"Wherefore he saith, Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light" (Eph. 5:14). Paul wrote this to the church at Ephesus. His exhortation applies in some measure today to all members of the Church of Christ, Scientist. For example, if laziness or apathy has lulled one who was brought up as a Christian Scientist into accepting the protection and help of Christian Science only through the work and understanding of others, he must learn that gratitude for that protection and help is best expressed by efforts to increase his own understanding of Science. When he accepts the challenge to reawaken, he finds that only righteous, prayerful work can give one the understanding which results in demonstrations of the power of Truth in his own affairs.
Mary Baker Eddy, whose spiritual insight into the Bible and whose tremendous capacity for work enabled her to give us Christian Science, asks in "The First Church of Christ, Scientist, and Miscellany" (p. 356), "When will mankind awake to know their present ownership of all good, and praise and love the spot where God dwells most conspicuously in His reflection of love and leadership?"
When we really desire to express gratitude to Mrs. Eddy for her unselfed work in giving us this wonderful truth and to consecrated practitioners of Christian Science for their help in guiding us into the bounty of Love, then we are ready to show our gratitude by our work. This is our reawakening, and with it we shall have caught a glimpse of the spiritual heritage which is man's as the incorporeal child of God. And also we shall have learned that the dominion which belongs to man as the reflection of God must be demonstrated in human affairs by wakeful activity, if we are to claim it as our birthright.
Many people are becoming acquainted with Christian Science today for the first time. No matter which activity of this religion these people come in contact with, whether it be our publications, our Reading Rooms, our church services, our lectures, or our practitioners, they will experience an awakening measured only by their need and their readiness for this healing truth. Learning to study the Bible in the light of Mrs. Eddy's revelation, they will gain some understanding of Christian Science. Their burdens of human cares—disease, frustration, loneliness, lack of ability to live in harmony with their fellow men, false appetites, or any of the claims prevalent in their mortal existence—will fall away when they awaken to the ever-presence of God, Truth, Love, Spirit, as demonstrated by Christ Jesus. With their growth in this Science they will learn that they too can follow in Jesus' footsteps as described in Matthew (4:23), "Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all manner of sickness and all manner of disease among the people."
The newcomer's first healing in Christian Science resulting from a study of Mrs. Eddy's writings will indeed be an awakening, filling him with gratitude for the newborn revelation of God's loving care and protection for each and every one of His ideas. We who have known no religion other than Christian Science can learn a very valuable lesson from the newcomer's natural enthusiasm for this Science. If we have allowed apathy and sloth or self-satisfaction and self-justification to retard our progress in the study and use of Science, we need to experience a reawakening.
Some of us have shut our eyes to the glorious promise of spiritual growth held out to workers in Christian Science. Perhaps mortal mind in one of its guises has told us that too much steady effort is required, that we have not the time to do all that is required of us. Our indolence may be excused on the grounds of human obligations. Giving lip service to the demands of Christian Science on the one hand, we may listen to the glib promises and lies of mortal mind on the other, without realizing that we are in fact trying to obey two masters.
Eventually some error of mortal mind may present to us a problem which awakens us to our need for light. In this time of need, brought on by our disregard of the great fact that Love and Love's ideas express only Love, we naturally return with renewed interest to our study of the Bible and the textbook of Christian Science, "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" by Mrs. Eddy.
The writer, brought up in a Christian Science home, with all the benefits of attendance at a Christian Science Sunday School from his earliest years, needed a reawakening in later years. Blessed with parents whose understanding work in Science was strong enough to provide their family with bulwarks against sickness, discord, and lack, he knew and accepted the power of Mind to care for and protect all Mind's ideas. Added to this early training, he was blessed with a wife who knew the value of Christian Science and with children who, in turn, were taught in a Christian Science Sunday School. Even so, he looked upon Science as a protector to be used only in time of need. He failed to see that God's law demands of one that the love he accepts, he must in turn reflect, or give out, in the same measure. He made no consistent effort to express the qualities of God such as gratitude, joy, love, and right activity.
A business reorganization which looked as though it might cause the loss of his employment helped to bring about the reawakening. Help from a consecrated practitioner of Christian Science was sought and graciously given. For the first time a clear concept of the meaning of God's law of supply and demand was glimpsed. It was seen that if he was to enjoy the benefit of one quality of Mind, there must be present not only a willingness but a determination to use and express all the qualities of Mind. An improved understanding of true place and real activity brought a quick healing of the business problem. The writer was not separated from his employment, nor did he suffer any loss of income.
A suggestion of ill-health brought on by the business crisis was not so quickly overcome. Months later the writer gained the realization that as the recipient of God's dominion he must assert that dominion and work to demonstrate it. As a result the claim of ill-health was then banished, and the difficulty has never returned.
Joyful participation in all the activities of a branch Church of Christ, Scientist, brought further progress and completed the reawakening. Each unfolding step showed the need for more work, more study, more prayer, and greater effort to make use of even a slight understanding of our Leader's revelation. The glorious privilege of class instruction opened up new vistas and gave, with its brighter light, a greater sense of order and perseverance.
This awakening proved to the writer that Christian Science is a dynamic religion, which must be understood and lived to be truly enjoyed.
