If Christian Scientists were to tell what it was that turned them to serious study of the Bible, as interpreted by our beloved Leader, most of them would say that it was a great personal need.

With some it was physical suffering and the need to obtain relief from pain. With some it was the loss of loved ones and the need to quiet the heartache. With some it was business reverses and the need to overcome a sense of defeat. With others it was fear expressing itself in one or more of the many forms which this monster assumes in its role of terrifying and paralyzing mankind. Still others turned to Christian Science to satisfy an inner craving for a deeper and more satisfying spiritual life.

Diversified as are the circumstances which cause men to take the first step on the pathway from sense to Soul, such action results, in nearly every case, from realization by the individual that he is in dire extremity. Indeed, with many before recourse to Christian Science is had, the gamut of human aids and agencies is run, and so, as Mrs. Eddy has fittingly expressed it in "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" (p. 322). "The sharp experiences of belief in the supposititious life of matter, as well as our disappointments and ceaseless woes, turn us like tired children to the arms of divine Love."

Thus, with a goodly number who have found peace and happiness through study of Christian Science, ill fortune served to rouse them to the need of subduing self-love and to convince them of the futility of trusting to human courage, human wisdom, human will. As the rending and uprooting implements of the farmer dig deep into the ground, so adversity plows deep into the soil of human consciousness, turning and overturning it, making it a fit lodging place for the seeds of Christian Science.

The need of God has never before been felt so widely. The causes which have already moved many to begin the study of Christian Science are now present on an unprecedented scale, for the suffering which mankind is undergoing is destroying the trash in men's thoughts and characters the world over, leaving a residuum that is receptive to spiritual ideas.

The world cataclysm, therefore, appalling as it appears to human sense, is a challenge to the Christian Science church and to individual Christian Scientists, and provides them with a great opportunity. The challenge lies in the resistance offered by false beliefs and standards which would divide men and nations and drive civilization to destruction; the opportunity lies in the heightening of general concern for a more enlightened and righteous world order and in contributing definitely thereto.

Mankind greatly needs to know the truth about God, man, and the universe, and hence about God's spiritual government, as revealed by Mrs. Eddy. Our Leader has stated in Science and Health (p.467): "It should be thoroughly understood that all men have one Mind, one God and Father, one Life, Truth, and Love. Mankind will become perfect in proportion as this fact become? apparent, war will cease and the true brotherhood of man will be established."

Such is the inherent vitality of these truths that they need only to be brought to notice to arouse interest, the first step leading to adoption. With remarkable foresight and great practical wisdom, Mrs. Eddy created an organization unique in structure, and admirably adapted to making these truths widely known. All the units of this structure, each within its appointed field, are zealously working to bring men to acceptance of God's law and government.

Quite apart, however, from the activities of branch churches, of The Christian Science Publishing Society, of the Board of Lectureship, of Committees on Publication, and of the other long-established agencies, The Mother Church, acutely sensitive to the opportunity and the challenge, has responded by initiating important new activities which are already bearing rich fruitage in terms of interest in and gratitude for the message of Christian Science.

Through its War Relief Committee it has extended aid on a large scale to the victims of enemy attacks in allied countries and to prisoners of war. Through its Camp Welfare Activities division it has placed Wartime Ministers in about one hundred and twenty Army and Navy camps and stations. It has obtained modification of War Department regulations governing the appointment of chaplains whereby the Christian Science church is entitled, along with other representative denominations, to share in appointments on a proportional basis.

So, too, The Mother Church has obtained governmental recognition for certain groups of Christian Science workers in the field of the priorities and in that covered by the operation of the Selective Service System . Finally, in the national organization of civilian defense, it has asked for and obtained the same recognition for Christian Science practitioners that has been accorded comparable civilian groups.

The course taken in the United States by The Mother Church in reaching out for new opportunities for service and in winning for Christian Science high place in the confidence of government officers, has been paralleled, as closely as conditions would permit, in Great Britain—where it was already in full effect before December 1941 —in Canada, Australia, and the Union of South Africa, with results that are gratifying.

But the business of meeting the church's present obligation does not lie at the door of the church organization alone. In the final analysis, a large measure of responsibility rests upon the individuals who, collectively, constitute the organization, for Christian Science is represented by a great body of people, and can best be promoted as its adherents show forth the health, the joy, and the freedom they have gained. Indeed, most persons who in their distress turn to Christian Science do so because a mother, a wife, a husband, some friend, or an acquaintance, was not afraid to declare that he or she was a Christian Scientist, and did not fail to speak the convincing word when the critical occasion arose.

The instruction which Jesus gave his disciples in the Sermon on the Mount is equally applicable to every Christian Scientist: "Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven."

There is much that we as individuals can and should do in helping men to recognize that in absolute truth God's government is already established in the spiritual universe, and that this must be demonstrated in such convincing manner as ultimately to be accepted by all mankind.

First, and most important of all, we ourselves can know the truth and live it. A natural consequence of living the truth is that we intelligently support the activities of The Mother Church. We can fit ourselves to become members of this church and when possible and right, of a branch church, and take an active part in the work of the latter. We can overcome the sense of self which would prevent us from speaking the helpful word about Christian Science to others in the Wednesday evening testimony meetings and to individuals in trouble. We can see that the stranger within our gates receives a friendly welcome.

Furthermore, we should seek opportunities to invite friends and acquaintances to the church services, to the Reading Rooms, to the lectures on Christian Science, and to call their attention to the writings of our Leader. These things and more we can do as individuals to help our church rise to the great opportunity which world conditions are now presenting. We should diligently seek to progress in our understanding of the truth and demonstrate it in healing and delivering mankind.

Thus Christian Scientists, in loyal and loving support of the great organization which Mrs. Eddy founded, and in unselfish service to the distressed, rendered in the name of Christian Science, will themselves progressively bring blessed answer to the prayer which the Master, in the Lord's Prayer, that greatest of all prayers, counseled his followers to pray: "Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven."