Notices

THE HEALING WORK OF CHRISTIAN SCIENCE

A Meeting Held in the Extension of The Mother Church on Tuesday, June 9, at 7.30 p.m.

Chairman, Miss Emma C. Shipman of Brookline, Massachusetts

The meeting was opened with the singing of Hymn No. 304 in the Christian Science Hymnal, "Shepherd, show me how to go," the words of which were written by our beloved Leader, Mary Baker Eddy. The chairman then read selections from the Bible and from "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" by Mrs. Eddy.

The Bible
Isaiah 61:1, 3
Matthew 9:35–38
10:1
John 10:7, 14, 16
14:15, 16, 26, 29
Revelation 10:1 (to:), 2 (to:)

Science and Health
558:9–10
559:1–2, 20–21
110:17–20
546:27
271:1–5, 20
138:27–2
Pref. xi: 14–21

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:

Our Leader and Her Healing Mission

How clearly the words of our Leader's hymn, "Feed My Sheep" (Christian Science Hymnal. No. 304 ), mirror her footsteps in her healing mission to mankind! We note her complete turning from any mortal guidance to God alone as the Shepherd who would lead her, not in some easy way, for well she knew the resistance of mortal mind to the healing truth. It was this truth which she must prove in practice, preach, and teach.

Mrs. Eddy knew that in her past severe trials God had been with her. Now, as always, her beloved, unfailing Shepherd would guide her safely, although the path might be rugged and uphill all the way. Now, as always, she listened for heavenly guidance; and under divine orders she gathered the great truths of divine Science to sow them in human consciousness, that the spiritually hungry could be fed and the sorrowing comforted.

The self-willed, the hardhearted, the self-righteous, those asleep in worldliness, who would not listen to her message, she left to God's care, knowing that these false conditions would bring their own suffering and awakening.

The way was lone in human companionship for the Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science, as she foresaw. Even her most advanced pupils often failed to comprehend her needs or to follow her example. This was, doubtless, not from lack of desire, but from lack of spiritual growth. How often she had to forgive this lack in others and to turn from mortals' inadequacy to the one divine Mind alone for aid. She said to two members of her last class, as I recall, "I find it easy to forgive mistakes of the head which are not of the heart." Her counsel was to go forward and leave behind the things which behind, for the present must not be encumbered with past sorrows or worldly triumphs.

Her God-given work for the world and her love for all humanity were commensurate—a work and a love which transcend race, creed, time, and distance.

Eternity will receive her gatherings. Time must now be filled with the sowing she expected of her followers. In proportion as we pray as she prayed, commune with God, work as she worked, will our sowing prosper.

In Mrs. Eddy's presence one felt her clear consciousness of God with her as her heavenly Father and guide. To her pure mentality the angels of His presence were a present reality. There was no aloofness in her manner with others. Her genuine interest in those who came to her, and her kind thoughtfulness, were heartwarming to all. Her attitude in her classes was that of "Come now, and let us reason together" (Isa. 1:18 ). The pupils recognized that she was listening for divine guidance, and this only enhanced their feeling that she was fully alert to the varying needs of the class and would leave nothing unsaid that would promote their understanding of Christian Science.

Her great desire to see a growth in grace which would make our healing instantaneous was evident. She could tell us how to grow, but we must do the growing. She turned the class from her personality to a glorious view of God and His Christ. We felt she was contemplating with us the wonderful goodness of the creator, with an insight far beyond that of our present ability. This feeling made one humble, but not discouraged. The glimpse she had given us of God's divine completeness, ever at hand to bless, we saw must expand with each one from his present standpoint until it filled his life.

Mrs. Eddy made clear to her classes the absolute relationship of Christian Science to Christ Jesus. No other has expressed such perfect understanding and appreciation of Jesus as has our Leader. One has only to study her chapter on "Atonement and Eucharist" in "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" to see the clarity of her vision of the Master's work and mission, and the example he left for us to follow. What lessons in her words: "The divinity of the Christ was made manifest in the humanity of Jesus;" and, "Through the magnitude of his human life, he demonstrated the divine Life" (Science and Health, pp. 25 and 54 )!

Christ Jesus fulfilled Isaiah's prophecy of his coming and his healing work. In no uncertain language Jesus foretold the Comforter, which would lead into all truth. Our inspired Leader proved through her teachings and demonstration that Christian Science is indeed the Comforter, which will lead mankind out of material bondage into the spiritual freedom of the sons of God.

