Address By Miss Margaret Morrison, Second Reader of The Mother Church

In order to talk clearly of the work of the Monitor Circulation Committee, or of any work for The Christian Science Monitor, we must begin with some appreciation of our Leader's high vision for the Monitor. We must approach an understanding of the grandeur of her purpose in establishing that important organ of The Mother Church.

It is never amiss to remind ourselves of some of the steps leading up to its establishment, that we may keep before us the ways in which our Leader worked—her vision, her consecration, her patience, her courage, her wisdom, her fortitude, her compassion, her love-lit friendliness, her self-surrender to Principle. She is our Leader; so let us make her ways our ways. As we do, we shall find all our ways improving; our individual lives will improve. Our methods of promoting our Monitor will improve. They will become wiser, more intelligent, more spiritualized, more in keeping with its character and purpose, until our newspaper will have become self-supporting because fully supported by Principle.

As we all know, it was in 1883 that Mrs. Eddy first wrote of the necessity for a newspaper "edited and published by the Christian Scientists" (Miscellaneous Writings, p. 4).

It would be a paper that would not weigh down "mortal thought with material beliefs" (ibid.,p. 5), that would not give more thought "to material illusions than to spiritual facts" (ibid.,p. 8). The time was not ripe then for the daily paper; therefore, to meet the necessity of that time, The Christian Science Journal was established, that Journal which, Mrs. Eddy says (ibid., p. 285), "will hold high the banner of Truth and Love, and be impartial and impersonal in its tenor and tenets." Further progress brought further necessity, and the Christian Science Sentinel was next sent forth to meet that necessity. Each of the periodicals by continuously publishing the good news of Truth was preparing the way for a daily newspaper that would be a friendly newspaper, publishing news of good things.

May I say a further historical word or two, again, to remind ourselves of the consecrated work that went into the establishment of The Christian Science Monitor? You are all familiar with the letter written by Mrs. Eddy to the Board of Trustees on August 8, 1908, requesting them to start a daily newspaper at once, and giving it its name, but I do not believe that any of us fully realize just what that meant. I should like to give just one or two examples of obstacles to be overcome and necessary work to be accomplished. In the first place, a building had to be erected to house the new enterprise. This meant demolishing the building adjoining the Publishing House and putting the new building in its place. This old building was fully occupied by tenants, some of whom were on their summer vacations. They had to be reached, and consent obtained to cancel leases. This was accomplished in perfect harmony, and with as much speed as was possible in those days of transportation much slower than that of today. This was no small accomplishment!

Perhaps one of the greatest achievements was that of acquiring the necessary printing presses. I talked not long ago with one of those who went at that time to the maker of presses to order the new ones needed. He told me something of the difficulty they had in convincing the manufacturer that he could make the presses they required in three months instead of the six months which he declared were absolutely necessary. He was finally persuaded that he need not be governed by past experiences, that he could abandon his limitations and attempt what he declared was impossible. The presses were completed and installed in three months. We can appreciate the feelings of those faithful workers when we hear of the tears of gratitude that flowed when they heard the first sound of those presses at work.

One might go on indefinitely telling of obstacles overcome, but there is not time. In three months from the date of Mrs. Eddy's letter this truly stupendous task was completed, and on November 25, 1908, the first edition of The Christian Science Monitor was issued. It was not an ordinary edition, but an extraordinary Thanksgiving edition, proving to the world that, as Matthew Arnold has said, "There is a power not ourselves, which works for righteousness."

Let us, then, keep clear the great purpose our Leader had for The Christian Science Monitor and the method of her activities, and let us emulate the great fellowship of work which animated those who helped launch it on its way. Mrs. Eddy left The Christian Science Monitor to us to carry it on in increased dignity, power, and prestige. Each one of us may say: "It is my Monitor," and question, "How best may I help to keep it up to its highest standard?" Perhaps we can love it more truly by curbing our secret criticism and sending our constructive criticism to those in authority, when it seems to fall short of our ideals, and by insisting upon seeing mentally the perfect model where sense would have us see imperfections. It is somewhat like a young child growing up. Do not overlook its faults, but do not be impatient with its growth. If we love it wisely and understandingly, it will continually grow in grace and become to the world more and more what our Leader intended it to be—enlightening, encouraging, comforting, and inspiring.

