Article January 30, 1932 Issue

"Come and dine"

JACOB BARR WILES

Christ Jesus extended to his disciples on the Galilean seaside a loving invitation when he said, "Come and dine." When in our own day our beloved Leader, Mary Baker Eddy, gave us the By-Law (Art. VIII, Sect. 14) of the Manual of The Mother Church which reads, in part, "It shall be the privilege and duty of every member, who can afford it, to subscribe for the periodicals which are the organs of this Church," she was also extending a gracious, loving invitation. Her mandatory "shall" is the "shall" of privilege; and it is spoken in the gentle manner which characterized the Master's frequent utterances.

In pondering the wide ramifications of the Christian Science movement, a student was led to analyze his own thinking in connection with the important part the periodicals played in his daily experience, and there came a clearer realization of our Leader's meaning in the above-mentioned By-Law. To own implies to use, and generally to use at once. Few there be who purchase an article intended for immediate consumption and lay it away for future use. The student realized that the same thing was true of the periodicals. To subscribe for them was not enough, since the mere act of subscribing for them did not constitute full obedience to our Leader's intention. He then reviewed the many years during which the periodicals had come into his home, and the joy and blessings which had always attended their careful and prompt perusal. Then it was that, with a newly awakened appreciation, he grasped the fuller import of the Master's loving invitation, "Come and dine," and of our revered Leader's loving effort to provide for our need for spiritual food.

To a world tempest-tossed upon the waves of fear, sin, disease, lack, greed, and animosity, comes The Christian Science Monitor with its accurate recording of world events. Within its pages, in addition to the news of the world, articles to suit the taste of its various readers can be found; and the religious article appearing in each issue on the Home Forum page serves to strengthen and spiritualize consciousness, and better equip those who thoughtfully read it for the daily tasks.

Send a comment to the editors

NEXT IN THIS ISSUE

Article

The Pool of Bethesda