In the Manual of The Mother Church (p. 47), our Leader, Mrs. Eddy, gives to all members of The Mother Church and its branch churches a By-law relating to testimonials. This By-law is very interestingly placed in the chapter on Discipline, and is for the "Guidance of Members." It is of great importance and value to the Christian Science movement that members of a Christian Science church obey this By-law. Why is it so "highly important," as the By-law says? Is it not because there is a duty incumbent upon them to help relieve the sorrows and sufferings of humanity, by relating to the stranger that is within their gates something of the healing and regenerating power of this Christ-Science that has healed them?

Think of the scope permitted at a Wednesday evening meeting when the announcement is made that the meeting is open for testimonies of healing, or for a speaker to relate an experience where Christian Science has been applied and not found wanting. Every active member must have had some such experience, or else the practical nature of this Science has not been grasped. Remarks, too, bring enlightenment to listeners; but great care should be exercised that these remarks be strictly relative to Christian Science.

Does not the housewife who has purchased some labor-saving device delight in telling her neighbor of its benefits? And does not the business-man who has installed on his premises some new invention, which relieves his staff of much unnecessary drudgery, quickly tell his colleagues of its success? Then why should we hesitate at our testimony meetings, provided for the very purpose of telling mankind of the healing and regenerating power of Christian Science, knowledge of which will ultimately eliminate all human suffering and sorrow? Each member should ask himself: Is my gratitude for the knowledge of Christian Science sincere enough to enable me to forget myself, and to remember my duty to God by acknowledging at our Wednesday evening meetings the goodness and health He has bestowed on me?

It is the fulfilling of one's duty that is so essential. In the By-law already referred to, Mrs. Eddy gives very definite instruction regarding the object of a testimony. She says, in the words of Paul, " 'Glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's.' Thus, the object is not to glorify one's self, some loving practitioner, or any other person in the movement who in his office is doing his best to glorify God. One may well express gratitude, however, for the valuable services of all faithful officers without unduly stressing the point; and the opportunity to give our beloved Leader, Mary Baker Eddy, the Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science, her rightful place, should never be forgotten.

When the thought of glorifying God is foremost, no unnecessary detail of suffering will be related, leaving the impression of the reality of disease or discord instead of minimizing its seeming reality by steadfastly holding to the good that has been unfolded. The simple truth, born of heartfelt gratitude to God, expressed at our testimony meetings, has helped, and will continue to help, in healing all seeming human discord.

Some of the arguments so often entertained for not giving expression to gratitude are: "I am so nervous;" "I have nothing big of which to tell;" "So-and-so is here; he has had such a splendid healing, and mine seems so small;" "I have not the gift of expressing myself;" and so on. All such arguments come from the serpent, mortal mind,—from the consciousness not sufficiently purged of self. On page 261 of "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" Mrs. Eddy writes, "We should forget our bodies in remembering good and the human race." Here is the keynote for forgetting self,—to remember the goodness of God and our fellow-man's need of this goodness. Every testimony meeting should be a banquet spread to welcome and bless all who attend it.

Frequently there comes the argument, a little more subtle perhaps in its nature, which specially appeals to members of a small church: I have given my testimony so often! Dear member, did Jesus stop telling of the goodness of God because he had told of it so often? Did our beloved Leader weary of writing to humanity of her discovery, Christian Science? No! They "loved much;" and they therefore loved to continue to tell "the old, old story." Besides, no testimony is old to the visitor paying his first visit to a testimony meeting. How often have these inquirers been asked to attend a Wednesday evening testimony meeting to hear the healing message! What then if the banquet has not been prepared, and the hungry heart has to go away unfed, owing to lack of the very food of which it was invited to partake?

Again, the serpent is to be found making a strong appeal to some who have been church members for many years. It flatteringly says, How uplifting are the periods of silence and the long pauses at testimony time; it is all so peaceful! Is it really peace that is then felt? or is it apathy that is giving a false sense of calm, dulling perception to the needs of a waiting world? Has not our Leader provided in the service time for silent prayer? Then it is the serpent that must be silenced, before and during every testimony meeting; and thought must be lifted up to acknowledge the Giver of all good.

Does a branch church lack in any way? Do its needs appear not to be fully met? What is the substance of that church? What is the collective thinking of its members? Have all its members thought of the numerous ways in which they can give? Has every member brought his tithe into the storehouse of its testimony meetings? Has every officer given willingly of his best services? Have the ushers always given a welcome to all who come to its feasts? Have all its members given its officers appreciation for work faithfully performed? How countless are the ways and means of giving! And all of them may be said to lead up to giving at testimony meetings a free and grateful expression of benefits received through Christian Science.

The call to true Christian Scientists is greater to-day than it ever was to give at testimony meetings genuine experiences of healing, not only of physical healing, but of that moral healing as well which must always precede the physical. And what encouragement each grateful testifier receives as he ponders Mrs. Eddy's words on page 454 of Science and Health, "Right motives give pinions to thought, and strength and freedom to speech and action"!