"OUR IMMEDIATE OPPORTUNITIES" MEETING

Chairman, Mrs. Elisabeth F. Norwood, of Brookline, Massachusetts

The meeting was opened with the singing of Hymn No. 160 in the Christian Science Hymnal, "It matters not what be thy lot," the words of which were written by Mary Baker Eddy. The chairman then read selections from the Bible and from "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" by our beloved Leader.

The Bible
John 14:8-11 (to colon)
15:1, 2, 4, 5, 7-9

Science and Health
26:28-32
270:31-5
271:26-29 (to first period)
55:15

After the readings there were a few moments of silent prayer followed by the audible repetition of the Lord's Prayer.

The following addresses were then delivered:

A Glorious Cause to Serve

Today each member of The Mother Church has the immediate opportunity of holding aloft the banner on which are emblazoned these two words, "Christian Science," and holding this banner at the same altitude at which our Leader, Mary Baker Eddy, placed it. This banner must never be lowered in any direction to cater to the demands of mortal mind, for this banner leads to the Christ.

Every member today has the opportunity to demonstrate the letter and radiate the spirit of Christian Science. In "The First Church of Christ, Scientist, and Miscellany" Mrs. Eddy stresses the importance of understanding the scientific unity of the letter and spirit in order to demonstrate this Science. In this book she tells us that when she closed her college at the height of its prosperity, she sought a higher understanding of the absolute scientific unity of the letter and spirit of Christianity, and that when she was revising her textbook, "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures," the light and might of the divine concurrence of the spirit and the Word appeared. These two important steps in our Leader's great work, that of closing her college and revising her textbook, revealed to our Leader the necessity of an understanding of the unity of the letter and spirit of Christian Science.

The spirit of love, the spirit of kindness, the spirit of Christliness, accompanies the letter of all our Leader's writings. In the Preface to Science and Health Mrs. Eddy writes (p. xii ), "In the spirit of Christ's charity,—as one who 'hopeth all things, endureth all things,' and is joyful to bear consolation to the sorrowing and healing to the sick,—she commits these pages to honest seekers for Truth." And in "Miscellaneous Writings" we find that she lovingly dedicates these practical teachings to all "loyal Christian Scientists in this and every land."

Paul saw the necessity of apprehending the unity of the letter and spirit when he wrote, "I will pray with the spirit, and I will pray with the understanding also: I will sing with the spirit, and I will sing with the understanding also" (I Cor. 14:15 ).

As workers in the Father's vineyard, as members of The Mother Church, let us work with the understanding and with the spirit of Christian Science that we may be laborers of the excellent sort to which Mrs. Eddy refers in "Miscellaneous Writings" (p. 313).

Mrs. Eddy established The Mother Church as a world-wide institution. It makes no difference in what field a member serves, God's presence brings to each and every one a sense of unity with those in other fields. Once when speaking to her students, Mrs. Eddy said (ibid., p. 110), "Our hearts have kept time together, and our hands have wrought steadfastly at the same object-lesson, while leagues have lain between us."

Wherever a Christian Scientist is leading a consecrated life, wherever Christian Science healing is being proved, there is The Mother Church. Wherever our Leader's writings and the periodicals of The Christian Science Publishing Society are found, there is The Mother Church. Wherever Christian Scientists are fulfilling the command of the Master to "love one another." there is The Mother Church. Wherever its members are gallantly fighting for Principle, fighting to preserve the rights of man, there is The Mother Church; and the understanding of this protects them, saves them, and leads them on, for not one can know tear, not one be in danger, not one be alone. A spiritual idea is never in danger, never afraid, never alone, but is held in the Father's love, safe in the Father's care.

While The Mother Church has Rules for the protection of the Church and its members, Rules written by Mrs. Eddy and found in the Manual of The Mother Church, Rules eagerly obeyed by all members, it is not merely formal obedience to these Rules which makes the members a united whole; it is love, love for our Leader, love for each other, love for mankind.

The Mother Church, founded on the Rock, Christ, and the unity of its members, will save the world and prove that unity based on love, not force, is the need of mankind.

The work of every member is primarily to heal the sick and raise the dead, for Mrs. Eddy established her Church for the purpose of reinstating "primitive Christianity and its lost element of healing" (see Historical Sketch, Church Manual, p. 17 ). Let us remember it is also our work to leave in our wake, wherever we may go, the spirit of love, the spirit of kindness, that those whom we have tried to help may say, "The presence of Love came near us today," and the clerk, or the postman, or whoever it is we meet, may think to himself, "Things are brighter today; the sun really shines in my heart."