Mrs. Eddy interpreted Zechariah's vision of "the two anointed ones" (Zech. 4:12–14 ). She writes in "The First Church of Christ, Scientist, and Miscellany" (pp. 346, 347 ), "Science and Health makes it plain to all Christian Scientists that the manhood and womanhood of God have already been revealed in a degree through Christ Jesus and Christian Science, His two witnesses."

Mrs. Eddy's healing mission is not only world-wide; it is world-shaking. The Comforter brings error to the surface that the light of divine Truth may point out its unreal nature. Through all the tumult we can remain, as did our Leader, in no ivory tower, but on the field of battle, in the calm consciousness that God is working His purpose out for all mankind.

As each one strives diligently, humbly, happily, to rise into higher, holier consciousness, he will be armed with a supreme faith in the power of the Comforter—divine Science—to win in this hour of Armageddon.

We now know that we must look for our Leader in her writings and that we shall find our teacher and guide in Science and Health, just as she told her followers they must do, when she was here in person. Each loyal Christian Scientist is a devoted student of Mrs. Eddy's writings. What great cause for gratitude that we all have access to the same teacher!

Any deviation from the Principle and rules of Science and Health means failure in scientific healing. All the personal teaching our Leader gave her classes is found in her writings. They give the same statements of demonstrable truth, the same rules for healing, the same high ideals and models for daily living, the gentle rebukes and kind encouragement, which she gave to her followers while she was here.

In her writings one finds her unfailing trust in God, her nobility of character, her profound wisdom, her absolute honesty, her tender motherliness, her strong, compassionate justice, the royalty of her meekness, her fearless courage in meeting and overcoming evil, her eagerness to share with others all that God had so wondrously revealed to her. These and other Christlike qualities made her the clear transparency through which the sick were quickly healed by the ever-present divine Mind. She had no barrier to God's healing power. Her thought turned to God as instinctively as a flower turns to the sun.

In "Retrospection and Introspection" our Leader writes (p. 94 ), "I am persuaded that only by the modesty and distinguishing affection illustrated in Jesus' career, canChristian Scientists aid the establishment of Christ's kingdom on the earth." And then she says, "In this period and the forthcoming centuries, watered by dews of divine Science, this 'tree of life' will blossom into greater freedom, and its leaves will be 'for the healing of the nations.' "

"Physician, heal thyself"

By Joseph Ware, of Berkeley, California

In Matthew's Gospel is the record of the centurion who entreated Jesus to heal his servant. The centurion exhibited qualities of thought which are indispensable in the practice of Christian Science today. When he approached the Master his humility, obedience, and expectancy made him a transparency for the Christ to shine through and heal his servant.

The centurion was humble. He said to Jesus, "I am not worthy that thou shouldest come under my roof." Speaking as a soldier, he declared that he knew how to obey, and so had earned the right to be obeyed. He said, "I am a man under authority, ... and I say ... to my servant, Do this, and he doeth it." From his own experience he could see that because Jesus obeyed divine authority he could also reflect the power of that authority. He said to him, "Speak the word only, and my servant shall be healed." Jesus approved this attitude and promptly restored the servant to his normal healthy condition.

As in the centurion's military system, so in Christian Science, laws and rules must be authoritatively defined and conscientiously obeyed. As general laws we have the Ten Commandments, the Sermon on the Mount, and the demands of the Science of Soul, set forth in the Christian Science textbook, "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" by Mary Baker Eddy. And we have specific rules, such as the one to heal the sick and the sinning. Though this rule was enunciated and illustrated by Jesus, it fell into disuse in the third century and thereafter was thought to be impractical until Mrs. Eddy discovered Christian Science. Her writings show how to obey the rule, how to heal.

Not only in Science and Health are her directions complete and richly illustrated, but in her other writings she gives warnings and supplemental instructions to protect us and to assure our continued effectiveness as Christian Science healers. Among such admonitions is her request that we pray daily for ourselves. Though couched in the language of loving entreaty, this request must be obeyed as implicitly as though it were a command.

