THE fact that Christian Science churches are not dedicated until they are free from debt has a deep and important significance for both the church organizations and individual Christian Scientists. Our church edifices are erected as expressions of gratitude for the many blessings which God has bestowed upon His children. These blessings have always been available to mankind, but they were hidden by the clouds of material theories and beliefs until the light of spiritual understanding conferred by Christian Science dispelled these clouds and revealed the beneficent and healing truth about God and man. When men have been healed of their ills and freed from sinful habits, when their sorrow has been turned into joy and they have found that God's law meets all human needs, quite naturally they are stirred by gratitude and unselfed love with the desire to share with others this great blessing—the spiritual understanding of God and man. And so Christian Science churches are built and paid for by means of the reflection of divine Love.
Thus it may be seen that the dedication of our churches is preceded by and is indicative of the dedication of their lives to God and His Cause by grateful Christian Scientists. Having tasted the satisfying and healing water of Truth and Life drawn from the wells of salvation, the Bible, "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" and other of Mrs. Eddy's writings, students of Christian Science appreciate Christ Jesus' statement that "the kingdom of heaven is like unto treasure hid in a field; the which when a man hath found, he hideth, and for joy thereof goeth and selleth all that he hath, and buyeth that field."
Many a church with a comparatively small membership has struggled long, burdened with what had seemed to be a hopeless condition of debt, when the whole picture was changed because of a spiritual awakening with the members. Instead of concentrating their thought on the need as it appeared, they consecrated themselves anew to serving God and their fellow men; instead of trying to get money, they strove to give to others of the good they consciously possessed; instead of counting their pennies, they counted their blessings —lives regenerated, sickness healed, limitation and lack overcome, sorrow assuaged, the realization of that peace which the world can neither give nor take away. After the monetary debt was paid and the church was dedicated, perchance the members, forgetful of the fact that the debt had been canceled by the currency of love and gratitude, relaxed their spiritual endeavors and allowed the fires of grateful zeal to smolder and almost die out.
