"Pilgrim on earth, thy home is heaven; stranger, thou art the guest of God" (Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, p. 254). This loving greeting from the pen of our beloved Leader, Mary Baker Eddy, might serve as a welcome to all who accept an invitation to hear a Christian Science lecture.
To attend any function as a guest is to be in a privileged position, assured of kindness and consideration, with planned provision for one's comfort and welfare; one is fed and sustained with the best that the host can provide. When the invitation is received with the understanding that one is the guest of God, whose love reaches out to include the sick, sinning, and sorrowing, then one hastens to accept such an invitation and the joy and freedom that are assured him.
In the ancient Orient, the virtue of hospitality ranked very high. Referring to this hospitality, one Bible dictionary states: "The stranger who enters the tent is daif Ullah, the guest whom God has sent, to be well entreated for His sake. ... When he has eaten of the host's bread, the two are at once bound as brothers for mutual help and protection. ... The bond thus formed was temporary, holding good for 36 hours after parting. By frequent renewal, however, it might become permanent."