There is scarcely a place where distress and disaster might be which cannot be reached by our Mother Church through some of its members, for they almost encircle the globe. There is never a time when The Mother Church cannot respond through its members to calls of the harassed and homeless, and however distant the fields may be from which these calls may come, the members responding can always be sure of the loving support of those working in other fields. The Mother Church members work hand in hand and with heart to heart. Together they watch and work, together they sing and pray, together they prove the letter and live the spirit of our Leader's great revelation.

In this hour of seeming stress and turmoil when the forces of evil seem rampant, when physical force and mental despotism would turn the world into chaos and tear down all that glorifies God and His Christ, The Mother Church on the mountain, the beacon light for mankind, is glorifying God and His Christ.

Our Leader has given us a glorious Cause to serve, and opportunities are ever at hand; let us never lose one, for in Miscellany Mrs. Eddy writes (p. 12 ), "A lost opportunity is the greatest of losses."

Mrs. Eddy expected her followers to forward her Church. She expected them to use in God's service the one talent they all have and so add to that talent. Let us serve as we would if our Leader were seeing our service; let us work as if she were seeing our work; let us consecrate ourselves to her Cause as we would if she were personally witnessing our consecration. By giving our all to our Leader's Cause we are giving little compared to what she has given us.

It was my privilege to see and hear our Leader the first time she came to The Mother Church, and although I was not old enough adequately to describe her great spirituality, I told my mother that Mrs. Eddy was different from anyone I had ever seen. My mother replied, "She is different, for she knows more about God than anyone you have ever seen."

We must never fail our Leader in loyalty, love, or in works. It is the most glorious thing in the world to serve her Cause and The Mother Church. Christian Science will endure forever, but the Christian Science organization can go forward only as rapidly as Christian Scientists through consecration and faithful work advance it.

The talks on tonight's program are all designed to illustrate, out of actual experience, the great opportunities that are right at the door of every one of us, opportunities for further spiritual growth and for still larger usefulness in the Cause of Christian Science. Let us serve as those who built The Mother Church served. All their time, all their efforts, were given to serving the Cause of Christian Science; no sacrifice was too great, no struggle too severe; they gave all their hearts' homage to God. In "Miscellaneous Writings" Mrs. Eddy says (p. 136 ), "All our thoughts should be given to the absolute demonstration of Christian Science."

We should be glad when an angel calls us to serve our Leader's Cause; we should rejoice when an angel calls us to forward the healing Christ; we should welcome an angel which counsels (Christian Science Hymnal, No. 6),

What One Member Can Do

By Carleton P. Rex, of Los Angeles, California

How can one Christian Science church member best help to promote and extend the religion which his Leader, Mary Baker Eddy, has established? The fact that he is a church member signifies his recognition of his oneness with a religion conceived through the spiritual revelation of its Founder; oneness with a church established upon a constitution evolved through divine guidance; oneness with an organization designed spiritually to support and forward, through world-wide activities, the individual and collective Christian Science demonstrations of its members in carrying out the Master's mission.

Our Leader makes the statement that the Master established his church and maintained his mission on a spiritual foundation of Christ-healing, and that Christian Science and Christianity are one. But she also reminds us that the mission of Christian Science now, as in the time of its earlier demonstration, extends far beyond physical healing.

Every Christian Science church member is a missionary, and his mission is one of healing in its broadest sense. For each member the church organization provides an immediate opportunity to carry out his own and his church's healing mission through his support, in Science, of the spiritual idea of church activities, and especially of those in which he is appointed to serve.

Upon his acceptance of an appointment, the nature of the healing work required of him will unfold. This may consist largely in overcoming false or inadequate concepts of his fellow church members, his church activity, or himself; false or inadequate concepts of the church organization, his relation to it, or the reciprocal support involved. It may mean casting aside false or inadequate concepts of the Manual of The Mother Church, or of any of the church activities established by Mrs. Eddy. Concepts which are false, or merely inadequate, seldom yield without a struggle; but, as Mrs. Eddy exclaims in "Miscellaneous Writings" (p. 118 ), "Be of good cheer; the warfare with one's self is grand; it gives one plenty of employment, and the divine Principle worketh with you,—and obedience crowns persistent effort with everlasting victory."

