IN the lands to which the characters of the Bible were native, wells containing water were of paramount importance. Men and beasts alike depended upon these wells. Thus it is that they figured so largely in the literature of the Hebrews, both literally and as symbols of refreshment and sustenance. Because they constituted such an important factor in the lives of the people among whom Jesus lived, labored, and taught, and because he constantly endeavored to bring his lessons to them through such illustrations as he felt they could most readily understand, the Master made use of the terms "well" and "water" in their figurative sense. Typical of this is the incident of the day when he sat on the well at Sychar and taught the woman of Samaria in those memorable words dealing with the water of complete satisfaction: "Whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life."
In like sense wrote Isaiah when he gave the promise, "With joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of salvation." Seeking to know what we shall thus draw, we find that our revered Leader, Mary Baker Eddy, has given us this definition of "salvation" in our textbook, "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" (p. 593): "Life, Truth, and Love understood and demonstrated as supreme over all; sin, sickness, and death destroyed." Surely it is the understanding of Life, Truth, and Love which we wish to attain; and as we possess it we readily see why, as Isaiah declares, the drawing from the "wells of salvation" is to be attended with joy! Where, then, shall we find them?
The student of Christian Science has embarked upon a journey where he needs just such wells. He is turning away from those things which, while promising to quench his thirst, in the end serve only to increase it. Thanks to Mrs. Eddy, to her life of purity and goodness and inspired wisdom, these wells have been discovered for us in abundance all along the way. First and foremost she has given us the textbook of Christian Science, which usurps nothing that the most devoted adherent of the Bible could believe belongs to that Book; but, as the name suggests, this textbook affords a "key" by means of which the treasures of the Bible are unlocked. And for millions of Christian Scientists it has so effectually done this as to make them more intelligent readers and lovers of the Scriptures than they had ever been before. The position of the Christian Science textbook in the needs and the affections of its students is individual and unique. Added to this, Mrs. Eddy has given us her other writings, each of which has won its own place in the hearts of those familiar with them; and, finally, she has given us the Christian Science periodicals. "Wells of salvation"? Yes, "wells of salvation"—all of them. No one in these latter days has provided so much as she for the deliverance or salvation of mankind from the undesirable and unwelcome experiences which beset it.
