"There is but one way to heaven, harmony, and Christ in divine Science shows us this way. It is to know no other reality—to have no other consciousness of life—than good, God and His reflection, and to rise superior to the so-called pain and pleasure of the senses" (Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy, p. 242). To discover and follow this one right way to heaven, to heal and be healed of woes, physical, mental, and social, is the glorious privilege of all earnest students of Christian Science. In seeking to attain this state of heaven on earth, one may mistakenly take a devious way, or he may take the straight way. He may make it hard for himself, or he may find it easy and joyous.
A few miles from a noisy city, situated on the top of a mountain, is a lake, beautiful in its setting of wooded shoreline and distant hills. For years it has been a much desired destination for those seeking peace and quiet. Formerly, the road leading to this retreat was long and tedious, a narrow passage, with sharp curves and precipitous inclines. The writer, who had made annual trips to this serenely quiet place was surprised and delighted on one occasion to learn that a highway had been completed, making a fairly straight and easy ascent up the mountainside, with enchanting vistas of desert and plain. Thereafter he followed this way with joy and satisfaction.
When Christian Science first dawns upon the thought of many a seeker, the way appears clear and straight, that is, the fact is plain that God is All-in-all. Faith is simple, as it was with the centurion who said to Jesus, "Speak the word only, and my servant shall be healed." Marvelous changes sometimes accompany the lispings of babes in Truth. Then may follow years of study of the letter of Science, with its application to varied conditions, years sometimes attended with doubts and fears, more often crowned with victories. But inspiration must be one's daily companion, and reliance upon God alone the staff in hand. Such has been the experience of the majority of earnest Christian Scientists.
