To every individual, Christian Science must be a discovery. In this it differs from all other discoveries. Electricity, for example, has been discovered and developed into a multitude of uses; and we need not make the discovery, or even understand electricity, in order to avail ourselves of its benefits. Mary Baker Eddy discovered Christian Science and presented it to mankind. Yet, to avail himself of its blessings, each of her followers must understand the eternal truths it reveals and discover for himself their deeper meaning and their application in his daily experience. After saying that Jesus was a natural and divine Scientist, who needed no discovery of the Science of being, Mrs. Eddy states (Retrospection and Introspection, p. 26), "To one 'born of the flesh,' however, divine Science must be a discovery."
How then shall we make this discovery? We must adopt as our guide Mrs. Eddy's statement in "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" (p. 492), "For right reasoning there should be but one fact before the thought, namely, spiritual existence." And we must study and ponder her writings deeply and earnestly in conjunction with the Scriptures and adhere strictly thereto, for the complete revelation of Truth is contained therein.
Starting from the premise of absolute spiritual truth—the perfection, omnipotence, and omnipresence of God, Spirit— one is led to the revolutionary conclusion that man and the universe are not material, but wholly spiritual. Reasoning from the basis of ever-present divine Mind, pondering with thoughtful consecration God's nature and infinitude, he allows divine Science to unfold and reveal to him the spiritual concept of being. He knows that he can learn the true facts of creation from no other source than Truth itself, or God. More and more he finds himself not demanding an immediate explanation of statements in Science and Health which seem beyond his present ability to grasp and being satisfied gratefully to cherish and use the truths he understands, realizing that this is preparing the way for further unfoldment, or discovery.
