In earlier days it was a common sight at twilight to see a lamplighter with his torch going through the town lighting street lamps for others to see by. This is one image that comes to thought when the word torch is used to symbolize a means of spreading enlightenment and inspiration. Referring to spiritual enlightenment as humanity's great need, Mary Baker Eddy observes in Science and Health: "If men would bring to bear upon the study of the Science of Mind half the faith they bestow upon the so-called pains and pleasures of material sense, they would not go on from bad to worse, until disciplined by the prison and the scaffold; but the whole human family would be redeemed through the merits of Christ,—through the perception and acceptance of Truth. For this glorious result Christian Science lights the torch of spiritual understanding" (p. 202).

I will always remember the occasion when someone offered me this torch at a time when I was in gloom and darkness. My whole world seemed to be going "from bad to worse" with no apparent way out. Filled with fear, I prayed, "Dear God, show me what to do."

The answer came in what I thought at the time was a strange way. It was an inner prompting to go to see someone who had lived next door to me five years earlier but with whom I had had no recent contact. After about a week of trying to ignore this insistent inner voice, I finally found myself in the back room of her lamp shop, pouring out my heart to her. With tenderness, she handed me a stack of copies of the Christian Science Sentinel and said: "Read these. They can't hurt you; they can only help you." I shall never cease to be grateful for the love that opened to me the door of Christian Science, which revealed a bright new world filled with the light of spiritual understanding. Through the illumination it throws on Christ Jesus' life and teachings, my life has been redeemed.

The spiritual understanding of God and man is not an intellectual knowing, but a living and impelling spiritual consciousness that we progressively embrace and entertain as thought grows closer to God. This understanding brings out increasingly the evidence of divine good in our lives. It has been proved to me many times that as thought is brought in line with divine reality, we recognize more fully the evidence of spiritual good, and it takes shape in just the way that is needed.

For those who seem to be poised on the edge of going "from bad to worse," Christian Science lights the way out of the difficulty. It dissolves the shadows of a mistaken view that we are material mortals, a mixture of good and evil, and reveals our true nature to be wholly spiritual and good. It does this by enlarging our understanding of God, good, as the source and divine Principle of all that truly exists, including man. It unfolds man's unity with Him.

The unique message of spiritual reality as presented in Christian Science is the Comforter that Jesus promised would lead into all truth (see John 16:7–13). Truth's appearing to human consciousness is the power of God expressed! It blots out the false sense of life and mind as separate from God, with its attendant fears, limitations, and restrictions, and brings beautiful spiritual ideas of Soul, God, into sharp focus. The revelation of Spirit and its flawless ideas opens eyes once blinded to divine reality, and they see fresh views of God's creation ever at hand. These ideas are real and are made tangible in a way we can understood now.

For example, if we're faced with an important decision and don't know which way to go, we can turn to the Comforter, assured that we will be shown the right path. The fact is, the way is already known to the one, all-knowing divine Mind and to man, who is Mind's reflection. This is made evident to each of us in spiritually enlightened thought, for divine Mind includes all right ideas. Since man is Mind's reflection, and wrong judgment is impossible to divine Mind, man cannot be led astray.

Through consecrated study of the Bible and Science and Health, and through endeavoring to live their teachings in daily life, any sincere seeker for truth will find that it is possible to come up out of the murky waters of indecision, self-condemnation, personal conjectures, timidity, into the light of spiritual understanding. Then the pitfalls that lie in the path, including the illusive promises of false, material sense are seen clearly.

Impelled by the Christ, the healing and saving idea of God, we rise to the light. We encounter the angels of His presence, opening thought to receive an intelligent, satisfying response to the question "What shall I do?" In learning to recognize these angels as messages from God and being willing to follow their leading, we find, as did the Psalmist, "Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path" (Ps. 119:105). God leads us every step of the way to greater health and progress.

In the beginning of Mary Baker Eddy's search for Truth, she found in the Bible the light that enabled her to discern the truth of God and man. And she wrote Science and Health, recording this spiritual understanding as it was revealed to her by God. She held the torch of spiritual understanding high to light the path for others—not only for those in her own environment, but for the whole world. Anyone who is learning of Christian Science, the law of God, can do no less than carry this same torch faithfully and tirelessly—only too happy to share its light with others.