Deep rooted in us all there is a desire to serve our brother man, to lift the burdens from the race, to bring it surcease from sorrow. Sometimes this impulse remains dormant until fired by the words of a great teacher. Sometimes it burns brightly for a season, and again it illumines the pages of history for generations by the force of its example, by the cumulative values of its benevolence.
History, religious and secular, is filled with the figures of those who have consecrated their lives to the welfare of others. Some have been motivated by the vision of reward or of a favored place in the sun. Others have carried on with a supreme unselfishness, finding an ample reward, a complete content, in the task at hand well done. But be it active or dormant, be it in the lives of the great and near great, or be it in the humbler walks of those that history has long since forgotten, this impulse has its basis in a profound truth, namely, that all creation is related because the universe, including man, is the offspring, the emanation, of the one infinite Mind, God.
Sometimes people move to the solution of their problems as a group and attempt through the passage of laws to alleviate suffering or to bring a higher standard to their daily living. Such legislation may achieve a measure of success, but the ultimate answer will never be reached through legalistic improvisation, but rather must come through the increased spiritual perception of the individual and the enlightenment which always accompanies such perception. Christian Science works primarily with the individual, promoting the spiritual unity of God's kingdom upon earth. Christian Science focuses the desire and effort of the forward-looking to lift up. and opens the way for the flowering of their greatest opportunity.
In "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" by Mary Baker Eddy, we read (p. 371), "The necessity for uplifting the race is father to the fact that Mind can do it; for Mind can impart purity instead of impurity, strength instead of weakness, and health instead of disease." In this statement we have illustrated the modus operandi of Christian Science: to impart the right idea, to substitute the true for the false, to replace the mere letter and form with the spirit and substance, or, to use another figure, to plant good seed, to cultivate it intelligently, to harvest in God's season.
Thus in Christian Science—this modern reinstatement of primitive Christianity— we have the largest hope for the race and the most practical means for its advancement. Christian Scientists, then, those to whom this healing and redemptive message has been entrusted, have in this trusteeship the priceless privilege of a saving grace for all, the practical effects of which are usefulness, provision, health— well-being in all that it implies.
The ideas of Mind constitute Mind's family, and these ideas, being at one with Mind, their infinite source, are necessarily at one with each other. As this spiritual unity is appreciated and understood, this understanding is naturally effective in our human experience, fostering an interest in those about us. We are, indeed, in a spiritual sense, and therefore in the highest human sense, our brother's keeper. The prophet Malachi discerned something of this spiritual relationship when he wrote (Mai. 2: 10), "Have we not all one father? hath not one God created us?" All ideas embodying and reflecting the qualities of infinite Mind naturally serve to support the structure of Mind (using the term "structure" in a purely figurative sense). These ideas are perfectly co-ordinate in their action. If one individual expression ceased to function, wholeness would no longer exist.
In providing for The Mother Church, its branches and activities, Mrs. Eddy has given to her followers means for universal service; this service affords the greatest opportunity for individual growth; that which blesses all must bless the individual. All individual workers are essential to the group as a whole, and therefore essential to each other. It is impossible to place too much emphasis upon the importance of the individual to the successful carrying on of the work of the Christian Science movement. A church is no more active than the thinking of its members. As the individual grows in spiritual stature all with whom he is associated are benefited by that growth, and the structure as a whole is strengthened proportionately. His overcoming eases the way for others to do their overcoming, his proving encourages others to prove. It was the work of the Master and of those heavenly-minded men and women who preceded as well as followed him that made possible the spiritual resurgence of the nineteenth century, a mighty welling of prayer and inquiry, which culminated in the notable discovery of Christian Science.
We may believe that God is Love, that He loves us, and that we love Him, but we shall never know this love until it is demonstrated in our associations and relationships. An attitude of loving interest and genuine helpfulness will never interfere with the orderly development of the individual; it can never retard his progress. A timely word has at times altered the course of nations; a kindly act has refreshed, and a helping hand enriched more than a few.
Mrs. Eddy has defined "Church" in part (ibid., p. 583) as follows: "The Church is that institution, which affords proof of its utility and is found elevating the race, rousing the dormant understanding from material beliefs to the apprehension of spiritual ideas and the demonstration of divine Science, thereby casting out devils, or error, and healing the sick." That church which "affords proof of its utility and is found elevating the race," in which you and I have the privilege of membership, is designed to minister to the needs and service of all. As we are active in this church, as we are obedient to its precepts, as we as individuals have our part and do our part, we shall find the spiritual import of divine Love flooding our consciousness, and governing our experience.
Christ Jesus was very conscious of the human need and the opportunities it presented for the practice of universal love. He said to his disciples (Matt. 9:37,38), "The harvest truly is plenteous, but the labourers are few; pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth labourers into his harvest." The necessities and rewards of our service to others are beautifully expressed in the words of the well-known hymn:
"True, the heart grows rich in giving;
All its wealth is living grain;
Seeds which mildew in the garner,
Scattered, fill with gold the plain.
. . . . . . . . . .
"Is the heart a living power?
Self -entwined its strength sinks low;
It can only live in loving,
And, by serving, love will grow."
Mrs. Eddy loved all mankind. Her offering knew no bounds, her sacrifice no end. A lone woman, unschooled in the craft of formal religion, living in the relative obscurity of her native New Hampshire, she is yet undying in the affections of millions who know her only through her words and works, only as she desired to be known— as the Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science.
The Sunday services and Wednesday meetings, the lectures, the Reading Rooms with the books on the table, this very periodical—all bear witness to Mrs. Eddy's provision for our progress, to the universal nature of her love. She accepted without reservation, and consistently practiced, what she taught. She had a childlike trust in God, a great compassion for the sufferer, a graciousness and tenderness towards all, an unqualified acceptance of her mission, and a complete willingness to bear the cross of spiritual leadership—a leadership which continues to illumine the path of her followers.
Christian Scientists must be constant in their gratitude, and generous in their praise to God. Their high privilege is to give wholehearted obedience to their Leader's admonitions, loyalty to the church she founded, and selfless service in it. They must pray with her (Poems, p. 4), "Keep Thou my child on upward wing tonight."
