It will be obvious to regular readers that the Sentinel now has a different look. Why the changes?

The outward appearance of our periodicals is not the most important aspect—but it is very important. It was so to their founder, Mary Baker Eddy. Christian Science generates significant and healing thinking about large issues and contemporary ones. It is inevitable that the Editors of its publications aim to keep them contemporary in presentation as well as content. To have one without the other would be inconsistent.

Nevertheless, the spirituality, Christliness, healing usefulness, of the content is of prime importance, as it always will be. In her statement "Something in a Name," defining her God-revealed sense of the role of each periodical, our Leader, Mrs. Eddy, says of the Sentinel that it is "intended to hold guard over Truth, Life, and Love." ^{The First Church of Christ, Scientist, and Miscellany, p. 353;} This purpose is always uppermost in the thought of the Editors.

Efforts to improve content to more and more coincide with our Leader's vision of the role of the Sentinel are a daily concern. With the continuing and solid support of readers and contributors—an essential element in the prosperity of the periodicals—we know we can and will continue to make tangible progress. This spiritual progress is to the benefit not only of Christian Scientists but of humanity.

The new design of the Sentinel has been carefully thought through from cover to cover with the object of presenting the contents—articles, editorials, testimonies, and so on—in the most appealing and acceptable light.

You will find the redesigned Sentinel more readable. Its various elements and features are unified by their subject: Christian Science. We have aimed to make the Sentinel, then, look "all of a piece." Each element flows into the following, yet is distinct. We have aimed to achieve visual completeness within each issue. The new format offers visual continuity throughout the publication and expresses order with flexibility. Its appearance should be welcoming, consistent with its content, expressing the same qualities of clarity, vitality, grace, and inspiration.

Cover changes include a new masthead. Its typeface, with variations, is carried through the section headings. The editorials now have a look of their own. So do the testimonies, which reflect a more informal, letter-like style. The notices will be presented more invitingly. Steps have also been taken to increase the ease of reading—more space between lines, larger type in some instances, the addition of white space, and a consistency of type style. "Bible Notes" have been returned to the Sentinel as a pullout section in the last issue of every month. (These will replace "Words of Current Interest," which will run for the last time in the September Journal.) And, important in this time of inflation and rising prices, all of these changes, including "Bible Notes," are being made at virtually no extra cost.

The Editors would like to take this opportunity to talk about the function of the Sentinel and its relation to other regular publications of The Christian Science Publishing Society.

As is true of the Journal and the Herald, the Sentinel's purpose is not to do the readers' thinking and reasoning for them but to inspire them in their individual pursuit of an understanding of God's revelation of Himself in the Science of Christ. Nothing can substitute for our own private study in depth and our individual effort toward spiritual growth. Mrs. Eddy tells us, "He advances most in divine Science who meditates most on infinite spiritual substance and intelligence." ^{Miscellaneous Writings, p. 309.} The religious periodicals play a part in urging us to this individual work. They remind us of the enormous scope, applicability, and depth of the inspired truth of the Bible. And of Science and Health and the other writings of our Leader. The periodicals can never presumptuously claim to substitute in the least for these books. But they complement them.

The Christian Science periodicals give us a livelier and fuller appreciation of the Bible, of its timeless relevance. They call our attention to the models of spiritual living and the demonstration of divine Truth—on the part of individuals and nations—that the Bible records. The periodicals can spotlight less familiar passages in the Bible and Mrs. Eddy's works, and lead us to dig more vigorously into these books ourselves.

Our periodicals should be thoughtfully read rather than deeply studied. They should stimulate our own research of the textbooks of Christian Science and our pondering. Out of such work come the contributions that inspire others in their research and mental work. The Journal, Sentinel, and the Heralds (in their various translations) open the door further on "infinite spiritual substance and intelligence." They point to the satisfaction and regeneration that come from our own metaphysical prayer and spiritualization.

They are not a means of letting other Scientists do our work for us.

Take, for illustration, the Sentinel feature "Perspective on the News." This item is not a focus on the only condition that needs prayer. Nor is it an exhaustive treatment of all specific areas needing our spiritual care or appreciative metaphysical support. It reminds us of our individual opportunity to heal, stirring us to be more outward turning, to work with Concordances to the Bible and Mrs. Eddy's works. It should develop our comprehension of events and lead us to prospect more thoroughly into the Lesson-Sermon given in the Christian Science Quarterly—mining universal healing truths, making them our own.

"Perspective on the News" should prompt us to hone our own spiritual insight into current events and to make this individual work our base for working for mankind. This feature should tie in naturally with our reading of the Monitor, Sentinel and Monitor reading are mutually helpful and necessary for the working Christian Scientist.

The Journal, the official organ of the Church, covers somewhat different ground from the other periodicals. It has a distinct identity, and we are continuing to work toward making this identity more and more obvious. To quote again from "Something in a Name," Mrs. Eddy saw the Journal as "designed to put on record the divine Science of Truth." Its articles are generally characterized by more depth and breadth in their treatment of Christian Science than those in the Sentinel. In addition, the Journal contains church news and announcements and the cards of authorized branch churches and societies, practitioners, nurses, and university and college organizations.

Clearly, Mrs. Eddy established the Journal, Sentinel, Herald, and Monitor—as well as the Quarterly—because she knew they were necessary reading for the active, serious, and progressive Christian Scientist.

To return to the redesigned Sentinel: We hope you will enjoy its "new look" as much as we have enjoyed developing it.

Do write and tell us what you think.

GEOFFREY J. BARRATT