Divine Mind directs the circulation of The Christian Science Monitor. It does so through its own divine qualities and ideas. All human ways and means used to promote circulation must be governed by and imbued with these qualities and ideas in order to be fruitful.

Mrs. Eddy taught us the Science of being. That is why so much care is always taken that the Science of being shall not be lost in the mechanics of doing, but that our doing shall be the outcome of our being. The Monitor Circulation activity is an experience within one's own consciousness, not something outside, and it will reflect that of which we are conscious. It is necessary, then, continually to increase our consciousness of good and of the truth about The Christian Science Monitor. The good we are seeking to demonstrate is already the established fact, or it could never be demonstrated. Our business is to keep a clear vision of this fact, undimmed by material sense testimony. Our textbook reassures us when it says (Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy, p. 207), "The spiritual reality is the scientific fact in all things."

A student of Christian Science at one time watched with loving interest the erection of a Christian Science church edifice, following the construction each step of the way up to the completion of its beautiful dome. When the building was completed, he learned a great lesson from the fact that that which supported the dome, and, in fact, the entire structure, was unseen. So we may learn this lesson about the Church of Christ, Scientist, and its activities. That which truly supports every church, every activity of every church, every committee, and every individual member of every committee is unseen, like the leaven which the woman took and hid in three measures of meal. It is the Christ, Truth, or the Science of Christ, of which our Leader speaks, on page 118 of Science and Health, as "hidden in sacred secrecy from the visible world." Then, the question always is, How consecratedly am I, as an individual Christian Scientist, truly supporting the Cause of Christian Science, including The Christian Science Monitor, by cultivating, obeying, and protecting the true sense of spiritual being, which is my true individuality? Mrs. Eddy speaks of it as the "unseen individuality." On page 37 of "Unity of Good" she says, "Existing here and now, this unseen individuality is real and eternal." May not this "unseen individuality" be likened to the steel support of the material structure? And shall we not consciously maintain it as it is, brightly polished, truly tempered with love, honesty, and sacred purpose? While it is necessary to do specific preparatory work for our committee activity, the daily, hourly cultivation of the divine qualities of Mind, our "unseen individuality" is our true preparation for all fruitful work.

May I mention four qualities of thought that may prove especially helpful in this work? These are enthusiasm, energy, alertness, and joyfulness of heart.

One of the definitions of enthusiasm in the dictionary is "inspiration by a divine power." If we keep this definition in mind, we shall not allow our enthusiasm to become that zeal of which St. Paul speaks as "not according to knowledge," but our zeal will always be tempered by wisdom and loving consideration. It will be the outcome of our true appreciation of the grandeur of our Cause, the sublimity of its mission, and of the blessings it bestows on mankind through our newspaper. As there is true growth Spiritward, true understanding of the bliss of spiritual living, there will be an ever-increasing enthusiasm, an ever-deepening joy, accompanied by clearer judgment and higher wisdom. Let us watch that we do not become like the Laodiceans, against whom the charge of lukewarmness was made, for they were found "neither cold nor hot." Increased understanding of our Christian Science Monitor must bring increased enthusiasm for wise and effective means of increasing its circulation. Keep your wise and joyous enthusiasm alive.

