In Revelation, St. John writes to the church at Ephesus: "I know thy works, and thy labour, and thy patience, and how thou canst not bear them which are evil: ... and hast borne, and hast patience, and for my name's sake hast laboured, and hast not fainted. Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love. Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent." In commenting upon St. John's revelation of the messages to the seven churches Mrs. Eddy writes (Message to The Mother Church for 1900, p. 11), "His allegories are the highest criticism on all human action, type, and system;" and (p. 12), "The Revelation of St. John in the apostolic age is symbolic, rather than personal or historical." By this we see that, to the end of his spiritual enrichment, each one of us may apply to himself individually the words of correction and guidance set forth in these messages. Each message, too, may be found to have a quickening word for each branch church.
What is our "first love" to which, the Revelator reminds us, we must return, through repentance, and to which we must be faithful if we would not have our candlestick taken "out of his place"? First of all it may well be found in our single-minded consecration to the welfare and prosperity of our Cause. Is this essential element of growth at all times as spontaneous, as all-absorbing and self-sacrificing, as it was in our heart and actions when we were the grateful neophyte just liberated from bondage by divine Love? Are we wholly governed by the single purpose of seeing our redemptive Cause thrive and prosper?
And then our youthful zeal and ardor—do these sometimes flag because the course seems so long? Are we always eager to run to our task of demonstration, confident that every thought on God's side is made manifest in healing and is invariably a victor? Do we run in joyful anticipation of new views of reality which are about to be revealed to us, and in the knowledge that running in God's service never wearies and is always a fresh adventure into what our Leader terms "the teeming universe of Mind" (Science and Health, p. 513)?
