Christian Science embraces every phase of human experience in its healing and regenerative ministry. That is why when an individual has been healed of sin or of sickness, he undergoes a definite change of thought. Oftentimes as a concomitant of healing, he feels a spiritual uplift, a calm peace which is indescribably lovely. Evil is seen as powerless and unreal. The individual has a new outlook as he finds himself basking in divine light, the loveliness of divine Love!
These glorious glimpses of divine reality are often referred to as "mountaintop" experiences. They mark the new birth in divine Science, which brings freedom, health, and peace. In his message to the church at Ephesus, John, the Revelator, used the term "first love" to describe the "mountaintop" experience of spiritual zeal and inspiration which comes when the healing Christ first appears in the hearts of men.
It is at this point of spiritual development that we feel the great urge to help spread the gospel of the kingdom, as revealed in Christian Science, and seek membership in a Church of Christ, Scientist. What wondrous joy there is when opportunities come to work with others on this great mission! As time goes on and problems arise which require greater love, patience, forbearance, and tolerance, we sometimes may feel our zeal and enthusiasm lessening. This is a time when watchfulness, alertness, and more consecration are needed. We can gain many beautiful lessons from the study of the Revelator's messages to the seven churches in Asia. One thing is certain, that many of the same basic problems with which those early Christians were confronted present themselves to us today as we endeavor to plant, water, and bring to a ripened fruitage the spiritual idea of Church and all that Church means to us.