When we speak of energy as one of the qualities of Mind to be cultivated, we are, of course, not referring to that material energy which too often ultimates in what our Leader speaks of as "rushing around smartly," and which she says "is no proof of accomplishing much" (Miscellaneous Writings, p. 230). We mean that energy of which Mrs. Eddy speaks on page 445 of Science and Health, where she says, "Christian Science silences human will, quiets fear with Truth and Love, and illustrates the unlabored motion of the divine energy in healing the sick." And again, on pages 8 and10 of the Message to The Mother Church for 1902, she says: "The energy that saves sinners and heals the sick is divine: and Love is the Principle thereof." "Utilizing the capacities of the human mind uncovers new ideas, unfolds spiritual forces, the divine energies, and their power over matter, molecule, space, time, mortality." Is not this energy the best remedy we can find for two of the most persistent arguments of personal sense—procrastination and lack of time: for those whispers that come so frequently, "I think I'll wait until tomorrow," or, perhaps, "next Tuesday," or "next Thursday," to do this particular work. "I'm sure I'll feel more like it then;" or, perhaps, "I really haven't time to take care of that Monitor work today. There is so much 'rushing around smartly' to be done." Then is the time to sit down quietly and question our motives and desires. It is the time to realize more clearly the important part we may play in the great purpose of bringing enlightenment and healing to mankind; the time to reconsecrate our lives to unselfed service. Then we shall exercise that ability which, as Mrs. Eddy says (Miscellaneous Writings, p. 97), Truth understood gives to man "to rise above the evidence of the senses, take hold of the eternal energies of Truth, and destroy mortal discord with immortal harmony,—the grand verities of being." With this spiritual energy, which our Leader assures us cannot wear out, we shall go forth to our work without postponement by either lack of time, courage, or desire, and we shall carry on our work without any sense of fatigue or wearisome routine. As a result, our individual living will be transformed by the divine energies of Spirit, and this transformation will be reflected in our work for the Monitor.

In considering the first two qualities of thought it has been made plain how great a necessity there is for alertness, to see that we be not robbed by the mesmeric claims of personal sense. That alertness we need to take with us as we go about our Monitor work, making sure we are not tricked into giving power to the arguments of indifference, antagonism, or active opposition. Let us remember that man loves good and desires good, and let us endeavor to reach him through the good he already knows and never try to force upon him a good he may not, as yet, understand. We may be strengthened by knowing that a divine idea of love from the divine Mind is God with us, and has all the power of God to remove suppositional opposition to itself.

Who in all the world has such cause for joyfulness of heart as a Christian Scientist? For has not the truth of his being been revealed to him, that now he is the expression of divine goodness, inseparable from that Mind which is continuously expressing itself in strength and peace, intelligence and goodness? Does he not know that, as an expression of Mind, he is one with the source of all joy—that joy which the Master said "no man taketh from you"? He realizes that joy is a quality of Mind, just as independent of material conditions as any other Christian virtue; that it is a moral demand, and the natural status of man. There cannot be any such thing as a joyless Christian Scientist. Cherish joy in your life, and so in your work. As a good Christian Scientist has said: "It makes loving easy. The glad heart always has good resisting power against the assaults of mental malpractice. To be full of joy is to have a defense impregnable."

Going out, thus, to work with good rather than against evil, we shall have faith in our own work in proportion to our faith in good; and faith is much needed in our work. We need an active, vital, shining, doubt-resisting faith—the faith that is a radiant of spiritual understanding, of clear, vigorous vision. With our hearts filled with this faith and joy in good, we are armed, indeed, with the shield that quenches "all the fiery darts of the wicked."

Do not be afraid of being too spiritually minded. Christ Jesus was the most spiritually-minded man ever known, and at the same time the most practical of all men. There is nothing so practical as true spirituality. "And scientific growth admits of no emasculation, no illusive vision, no dreamy absentness" (Miscellaneous Writings, p. 206). No enterprise is so truly and lastingly successful as that which is founded upon and governed by Principle. No intelligence is so alert and far-reaching as that which God bestows. This intelligence is not born of worldly wisdom, nor is it the result of worldly experience—witness the experience of our workers with the makers of printing presses; but it is the intelligence that is a reflection of that divine intelligence which our textbook defines (p. 469) as "omniscience, omnipresence, and omnipotence." It is that wisdom which cometh from above and "is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy."

