Some years ago the writer was engaged in assay work in the heart of the Colorado Rockies, at a point almost nine thousand feet above sea level. Here, amid the wondrous grandeur of the snow capped range, could be seen phases of nature both magnificent and inspiring. In this rarefied atmosphere the sunshine seemed brighter, the air itself purer, so far above the dust and smoke of the city, and the streams of melted snow sparkled in their crystalline clearness. Looking out beyond the great boulders, over crag and canon, the unobstructed view was superb, as in a giant kaleidoscope was seen the constantly changing panorama. Purple hues over the eastern horizon heralded earth's adornment by the morning sun. Vistas, gorgeous in their displays of color and splendor, presented rare scenes of loveliness, as if through great windows there came into view the picturesque valleys in the vast distances. As the day passed and the glowing colors of the western sky ushered in the gloaming and the wonders of the starlit night, one instinctively turned to contemplate the "deep things of God" and to ponder their seeming mysteries.
In a secluded laboratory, far from the world's tumult and near the mountain's crest, the work of separating gold from the elements of silver and tellurium was a process so delicate and fine as to afford a striking contrast to the immensity and vastness that greeted the eye in these mountains. The lessons which this experience brought to the writer have been of great benefit in later years. Metaphysically considered, the mountain top is where, having risen above all things material, we meet God face to face. The separation of gold from the accompanying grosser elements is in the superheated furnace, and may well be likened to that furnace in which we find that Christ walks with us in the midst of the fire, so that we "have no hurt." The apostle Peter recognized this refining process in the trial of our faith, when he spoke of it as being "much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire."
Far transcending the importance and significance of his own personal experiences are the lessons which the writer has found in the illumined pages of the Bible. Christian Science is presenting to the world a great host of indefatigable Bible students, and for this there is a reason. On page 241 of Science and Health Mrs. Eddy says, "Take away the spiritual signification of Scripture, and that compilation can do no more for mortals than can moonbeams to melt a river of ice." Science and Health by restoring the spiritual signification has unlocked great treasures in the Scriptural writings,—truths whose potency has been found available, not only in the overcoming of sin, but in the amelioration of sickness and diseased conditions of all kinds, leading on to the utter destruction of these errors. Thus in the clear light of spiritual interpretation the imagery, metaphor, allegory, and parables of the Orient have been found to contain new meanings, so that their beauties can be appreciated not only in the directness of thought and expression of the Occident, but in the lessons contained therein, which unfold in ever widening scope a grander vision of man's birthright of dominion as a child of God.
