At the precise moment when one is tempted to believe that a particular assignment to duty is beyond his capacity or wish to fulfill, he may find himself standing at the threshold of Christianity. This fact is a comfort today when many an individual seems forced by events into unaccustomed work, not of his own choosing. Humanity is being roused to evaluate the universe and man in the light of spiritual development.
The basic fact, clearly stated by Mary Baker Eddy in "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" (p. 547), is that "the true theory of the universe, including man, is not in material history but in spiritual development." Scientific approach to each specific task thus begins with the recognition that right endeavor always involves the activity of Principle, of perfect God and His perfect creation; and that the record of personal sense experience, whether it claims character as good or evil, cannot intrude as cause, effect, or delaying action.
There is in the book of Acts an account which illustrates the hesitancy with which the human consciousness receives the instruction to witness the truth of scientific being and the falsity of material history. Ananias, a disciple of the Lord, was at Damascus when there came to him the spiritual conviction that he should go to a certain house in the city and bear Christianity's message of healing to Saul of Tarsus. Unable to believe that he had understood aright, Ananias said, "Lord, I have heard by many of this man, how much evil he hath done to thy saints at Jerusalem: and here he hath authority from the chief priests to bind all that call on thy name."