Let me read it to you (Miscellaneous Writings, p. 127 ): "One thing I have greatly desired, and again earnestly request, namely, that Christian Scientists, here and elsewhere, pray daily for themselves; not verbally, nor on bended knee, but mentally, meekly, and importunately. When a hungry heart petitions the divine Father-Mother God for bread, it is not given a stone,—but more grace, obedience, and love. If this heart, humble and trustful, faithfully asks divine Love to feed it with the bread of heaven, health, holiness, it will be conformed to a fitness to receive the answer to its desire; then will flow into it the 'river of His pleasure,' the tributary of divine Love, and great growth in Christian Science will follow,—even that joy which finds one's own in another's good."

This request, that we pray daily for ourselves, deserves the most serious attention. Experience has shown that Christian Scientists who pray and work for themselves remain safe and active in their healing work. The physician must heal himself. He must attain and maintain his health and his holiness. These were the distinguishing marks of a Christian in apostolic times and today are normal conditions of Christian Scientists.

What are the errors we can expect to dispel by praying for ourselves? Are they not the wrong qualities of thought which obstruct the Christianization and spiritualization of daily life? Are not these the same errors that interfere with our healing work for others? Then could we find a better way to improve our effectiveness as Christian Science healers than by praying daily for ourselves? Jesus found time to withdraw from the multitude to spend hours in prayer to God. It seems presumptuous that any of his followers should believe themselves too busy to do likewise.

Our Leader's example shows the importance she placed upon quiet prayer for herself. As a child, when she discovered that Daniel prayed three times daily she began to do so too. In later years she developed her discovery and wrote her textbook in an attitude of conscious communion with God. She had learned to exclude mortal mind. When, ten years after the publication of Science and Health, the demands upon her time were very insistent, Mrs. Eddy told an inquirer that she retired three times each day to seek the divine blessing. In any one Christian Scientist's time more valuable than our Leader's? Who of us cannot take time to withdraw from the world to pray that our lives and hearts be conformed to the divine character? How can we expect to bless and help others without growing spiritually ourselves? A line from our Leader's hymn, "Shepherd, show me how to go," says, "How to gather," then "how to sow" (Poems, p. 14 ).

A few months ago my wife and I had a simple experience which convinced us of the value of occasional retirement from the pressure of public practice. During the Christmas season we went to a place where we could rest and study and pray alone. Not only were we refreshed, but during the first week after our return home our thought remained sufficiently uplifted to permit seven newcomers to Christian Science to seek our aid. Our usual experience had been one or two beginners a month; but when our own thought was fresh and free, that pace was multiplied many fold.

The proverb (Luke 4:23 ), "Physician, heal thyself," is nowhere more applicable than in the public practice of Christian Science healing; and to it might be added, And keep thyself healed! We bless others by sharing the truth we have made our own.

Does not a good homemaker keep her house in such order that she is always happy when guests arrive? What merchant, having stocked his shelves, would allow his merchandise to get so untidy that he could not readily supply his customers' wants? Neither the wise homemaker nor the wise merchant will be found guilty of neglect. Nor will the wise Christian Scientist be neglectful of his own spiritual well-being.

Those who comply with Mrs. Eddy's request to pray daily for themselves are likely to have three things happen to them. First, they will be healed of whatever malady they may believe they have. Secondly, they will become better men and women; they will be a little more honest, more kindly, more intelligent. And thirdly, they will be better healers. Why? Because they will themselves be better transparencies for Truth. "Grace, obedience, and love" will be more active in their thought. Their houses will be in order, their merchandise accessible. The Christ will have shined in their hearts, conforming them to a fitness to receive the answer to their desire.

Our Leader has shown us as metaphysicians how to heal ourselves, and how to stay healed. Through obedience to her instructions our thought is protected, inspired, purified; and as a consequence our patients are healed and our churches filled; mankind is blessed and God glorified. In simple majesty our Leader says (Miscellaneous Writings, p. 16 ), "The Principle of Christianity is infinite: it is indeed God; and this infinite Principle hath infinite claims on man, and these claims are divine, not human; and man's ability to meet them is from God; for, being His likeness and image, man must reflect the full dominion of Spirit—even its supremacy over sin, sickness, and death." Thus is fulfilled in our lives the injunction, "Physician, heal thyself."

The Healing Mission of Church

By Mrs. Jeanne Roe Price, of  Montclair, New Jersey

In "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" by our beloved Leader, Mary Baker Eddy, we read (p. 136 ), "Jesus established his church and maintained his mission on a spiritual foundation of Christ-healing."

