From the earliest days men have felt the need for some haven of security, some place of refuge from the foes which have beset them. In turbulent times, when a sense of physical danger threatened, the need was met in a walled city, perhaps in a stately castle with protecting moat, or in the wooden stockade of our own frontier days.

There has also been a recognition of this same need in a spiritual sense, with recourse to God for its satisfaction. The sacred writings abound in references to Him as our refuge, our strength, and our deliverer; and none can measure the peace and comfort these assurances have brought to disturbed minds and hearts. What, indeed, can excel the beauty and majesty of the truth revealed in the profound utterance of Moses, "The eternal God is thy refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms"!

One evening, as a student entered a Christian Science Reading Room in a large city and seated himself at a table spread with the authorized Christian Science literature, he realized with satisfaction that here was a sanctuary. A frequenter and lover of such Reading Rooms since his early study of Christian Science, there came to him an even deeper appreciation of and gratitude for them, wherever located. He sensed anew the simple grace and comfort of the surroundings, and the peace and harmony pervading them. At hand, in abundance, was the spiritual food he needed and had learned would always suffice. The day had been a trying one; but here, in security, was a place in which to bind up his wounds and repair his armor, as it were—a sanctuary, indeed, where through prayerful reading the adversary could be effectually barred from thought. Reflecting upon these things he felt that mankind will more and more come to recognize our Reading Rooms as places of refuge from mental turmoil. How consummate the wisdom of our revered Leader, Mary Baker Eddy, in decreeing their establishment, and how adequately they are fulfilling the need which she foresaw!

It is an inspiration to enter these Reading Rooms anywhere, and to know that greater numbers are availing themselves of the privileges they offer. During the noon hour business men, clerks, and laborers are found relinquishing some of the things to which this period is commonly devoted, in order to seek there refuge from the stress and the trials of the day, and to gain that which will better equip them to step forth and meet its many exactions. In the evenings, also, when shops and offices have ceased their daily demands, the scene is repeated: visitors are finding peace and inspiration in quiet study in Christian Science Reading Rooms. Having regard to the lure of amusements and distractions on the outside, this is significant. It shows that Christian Science has an intensely practical and universal appeal, and that it satisfies.

Every earnest student of this Science recognizes the demands it makes upon him for calm and prayerful study. Jesus, the Way-shower, practiced going apart for meditation, and this brought him into communion with God, whom he knew to be the source of his strength. Mrs. Eddy reminds us in the textbook, "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" (p. 32), that he "withdrew from the material senses to refresh his heart with brighter, with spiritual views." We need these same views, and must seek them as constantly and consciously as he did, else we are not following in his footsteps and gaining the import of the lessons he gave us. We cannot afford to forgo any opportunity for the attainment of these spiritual views.

There are many whose homes supply the opportunity for quiet reading, but all students may occasionally find it profitable to visit these Reading Rooms, and thus show their appreciation and support of them. There one finds the Bible, and the Christian Science textbook and Mrs. Eddy's other writings. There also may be found the authorized Christian Science literature, the value of which is not measured by the date of its issuance. The pristine glory of the truth is ever its own, and as often as it is turned to and its beauty and value honestly and humbly sought, the seeker will be renewedly rewarded. Through prayerful study, wells of inspiration are plumbed to greater depths, and springs of "living water" gush forth to encourage and refresh us.

Places of refuge, havens of rest and security, oases in the desert of human care and longing, wells of inspiration and storehouses of truth—a sanctuary indeed! What but Truth, so abundantly revealed in the Bible and our Leader's writings, can meet the needs of men in every circumstance? We who are striving to follow this teaching know that the truth is the only certain refuge from materiality. Mrs. Eddy reminds us in Science and Health (p. 83) that "mortals must find refuge in Truth in order to escape the error of these latter days."

Let us, then, give renewed appreciation and consecrated support to our Reading Rooms, in recognition of the fact that for a great host of sick and weary mortals, hungry and thirsty for Truth, they constitute a place where refuge and healing may be found! How beautifully, indeed, do they exemplify and hold out that wondrous invitation of Isaiah: "Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price."