To be well grounded in any subject is an assurance of efficiency. Right foundations must be regarded not only as important, but as indispensable. Unsuccessful work, of whatever nature, is generally the result of poor preparation. The groundwork has not been satisfactory. The flier knows that not only his achievement, but actually his safety and that of his aircraft, depends as much upon the conscientious, meticulous work of his ground crew as upon his skill as a pilot.

A superstructure may be attractive and temporarily successful, but if its foundations are faulty it will not endure. This applies no less to character than it does to human workmanship. Paul, with his unequivocableness, and above all his inner experience, put it bluntly when he wrote to the Corinthians, "For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ." This being so, it is well to study what is this foundation of which Paul spoke. Foremost we see that it is oneness with divine Principle. From thence there proceeds, with unerring consistency, complete reliance upon and obedience to the divine will. This, translated into human terms, is expressed in qualities of steadfastness, integrity, and allegiance to all that is true. The foundation that is spiritual alone endures; it does the will of God; but it is made manifest also in the humanity which heals and redeems, which brings comfort and peace to mankind.

The workman who makes Christianity his foundation will find that his superstructure corresponds thereto. And this is done even as Christ Jesus did it— through prayer. Every fresh work we undertake, every forward move in the unfolding order of God's purpose in us, must have but one foundation, if it is to endure, and that is revealed to us as the result of prayer or spiritual communion.

Foremost in every work which the Christian Scientist undertakes is the necessity of remembering that the basis of all he does, its source and life, its value to himself and its benefit to others, lie in the consciousness of that oneness of God and man which was set forth by Jesus. Knowing this, he is protected from anything that would threaten separation, disintegration, or reversal, either within or without his stronghold.

He who has work to do—and who has not?—must constantly see to his foundations, that they are laid in the right way, even as the Science of Christ instructs and inspires, so that no persistent undermining, no sudden assault, no apathy, selfishness, or indifference, can overthrow him.

On pages 483 and 484 of "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures," Mary Baker Eddy writes: "Christianity will never be based on a divine Principle and so found to be unerring, until its absolute Science is reached. When this is accomplished, neither pride, prejudice, bigotry, nor envy can wash away its foundation, for it is built upon the rock, Christ."

Today in the light thrown for us upon the Bible through the teachings of Christian Science, we know that absolute Truth is revealed. Perceiving this and building according to the rules laid down, we trust Mind's direction in each task we undertake.

As the makers and ground crew of an airplane test and check every detail of their craft, leaving nothing to chance, so the individual is called upon to test, to analyze, to dissect his every motive and action until assured that his foundation and his structure are of such quality that he can truly say his workmanship is impregnable because it is designed and directed of Mind.

In differentiating between those students who understand and put her teachings into practice and those who do not, Mrs. Eddy writes of the former (Miscellaneous Writings, p. 264), "They build for time and eternity." And she continues, "The others stumble over misdeeds, and their own unsubstantiality, without the groundwork of right, till, like camera shadows thrown upon the mists of time, they melt into darkness."

If our "groundwork of right" is established as the result of scientific application of what we know, not according to what Paul called "the rudiments of the world," we are then building for time and eternity. This will preserve us from faulty craftsmanship and insecure holding. It will make us alert to the subtleties of mortal mind, seeking ever to ensnare the individual and lead him in ways which, undermining moral integrity and individual responsibility, provide an easy victim to the allurements of personal sense. But he whose foundations are laid upon the rock, Christ, how safe is he. Envy, pride, prejudice, bigotry, will disturb him as little as do the waves beating against the base of a lighthouse dim the steady light at its summit.

Sublime was Mrs. Eddy's assurance in the foundation which she laid, in the structure which she erected. Illumined by Truth, guided by Mind, she had tested and proved everything she built, all wherewith she builded.

As we apprehend the nature of this workmanship, enter into its purpose and unite with its accomplishment, the same assurance is ours, for we know that we, too, are building upon the rock, Christ.

Evelyn F. Heywood