How significant are these words: established, maintained, foundation, Christ-healing! How truly our Leader saw the real Church; how surely, how reverently, she followed Christ Jesus in her inspired demonstration of church organization; how lovingly, humbly, confidently, she affirmed Christ-healing to be the foundation and purpose of church existence! When in 1879 the decision was made by that brave little band of pioneers to form a church without creeds, to be called the Church of Christ, Scientist, they voted, as we read in the Manual of The Mother Church by our Leader (p. 17 ), "to organize a church designed to commemorate the word and works of our Master, which should reinstate primitive Christianity and its lost element of healing."

John the Baptist, it is recorded in the Gospel of Luke, once sent two of his disciples to Jesus to inquire, "Art thou he that should come, or look we for another?" Jesus' reply contained no reference to Scriptural prophecy, no reference to the marvelous incidents connected with his birth, no account of his unusual preaching methods. It was simply this: "Go ... and tell John what things ye have seen and heard; how that the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, to the poor the gospel is preached." And this is the answer that the Church of Christ, Scientist, in all humility gives to its inquirers.

The living, healing church! "I have poured out my spirit upon the house of Israel, saith the Lord God," so the Scriptures read (Ezek. 39:29 ). Surely God has poured out His spirit upon the Church of Christ, Scientist: the beauty and joy of Soul, the wisdom of Mind, the strength and permanence of Principle, the omnipotence of Truth, the vitality of Life, the glory and supremacy of Spirit, the loveliness of Love. Let us "as lively stones" in this church be "built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ" (I Pet. 2:5 ).

Won't you turn back the pages of history half a century or so and go with me for a moment to a little southwestern town in these United States of ours to the home of a woman who has been told by her physician that he can do no more for her? As a last resort, he has recommended a surgical operation, though he cannot promise her that it will cure her; he can only hope that it will relieve her suffering, at least temporarily. The woman was afraid the operation would prove fatal. She was young; life stretched before her rich and abundant. But the suffering—this she could no longer endure. So she yielded to the doctor's advice, and a date was set.

There was a devout Christian woman in that town who dearly loved my mother (for it is she of whom I am speaking). One day before she was to go to the hospital, Mother asked to be taken to see this woman. She had many questions to ask her about death; she was so terribly afraid that she was dying. But the woman met her with words of life. Her son, whom Mother knew well and who had been an invalid in a wheel chair for many years, her son, her only son, was well! Was walking! Was healed! Healed through a religion named Christian Science. By prayer! Just as in Jesus time! The words fairly rang in my mother's ears. No mention of death was made that afternoon. But life, health, hope, useful activity, joy, victory, and God's infinite love for His children filled every moment of it. And, later, as Mother drove home, it seemed as though the very heavens were singing their "good tidings of great joy. ... Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men" (Luke 2:10, 14 ). She was healed, completely healed, that afternoon.

The story was told and retold me as a child. Before I knew my ABC's I knew the wonder and glory, the ever-present availability, of Christ-healing.

The little Christian Science church in our town was literally the church of the cured "incurables," so many had been healed in Christian Science. Rarely did anyone come to Christian Science in those days unless he was said to be beyond cure. They met, the Christian Scientists, in a dingy old room above a grocery store until more healings, thus more members, forced them out into larger quarters. Then they built, we built, for every man, woman, and child was important in the building and dedication of that church. It was a crude little wooden structure, but I have seen no cathedral in Europe so beautiful. It was truly built and established on a foundation of Christ-healing, and it grew and prospered on this foundation.

In the book of Revelation, John gives us some illuminating thoughts on church. He is writing to the seven churches in Asia, evaluating their fruits and their faults. The message is addressed to him "that hath an ear"—in other words, to the enlightened, listening thought—and is as pertinent to us today as it was to those early Christian churches of John's day.

To the church at Ephesus he says, in substance: Thou hast done good works, but thou hast left thy first love, thy consecration, thy enthusiasm, thy hunger and thirst for righteousness. To Smyrna: Thou hast suffered persecution both from without and from within. Be thou faithful, and I will give thee a crown of life. To Pergamos: Thou hast the name, but hast mixed false doctrines with the truth. To Thyatira: Thou hast been seduced by personal sense, personal leadership. To Sardis: Thou livest, but art dead—apathy. To Philadelphia: Thou hast kept my word. Behold, I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it. To Laodicea: Thou art lukewarm, neither hot nor cold; thou art rich in material things, but poor in spiritual understanding. "I will spue thee out of my mouth" (Rev. 3:16 ).