Although the supporting work in Science may be concerned primarily with self-healing, its effects are never confined to one's own experience. Every demonstration of healing in any church activity has its immediate effect upon the church organization as a whole and humanity at large. Every manifestation of the Christ, no matter how small it may appear to personal sense, is shown by spiritual sense to be evidence of the operation of eternal Principle. Its effect is centrifugal. It can no more be stopped than, when a pebble is dropped in the water, can the ripples be immobilized or isolated.

To illustrate: let us consider the experience of one member appointed by his branch church to serve as a box worker on the literature distribution committee. Because he mistakenly believed that the total good accomplished would fail to justify the time, effort, and inconvenience this activity entailed, he accepted the appointment reluctantly. Naturally his first move was to review Mrs. Eddy's reasons for founding each of the periodicals, and when, for his own convenience, he combined her statement of their respective missions into a single definition, he was surprised to find that it coincided completely in scope with that of the institution of Church—the second part of her definition of Church in the Glossary of the textbook. "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures." This banished his doubts and also made him see that his work was not primarily concerned with the mere placement of the periodicals, but rather with his support in Science of their healing mission.

The boxes assigned him were in the recreation hall of a mission for unemployed and destitute men in a large city. On his daily calls he found that not a single piece of the literature appeared to have been touched. He saw in this an indication of his own failure to support the periodicals adequately in Science. Upon prayerful thought he found he had been seeing the men at the mission as the world saw them—and probably as they saw themselves—as lacking the educational, cultural, and religious background to appreciate the periodicals.

Turning away from this false concept, he saw that the healing Christ is revealed in all the Christian Science periodicals. He recognized that the spiritual message which each periodical has for each reader is expressed in a universal language—the language of Spirit—capable of surmounting every artificial barrier consciously or unconsciously imposed either by formal education or by lack of it. For the first time he discarded his meager, personal-sense views of the distribution work and saw it in its spiritual significance.

The results were immediate, practical, and abundant. On his next visit the worker found many of the periodicals being read. The demand grew rapidly. It had been customary to supply twenty copies a week of The Christian Science Monitor, but after a time it became necessary to supply thirty to fifty copies a day.

The worker soon noticed that copies of The Christian Science Journal sometimes were used as score cards at the card tables and that no appreciation of the periodicals had been voiced by the men. He continued to work prayerfully in Science. The correction of these errors came simultaneously. One morning three men came up to him, one after another, to say how much the periodicals meant to them. Since that day, more than a year ago, the worker has found virtually no evidence of defacing or wasting the periodicals. But he now finds that after a Journal or Sentinel has been in the box a few days, it shows thumb marks on practically every page.

When one man expressed appreciation, the worker questioned him in some detail on what appealed to him. Then the worker said: "You realize, don't you, that unless you had these same qualities as basic to your own character, you wouldn't be able to recognize or appreciate them?"

The man seemed deeply moved. Finally he said: "I'll never forget that. I never would have thought of it, Mister; but I can see it must be true." The man became a steady reader of the periodicals and developed an interest in Christian Science.

Another man at the mission told the worker: "These magazines give a fellow self-respect, and that's the hardest thing for us to get." Months later he confided that he had saved his pennies and bought a copy of Science and Health. He added, "I haven't got very far into it yet, but I've gotten far enough to know I want to build my life around it."

Literally hundreds of beneficiaries have become known directly or indirectly to the worker. And shortly before Easter Sunday, the manager of the mission asked if a Christian Science service could be held in the chapel. This was the first such request in the history of the mission. The service was held. After the solo, several hundred men burst into spontaneous but respectful applause. After the service they remained quiet and motionless in the pews for several minutes before anyone moved.

Several months later the worker took over a literature distribution box in a lunchroom frequented by what were considered to be some rather tough characters. A day came when a big fellow with a booming voice greeted the worker with a violent tirade against Christian Science. A crowd gathered, apparently expecting a fight. When the man challenged him with a question, the worker, in prayerful thought, quietly said he considered the question a fair one and would be glad to answer it. He told the man of his own remarkable healing, a healing which saved him from the prospect of being a lifelong cripple. The man slumped into a chair and finally looked up and said: "I want to apologize. I believe what you said. All I can say is, it was a miracle." The crowd, silent and respectful, quietly dispersed.

