AT the Wednesday evening meetings in Christian Science churches, words of grateful testimony may frequently be heard from those who have been healed through reading the textbook, "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" by Mary Baker Eddy. The previous unhappiness of those who testify may have been caused by sickness, by the indulgence of a harmful habit, or by the entertaining of a wrong concept of work; but whatever the seeming cause may have been, it was but darkness resulting from a lack of right control of the mental affairs of that person's life.
The healing for which gratitude has been expressed, was as a gleam of the glory of right relationship. To some it may seem strange that healing could be accomplished through reading a book. But the sum of all earth's sorrows has been caused directly or indirectly through sin; and sin is erroneous thought, either active or passive. Why, therefore, should it be thought incredible that healing should result from reading the scientific "Key" to the Scriptures? The truths stated in the textbook of Christian Science are so entwined with the promises of the prophets and the praises of the Psalms, so related to the revelations and works of the Master and his apostles, that one can scarcely read a page without having thought directed to the Bible. The beauty of it all is that what we read from Mrs. Eddy's pen are not mere hollow-sounding words, but words that are capable of proof that is demonstration. This is the acid test always. They have stood this crucible fire since 1875, when Science and Health was first given to the public.
Our Leader has written of the Church Manual as being "uniquely adapted to form the budding thought and hedge it about with divine Love" (Manual, p. 104). These words might in justice be applied to all her writings. The reading of any one of her books never leaves us where it found us. Although we may not at once seem to gain much help from its study, we shall find later that our thought has been stirred and awakened more than was at first realized. A course of reading which has been of great practical value to many who have pursued it is the systematic and consecutive perusal of the Bible and our Leader's published works. Perhaps, at first thought, we may not seem to have the time to devote to the reading of a certain number of pages each day, in addition to the study of the Lesson-Sermon and the current literature of Christian Science. Then it would be well to make a start by reading one page or one paragraph; but keep on reading each day a little, and in this manner the good purpose will gather strength and the practice grow. Some days yield more time for reading than others; and by taking advantage of these periods, we shall find that in the course of each year we shall have had the blessing of having read all these books, some of them perhaps more than once.
