A STATEMENT from the Methodist Review included in a report of the Clerk, found on page 48 of "The First Church of Christ, Scientist, and Miscellany," challenged the thought of one student of Christian Science. It reads: "'Mrs. Eddy ... in her insistence upon the constant daily reading of the Bible and her own writings, ... has given to her disciples a means of spiritual development which ... will certainly build such truth as they do gain into the marrow of their characters.' " This student found that by systematic daily reading of two pages of "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" and five pages of Prose Works or the Manual of The Mother Church, it was possible to ponder in a year all that Mrs. Eddy has written.
Many young people today are aware that they must guard their thinking against the subtle arguments of lack of time or of suitable surroundings in which to read, or inability to comprehend the textbooks of Christian Science. Because they know that the reading of spiritual truths is the very bread of Life which feeds and sustains them, they are as determined not to let themselves be starved spiritually by omitting one day of reading, as they are not to go for an entire day without eating material food.
A young man in the Navy who was based near the eastern seaboard arose early each morning and made a little car his reading room. But envy and resentment many times seemed to make things difficult for him, and at times almost unbearable. One day, while reading the Lesson-Sermon, he found this passage (Ps. 112:6, 7): "The righteous shall be in everlasting remembrance. He shall not be afraid of evil tidings: his heart is fixed, trusting in the Lord." The word "heart" attracted his attention, so he looked up its meaning in the Glossary of science and Health. It states (p. 587): "Heart. Mortal feelings, motives, affections, joys, and sorrows." Through this definition he learned that joys and sorrows which seem to fluctuate continually are human conditions, and that he needed to find the true sense of joy, which is invariable when one steadfastly remembers and trusts in the goodness and allness of God. These thoughts brought a complete change in the young man's outlook. Calm, hope, and courage were established where fear, discontent, and confusion had seemed to be.