Support of the spiritual idea of the work in Science was carried on daily—as often as the need appeared in thought. Such an illustration of the results acquires stature through its universal implications. The Science work undertaken in support of any church activity flows out, when effectively done, to enrich and beautify every phase of one's own existence, as well as that of others.

When such work is seen to change the thoughts and actions of many, not only toward the church activity, but also toward themselves and each other, one realizes the practicality, as well as the necessity, of specific daily Science work for church, community, national, and international affairs.

In every similar experience each member's demonstration in Science is universal in effect, and it becomes one in Principle with that of his Leader, for he is accepting her invitation in "Pond and Purpose" to drink with her the living waters of her life purpose, which was, as she implied, to impress mankind with operative Christian Science (see Miscellaneous Writings, p. 207).

If the Christian Science church member accepts these conclusions, it signifies that he recognizes the reciprocal relationship that exists between The Mother Church's mission and his own. This recognition, established through his own scientific support of The Mother Church activities, supports in turn his own inevitable growth in Christian Science. Thus he is enabled to endow more richly, and promote and extend more effectively, the religion which his Leader, Mary Baker Eddy, has established, through which flow the living waters of the spirit of its Founder's life purpose, that humanity may experience practical and operative Christian Science.

The Healing Work Advances

By Mrs. Louie Allen, of Sheffield, Yorkshire, England

The purpose of this talk is to give something of the current picture of Christian Science healing in one community—the section of England in which I live. The talk can hardly be more than a sketch of the picture as it actually is, because so much more healing goes on there, even in a brief period, than could be reported in the time at our disposal. Moreover, the picture itself, gratifying as it is, is undoubtedly very similar to that in a great number of communities all around the world. Nevertheless, some account of it will serve, I hope, as a vivid and useful reminder of the opportunities continually before us all for proving the presence and power of God, and so blessing ourselves and others and advancing our beloved Cause.

The healings, for all of which I can vouch, have been the work of various students, some listed in The Christian Science Journal and some not, some with a great deal of experience in Christian Science and some with very little. As Mary Baker Eddy has written in the textbook, "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" (p. 37 ), "It is possible,—yea, it is the duty and privilege of every child, man, and woman,—to follow in some degree the example of the Master by the demonstration of Truth and Life, of health and holiness."

We ought not to forget that the one outstanding feature of Christian Science in the general view, as compared with other denominations, is its healing work. It is this, together, of course, with the Science that explains it, that has given our movement its great vitality. The service of each one of us to the movement and to mankind is in proportion to his proofs of the divine power; and the opportunities of each one of us for such service are obviously not limited.

A woman who is very well known to me was in dire need. She had a growth in her breast which caused much suffering. A specialist who examined her said that only an operation could do anything for her, but that she would have to be "built up" for this, as she was in such a poor physical condition. Christian Science was introduced to her. She read the textbook and one evening saw that the Christ-healing power, which she had always understood to belong to Jesus alone, was here today, and that this book was explaining it to her. She also saw that if God was good, He had not given her that growth, and she need not be afraid of it. She lost the fear of pain and began the next day to go about in a normal manner. The healing was very quickly complete. From a grateful heart she felt she must know more of this wonderful truth. She purchased and studied all of Mrs. Eddy's writings, and in a very short time was helping and healing others.

The acceptance of God as the one creator, as the Father-Mother of man, is a great boon to parents. A mother I know was able to help her own sons by working on these lines. The younger son came to the time when he had to take some very heavy examinations, the results of which were most important to his progress. On the first morning of the examination he appeared downstairs with one eye quite closed and looking very inflamed. Both mother and son were earnest students of Christian Science and never for one moment thought of giving in to this lie. After a little talk, the boy made his way to the school, and the mother commenced to work for him.

She claimed all she knew of divine sonship; claimed a right reward for right doing, for she knew he had done his work most faithfully, and she placed him and the examination results in his Father's loving care and keeping. The report from the boy was that at about ten o'clock the pain vanished, and by lunch time the eye was clear. The outcome of this examination brought him a rich result, and he is now in a most important government position in London.

Many medical men are ready to accept the fact that Christian Science is healing the sick. In my own city a leading specialist said to me one day, "It half the women who came to me would accept what Christian Science has to give, they would save themselves a lot of trouble." He has reached out for Christian Science treatment for himself on more than one occasion.

A doctor recently said to a patient whom he was visiting, "What you need is the kind of healing Christian Scientists practice." The outcome of this was that the patient gave up the doctor, asked for Christian Science treatment, and was perfectly healed.

