A television program told the fascinating story of the first survey of Everest, the highest mountain in the world. Standing over twenty-nine thousand feet high, this mountain in the Himalayan range was named after Sir George Everest, the surveyor general of India. He had mapped its peaks in the 1850s.

Just over one hundred years later, on May 29, 1953, the world was cheering the news of the conquest of Everest. Edmund Hillary and Tenzing, a Sherpa guide, were the first two people to stand on the highest peak in the world. Hillary stressed that the ascent had only been made possible by a mighty team effort. One could see this in the film clips that showed the climbers painstakingly cutting their way through the ice as they made footholds up through the glaciers, where there were drops of thousands of feet on either side. These pictures pointed out the sheer necessity of sticking together—in this case being literally roped together—and of following with great precision in the footsteps of the leader of the expedition.

Around the same time that Everest was named after the famous surveyor, on the other side of the world, another intrepid pioneer, Mary Baker Eddy, was mapping new paths in the field of religion. She called her discovery Christian Science. Her breakthrough in the practice of Christian healing convinced her that the healing which Christ Jesus practiced could still be demonstrated because it was profoundly scientific—based on divine law. Mrs. Eddy founded her Church in 1879 for the purpose of reinstating such Christian healing. Actual healing of sickness and disease authenticated the Science of Christianity as it had done in Jesus' time.

When her Church, which was reorganized in 1892, continued to grow as a result of the healing work being accomplished, Mrs. Eddy had to work out a spiritual course for the church government. Over a number of years as she prayed, she sought God's guidance, and a slim volume of rules, called the Manual of The Mother Church, evolved to meet the needs of the growing movement. Here she supplies a framework of By-Laws that govern the members of The Mother Church, The First Church of Christ, Scientist, and all its officers and key positions. She saw that church activity that is founded on a spiritual basis and is governed by law—by divine Principle instead of person—brings out more of the real, spiritual structure of Church in human experience.

In this Church Manual Mrs. Eddy identified herself as the Leader of the Church of Christ, Scientist, and it is clear that she reserved this title for herself in perpetuity. The spirit of her comments in the Manual as to the interpretation of her communication indicates that her own writings would be the first source of needed clarification.

As Christian Scientists who have united with The Mother Church put their lives and actions under the discipline of this practical handbook—whether they are presently serving as officers of the Church or are the newest members to join—they find spiritual strength in the daily disciplines outlined in the Manual. For example, in Article VIII, Section 6, we read under the heading "Alertness to Duty": "It shall be the duty of every member of this Church to defend himself daily against aggressive mental suggestion, and not be made to forget nor to neglect his duty to God, to his Leader, and to mankind. By his works he shall be judged,—and justified or condemned."

As we learn day by day to obey the eternal laws of God found in the Bible and Science and Health by Mrs. Eddy we draw close to God, grow in grace, and also become more effective healers. Just as the mountain climber needs to be familiar with the terrain he is traversing and has a plan of the course he is taking to the mountaintop, so Christian Scientists find obedience to the provisions outlined in the Church Manual is both instructive and inspiring, as well as indispensable, in their growth Spiritward.

This modest book of rules helps all who obey its provisions on church matters to avoid pitfalls that occur in human organizations—aggrandizement, strife, politics, and willfulness—that would throw them off course. Mortal mind, by its very nature, would try to divide and to deflect thought from the main purpose of the Church, which is to foster the grasp of spiritual ideas and to demonstrate the Science of being.

This ploy of the carnal mind is nothing new. Paul, in the early days of Christianity, in his letters to the young churches of Asia Minor, counseled them on several occasions to be of one mind. Writing to the Christians at Corinth, for instance, he admonishes: "Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment."

Christian Scientists would do well to heed this same counsel today. While we may have temporary differences in regard to policies and procedures, it is essential not to diverge from the Science that is impelling the progress of humanity out of materiality. We need to keep foremost in thought that our primary purpose is to minister to the grievous ills of mankind through the demonstration of Christian Science and its healing effects. It will take a mighty effort from all of us joined together if we are serious about maintaining the Church's healing mission.

God's law operates in the consciousness that is fully obedient to divine Principle. It takes prayer, watchfulness, and humility to follow in the footsteps of the Way-shower. Jesus explored alone with God the way out of the darkness of mortality up to the sublime heights of life in Spirit. He proved the reality that the man of God's creating is wholly spiritual and always at one with Him.

Mrs. Eddy followed faithfully in the Saviour's footsteps and counseled her students to do likewise. In her Message to The Mother Church for 1902, Mrs. Eddy speaks of her role as Leader of the Christian Science movement. She writes, "... the only true ambition is to serve God and to help the race." She continues, "I again repeat, Follow your Leader, only so far as she follows Christ."

As Christian Scientists obey her counsel, striving day by day to express the Christly qualities that the Master so clearly outlined in the Sermon on the Mount, they will find they are moving forward together, united, toward the "summit of divine Science," where God is revealed as All-in-all.

Ann Kenrick

MATTHEW

Blessed are the poor in spirit: for
theirs is the kingdom of heaven. ...
Blessed are the meek: for they shall
inherit the earth. Blessed are they
which do hunger and thirst after righteousness:
for they shall be filled. Blessed are the merciful:
for they shall obtain mercy. Blessed are the pure
in heart: for they shall see God. Blessed are the
peacemakers: for they shall be called the children
of God.

Matthew 5:3, 5–9