Among the "Signs of the Times" in the Christian Science Sentinel of February 22, 1941, an item appears from Lausanne, Switzerland, which tells of a church to which, as the bell tolled for evening service, came worshipers from many byways, each bearing a little bronze lamp of very old design. When asked by a traveler why this was done, the reply was: "We have no other way of lighting our church. In the year 1550, when it was built, the seigneur of the village decided that each should carry his lamp. The lamps belong to the church, which lends them to the people. We light them at a torch as we enter. ... Each one comes to make it more bright, for he knows if he stays at home, the church will be the darker for it and the service more somber. . . . Each dark spot speaks of one absent."
Students of Christian Science are one in motive and purpose. They love the Cause and its revered Leader, Mary Baker Eddy. They love The Mother Church, and those who under the wise provisions of the Manual are so faithfully caring for its best interests. Each one also loves his branch church and sincerely longs to see it grow and prosper and "bear much fruit."
The Mother Church and its activities may be compared to a tree. Like a tree it has its branches, and these in turn have their leaves, and these belong not only to the branch but to the trunk as well, for without the trunk there would be neither leaf nor branch. Each leaf derives its nutriment from the sun, the air, the rain, and the soil. A tree or a plant breathes through its leaves, as we all know, and the elements that it needs are transmitted to the tree through the sap; without this nourishment the tree could not long maintain a healthy growth. So there must be perfect co-ordination. The leaf needs the branch, the branch needs the trunk, and all need the roots. When as church members we turn daily to God for sustenance, through our two textbooks, the Bible and "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" by Mrs. Eddy, we find a never-ending supply of pure and holy thoughts which nourish and feed our consciousness so that we become useful and active contributors to the parent tree.