On two other occasions with the healing of two children, one of blindness and the other of mastoiditis, the remark was made by a physician in the neighborhood that credit must be given to Christian Science for these healings.

Sometimes the remark is made, "I should love to be a practitioner, but I have not the understanding do this work." We read in Psalm 103 that it is the Lord "who healeth all thy diseases." and Mrs. Eddy tells us in Science and Health (p. 454 ), "Love for God and man is the true incentive in both healing and teaching." A genuine Christian Science practitioner, whether listed in the Journal or not, is the one who puts into practice every moment the truths being revealed to thought, grasps the revelation of Truth in its fullness and completeness, and endeavors to look always for perfect God and perfect man. It is the duty and privilege of every member of our Church to be able to keep himself healthy, and to be ready to heal any error presented to him. We thank God for all the healing work which is taking place in the world today, and for the many workers not yet known as Christian Science practitioners who are helping their brother man through their understanding of Christian Science.

May I recount a few further experiences which have come to my notice, every one of which I can verify:

A man who was a Reader in one of our churches had worn glasses for many years. He was doing a great deal of study during this time, endeavoring to get a fuller understanding of God and man's relationship to Him, and one day he said to himself, "Well, if this is true I need not wear these glasses any longer." He removed them and has not used them since that day. What a help to a church to see a demonstration of this kind take place!

A woman who, for eleven years, had suffered with a discharge from a wound after an operation was healed through consecrated study of Christian Science. As she accepted the spiritual fact of God's allness and ever-presence and knew herself to be one with all that is pure, good, and true, the discharge ceased and the wound entirely healed. The difference made in the outlook of this woman is outstanding. She now expresses joy, right activity, freedom, in an unbounded measure.

A man was staying in a hotel and was asked by a fellow resident for help for her arms, which were badly sunburnt and causing her much pain. He said, "But I am not a practitioner." The reply came, "You are the nearest Christian Scientist." So he worked as he understood and saw clearly the meaning of those words in the Bible: "The sun shall not smite thee by day" (Ps. 121:6 ). The girl reported a perfect healing the next day.

Two boys were given notes from school asking their parents to have their eyes tested, saying they had a slight "turn" and could not see very well. The mother asked a friend to help, and Christian Science treatment was given. It was not long before they were again examined, and the report was that their eyes were perfect.

A young mother who knew nothing about Christian Science asked a friend to help her to understand the meaning of Father-Mother, God. One of her sons was suffering from asthma, and the doctor could give no hope of an effectual cure. She was very fearful about this condition. Christian Science was explained, she was taught how to study the Lesson-Sermons in the Christian Science Quarterly, and work was taken up for the boy, who was completely healed in a very short time and now expresses robust health. The mother has become a devout student of Christian Science and is bringing others into the movement.

We are very privileged people and must recognize this spiritual fact. It is a privilege to understand and to prove that Christian Science is the law of God in operation; to know with certainty that God's creation is here and everywhere present. There is much work for each one of us to do if we are to be obedient to the injunction of our beloved Leader in Science and Health (p. 37 ): "Hear these imperative commands: 'Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect!' 'Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature!' 'Heal the sick!' "

The Wednesday Evening Meetings: A Boundless Opportunity

By Felix M. Krembs, of New York, New York

Christian Science, the Science of Christianity, is the most wonderful blessing ever bestowed upon mankind. Each Christian Scientist has enlisted to help the sick, the sinner, the poor and heavy-laden, the skeptic, the ignorant and misguided, to gain an understanding of God and of man as His image and likeness, forever expressing God's qualities.

Mary Baker Eddy, the Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science, established her Church for a sacred purpose, and it affords us constant opportunities to fulfill this enlistment. We cannot overestimate the importance of our Wednesday testimony meetings. Our Leader established them that we may praise and glorify God, to give us all the opportunity to publicly express our gratitude to Him for the many blessings we have received from accepting Christian Science and applying God's law to our problems and daily experiences, thus to encourage and help ourselves and others.

These meetings were established to promote the religion of Christian Science and to aid in bringing a realization of God's perfect kingdom to all mankind, releasing the world from the bondage of sin, disease, and death. They were established to help the stranger learn about God and man's birthright as the child of God; to offer comfort and promises of healing, harmony, peace, and security. Consequently these meetings should be outstanding in every way, not only because we want our new friends to come again, but because we want to obey Mrs. Eddy's admonition to be worthy followers of Christ Jesus.

