In the sermon by our revered Leader which was read at the dedication of The Mother Church in 1894, she says, "A new year is a nursling, a babe of time, a prophecy and promise in white raiment;" and she adds, "Time past and time present, both, may pain us, but time improved is eloquent in God's praise" (Pulpit and Press, p. 3). The year just past has been an important one in the history of the Christian Science movement, chronicling as it does our Leader's return to Boston., an event which was very gratifying to her many followers, the completion of our splendid publishing house, and more recently the launching of The Christian Science Monitor upon the sea of journalism. Reverently be it said, that those entrusted with the carrying forward of this enterprise do it in reliance upon the presence and power of the ever-present Christ to still the waves on the sea of human thought, and to guide all who embark with them to "their desired haven,"— the domain of spiritual being, where health, harmony, and true prosperity are the established order of things.
Our Leader tells us that "if mortal mind knew how to be better, it would be better" (Science and Health, p. 186). Christian Scientists certainly know how to be better than they were before they learned of this great truth,—better "in mind, body, and estate." They rejoice in every opportunity to bring this truth to others, that all mankind may share its blessings, and that not only the years shall mark great progress for the human family, but that the days and hours shall be so improved as to become "eloquent in God's praise."
The past year has likewise been an eventful one in the affairs of nations, not so much, perhaps, in external things, as in the marked change of sentiment which is finding expression in sudden and unexpected changes in national or social conditions, recalling the poet's words,—
