On a clear winter night some nineteen centuries and more ago, many were troubled, sick, and for the most part enslaved. The great Roman Empire, after a triumphant conquest of practically all the lands surrounding the Mediterranean, ruled autocratically the people it called its subjects. So widespread was its domain and so firmly entrenched its dominion, it must have seemed the most powerful force in all the world.

Yet on that night a star was shining through the darkness of oppression and fear—a glorious, wonderful star heralding a new era of time and thought, the downfall of despotism and slavery, the advent of the Prince of Peace. Wisemen saw the star and joyfully followed it to where the infant Jesus lay. Shepherds, watching their flocks by night, heard the heavens filled with angelic songs of "glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men." And they too sought and found the child.

In "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures Mrs. Eddy writes (Pref., p. vii): "The wakeful shepherd beholds the first faint morning beams, are cometh the full radiance of a risen day. So shone the pale star to the prophet-shepherds; yet it traversed the night, and came where, in cradled obscurity, lay the Bethlehem babe, the human herald of Christ, Truth, who would make plain to benighted understanding the way of salvation through Christ Jesus, till across a night of error should dawn the morning beams and shine the guiding star of being. The Wisemen were led to behold and to follow this daystar of divine Science, lighting the way to eternal harmony."

This star leading the Wisemen to the manger in Bethlehem was not just for that time or for the people of that time. It was for all time and for all people. The awakened shepherds and wise men of today see its light in the teachings of Christ Jesus and of Mary Baker Eddy and follow it as eagerly and as humbly as did those of the long ago. Everywhere, day and night, there is a guide, a beacon light for all who will to see and follow.

A Christian Scientist studying the Biblical account of the nativity asked herself: What was it that caused the Wisemen to see the star? There must have been countless numbers of people who either did not see it or, if they saw it, did not follow its leading. What qualities of thought did the Wisemen possess which enabled them to discern the import of that heavenly event?

First and foremost they were receptive to Truth, she decided. Had they not been, they would never have been looking for Truth to reveal itself. Furthermore, they were obedient, and steadfast too, for nothing was allowed to interfere with their search for Truth— neither fear, nor doubt, nor ridicule, nor human planning. Family and neighbors may well have scoffed at them and their journey. Who knows? Perhaps not even the Wisemen themselves knew exactly why, or where, they were going. But this mattered not. They saw the star; and the significant fact is— they followed it. And because they followed it, they found mankind's Saviour.

There were other virtues, too, that the Wisemen had: gratitude, reverence, humility, and love. These were evidenced in the gifts they bore—the very finest gifts they had, gold, frankincense, and myrrh, which reverently they presented to a little child in a lowly village inn. And again they displayed courage and wisdom, for, listening to Love's directing, they disobeyed the king's orders and returned to their homes without telling him of their great experience, thus depriving him of the opportunity he sought of destroying the child.

All these qualities—wisdom, obedience, steadfastness of purpose, gratitude, reverence, courage, humility, and love—are gifts each one of us can bring daily to his demonstration of the Christ, Truth, in human experience. Then the peace and good will of which the angels sang will be ours. Not only ours alone, for everyone with whom we come in contact will be blessed.

This is the challenge of today— to demonstrate peace and good will among men and nations. And confidently we can meet this challenge, for Christian Science gives us an understanding of God and man which meets all human need. There is one God, one Mind, it teaches, and man is God's eternal, harmonious expression now and forever. Man possesses and reflects all the qualities of God; he does not manifest any quality underived from God. God is all-powerful, ever present, infinite. He is divine Love, and His perfect law of Love governs man and the universe. The true idea of God is the light which dispels the darkness of fear, misunderstanding, and pain, the light of which the prophet Isaiah declared (Isa. 9:2), "The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light: they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined."

Continuing the passage quoted from the Preface to Science and Health, our Leader says: "The time for thinkers has come. Truth, independent of doctrines and time-honored systems, knocks at the portal of humanity. Contentment with the past and the cold conventionality of materialism are crumbling away. Ignorance of God is no longer the stepping-stone to faith. The only guarantee of obedience is a right apprehension of Him whom to know aright is Life eternal. Though empires fall, 'the Lord shall reign forever.'"

"The time for thinkers has come." Never in the history of the world was the right thinking of every individual so necessary. Never were obedience to Truth, gratitude, steadfastness, reverence, humility, love, and wisdom so needed. Never were the opportunities so great for each one of us in his daily living to prove "good will toward men," to displace hatred and prejudice with love and understanding, hysteria with confidence, war with peace. The sum total of such actions makes a good and healthy world, a world in which all men may live in freedom and plenty.

Each day, each hour, each one of us can put into practice the song the angels sang. Each day we can follow the star of Christly understanding. Each day we can watch and work and pray. Each day we can prove the actuality of God's omnipotence and omnipresence. "Though empires fall, 'the Lord shall reign forever.'" Under God's government, peace on earth becomes the natural living law for men and nations everywhere.