Article September 16, 1933 Issue

The Christian Science Reading Room

ISMILDA M. PRESLEY

The Christian Science Reading Room is a quiet sanctuary, wherein seekers can realize that the angels of God's presence minister to each individual need. Study and silent communion with God constitute the feast awaiting him who visits these rooms, and he who partakes of this spiritual food will not go away unfed. Indeed, the reader will carry away the feeling that he has gained something of the sacred quietness of His habitation.

Mary Baker Eddy, the Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science, has done a great service for mankind in her teaching concerning prayer. Referring to Christ Jesus' instruction, "But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly," she writes on page 15 of "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures": "To enter into the heart of prayer, the door of the erring senses must be closed. Lips must be mute and materialism silent, that man may have audience with Spirit, the divine Principle, Love, which destroys all error." Partaking of the spiritual ideas which come to thought in this silent communion, one cannot help but reap abundant fruitage. Ideas bring their own visible results. Because they have their origin in God, divine Principle, these ideas are obedient to the law of God. The illusion of sense is left outside the sanctuary of silent prayer.

Thus, when we come to the Christian Science Reading Room looking for relief from loneliness, we may discover the very presence of Love, the blessed companionship of God. When we come in search of relief from suffering, we are abundantly supplied with the health-giving assurances of the truth. When we come looking for relief from poverty and lack, we find the abundance of His ideas revealed in the Bible, in the Christian Science textbook and Mrs. Eddy's other writings, and in the periodicals, including The Christian Science Monitor—all these silent missionaries welcoming us with the glad message, "Cast thy burden upon the Lord." In proportion as we realize the presence of God, human ills dissolve. We then go on our way rejoicing, carrying with us the glad message of refreshment.

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