Every day the loyal Christian Scientist prays to obey the By-Law given in the Manual of The Mother Church by Mary Baker Eddy which reads (Art. VIII, Sect. 6). "It shall be the duty of every member of this Church to defend himself daily against aggressive mental suggestion, and not be made to forget nor to neglect his duty to God, to his Leader, and to mankind." A vital part of his duty to his Leader is the continuous acknowledgment and utilization of the fact that Mrs. Eddy through her inspired writings is still the Leader of the Christian Science movement.
We experience this leadership through the utilization of the spiritual ideas found in the Christian Science textbook, "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures." and her other writings. Always our Leader turned her students away from the contemplation of her personality and instructed them to seek the Principle of divine Science, whereby they could grow into an understanding of the grace and glory of the one infinite Person, God.
In her book "The First Church of Christ, Scientist, and Miscellany" Mrs. Eddy says in a letter to a clergyman (pp. 119, 120): "Should I give myself the pleasant pastime of seeing your personal self, or give you the opportunity of seeing mine, you would not see me thus, for I am not there. I have risen to look and wait and watch and pray for the spirit of Truth that leadeth away from person—from body to Soul, even to the true image and likeness of God. St. John found Christ, Truth, in the Word which is God. We look for the sainted Revelator in his writings, and there we find him. Those who look for me in person, or elsewhere than in my writings, lose me instead of find me." We can be grateful that Mrs. Eddy expressed thus clearly and unmistakably her concept of impersonal leadership, for because of this impersonal concept we can more easily grasp the fact of her present leadership and joyously avail ourselves of it through the study of her writings.
