From the summit of prayer, in deep love of mankind and with no thought but to bless and enlighten, Mary Baker Eddy observed closely and pondered profoundly the significant events which went on in the world about her. From her writings it is to be noted that universal incidents and their immediate effect upon the peoples they concerned, did not escape her notice. China and Japan. India, Europe, all received her attention. And why? The answer is to be found in such passages as the following: "From the interior of Africa to the utmost parts of the earth, the sick and the heavenly homesick or hungry hearts are calling on me for help, and I am helping them," she writes on page 147 of "The First Church of Christ, Scientist, and Miscellany."

If she, then, in her day of comparative peace and order in the world, felt this urgent call for help, what must men feel now amidst the cataclysmic happenings which confront and seek often to overwhelm them? In this hour of men's agonizing need, it can be truly said that from "the utmost parts of the earth" there is a call for help. Multitudes in cruel captivity, in continual danger, in famine, and in suffering, are calling out for sustenance and for release. Do we, as did our Leader, hear that call, and can we with the same assurance of understanding, of compassion, of consecration, declare, "I am helping them"?

"Inasmuch," said the Master of those who understand the purpose of the Christ, "as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me." The Christ-mission, as exemplified by Jesus, was no other than, in the words of Isaiah, "to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound;...to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness." In the consciousness of Truth's infinite ever-presence, because Father and Son, Mind and idea, are one, there is no place, no circumstance, no condition, where men cannot be aware that though there appear to be bondage, peril, distress, yet the Christ is in their midst.

Not in helpless horror at the unrestrained brutality of the carnal mind, nor in mounting hatred of the atrocities which so many appear defenseless to prevent, will men find relief or remedy for themselves and for the victims they would deliver. Unhappy contemplation of evil or bitter resentment of it, in a world where positive, constructive, swiftly intelligent action is imperative, are alike reprehensible. With supreme confidence, born of the knowledge that thought which is guided and inspired of Mind is unerring in its mark and unfailing in its mission, our Leader knew that those who reached out for help would receive it. It is for us to have as great a faith as had she, to turn from thoughts of fear and indignation, from contemplation of retaliation and revenge. It is for us to know that what is done "unto me"— unto the Christ—will find its expression in deliverance, in beauty, in praise, so that no captives' chains, no prison walls, no savage barbarity shall prevail.

Of that which Jesus accomplished for mankind, Mrs. Eddy writes on page 54 of the Christian Science textbook. "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures." "The world acknowledged not his righteousness, seeing it not; but earth received the harmony his glorified example introduced." The herald promise of the Christ. "On earth peace," which Jesus introduced, is inviolable, omnipresent. He taught his disciples to pray, and every sentence of the Lord's Prayer is universal, including all mankind. And prayer is to Christian Scientists what it was to our Leader, the meeting of human need, the overcoming of evil for themselves and those who in "the utmost parts of the earth" are reaching out for help.

Mere human pleasure, entertainment, relaxation, with which men seek to increase their joys or forget their sorrows, how vain and purposeless they are when compared with that which is required of us! To bring to the earth, as did Jesus, as did our Leader, spiritual intuition, immediate response to those who are calling for help, in tenderness and loving apprehension of their needs, this is the task to which we must dedicate ourselves. And how eternal the reward!

"Remember, thou canst be brought into no condition, be it ever so severe, where Love has not been before thee and where its tender lesson is not awaiting thee." Mrs. Eddy writes on pages 149 and 150 of Miscellany. It is for us, in these days of great adventure, whether spiritual or human, to know in earnest prayer for ourselves and for those who need the "glorified example" of courage and devotion to spur them on, that Love ever goes ahead, ever awaits and welcomes. In the degree that we know this for those whom we cherish and esteem, and no less for those who would seem to be our enemies, the infinite might of Mind will continually strengthen and bless us. Furthermore, it will continue to flow in salvation and peace "to the utmost parts of the earth."

Evelyn F. Heywood