Editorial May 17, 1947 Issue

Discovery Through Devotion

Paul Stark Seeley

Richly deserved tribute is at this time being paid throughout the world to Thomas Edison in commemoration of the first hundred years since his birth. Appreciation among men grows for the useful discoveries which resulted from the independence and boldness of his thinking, for his indefatigable efforts and unlimited patience in pursuing a worthy purpose to its final accomplishment. The sound-recording phonograph, the motion picture, the incandescent light, which has lessened the shadows for millions, and an improved storage battery valuable to industry and transportation, are but a few of his discoveries that have added much to the improvement of human living. Not only for his works, but for his example of unfettered thinking and undeviating devotion to serving mankind, we add our "Thank you."

When asked how he would describe his life purpose, Edison replied, "To bring out the secrets of nature for the happiness of man." His was a work of discovery. He knew that the secrets of nature held what would add to the happiness of men. And he had the faith to pursue them unrelentingly, to discover and apply them to human needs.

By the calendar of time Edison followed Mary Baker Eddy by a quarter of a century. She and he were alike in their determination to discover and make available for all men forces not previously fully understood and utilized. They both recognized that human progress largely rests on discovery. Mrs. Eddy's efforts were directed to the discovery of the forces of Spirit and their healing potency. Edison sought to unlock the hidden material forces which could be subjugated and made to serve human needs. They both found what they sought. Their quest was rewarded, and men have been blessed. Their lives well illustrate, in their respective fields of labor, what Mrs. Eddy says in her textbook, "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" (p. 199): "The devotion of thought to an honest achievement makes the achievement possible."

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