Probably all of us have opened the door of a welcoming household at some time in our lives and have suddenly felt the balm of hospitality and affection in that friendly atmosphere. No condemnation greeted us there, but only understanding and approval that made us feel that we had found a heaven of refuge and peace. May we, as Christian Scientists, be hospitable householders to the human race!
One of the open doors to the heaven of divine reality which our Leader, Mary Baker Eddy, has provided for humanity is the Christian Science Reading Room. It is an open door because divine Love impels its establishment; and Love excludes no one. It is a door to reality because one finds within it the atmosphere which proves that divine Science is known and loved there. Mrs. Eddy writes as follows in "No and Yes" (pp. 9,10): "Divinely defined, Science is the atmosphere of God; humanly construed, and according to Webster, it is 'knowledge, duly arranged and referred to general truths and principles on which it is founded, and from which it is derived.'"
The Reading Room exemplifies both of these definitions in a way, because it provides "the atmosphere of God," which is divine Science. It also makes available knowledge based upon the revelation and demonstration of divine Principle. This atmosphere and this knowledge may be said to correspond to the "great door and effectual," which Paul said had opened to him (I Cor. 16:9). Considering the Reading Room as an open door to purer realms of thought, we might also apply Paul's words in his letter to the Colossians, in which he asks their prayers that God open unto him and his fellow missionaries "a door of utterance, to speak the mystery of Christ" (Col. 4:3).