In deep humility let us pray that the Church of Christ, Scientist, be not guilty of these shortcomings. Rather, let it fulfill its mission and heal—confidently, consistently, gloriously heal. In her Message to The Mother Church for 1900, Mrs. Eddy says (p. 15 ): "In the words of St. John, may the angel of The Mother Church write of this church: 'Thou hast not left thy first love, I know thy works, and charity, and service, and faith, and thy patience, and thy works; and the last to be more thanthe first.'" The healing church—and healing today as in Mrs. Eddy's time! Reports from the Field, all over the world, tell of the magnificent healing work it is doing today.

May we, as Christian Scientists, be worthy of our Leader's benediction for her Church—for our Church—and for us all (The First Church of Christ, Scientist, and Miscellany, p. 197 ): "May the beauty of holiness be upon this dear people, and may this beloved church be glorious, without spot or blemish."

The Harvest Hour

By Frederick G. Roberts, of Chicago, Illinois

Christian Science has entered the world to reassure all humanity, as Christ Jesus did, that God's promises are kept. Through the inspired teachings of Mary Baker Eddy, the Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science, the healing power of the Word of God is once again being made abundantly manifest in the lives of mankind.

In the beginning, God created man in His own image and likeness. The Scriptural account then tells us that man was instructed to be fruitful, to multiply, to replenish and subdue the earth, and to have dominion. Existence will never appear to be an enigma to the student of Christian Science, as the realization of God's law arouses in him a sincere desire to be obedient to these directives.

Christ Jesus knew and understood throughout his earthly mission that his sole reason for being was to give expression to God's plan and to work the works of Him who had sent him. He based all his thought and conduct on the standards established in the beginning by Truth and Love.

Jesus stood at all times for spiritual radicalism, and for action consistent therewith. His course was never appeasement with error, but an intelligent and positive application of Truth.

Our Master was fruitful in unfolding the manifold ideas of Spirit. He continually multiplied, in daily deeds of kindness, his proofs of divine Life and Love. He perpetually replenished through prayer and inspiration an abundance of goodness. He scientifically subdued every attempt of evil to subvert or pervert the execution of his divine purpose. He overlooked no opportunity to express omnipotent dominion. Jesus planted well and garnered a plentiful harvest. He healed the sick, cleansed the lepers, cast out demons, and raised the dead.

Students of Christian Science are aware that as God's directives were and are specific, so the loving commands of the Way-shower are redolent with responsibilities. Jesus declared that if we would ask, it would be given us. That if we would seek, we should find. That if we would knock, it would be opened unto us.

He told us with no uncertainty that we are the light of the world and that we should be found letting our light shine that men might observe our good works, for in so doing we would be glorifying our Father. "Freely ye have received," said he; in return therefore "freely give" (Matt. 10:8 ). And let us not overlook this significant command (John 15:16 ): "I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain."

Jesus likewise expected that we should do the works that he did and, finally, that we should manifest the same perfection that he expressed, even as our Father is perfect. Is it not most gratifying that we have such an Exemplar as our guide?

As enthusiastic sowers in our Father's vineyard our opportunities and privileges are boundless. Let us assume the responsibility of so acquainting ourselves with the living, energizing, and majestic verities of the Holy Scriptures, as practiced by the master Christian and now so vividly revealed through the study of Christian Science, that we may be found manifesting ever-increasing evidences of healing in our own experience as well as in helping others.

We are each of us right now in full possession of our divine patrimony, with a full complement of talents, the qualities and attributes of the divine Mind, which, when properly utilized, will keep our fields of thought ripe and ready to yield the harvest. Every one of us is needed to bear witness to the completeness of God's planting.

In her Prose Works Mrs. Eddy writes (The First Church of Christ, Scientist, and Miscellany, p. 213 ), "The natural fruits of Christian Science Mind-healing are harmony, brotherly love, spiritual growth and activity." Today alert and wise Christian Scientists are answering the call to rise and sow, to reap and bring forth "the fruit of the Spirit," which is "love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law" (Gal. 5:22, 23 ). Such gleaning efforts will bring forth quicker, better, and more permanent healings.

