A CHRISTIAN SCIENTIST opened her door in response to a caller who was canvassing the city in order to secure information regarding church attendance. The question was asked, "Are you entirely satisfied with the church of your choice?" Without a moment's hesitation the Christian Scientist joyously replied, "Yes," and the interview was ended.

The student then asked herself: "Why am I satisfied with my religion? Why am I happy to be a member of The Mother Church and of one of its branches? Is it not because through this association I am gaining a demonstrable understanding of God?"

She recalled her first visit to the office of a Christian Science practitioner. In reply to her query, "How can I become a Christian Scientist?" the practitioner read the following words from the Christian Science textbook, "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" by Mary Baker Eddy (p. 275): "The starting-point of divine Science is that God, Spirit, is All-in-all, and that there is no other might nor Mind,—that God is Love, and therefore He is divine Principle."

To know God as Spirit is to know man, His image and likeness, as spiritual, not material. Awakening to a scientific understanding of their true selfhood, men and women can go forth about their daily business with joy and uprightness. They are acquainting themselves with man's rich heritage and are finding themselves free to behold and enjoy the beauty and holiness of God's universe.

The omnipotence of God is increasingly admitted as we witness undeniable proofs of His supreme authority. The omnipresence of God is seen as we become aware of the peace, the sweetness, the gracious tenderness which accompany the recognition of good as All. The omniscience of God is realized as the belief in the existence and intelligence of matter yields to a clear understanding of the perfection and reality of infinite Mind.

When thought thus becomes acquainted with God, good, it is evident that this recognition must be followed by the healing of beliefs and practices contrary to good.

Christianly scientific thought is manifested in the demonstration of harmony and health, and spiritual regeneration is assured to all who earnestly seek God through Christian Science.

The admission into one's thinking of the demands of materiality results in disintegrating, discordant effects which only the pure, cleansing elements of Mind can remove. Jesus, the great teacher and healer of mankind, said, "Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God."

Jesus acknowledged no other power, admitted no other presence, claimed no other intelligence but God; he attributed to God all good, all healing, all salvation. The entireness, the oneness, of God were discerned in full measure by Christ Jesus. He recognized no separation between God and man, Father and son; he claimed no existence apart from the divine. He emphatically declared, "I and my Father are one."

The acceptance of the fatherhood and motherhood of God leads to the recognition of the brotherhood of man, and to the conviction that unselfed brotherly love can be universally demonstrated.

A Christian Scientist earnestly desired to be actively conscious of the fatherhood and motherhood of God. While waiting one Sunday morning for the opening of the church service she prayed, "Dear Father-Mother God, may this entire congregation be conscious of Thy loving presence." She then opened the Christian Science Hymnal to these lines (No. 135):

God claims us as His own! This inspiring message helped the Christian Scientist to see that God knows and loves His children and graciously blesses each one of them.

Is there a mission of love to fulfill, a work to be finished, a hurt to be healed? Each call to duty serves to arouse thought to comprehend the responsibilities and joys of Christlikeness. Jesus patiently took every footstep necessary to meet his responsibilities. He completed his work, and entered into the glory that is man's eternally.

Mrs. Eddy, the Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science, writes (Science and Health, Pref., p. xi), "When God called the author to proclaim His Gospel to this age, there came also the charge to plant and water His vineyard." The creator of all good has bestowed on His children the qualities of purity, constancy, and obedience.

Mrs. Eddy was obedient. She listened for God's voice and planted and watered His vineyard. She wrote and published Science and Health. She organized the Christian Science church, in accordance with the teachings of Christ Jesus. She wrote the By-Laws of the Manual of The Mother Church in order to safeguard the Christian Science movement. She encouraged Christian Science practitioners to devote their lives to the healing of the sick, the sinner, and the world-weary pilgrim. She gave to the world the Christian Science periodicals, including a daily newspaper, The Christian Science Monitor.

Evil, the suppositional opposite of good, claims for man loss, unemployment, impoverishment, defeat even in righteous endeavor. The entireness of God, good, admits of no opposite. Since God, the Father, is all-acting, the son, His reflection, expresses conscious, joyous activity without cessation. This is his rich inheritance.

The acknowledgment of man's true relationship to God lends freedom to thought and action and enables the individual to discern the presence and the availability of an abundant supply of good. Spiritual understanding shows that wisdom, peace, health, useful occupation, friendship, and enduring happiness are always at hand. The wholeness, the completeness, of divine being demands harmonious manifestation.

Our beloved Leader voiced this comforting assurance when she said (ibid., p. 293), "Christian Science brings to light Truth and its supremacy, universal harmony, the entireness of God, good, and the nothingness of evil."