Each member should earnestly pray to support the meeting, and he does this before, during, and after the service. He joyously anticipates an inspired, interesting, and well-attended meeting. He knows that God governs everything pertaining to it and that this government guides members and strangers to the church to learn about God's law, power, and love. He knows there can be no power, attraction, or influence to interfere with God's blessing at that service, in spite of the suggestion that mortal mind provides many diversions, such as theaters, concerts, ball games, radio and television programs, night clubs, and the like. Nor should card parties, dances, and other social gatherings interfere with attendance at our Wednesday meetings.

Let us continue to pray with authority and expectation of good. This is easily done when we count our blessings and increase our trust and faith in God. We can then expect more regular and full attendance of our members and a far greater attendance of strangers. Above all, let us know that healing and awakening will take place, for they are the natural result of the operation of Christian Science.

Church members do well to arrive in ample time before the service begins. They then have the opportunity of contemplating and appreciating the qualities they can bring to the service, such as loyalty, obedience, humility, brotherly love, gratitude, unselfishness, willingness to serve, friendliness, compassion, and childlike desire to learn more about God and man's relation to Him. The Scientist is eager and ready to share his demonstrations with all present, to encourage fellow Christian Scientists, and to aid in giving hope to the stranger.

These testimony meetings should be interesting and impressive, for they must arouse the thinking of all present. When the hymn singing, the reading, and the testimonies are presented with inspiration and gratitude, the stranger naturally will be impressed and will want to learn more about Christian Science.

How fitting to begin and close the service with music which brings peace and harmony to all present when the requirements of the Manual of The Mother Church by Mrs. Eddy regarding music are obeyed! How heart-warming a friendly greeting from an usher or a member is when the stranger, the heavy-laden, the lax or careless student, enters the church! Often the needed healing, regeneration, and awakening begin with this loving reception. The usher expresses his church's sincere welcome, friendliness, understanding, and unselfish co-operation. He knows that all men in their true being express God's qualities, irrespective of race, creed, or color. He never gives personal treatments unless asked to do so; he knows how to handle emergencies and is always pleasant, dignified, and courteous.

When the Scientist brings a guest to enjoy the service with him, he does not encourage conversation, but leaves him and all present, together with the unfolding of the service, entirely to God's loving care. Mrs. Eddy says (Miscellaneous Writings, p. 111 ), "Leaving the seed of Truth to its own vitality, it propagates: the tares cannot hinder it."

The hymns should be carefully selected by the First Reader to accompany the subject of the selections he has chosen to read. In 1903 Mrs. Eddy wrote to The Christian Science Board of Directors as follows: "It would be a good thing to have one of my hymns read and sung about every Sunday. It would spiritualize the thought of your audience, and this is more needed in the church than aught else can be." Then is it not "a good thing" to read and sing one of our Leader's hymns frequently at the Wednesday meetings in branch churches and societies? Let us always sing our hymns with gratitude, authority, praise, and joy, knowing each phrase has healing in it; then we shall not be closing our Hymnals and putting them away before the hymn is finished.

The conscientious First Reader chooses citations that are interesting and that fit the topic he wishes to develop—citations easy to understand, constructive, inspiring, and healing. He will read them with authority, understanding, and feeling. He should expect not only full attendance and steadfast attention, but also interesting and clear testimonies of healing.

When Mrs. Eddy was once asked about impersonalizing reading by reading in a monotone, she replied: "Monotone? ... What do you mean? Is it reading such as I once heard when my hymn 'Feed My Sheep' was read without expression or emphasis in such a way that I did not recognize it?" And, this is what one of her students said about our Leader's reading of that hymn: "It was beautiful, so full of toneful expression and inflection; and such was her spiritual understanding that we never once thought of her personality; and when she reverently finished with 'Shepherd, wash them clean,' we felt we had had a baptism in Spirit, and were cleansed of much personal sense, self-consciousness, and fear" (We Knew Mary Baker Eddy, First Series, pp. 15, 16).

Our Church Manual tells us (Art. VIII, Sect. 5 ), "The prayers in Christian Science churches shall be offered for the congregations collectively and exclusively." How many times one is tempted to pray that a personal problem be healed or that a relative or friend be benefited. United silent prayer is a sacred event, and let us keep it full of authority, inspiration, and joy, never stereotyped and heavy. Then with renewed fellowship and love we pray audibly, "Our Father which art in heaven" (Matt. 6:9 ). Oh, let us feel the substance of each phrase of the Lord's Prayer, and let us understand its power and mission to bless all Christian Science congregations and to help them become more useful.