Again to quote from our Leader. She states in "Miscellaneous Writings" (p. 356 ): "My students, with cultured intellects, chastened affections, and costly hopes, give promise of grand careers. But they must remember that the seedtime is passed, the harvest hour has come; and songs should ascend from the mount of revelation, sweeter than the sound of vintage bells." What cause for rejoicing is ours, and what an abundance of substance will be garnered when we note carefully these words of our Leader and recognize that this cherished hour—the harvest hour—has come!

The world is accepting the planting of Truth as taught in Christian Science. As laborers in our various fields of activity our duty now is to engage faithfully in the joyous task of reaping. As we go about our duties let us watch carefully that every thought we think, every desire we cultivate, every furrow we harrow, will demonstrate evident spiritual consciousness in productive action, so that our daily affairs will always be distinguished by constant progress in the demonstration of infinite good.

When selecting our seeds for the planting, let us be careful to sift out the chaff of such unbecoming thoughts as lack, fear, doubt, worry, discouragement, and the like. Then we shall not be compelled to uproot the weeds of discontent later on.

Mrs. Eddy's spiritual vision saw God as Love, as Truth, as Life, and man as His true image and likeness. She was enabled, therefore, to enlighten her followers as to the requirements for fulfilling God's directives and for following obediently Jesus' commands. She knew and understood, as has no other spiritual teacher since the time of Christ Jesus, that when God gave man dominion, man was immediately and forever endowed with sovereign, complete, and unlimited authority over all things. We prove this dominion by our healing works. Mrs. Eddy perceived that freedom to think and act rightly is man's God-given heritage.

The harvest therefore is the necessary and inevitable evidence of God with us. In words and phrases gentle yet firm, our revered Leader declares (ibid., p. 354 ), "A little more grace, a motive made pure, a few truths tenderly told, a heart softened, a character subdued, a life consecrated, would restore the right action of the mental mechanism, and make manifest the movement of body and soul in accord with God."

These, then, are today's directives to those of us who would follow in the footsteps of Christ Jesus. Let us, as sincere Christian Scientists, lift up our eyes and behold the fields, for they are indeed "white already to harvest" (John 4:35 ).

Let us strive as never before to become fruitful in all good works; to multiply our opportunities for spiritual growth; to replenish our mental storehouses with Christlike thoughts; to subdue every temptation to commit evil; and to manifest dominion—and so be found bearing witness unto the truth. Thus shall we more fully realize that this is indeed the harvest hour.

Our Healing Work for the World

By Miss Evelyn F. Heywood, of London, England

The history of the Bible, both New and Old Testaments, is the record of a spiritual and a material world. In the Psalms we read (89:11 ), "As for the world and the fulness thereof, thou hast founded them." To the Athenians on Mars' Hill, Paul spoke of "God that made the world and all things therein" (Acts 17:24 ). On the other hand, the Bible has also much to say of a world where suffering and wickedness abound.

Christ Jesus, because he loved the world, came to bring it salvation from all its ills. Toward the end of his earthly career, having met and mastered discord, disease, and death in every form, he could say to his followers (John 16:33 ), "Be of good cheer; I have overcome the world."

Mary Baker Eddy in her writings deals with both the spiritual and the mortal aspect of the world. "The suppositional world within us," she writes, "separates us from the spiritual world, which is apart from matter, and unites us to one another" (The First Church of Christ, Scientist, and Miscellany, p. 167 ). In Christian Science the world of Spirit, God-created, God-governed, God-preserved, is revealed as the only real, the abiding place of him who accepts as practical and available the teachings of Christ Jesus. In the logic of absolute Truth, Christian Science calls upon its followers not only to recognize what he did, but to exercise their own God-given power to do likewise.

Surely the greatest of all gifts which this age has brought to the world is the understanding that here and now in the Science of Christianity these Bible assurances can be fulfilled: That it is God, Mind, "who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases; who redeemeth thy life from destruction" (Ps. 103:3, 4 ).

The servitude, mental and physical, which a suppositional world imposes upon mortals can, through the operation of divine law, be replaced with the liberty of the sons of God. In Christian Science we find that we can enter now into citizenship of our spiritual and ideal world.

