A number of years ago an attractive model of a certain automobile was offered in the American market. It was light in weight and well powered, resulting in excellent performance, and the fittings were unusually good for a small car. But it was soon found that the body could not be kept from squeaking and rattling. No amount of skillful oiling, greasing, padding, or adjusting gave lasting protection from noises. The trouble was that the chassis, or under-frame, was weaving. On a solid frame the same body probably would have functioned noiselessly.

With the modern genius for mechanical things, why are we slow to see the bearing such plain examples have upon our individual problems? Why do we persistently tinker with the outward, gaining few good results and even fewer permanent ones, when a single right change of base would bring our whole system into harmony once and for all?

The very thought of a change of base is probably strange to most people. Those who find things going along reasonably well are usually opposed to any change whatever. On the other hand, there are thousands who spend much of their time trying changes of some kind—changes of scene, of diet, of work, of friends, of reading matter—hoping always to find the health, contentment, or security that always seems to be just out of their reach.

Recently, reports have been frequent that people at home, as well as in battle, are turning to the Bible. Even taken at its surface value, this will be, for many, a raft on the sea of distress, giving support until the storm blows over. But, taken in its full spiritual significance, the Bible becomes a sure foundation on which to walk with confidence in all conditions: war and peace, good times and hard, health and sickness, business and leisure. The church that has this understanding of Scriptural truth will fulfill the promise of Christ Jesus, "He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also." It will inspire people to a genuine change of base—a base that is secure and workable in every minute of every life.

Speaking of the church and its relation to humanity, Mary Baker Eddy has written (Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, p. 583). "The Church is that institution, which affords proof of its utility and is found elevating the race, rousing the dormant understanding from material beliefs to the apprehension of spiritual ideas and the demonstration of divine Science, thereby casting out devils, or error, and healing the sick." The foundation of Christian Science is made clear in the first tenet to which all its church members subscribe (ibid., p. 497): "As adherents of Truth, we take the inspired Word of the Bible as our sufficient guide to eternal Life." And the fact that it works "with signs following" is established in thousands of authenticated testimonies of healing and in countless current experiences in every field of effort.

Christian Science is a religion that is always with you. During the present war, a Christian Scientist was assigned to a department in an aircraft factory as dispatcher. His duties demanded tact in ushering parts rapidly through the processes of the receiving room, two inspections, and the general storeroom, and finally requisitioning them and getting them delivered to the assembly line. Such were the red tape and the pressure on the personnel that this entire section of the plant was widely known as a nightmare of discord and delay. Yet, in the course of six months, this Scientist became recognized as the most effective dispatcher in the company. He was the one trusted in areas from which others were barred; and word reached him on all sides, from the men with whom he worked, that if every dispatcher operated as he did most of the trouble in parts handling would be eliminated.

Plainly, the credit was not due to him as a person. Only a few years earlier he had gained the reputation of an irritable crank, who could get along with almost no one. The change of base that he had made was not just a change "back to the Bible" in the usual sense, but back to the deep-wrought, spiritual meaning of the Scriptures that is made clear in Christian Science. His chief work had been in learning to know the truth about God and man: that God, being good, has made only what is good and harmonious; therefore discord, no matter how loud its clamor, is basically unreal, appearing to exist because material, human notions keep it going; and further, that all men, in their true being, are the image of God, no matter how deeply into greed and contention they may have been dragged by false education and wrong standards. One of Mrs. Eddy's clearest explanations of the unparalleled works of the Master is this (ibid.,pp. 476, 477): "Jesus beheld in Science the perfect man, who appeared to him where sinning mortal man appears to mortals. In this perfect man the Saviour saw God's own likeness, and this correct view of man healed the sick."

Christian Science is pure Science, as set forth in the teaching of Christ Jesus. As such, it stands out in this age in at least two respects. It requires of its adherents that every thought, word, and deed be inspired by divine Love rather than personal or material motives; and it insists that the ministry of Christ Jesus, its healing as well as its precepts, was meant for all time. Anyone who wishes to build his house on the rock, Christ, in the full spiritual power of the works as well as of the words of Jesus, will do well to look deeply into this Science with sincere purpose and open mind.