As Christian Scientists, we are many times asked to state in a word what Christian Science teaches, and I always refer such inquirers to our church tenets.

It is now nearly five years since I really came to know what this great truth of Christian Science possessed for me, and as the years have passed, and each day has seemed to unfold new light, I have grown to feel that all of Christian Science is expressed in just two sentences. One of these sentences is familiar to all Christendom, and it is known as the First Commandment: "Thou shalt have no other gods before me." The other sentence is found in our text-book by Mary Baker G. Eddy. It is this: "Divine Love always has met, and always will meet, every human need" (Science and Health, p. 494). Let us consider these two statements impartially, and see if from them we cannot draw lessons which are the basis of all true living.

Many of us learned this first commandment at our mother's knee, and perhaps some did so with a sense of relief, because it was so much shorter than the second. As I grew older, and long before severing my connection with the orthodox church, the first commandment had grown to embody all the other commandments, but how little I realized, even then, its true meaning.

Until it was understood in the light of Christian Science, the Old Testament always seemed severe to me, filled with Thou shalt nots. In fact, until Jesus came preaching a gospel of love and good will, the thought of God seemed one of negatives, but great Master, Master, and his sincere and devout follower, our loved Leader, have emphasized the affirmatives of Scripture truth. Mrs. Eddy has said, "This first commandment is my favorite text" (Science and Health, p. 340), and if we look into its meaning carefully we shall see that it is really the foundation upon which all true building must rest.

We have always had a deep sense of pity for our brothers and sisters in far-away countries who have made themselves gods of wood and stone, and then worshiped them; we have given much in money, and many brave and noble men and women have sacrificed a great deal to go to them and tell them of a better way. But we in Christian lands have seen, in our day and age, the making of many idols; we have seen strong men and women bowing down to other gods, though not realizing that they were serving idols. In the light of Christian Science, we know that the idols which mankind worship are but mental concepts,—the belief in power apart from the one God.

The subtle forms in which these suggestions present themselves to thought are myriad, and they sometimes seem to be related to a noble and laudable purpose. A young man or woman desires education and culture, and surely our Father means that all His children shall have the best, but so easily does the desire for material knowledge become uppermost in thought, that in the pressure of this twentieth century, such an one may really grow to worship a god more subtle and dangerous than any idol ever worshiped in foreign lands. So, too, a business man may start with a laudable desire to succeed in commerical enterprise, he finds, however, that business competition is more intense than ever before, and he realizes that the utmost concentration of thought and energy is demanded, and as the years pass he builds a mental god of seemingly great influence.

One more example will suffice, and perhaps this is the one least easily recognized. The world has long looked upon the patient bearing of physical suffering as a virtue, but as revealed to us in Christian Science we see that it is not really a virtue, for when one settles down to the belief that his own condition, or that of some loved one, is something which cannot be helped, he has admitted the existence of a power apart from God. To put it in a word, the moment we believe it to be within the power of any material thing to affect in any way our real life, that moment the thing has become a god. At this point our second sentence links to the Old Testament negatives its strong affirmation.

Here let me briefly state how this promise first came to me. I did not come to Christian Science for the so-called physical healing. I had been a member of an orthodox church from girlhood, and I am always thankful for the many precious lessons learned there, for they helped to prepare me for the coming of a clearer sense of Truth, yet I had never found one thing which I felt would satisfy all my longing. Many times I chided myself because I could not find this something, but in vain I studied my Bible in search of it. Science and Health was placed in my hands, and as I read it, some parts appeared beautiful to me, but others I felt required a higher ideal of life than I could attain. A year or more after I commenced to read Science and Health, my thought was centered one day on this statement: "Divine Love always has met, and always will meet, every human need" (Science and Health. p. 494). I knew then that I had found that for which I had been seeking so many years. There have been many problems to work out, many tests to meet, and oftentimes I have not met them as I would desire; but through every experience, that one sentence has stood out like a sentinel, has shone like a star, and no matter what the temptation, I have never completely lost sight of it. I here desire to say humbly, and yet with a great sense of love and gratitude, that had our beloved Leader given us no other written word, that one sentence would indeed have proved itself a "Key to the Scriptures."

To some people a negative statement seems to take away something; an affirmative to give something; so this last sentence seems to bring to us a great and precious gift. In a way the entire orthodox world believes that God is Love, but we learns as almost the first lesson in Christian Science, that we must prove what we say we believe.

As the truth unfolds to us we come to know that God is the one intelligence, and that there can be no intelligence, no learning, no true culture, which does not spring from the one fountain-head. As we begin to see that Love meets our need in this respect, we realize that never before had this longing been truly satisfied.

Again, when we come to realize in all our financial affairs, be they great or small, that divine Love is the source of all supply, we have learned a lesson which nothing can take from us. We have freed ourselves from much of the care and mental anxiety which take away all happiness and freedom from life. Then we may truly say with James that, "Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above."

There have come to each one of us experiences,—so-called heart-aches and seeming heart-breaks,—when, no matter how close the human love, we have needed something deeper something which would bring back the sense of sunshine. Only as truth unfolds to us that divine Love reflected in love is the one thing which will satisfy every human desire, can we ever know true happiness. At best human love is never quite at rest; there is always the fear that something may take it from us, that we may stand alone some day in the shadow of a great sorrow. As we become conscious that divine Love meets every human need of love, and tha all true love is a reflection of divine Love, we can confidently say with John, "There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear."

The human need for which the whole world is seeking relief, is the need of healing. Our land is filled with hospitals where noble men and women are endeavoring to ameliorate suffering, and we, as Christian Scientists, hav for them high respect and affectionate regard; but here, too, must be learned the deep lesson that this pressing human need, divine Love will also meet. Nineteen centuries ago Jesus proved this truth as he walked among men in Judæa, and he left the promise, "He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also." More than thirty years ago, the author of Science and Health demonstrated the present possibilities of this healing. Since that time, through the knowledge of God and His laws as revealed to us in our textbook, thousands have proved for themselves and are daily proving the truth of the Scriptures, "He sent his word, and healed them."

It is only as we work out the truth of Love's affirmative statement that we can intelligently obey the First Commandment, "Thou shalt have no other gods before me." If to some hungry and weary one these two sentences may come with a portion of the help they have brought to me, I shall be very grateful. They will indeed bring to such a one the true sense of Life, and the rose just opening in all its beauty and purity, will then be a type of the unfolding of Truth's idea as revealed in Christian Science.

Copyright. 1904, by Mary Baker G. Eddy.