It is to be remembered that work on the Monitor Circulation Committee is never a matter of personal achievement, or personal success in obtaining many subscriptions. It is not even an attempt to prove that the "devils are subject unto us." It is an opportunity to know that "your names are written in heaven," that your natures are derived from heaven, from divine Mind. Therefore, you, reflecting your divine nature, are a blessing and carry a blessing of healing with you wherever you go. This reflected power that comes because of an understanding of God must serve to bless not only The Christian Science Monitor, but all with whom you come in contact. Subscriptions will follow.

Studying carefully and obeying our Leader's instructions in her published writings, let us know ourselves and The Christian Science Monitor as individually under her leadership now. Then, as did she, we shall meekly follow the way of our Master, the greatest of metaphysicians, Christ Jesus, and carry The Christian Science Monitor along with us in this way of enlightenment and healing.

Address by Roland R. Harrison, Manager of The Christian Science Publishing Society, and Member of the Monitor Editorial Board

Never before in the history of mankind have the people of all nations sought so anxiously for the answer to the turmoil, discord, wars, and threats of war in the world. Christian Science furnishes that answer, and today we are going to consider the indispensable part The Christian Science Monitor plays in bringing it to humanity. Also we shall ask ourselves, Are we helping to send this messenger forth on its healing mission with the full measure of love, support, and prayer that it deserves and requires? Are we fully aware of its holy purpose, its inestimable value as a Christian peace emissary, and of the world's dire need for the truth it presents?

A leading and thoughtful publisher of the country has declared that the present world crisis is a "crisis in journalism." Speaking of the new forces operating in some of the nations today, he said: "They corrupt the mind from within. They suppress the truth. . . . "

The publisher also pointed out that here in America influences other than service to the public are to a regrettable extent determining the policies of the newspapers, leading to suppression or distortion of the news, and he added: "This is the true poison of our time. And its only antidote is truth. And not only truth in a laboratory, but truth in the ears of the people. Unless the facts, the significant facts, the difficult, complicated facts of industry and finance and politics are put before the people, the people cannot govern themselves, and the inevitable consequence will be dictatorship and slavery."

The mission of The Christian Science Monitor is to bring the truth to the ears of the people. And of all the newspapers in the world it should be and is to a large degree best equipped to perform that task, for it has no other motive than to "bless all mankind" (The First Church of Christ, Scientist, and Miscellany by Mary Baker Eddy, p. 353), and so promote peace and good will on earth.

Yet in this world crisis that has been declared a "crisis in journalism," we who are charged with the production of our newspaper have asked ourselves, "Is the Monitor fully performing the work intended for it by our Leader?" The answer is, "No!" With its circulation of only about one hundred and thirty-five thousand the Monitor not only is not being read and subscribed for by "every Christian Scientist" (ibid., pp. 352-353), but it scarcely has begun to reach the countless thousands of "many others" our Leader desired it to reach. Also, it has not been paying its way as it would if it had had the full support of our people.

Now we know that the concept of The Christian Science Monitor that came to Mrs. Eddy was a true idea, endowed with the power to carry on its inspired mission. Hence the essential thing for Christian Scientists everywhere is to gain more of our Leader's vision, turn to God with greater consecration, and pray daily for a clearer concept of our daily newspaper. Every meeting of the Editorial Board, as well as those of the Directors and the Trustees, is started with prayer. Precautions are taken to ensure truth and accuracy in the columns of our newspaper, but, more important still, divine guidance is sought in handling the important subjects of the day. Purely human answers to human problems have no permanent value, and so we turn to Mind for the right answer that is always available. We strive to have the Monitor speak with that same authority, based on an understanding of Truth, with which our Leader spoke. She wrote the truth with courage and fearlessness, and yet with understanding, love, and kindness, as is evident from reading in Miscellany her communications to the press on the burning topics of her day.

