Article September 21, 1946 Issue

Church First

[Of Special Interest to Young People]

JAMES E. STOKES

While attending business college, a student in a Christian Science Sunday School had an experience in which he successfully applied the Principle of Christian Science as explained by Mary Baker Eddy in her textbook, "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures." This experience proved to him that when he placed Church first, even though there might be pressing human demands to the contrary, the resulting good became manifest to him in ways which appeared marvelous. The definition he knew of "Church" is to be found on page 583 of the textbook and reads: "Church. The structure of Truth and Love; whatever rests upon and proceeds from divine Principle. 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."

This young man was gaining at Sunday School a better understanding of God, divine Principle, Truth, and Love, and he was learning how to apply this Principle in his daily experiences. In this way he was indeed helping to prepare himself for church membership.

At business college he was taking private lessons in shorthand. His grades up to this point had been good, but in his progress he finally arrived at what his teacher said was the longest and hardest lesson in the book. In fact she asked him, "Do you want me to divide this lesson into several sections as I do for some of my students, or do you want me to assign the complete lesson for tomorrow?"

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