THERE have always been advanced thinkers who have been looking forward with hopeful eyes to something better for mankind. This expectancy of something better has been a wonderful factor in sustaining the human race; and it shows the triumphant power of hope. In The Christian Science Monitor it was recently said, "It is the power of hope that makes men and women live and justify their lives by their deeds." And now this "something better" has come, this that the highest in human consciousness had foreseen and expected. These noble hopes of the best men and women are being fulfilled in Christian Science.
Many have learned to approach the subject of Christian Science with deepest reverence and love; and while we may not yet seem to know much compared with "the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God," of which Paul speaks, we have at least touched the hem of Christ's garment, and are grateful for even a small understanding of what Christian Science is and of what it means to the world. We know that, as "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" by Mrs. Eddy tells us (p. 361), "A germ of infinite Truth, though least in the kingdom of heaven, is the higher hope on earth."
Christian Science grows clearer to us day by day, for its demonstration is a process of spiritual unfoldment, because it is the way of Life. It is a great gift, a "gift of God to the race" (Miscellaneous Writings, p. 382), so marvelous in its grandeur and beneficence that it takes considerable growth for us really to appreciate what has been offered to us. And this gift is for us to-day. It is to poor, struggling, ignorant mortals that all this spiritual wealth is offered. Mrs. Eddy, endowed with superior vision, saw this "pearl of great price" that Christ Jesus had brought to earth; and, alone with God and His Christ, she began her work. Her courage is beyond human praise. To-day we can hardly realize the tremendous difficulties which beset her pathway, and which she overcame so royally. Let us not sink down, however, into the treacherous quagmire of believing that all our obstacles have been overcome; for in "Miscellaneous Writings" (p. 253) we are told that "Christianity is not merely a gift, as St. Paul avers, but is bought with a price, a great price."
