Today human thought often clothes quietness in a cloak of unattractiveness and unloveliness; to many it spells but dullness and loneliness. Yet it is in quietness that we gain audience with the divine Mind and realize a closer communion with our Father-Mother God.

In these high-speed days, allurements to entice one from the bliss of quietness and solitude, from the peace that comes with the contemplation and realization of the spiritual realities of being, are legion. These diverting temptations purport to give relief from the stress and pressure of daily living.

We may profitably recall the experiences of Abraham, Jacob, Moses, and Elijah. What dividends their contemplation of the things of Soul brought them! Our Master, Christ Jesus, spent whole nights on the mountains of Galilee or the gentle slopes of Olivet, alone with God. In her "Miscellaneous Writings" Mary Baker Eddy tells us (p. 133): "Three times a day, I retire to seek the divine blessing on the sick and sorrowing, with my face toward the Jerusalem of Love and Truth, in silent prayer to the Father which 'seeth in secret,' and with childlike confidence that He will reward 'openly.' In the midst of depressing care and labor I turn constantly to divine Love for guidance, and find rest." If our gracious Leader retired three times a day to seek anew and claim an ever closer at-one-ment with omnipresent Mind, we can hardly do less than provide for our own refreshment through silent, consecrated communion with Soul.

Wherever we are, we may avail ourselves of the peace, rest, and spiritual unfoldment which these quiet moments of communion with the divine Mind afford. Students of Christian Science are grateful to their Leader for establishing the Christian Science Reading Rooms, which, amid the noise and rush of large urban centers, are veritable oases of peace and quiet to which they may retire for spiritual refreshment.

When instructing his disciples how to pray, our Master emphasized the necessity of withdrawing from the clamor and testimony of the false material senses and of seeking the spiritual development so essential to every individual. "When thou prayest," he said (Matt. 6:6), "enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly." In explanation of this instruction given by the Master, our Leader writes (Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, p. 15), "The closet typifies the sanctuary of Spirit, the door of which shuts out sinful sense but lets in Truth, Life, and Love." And in the next paragraph she adds, "In the quiet sanctuary of earnest longings, we must deny sin and plead God's allness."

Plainly do Jesus and Mrs. Eddy indicate that the prerequisite of prayer is the retreat into the serenity of spiritual calm, where we can yield up the earth weights of material sense and be alone with God. In His presence we shall hear the song for angels, imparting to us ever clearer views of man's indestructible unity with his Father-Mother God. And what dominion and power attend the understanding that man is not a physical organism, but an individual spiritual consciousness, reflecting his creator!

Man is forever embraced in the Mind conceiving him, eternally upheld and maintained by God's law of Love, wherein there is no condemnation, and wherein man has all things richly to enjoy. This realization of the omnipresence and omnipotence of our Father-Mother God is indeed proof of Immanuel or "God with us." Our beloved Leader equisitely expresses what this realization means in the first line of her "Mother's Evening Prayer" (Poems, p. 4): "O gentle presence, peace and joy and power."

Seeking refuge under the wings of divine Love is not an escape from the world and our obligations. Selfishness and narrow-mindedness have no part in this divinely mental communion. Jesus said to his disciples, and thus to all his true followers (Matt. 5:14), "Ye are the light of the world." It was his intention that they should not hide their light under the bushel of self-centeredness, but let it shine forth before men. The lamps of Biblical Palestine, from which our Master drew his metaphor, had to be systematically cleaned and replenished with oil to provide a clear and steady light. So likewise have we, with the oil of consecration and prayer, to keep our consciousness clear of false material beliefs that we may be a transparency for the healing light of Truth, and express the inspiration and dignity of Soul in our everyday contacts with our fellow men.

In Christ Jesus' revelation, as recorded by St. John, we have this heavenly invitation (Rev. 3:20): "Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me." Always Christ, Truth, is knocking at the door of our consciousness, ever ready and willing to lead us into the sacred quietness of Spirit and acquaint us with the infinite possibilities of Life. Be it not forgotten, though, that the latch is within. The reaching out for, the turning towards, is our part.

May we, then, trust God more and increase those moments and hours of consecration and prayer. We need to cherish and guard them, for they will bring to us a confidence, an inspiration, and a peace unspeakable, which the world can neither give nor take away. They are worth more, far more, to us than all beguiling material pleasures. What could we have on earth dearer than the knowledge that "now are we the sons of God" (I John 3:2)? We are learning to know God as our Father-Mother; we need to learn to know Him more intimately than our dearest friend; to talk with Him and walk with Him along the way unto the secret place of the Most High, man's eternal home. Then our hearts will echo with joy the sweet diapason of this verse in the Christian Science Hymnal (No.49):