There is no love without service, and there is no service to be compared to loving service. There is a joy and a blessing which come through unselfish labor for others that can be obtained in no other way. On page 516 of Science and Health Mrs. Eddy says, "Love, redolent with unselfishness, bathes all in beauty and light," thus healing and purifying all that is unlike good and lifting consciousness to the perception of man's relationship to God and man.
After the performance of any service, while the thought may present itself that we have not done all that was expected of us or all that we had hoped to accomplish, still we may have the consciousness that we did the best we could. This emphasizes the fact that we are looking back upon past experiences from a higher point of view, one to which the experiences of the past may have raised us. So the ability to recognize past shortcomings may be a reason for rejoicing, if it is the result of a higher and clearer perception of what our service ought to be.
One who has been called upon to serve as a reader in a Christian Science church will find that such service is a source of much joy, also of many helpful experiences and many useful observations. It is true that there are many times when obstacles present themselves to be overcome, but the determination to go forward shows them in their right perspective and proves them to be anything but mountains when he arrives upon the scene of action. He will find that whatever good and loving work may be done at the desk is but the result of knowing that the divine Mind directs and inspires the services. His adherence to the requirements of the Church Manual should result in the state of consciousness indicated in Section 1 of Article III, namely, a mental atmosphere which "shall promote health and holiness, even that spiritual animus so universally needed."