We know there is much yet to be unfolded, but we know also that the unfoldment comes daily, and that The Christian Science Monitor is increasingly better equipped to carry on its healing work. However, something beyond the more inspired production of the paper itself is needed, and that is a more active, consecrated, loving participation of Christian Scientists everywhere in subscribing for and reading our paper, in utilizing its contents, and in bringing this messenger of truth and peace to the attention of the multitudes of hearts reaching out for what it has to give. And right here let us remember that the Monitor is not just for Christian Scientists; it is for all the world. Our advertising workers seem to have been quite successful in interesting those who are not Christian Scientists. Of the more than twenty-four thousand individual advertisers, about ninety per cent are not Christian Scientists, or were not at the time they started advertising. It is just the reverse with our circulation. Only about ten per cent of our subscribers are non-Scientists.

However, we cannot readily sell our newspaper to others until we have learned to love and appreciate it ourselves; until we have obtained a clear concept of its mission and what it can do for individuals and for the world through individuals' right thinking. Once we have gained that, we shall be so convinced of its incalculable value that we shall be in a position effectively to break down mortal mind's resistance to The Christian Science Monitor.

So let us examine prayerfully our own attitude and discover what therein might be a deterrent to a right understanding and support of the Monitor. Let us consider some of the reasons fre quently presented for not subscribing to or reading our newspaper. Most common, particularly in recent years, is, "I cannot afford it." The best answer I know to that is the example our Leader set when she started The Christian Science Monitor. The previous speaker has mentioned the letter Mrs. Eddy wrote to the Trustees on this subject, but I should like to speak here of the reply the Board of Trustees sent five days later. Summing up the equipment to be purchased and the various steps to be taken, they reported that they saw financial commitments ahead that probably would total several hundred thousand dollars for the first year. They could give her no assurance of any stated income to meet that expenditure. They said: "If we were to spend as much as that in one year on this enterprise we would have nothing for The Mother Church, which now depends somewhat upon this revenue. We have no larger fund to draw upon if we are to keep the business in the proper state of solvency. Nevertheless we know the newspaper can be financed, since you see it to be the right time for the enterprise."

In response to that letter came a reply from Chestnut Hill signed by Mrs. Eddy's secretary. It stated that Mrs. Eddy expressed surprise at the amount of capital required, but it continued, "However, she does not wish to hamper your movements by placing restrictions on the amount you shall spend, but wishes you to go ahead with wisdom and economy as your guide."

There was another wonderful example of our Leader's absolute reliance on God! She had no fear about the solvency either of The Mother Church or of the Publishing Society, because she knew that the supply for all God-ordained activities, when truly demonstrated, came from Love and Love alone. Is not our supply from the same source? Then, in the case of the Monitor, let us meet this claim of lack with the understanding of Love, and refuse to give any credence to the suggestion that we or anybody else cannot afford our newspaper.

Another reason frequently advanced for failing to subscribe to or read the Monitor is, "I haven't time." I dare say you will agree with me that, busy as we are (or should be), there is not one of us whose time is nearly as much or as well occupied as was that of the Founder and Leader of the Christian Science movement. Yet one of her secretaries reported that Mrs. Eddy read the Monitor carefully and appreciatively. Need I say more on this point?

Now we come to a most familiar argument, that The Christian Science Monitor is out of date when it is received in places outside of New England. Were it merely a local newspaper in character, written from a local viewpoint entirely, its news would be old by the time it reached ninety per cent of its subscribers. But it is not local in that sense, it is international; and its news is news, whenever read, for it is written from the basis of continuing values, not fleeting issues. For that matter, in these days, no newspaper brings spot news fresh to its readers, because radio has largely appropriated that function. All newspapers, therefore, in order to sell, must contain more than merely the latest news developments. Here the Monitor has an advantage, for its writers are trained in the art of writing news from an interpretative, informative, lasting basis.

