In considering the Annual Meeting of our beloved Mother Church, The First Church of Christ, Scientist, in Boston, Massachusetts, let us recognize first of all that it belongs to every member of this Church. We can all perform our part even if not physically present at this assembly, for we can give mental and spiritual support to it and receive a benefit therefrom. Mary Baker Eddy, when invited in 1906 to attend the "annual communion and the dedication" of her Church, included in her reply this message (The First Church of Christ, Scientist, and Miscellany, p. 25): "Will one and all of my dear correspondents accept this, my answer to their fervid question: Owing to the time consumed in travel, et cetera, I cannot be present in propria persona at our annual communion and the dedication in June next of The Mother Church of Christ, Scientist. But I shall be with my blessed church 'in spirit and in truth.'"

This phrase from the Scripture is several times quoted by Mrs. Eddy in her writings, showing that she must have given deep thought to Jesus' words (John 4:24), "God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth." The law of God contained in these words incorporates a point which we should consider when thinking of the Annual Meeting. It is, What is our "spirit," or spiritual attitude toward the occasion? How far are we lifting thought above the material aspects of the gathering to the grandeur of the infinite revealings of Spirit as the reach human consciousness through His messages at that hour?

If we look into the universe of Mind, using for this purpose the lens of Science, we see infinite ideas ceaselessly unfolding within Mind. These ideas never blend one with another. Each is distinct, each is perfect, each rests in absolute harmony under the guidance of all-creative Principle.

This flawless rhythm of Soul, or Spirit, which goes on forever, is symbolized for us here on earth by the sun, around which our planet revolves once each year. The regular divisions of time which result will remain as long as human consciousness considers matter to be essential to life and intelligence. These periods of time, however, will be marked increasingly by better morals and by improved health generally as the teachings of Christian Science are accepted and demonstrated.

Mrs. Eddy, in requiring an annual meeting for her Church (see Manual of The Mother Church, Art. XIII, Sect. 1), was simply providing in a normal way that the officers of her Church should report the status of all matters affecting the organization, including its financial status, and give reports from the Field. Mrs. Eddy found an interesting corollary between the relation of the branch churches to The Mother Church in a description given of the church at Jerusalem by Benjamin Wills Newton in a book entitled "Thoughts on the Apocalypse." Mr. Newton writes: "The church at Jerusalem, like a sun in the centre of its system, had other churches, like so many planets, revolving around it. It was strictly a mother and a ruling church." In commenting on this Mrs. Eddy says (Miscellany, p. 13), "According to his description, the church of Jerusalem seems to prefigure The Mother Church of Christ, Scientist, in Boston."

In early times we find Moses, under God's direction, setting aside a season of rejoicing in order to commemorate the infinite goodness of God in bringing forth His people from Egypt. Certain symbols of consecration were expected in order that they might "keep this ordinance in his season from year to year" (Ex. 13:10).

What member of The Mother Church does not owe gratitude to Mrs. Eddy for having shown him the way out of the enslaving beliefs of the flesh? Through Christian Science, understanding is gained of the reality of being, wherein is found no trace of intelligent matter or material sensation. Let the members of this Church, silently communing with their God from their dwelling places scattered over the five continents, unite on Annual Meeting day in the spiritual understanding of the ultimate victory of good in praise to God. Let their thoughts gather "in spirit and in truth" in acknowledgment of the great discovery of their Leader as the law of God, which heals instantaneously.

In her textbook, "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures," Mrs. Eddy gives as part of her definition of "year" (p. 598): "A solar measurement of time; mortality; space for repentance." What can each of us report to God in added illumination of what this year has meant to us? Has it been a "space for repentance," or have we vainly believed there was little for which to repent?

Every mortal needs the reminder that each year which passes supplies the opportunity to repent of the belief that man is material and lives in the flesh. Man, instead, as Mrs. Eddy shows in her writings, is a divine idea. Each year those who have most purified their thought through genuine repentance are those most ready to bring to the Annual Meeting the baskets of spiritual offerings, piled high with healings.

On Annual Meeting day the prayers of the multitudes near and afar, joining together, rise to heaven, and the workers return from this feast of good things to their respective vineyards uplifted, strengthened, healed, and filled with rejoicing. God's kingdom is known on earth, and eternity has by this token become more evident. Gathered together "in spirit and in truth" on this occasion, we shall understand and show forth more fully the spiritual and eternal truths of Christian Science.