He who preserves the consciousness of God's presence amidst the events which crowd upon the human stage will not be mesmerized by their threats or their promises. He knows that his world, in the words of the Psalmist, is "stablished, that it cannot be moved" (Ps. 93:1 ). Mrs. Eddy describes to us what is taking place in these words (Miscellany, p. 269 ): "God hath thrust in the sickle, and He is separating the tares from the wheat. This hour is molten in the furnace of Soul. Its harvest song is world-wide, world-known, world-great."

Are we aware of the infinite significance of the harvest song of Soul? In the consciousness of the ability which is ours through Science to discern between the true and the false, the suppositional world of matter is seen as powerless to separate us from the world of Spirit.

Mrs. Eddy writes of Jesus (Miscellaneous Writings, p. 74 ), "His nativity was a spiritual and immortal sense of the ideal world." The meaning of that event in history is seen as the forever setting aside of the temporal for the eternal.

He who has eyes to see cannot fail to discern Truth at work today in the affairs of men. It is here in healing, in redemption, in deliverance from personal fears. It is here in the faith which merges into spiritual understanding. It is to be seen, as we look further, in a greater comprehension of the problems of mankind and the accepted responsibility of seeking to solve them rightly; it is to be seen in an awareness of the power of prayer to influence thought for the universal good. By such means will the jurisdiction of Mind replace unreason and revenge with tolerance and benignity.

As the world, which Jesus came to save, becomes increasingly the compassionate concern of those who desire to serve humanity, that which separates will yield to the love which heals and unites. Jesus called upon his followers to go into all the world. He prayed for it; he watched over it. He brought it healing and assurance. Mrs. Eddy dedicated her life to the same end. Those who have glimpsed her vision and purpose can never be satisfied to remain in the shallows of personal and limited service, however insistent its demands. Our membership in The Mother Church must be our acknowledgment of this.

Our Leader writes (Pulpit and Press, p. 20 ), "From first to last The Mother Church seemed type and shadow of the warfare between the flesh and Spirit, even that shadow whose substance is the divine Spirit, imperatively propelling the greatest moral, physical, civil, and religious reform ever known on earth."

That which unerringly and imperatively brings reform, replacing the material with the spiritual, is divinely bestowed. He who is conscious of what it means to be a member of The Mother Church, in nature no less than in name, will contribute to every situation in which he finds himself, or sees his world involved, that priceless contribution of good will that engenders peace. And this, because he is deeply and intelligently concerned in replacing the suppositional world with the spiritual.

The Mother Church, symbol of the motherhood of God, in its all-encompassing love and unity is today teaching men and nations that government is based not on human will, but on the divine will, not on persons, but on Principle, not on many minds in conflict with each other, but on the one Mind. It is teaching humanity that health is not physical but spiritual; that thought and action are not imposed by mortals in the tyranny of government through false systems and inhuman laws, but that thought is the eternal expression of omniscient and omnipresent Love. To know this is to go forth in the steadfast reliance and inner peace which are man's birthright. This is confirmation of our citizenship in an ideal world.

In this age there has been unfolded to us the Science of Christianity and with it the vision, the understanding, the capacity to distinguish between the world of Spirit and its suppositional opposite. Our Leader once told her students (Miscellaneous Writings, p. 279 ), "We, to-day, in this class-room, are enough to convert the world if we are of one Mind; for then the whole world will feel the influence of this Mind." This, surely, is not only our task but our great opportunity: to preserve in consecration and conviction our oneness with Mind. In our awareness of the world of Spirit, not at the mercy of crises and dilemmas, but now and always governed by Principle, we shall bring to men and nations healing of mind and body; we shall help to establish the reign of peace.

They who see in the signs of the times the hand of God and who are engaged upon this mighty task, ushered in by Christ Jesus and reinstated by Mrs. Eddy, will not grow impatient or discouraged. They know that in the "furnace of Soul" many are the lessons to be learned, the difficulties to be overcome. They will not doubt that divine Love is moving upon the waters and that in the triumph of individual overcoming there is also to be found the certainty of universal triumph.

In confirmation of this our Leader writes (Miscellany, pp. 239, 240 ): "The millennium is a state and stage of mental advancement, going on since ever time was. Its impetus, accelerated by the advent of Christian Science, is marked, and will increase till all men shall know Him (divine Love) from the least to the greatest, and one God and the brotherhood of man shall be known and acknowledged throughout the earth."

The meeting closed with the singing of Hymn No. 82 , "God is working His purpose out."