We have discussed the three most frequently voiced reasons for not subscribing to the Monitor. Now let us take up a more subtle argument of error that operates sometimes unconsciously in our thinking. Have you ever been tempted to think that the Monitor was not as important as our other publications; perhaps that it was merely a daily newspaper, and really not one of the Christian Science periodicals requiring your full love and support? That is only a fabrication of mortal mind, for we know our Leader considered the establishment of the Monitor one of her important works. We have been told many times of her determined stand to retain the words "Christian Science" in the title of the paper. And in her letter requesting that it be started she said, "The Cause demands it." Now why did this purely religious and spiritual Cause demand a daily newspaper? Because fundamentally it is a healing Cause, and our Leader saw that a daily newspaper conceived and operated on the basis of Christian Science would be a powerful instrumentality for reaching and healing both individuals and the world.

Thus The Christian Science Monitor, as a component and essential part of the great Cause it was founded to serve, has its rightful place in branch church work. We probably all have heard criticism on the latter score—perhaps some of us have voiced it. Certainly complaints have been made to Boston that the work of promoting and supporting the advertising and circulation of our newspaper is purely commercial and has no place in a branch church. It has been stated that church members become so concerned with material promotion activities that they lose sight of the main purpose for which both the churches and the periodicals were established. That, of course, should not be permitted; it is vitally necessary that nothing be done which would obscure the healing mission of the churches, or of the periodicals. However, it is equally important for us to recognize that when properly carried on from the basis of demonstration and divine inspiration, the promotion and support of the Monitor becomes one of the healing agencies of the church. It helps make a live church, a church more actively engaged in aiding not only individuals, but the whole world. For Mrs. Eddy's vision of The Christian Science Monitor called for an active and wholesome participation in business and commerce, not alone in the reporting of all that was interesting in those fields, but in the obtaining and acceptance of advertising under the highest standards ever required by any newspaper. The Monitor carries a healing message into homes, into offices, into institutions, and into lives which Christian Science has never reached before. Thus we see that the work being done in the churches for our paper is one of Christianizing commerce rather than one of commercializing Christianity.

Also, in promoting the Monitor we should always keep in thought the other periodicals—The Christian Science Journal, Sentinel, Herald, Quarterly. Each has its work to do; and all should march step by step together—abreast, as it were.

So let us ever be keenly conscious of the divine mission of the Monitor as a Christian Science periodical. Then we shall base our activity on what we know is the spiritual method, turn prayerfully to divine Mind, and ask God to show us how to take the requisite spiritually inspired human footsteps which we call circulation promotion and support. We shall not be going out merely for new subscriptions, but with an unselfish, Christly desire to be of service to mankind; with our hearts so filled with the true conviction of what the Monitor is, and with a love for it so great, that it will communicate itself to receptive hearts everywhere. Circulation problems will diminish as we ourselves understand The Christian Science Monitor and are able to say with unshakable conviction that here is the best newspaper in the world! And it is the best newspaper.

Mankind was never more in need of the enlightenment which the Monitor can give, and we Christian Scientists require it in order properly to handle the problems of the hour. Mrs. Eddy has called us "citizens of the world" (Science and Health, p. 227), and she has enlisted us in the high calling of helping to bring about a realization of the brotherhood of man, which in its turn will ensure peace to the nations. The Monitor, with its international news and its international circulation, is aiding us to know our brethren in all lands. It is bringing us an understanding of their problems, so that we may apply our knowledge of Truth to the conditions caused by "certain elements in human nature" which, Mrs. Eddy has said (Message to The Mother Church for 1900, p. 10), "would undermine the civic, social, and religious rights and laws of nations and peoples, striking at liberty, human rights, and self-government—and this, too, in the name of God, justice, and humanity!"

This work for the world and for our periodicals gives us an enlarged understanding of the Cause of Christian Science, of our church, and greater activity in both. All those who have given deep and prayerful consideration and support to The Christian Science Monitor and its mission have found for themselves marked spiritual growth and vision, a more abundant love for humanity, and greater healing ability. In other words, they have become better Christian Scientists.