubtless you have learned of many such stories that have resulted from the work of committees such as yours, stories of how these messengers of Truth found their way into the hands of those who were unconsciously reaching out for the very words of hope, comfort, and good cheer they unexpectedly received. While we may hear of comparatively few, we may know they are many.

I have sometimes thought what a wonderful library of appealing and convincing testimonials of the power of divine Love could be compiled if it were possible to record the innumerable instances of Mind-healing that have followed the casual reading of the literature which is being daily distributed by workers like yourselves. And what a congregation could be assembled if it were possible to call together all who now attend our church services, who first were drawn to Christian Science by what they read in a piece of our literature which is being so liberally broadcast that the wayfaring man may read, and reading may be healed!

The belief of limitation, which would enter and assert itself in every worthy line of human endeavor, should have no place in your undertakings. You are helping to build up the greatest business of modern times, a business that has every Christianized nation as its customer; a business that keeps no books, but gives away goods "without money and without price;" a business that never advertises; a business that has thousands of employees, but no payroll, whose profits are enormous yet which never takes in a dollar. No other activity can be found in any country to-day which is more truly labor labor of love than the work of the Christian Science Distribution Committees wherever they may be.

So, let the horizon of your expectations extend from north to south, from east to west, never circumscribed nor limited by zone or zenith. No one has a right, even in thought, to limit the good that may follow a sincere and fearless effort to do good. Who is there that can say of this Monitor or of that Sentinel, when it passes through your hands, that it will go no farther than the neighborhood in which it is deposited, or that it will reach but one or two? It may be carried halfway around the world and be handed from one reader to another until it is well worn out, quietly doing its quota of good wherever it goes.

Regard with respect, then, each unassuming emissary of Christian Science that passes through your hands; respect it for its potentialities for good, its possibilities as the vehicle chosen of God for bringing a knowledge of the kingdom of heaven to some hungering heart somewhere.

There is one feature of your service about which I should like to speak to you, and I regard it as most important. I allude to the mental side of your work, the thought with which you surround it, the scientific realization you bring into it. Our Leader has impressed upon us the dynamic force that lies in right thinking; that every action, every undertaking, every plan or business may be brought into accord with divine Love in the proportion that we invest it with thoughts of Life, Truth, and Love. Here, then, do we find in the work you are doing wonderful opportunities for fortifying and equipping every piece of literature that passes through your hands with a power for good that will endow it with blessings, protect it from interference, and direct it aright to its destination.

If you send with it a healing thought, it will be welcome at the bedside of sickness. If you enfold in it a thought of love, it will reflect Love. If you attach to it something of gratitude, it will antidote dismal discouragement. If you wrap with it joy and good cheer, those who are cast down will find it easier to look upward and step onward. And above all, if you will accompany each piece of literature that you handle with some realization of the omnipotence, omniscience, and omnipresence of divine Mind, you will be doing God's service by bringing more of heaven to many, so that it may be truly said in the words of the prophet, "The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light."

You will do well to look upon your membership in the Distribution Committee of The Mother Church not merely as a duty, but as affording a privilege and an opportunity; the privilege of being an active element in the great structure known as the Christian Science movement, and an opportunity for doing good by bringing to your fellow-man those words of peace and joy and comfort that suffering humanity is longing to hear.

If in your work the arguments of drudgery or irksome routine intrude into your thought, dismiss them as the suggestions of error, and be grateful that you can see that you are blessed by being the means of bringing blessings to others, even though your part in this benefaction consists, to mortal sense, merely in the mechanical work of handling papers and periodicals, or leaving them where you are directed. Reverse sense-testimony in this regard by no longer thinking of every piece of Christian Science literature merely as so much paper and ink, but as winged messengers whose healing ministrations are not circumscribed.

Although there were no organized Literature Distribution Committees in our Leader's time, as there are now, yet the idea of widespread dissemination originated with her and was fostered by her. In the early days of Christian Science, the only literature relating to it was the textbook itself, "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures." We had no Journals, no Sentinels, no Heralds, no Monitors, no minor writings or other means of presenting to the world the teachings of this new-old religion: the textbook was our only ambassador. Mrs. Eddy, recognizing the importance of wide circulation, instructed us to see that Science and Health found its way to as many promising recipients as we could reach. It was not by any means free distribution either. We were expected to sell it. While giving to the Bible its rightful place, we became book agents with but one book to sell; and in the eyes of the world we have been a people of one book ever since! When the average man of to-day thinks of another as a Christian Scientist, a certain book comes into his thought—Science and Health.

When the first of our periodicals, the Journal, was placed in the eager hands of our Leader's waiting followers, distribution gained a new impetus; for here was something that could be given away. And when, in turn, the Sentinel appeared, followed in due course by the Monitor, the extent of literature distribution seemed boundless, and the present organized orderly methods of distribution came into existence.

It was my inestimable privilege to be a member of our Leader's household for more than two years. In my daily, intimate association with her I had abundant opportunity to observe her interest in giving publicity to whatever could be rightly called authorized Christian Science literature. She was exacting in her directions to our lecturers to have their lectures printed whenever possible, and distributed far and wide. I recall one instance where she authorized the purchase of a special edition of a certain daily newspaper of prominence, which contained a Christian Science lecture that she wanted widely circulated. At another time she directed a certain editorial entitled "Evil is not Power," to be reproduced as a leaflet in such quantities that loyal workers throughout the whole field were liberally supplied with them, and were expected to distribute them personally.

I recall an interesting incident that occurred during a lecture tour in Australia, where the railroads at times run through great sections of thinly settled country. As we passed occasional gangs of laborers repairing the tracks, I noticed they called aloud to us. What they wanted I could not at first understand. When it was explained later that they were calling, "Papers, papers," as our train rolled by, I saw that here was a chance for literature distribution that I could not afford to neglect. So, afterwards, while I was in that country I carried with me a good supply of our literature to toss to these print-hungry fellows in those far-away places. Such methods, although primitive, bore their share of fruit, and had their place in the development of our present effective and widely known literature distribution work.

Now, in closing, let me say a word or two to you not as a Director of The Mother Church to the members of its Literature Distribution Committee, but as one Christian Scientist to another. Do not become forgetful of our Leader; keep her memory ever green. Think of her not merely as a majestic figure of the past, but as an enduing influence for good. Love her for what she has done for you. Emulate her consecration; exemplify her wisdom, her vision, and her courage. Honor her for her unwavering devotion to the supreme object of her life: to show mankind that the way to salvation and health lies in the realization of the supremacy of Spirit over every so-called material condition. Think of her in terms not of the past but of the present. See her as speaking to you now through her books and her other writings, which need no date, for their truths can never grow old.

Mrs. Eddy has left us stores of riches from her pen for our enlightenment and instruction, one of which, rich in expression and vast in comprehensiveness I would give to you as I close. You will find it on page 496 of our textbook. It reads, "Hold perpetually this thought,—that it is the spiritual idea, the Holy Ghost and Christ, which enables you to demonstrate, with scientific certainty, the rule of healing, based upon its divine Principle, Love, underlying, overlying, and encompassing all true being."