TO her students Mary Baker Eddy, the beloved Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science, extends an invitation. She says (Miscellaneous Writings, pp. 206, 207): "As you journey, and betimes sigh for rest 'beside the still waters,' ponder this lesson of love. Learn its purpose; and in hope and faith, where heart meets heart reciprocally blest, drink with me the living waters of the spirit of my life-purpose,—to impress humanity with the genuine recognition of practical, operative Christian Science." The waters we are to drink are not stale and stagnant, but living waters, sparkling and fresh from the depths of infinity; nor are we invited to drink them alone, but with her, for she says, "drink with me." As we share the spirit of her life purpose, namely "to impress humanity with the genuine recognition of practical, operative Christian Science," we may feel the presence of her great love, even the divine Love which reflects itself in her love for all mankind.
Mrs. Eddy knew that in order to understand and accept Christian Science, the world had to understand and accept her. And today humanity's great need is to gain a clearer, higher concept of her. To acknowledge the revelator is to acknowledge the revelation; to disbelieve the revelator is to disbelieve the revelation. Jesus knew the importance of a true evaluation of Truth's mouthpiece. In his discourse with his disciples, as recorded in the sixteenth chapter of Matthew, he rejected what the world said about him and opened their eyes to look above the person to the divinity of his being. And so in evaluating our Leader, we must look above the person to the divinity of the Science she revealed. Mrs. Eddy cannot be separated from the Science she discovered. We cannot understand the Science without understanding her; nor can we understand her without proportionately gaining a clearer understanding of the Science.
Mrs. Eddy refers to the trials and sufferings which led to her great discovery as God's gracious preparation. She translates all her trials back into love, and yet from the human standpoint her experience was one of heartbreak and hardship. In our seemingly bitter experiences can we not see only the preparation of divine Love for higher, holier work? We must understand that this Science is the final revelation and that her book "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" is its complete and forever textbook.
