"I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me" (John 12:32).

When as a member of the lecture committee of a branch Church of Christ, Scientist, I was setting out to do preparatory work for a forthcoming lecture, I was deeply impressed by Jesus' words quoted above. Prayerfully pondering this statement, I thought of the numerous times the Bible mentions the multitudes which were drawn to hear Jesus whenever and wherever he spoke. These Biblical accounts do not say by what means the people were informed that he was going to speak. The many helpful means of communication available to us today—newspapers, radio, television—did not exist in those days. Yet when Jesus spoke, the multitudes were there, ready to hear his words.

I asked myself, What power was it that enabled Jesus to reach all who needed his words and would consequently be drawn to hear them? Recalling Mrs. Eddy's words on page 492 of Science and Health, "God is Mind, and God is infinite; hence all is Mind," I began to discern that what had drawn such multitudes to Jesus was his reflection of the infinite, omnipotent Mind, including within its own infinitude every individualized expression of itself. This activity evidenced divine Principle at work, governing each individual's development and supplying his every need. Thus as the individual's need for enlightenment was supplied, so Jesus' need for listeners was met.

Pursuing this same line of unfoldment, I considered the probable activity of Jesus' disciples. It seemed to me that the activity of Christian Scientists might be likened to that of the disciples. Both groups would seem to fulfill a parallel purpose in the eternal activity of disseminating Truth.

As the disciples went through the towns and villages, they manifested their understanding of Jesus' teachings and reflected to some degree his confidence in God. They spoke to the people of Jesus' teachings and performed many marvelous healings. Their words and deeds must have seemed full of golden promise to the receptive thought.

Human conditions similar to those faced by the apostles exist today. Individuals are still crying out for help, still struggling for enlightenment, still seeking the means of meeting their daily needs. If the need to know Truth still exists, the means of meeting this need also exists. Consequently, the power to attract these needy ones to the place where Truth is expounded—to a Christian Science lecture—continues to exist.

A Christian Scientist, preparing for a lecture, might liken his activity to that of the disciples and seek to emulate them. As he goes about his daily tasks in the home, the school, the factory, or the office, he too can radiate the eternal confidence in the allness of God, which Jesus had imparted to his disciples through his Christly understanding. In his daily contacts the Scientist can show by example as well as by words what Christian Science has done and is doing for him and for all who turn to it.

He can also affirm with serene confidence and joy that attraction is an ever-present property of Mind and cannot be denied its activity or fulfillment. He can know with complete certainty that a Christian Science lecture is indeed the lifting up of Truth, which will attract all receptive individuals to it for healing. He can make frequent daily affirmations of the truth that God is perpetually communicating ideas and spiritual qualities to his offspring. And he can express this truth in his thoughts and deeds. This exemplification will be sensed by all who are ready to be drawn to the truth expressed in a Christian Science lecture.

These thoughts, flooding my consciousness, brought assurance that the lecture would attract an audience and fulfill its purpose. I knew with calm trust that all the human laws seeking to limit or restrict the unfoldment of Truth are spurious and ineffective. I saw clearly that no aggressive mental suggestions of apathy, antagonism, lack of interest, or procrastination can mesmerize the receptive individual or prevent him from yielding to and following the attraction of Truth.

This continued spiritualizing of my sense of every phase of our lecture preparation, as well as my own daily experiences, awakened me to a fuller and more vital awareness of the true scope and far-reaching effects of our lectures. I came to see that a lecture is not merely an hour's meeting together to hear the truth. It is, rather, a continuing experience.

As the words which Jesus spoke to the multitudes have continued to spread and prosper and accomplish their purpose, so the truth, which is being brought to our present-day audiences and planted in the individual thought of the listeners will continue to grow and prosper and bless long after the lecture itself has been given.

It is a rewarding and broadening task to prepare oneself for a lecture, whether working as a lecture committee member or as a church member supporting the activity of his church. It is both intelligent and practical to employ all the available modern means of communication in advertising our lectures, but let us never overlook the primary importance of holding in thought the true spiritual concept of these activities.

The individual who determines to prepare himself in Jesus' way by lifting his thought from material beliefs to the understanding of Mind, Spirit, as All-in-all will find Truth as potent to draw men today as it was nearly two thousand years ago. He will be giving his obedient support to the "Daily Prayer," found in the Manual of The Mother Church by Mrs. Eddy, which reads in part (Art. VIII, Sect. 4), "And may Thy Word enrich the affections of all mankind, and govern them!"

Thus saith the Lord that created the heavens; God himself that formed the earth and made it; he hath established it, he created it not in vain, he formed it to be inhabited: I am the Lord; and there is none else.... I the Lord speak righteousness, I declare things that are light.—Isaiah 45:18, 19.