Concerning the testimonies, the Manual states (Art. VIII, Sect. 24): "Testimony in regard to the healing of the sick is highly important. More than a mere rehearsal of blessings, it scales the pinnacle of praise and illustrates the demonstration of Christ, 'who healeth all thy diseases' (Psalm 103:3 ). This testimony, however, shall not include a description of symptoms or of suffering, though the generic name of the disease may be indicated." The testimonies should be simple, joyous, sincere, and true to the rules just quoted; and let us not forget the value of occasional humor. Let us keep our testimonies varied, for the needs of the strangers and others present may be many.

Much has been said about protecting our testimony. Does not the willingness to praise God and share a blessing, to express appreciation for Christ Jesus and Mrs. Eddy, contain that protection? Let us remember, however, that error never had any power, for God never planned it. Then we shall go forward expecting only more and more good.

When he leaves the service, the Christian Scientist may joyously contemplate what he has received. When he meets one who has testified, he graciously expresses his thanks. He knows God's law supports every true statement. He is confident that healing is going on and that the good experienced cannot be reversed, obstructed, resisted, or forgotten. Thus his spiritual support of the meeting continues even after its conclusion, that a full fruitage of good may result therefrom.

If we take advantage of the opportunities we have in the Wednesday meetings, we prove that we have in them an attraction superior to any other that can be offered to mankind. We show that Christian Science is equal to meeting all human need— to releasing men and women from all the types of difficulty with which they are confronted and brightening their lives without measure. And we draw strangers and others to the meetings proportionally.

Thus we actually demonstrate—as has been done many times, even in localities where counterattractions seemed at their greatest—that these meetings are more important and more interesting than anything else going on in the community during that hour. Thus we demonstrate, in other words, and in accordance with our Leader's teaching, the supreme attraction of Spirit.

The Standard Our Leader Has Set for Us

By Mrs. Daisette D. S. McKenzie, of Cambridge, Massachusetts

Dear Friends:

This meeting has a happy designation. Opportunity is defined as "a time or place favorable for executing a purpose." Our Leader, Mary Baker Eddy, defines our purpose by saying that we come together "mutually to aid one another in finding ways and means for helping the whole human family" (Miscellaneous Writings, p. 98 ). In a general way all thinking people today share the purpose of the Christian Science movement, and this is put before them in a new phraseology by a recent writer. In a current magazine he says: "The most important conflict during the next fifty to one hundred years will be the fight to win the minds of men .... Even the greatest military victories will mean nothing unless we win the war of ideas." "Winning the minds of men" might well be a watchword for all Christian endeavor.

Shortly after our Leader's discovery of the Science of being, God commanded her to begin reducing it to practical use. Of this time she wrote, "I saw before me the awful conflict, the Red Sea and the wilderness:" and she goes on to tell us that she pressed on through faith in God, trusting Truth, the strong deliverer, to guide her into the land of Christian Science (Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, pp. 226, 227 ). She saw the hardships of her mission, but through her indomitable spiritual courage and unchanging love she transformed this affliction into a transcendent opportunity, of which she took full advantage. Her labors for founding her discovery began.

It might increase our thankfulness for our main opportunities for forwarding the Cause of Christian Science, which she founded, if we would remind ourselves for a moment of the early days of our movement. There were at that time a very few Christian Scientists gathered together at different points in the United States. A careful search would have been required to find even one Scientist in many thousands of population. The Bible, the Christian Science textbook, Science and Health, and The Christian Science Journal were all the literature then available. There were at first no churches, no Reading Rooms, no Christian Science Sentinel, no Manual of The Mother Church or Christian Science Monitor. There were few practitioners and no teachers of Christian Science besides our Leader. When The Christian Science Publishing Society was started, its home was in two small rooms in a private house, and the daily mail could be carried in one hand and slipped into a nearby mailbox. Sunday services consisted of the reading from the Bible and Science and Health and of a short sermon. The Sunday School became a very active branch, and before long the children were among the best Christian Scientists of that day. This is still true of our Sunday Schools and their priceless membership. In speaking of the advent of Truth, our Leader says (Message to The Mother Church for 1902, p. 2 ), "It is purifying all peoples, religions, ethics, and learning, and making the children our teachers."

