ON page 297 of the Christian Science textbook, "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures," our Leader, Mrs. Eddy, has written, "Until belief becomes faith, and faith becomes spiritual understanding, human thought has little relation to the actual or divine."
The necessity for at least some measure of understanding in our efforts to grasp and utilize Truth will be readily admitted by everyone. One's aspiration, therefore, should be to possess that understanding. There is no royal road to knowledge; all who would attain it must tread the path of study and persistent endeavor. Class books, the lecture room, and the reference library come naturally into thought as one contemplates the acquisition of learning; for it is an ordered progression which leads from ignorance to enlightenment. Recognition of the desirability of such knowledge, and faith in one's ability to gain it and, in due course, to use it, are indispensable accompaniments to successful achievement.
On the surface it would appear that the pursuit of understanding is somewhat similar on both spiritual and intellectual lines; but is this so? We know that in the study of music and art the canons which govern them must be faithfully obeyed, for, as in mathematics, no accurate result can be hoped for unless the established rules be adhered to.
