Love as a quality of God is active and practical. It gives all and circulates its own currency. To express God's love, then, is to give without seeking return, to be actively interested without thought of benefit or profit, and to serve in a manner both beneficial and practical. This is the love necessary to demonstrate the true idea of Church. After Jesus' ascension his followers realized the purpose of his earthly mission and spared nothing in their zeal to emulate his works and words, thus establishing in consciousness the living, eternal Church, founded on the rock of Christ, Truth. Paul spoke of presenting "a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish" (Eph. 5:27). Their mutual understanding of the eternal Church met the need of the early Christians for something to hold them together in prayer and worship.
Our beloved Leader, Mary Baker Eddy, glimpsed the divine idea of Church and its holy, healing mission, but she realized that the visible church, or church militant, must advance to the spiritual idea, or church triumphant. She organized a church in which Scriptural truths are made applicable to everyday problems just as they were in the early centuries of the Christian period. Mrs. Eddy's early followers planted the seedling of Church in the hearts of those whom they healed. The joy of the healer and the healed attracted the sick and sinful and bade them welcome to the feast of Love.
The zeal and devotion of those early workers who founded churches and carried the healing message of Christian Science into every land is vitally needed today. This Science has the solution to all worldly ills, and its adherents have the high responsibility of carrying it forward. As individual workers, we would be limited in our missionary endeavors; but through the avenues provided by the church, we have unlimited and joyous opportunities. The Way-shower Christ Jesus, and our revered Leader, Mrs. Eddy, unselfishly shared the precious truths of being, and we are the grateful beneficiaries. Should we not, then, share more generously with our fellow men these glorious truths? Well may we heed the admonition given in Hymn No. 98 in the Christian Science Hymnal,
