Centuries ago, wise men of the Orient, bearing rich gifts, traveled westward seeking the Christ. Never unmindful of the guiding star, they followed until it led them to the stable in Bethlehem where Mary, having pondered in her heart the vision revealed to her by the angel, had given birth to her son Jesus, who was to manifest to a waiting world more of the Christ than it had ever known before. Beside the manger, "when they had opened their treasures," they gave to Jesus "gold, and frankincense, and myrrh"—pure gold, perfume, and oil.
In this age wise men seeking the Christ, straining weary eyes to catch the reappearing of the spiritual idea, are made glad as the guiding star leads them, not now to stable and manger, but to impersonal Truth. Mary Baker Eddy saw the angelic vision and pondered it, until, through her revelation of Christian Science, she gave to the world the truth about God and man and Church.
Moses long ago had a vision of Church, and tried to make it clear to the children of Israel, symbolizing it in the tabernacle that he built "according to the pattern" showed to him on the mount. David, too, had a glimpse of Church, and left to Solomon, his son, the duty of constructing of marble and precious woods, of gold and brass, a splendid temple which should be worthy to hold the ark of the covenant. But in both tabernacle and temple it was not the beauty of polished wood and beaten gold, of marble, of cherubim or altar that manifested Church. It was only when the presence of God, that same presence that had led the children of Israel through their wilderness journey, rested on the tabernacle and abode in the temple that they showed forth the true idea of Church.