Our Leader was deeply engaged in meeting general opposition and in founding her movement under God's direction. She had little time to give counsel to the students. She called upon them earnestly to stand for Truth, to hold to their textbook, to make their own way; and this indeed they were obliged to do, though they were ever conscious of her support. At one time Mrs. Eddy asked her students to go from door to door lovingly offering the textbook for sale. The scorn and hatred toward Christian Science was so great that very few opportunities were offered these students to share the blessings of the truth. Instead of laboring to improve a multitude of opportunities, one had to search at that time to find any opportunities at all. In spite of this, many beautiful healings took place. One of them may be especially interesting.

A woman was healed of a longstanding disease pronounced incurable. She was an American married to a Japanese gentleman. He was so deeply grateful for the healing of his wife that, as he was about to visit his parents in Japan, he took with him a volume of Science and Health and placed it in the Imperial Library at Tokyo. On his return to the United States, he said that this was the first introduction of Christian Science in his country.

Today the news comes that the Scientists in Japan are building a church and that the understanding of Science is growing among these intelligent people. This incident shows the power of a single act of one devoted individual.

Our Leader's unqualified support of individuality and individual effort was always apparent in her life and teaching. However, we must recognize that a subtle temptation sometimes steals over the thought of the Christian Scientist. This suggestion makes him believe that it was more necessary in early days for each one to put all his efforts and love into advancing the Cause than it is today. It whispers that because there are so many more Scientists now, it is not so necessary to work with the same devoted zeal. The evil purpose of this suggestion should be discerned and destroyed. The fact is that more devoted individual and collective effort is needed today than ever, because the area of the harvest field has expanded much faster than the number of laborers. Our Master said (Matt. 13:38 ), "The field is the world;" and today this is literally true.

In a letter, our Leader wrote: "All the people need, in order to love and adopt Christian Science, is the true sense of its Founder. In proportion as they have it, will our Cause advance." The question arises, Why does she emphasize a "true sense of its Founder" and not of its Discoverer? At first the discovery was the target for the hatred of the world. The effort was to prove that Mrs. Eddy was not the Discoverer, or that there was nothing to the discovery. Our Leader overcame this malicious antagonism. She was obliged even to go to court to protect the copyright of her book. The fury was gradually quieted. It is now conceded that Mrs. Eddy is the author of her writings. The effort of the enemy today seems directed against her work as Founder, and our right sense of the Founder of Christian Science and our unremitting support of her are indispensable. This will convince the world. It is a comfort that the founding was as directly under the guidance of God as the original discovery of Christian Science was.

It would be impossible for the individual Scientist to meet the world's desire for Science except through a center of interest, love, and activity like The Mother Church. Through this center and its branches and the directions of the Manual spiritually, mentally, morally, and financially we can take immediate advantage of opportunities; and our efforts are not wasted, but relayed through authorized channels, thus reaching to the far frontiers of thought.

In connection with world affairs, another priceless opportunity is immediate, to which our inmost hearts respond. It is given us in these words of our Leader's (Christian Science versus Pantheism, p. 14 ): "Pray for the prosperity of our country, and for her victory under arms." Mrs. Eddy continues: "In your peaceful homes remember our brave soldiers, whether in camp or in battle. Oh, may their love of country, and their faithful service thereof, be unto them life-preservers!"

Whenever a Christian Scientist or a Sunday School teacher learns from children, whenever we pray that no error can prevent us from attending our church services, whenever we support and contribute to our periodicals, whenever a Monitor is folded and sent on its way, whenever the smallest, as well as the greatest, service is faithfully performed, we have part in the building "not made with hands, eternal in the heavens" (II Cor. 5:1 ). Our Leader finished the work which God gave her to do and left us to carry on triumphantly the Christian Science movement she founded.

If any faithful laborer falters and seeks to lie down under the juniper tree of discouragement, as did the great Elijah, he will hear the tender voice of the divine Mother, God, asking, "What doest thou here?" He will arise, be fed by the angelic promises, and, like the prophet, will go on to greater service than ever.

We are ever reminded of the amplitude of our Leader's loving care in these words of one of her immortal hymns (Poems, p. 14 ):

The meeting closed with the singing of Hymn No. 197, "Now sweeping down the years untold."

The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low: and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain: and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together: for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.—Isaiah 40:3-5.