Each day the earnest student of Christian Science studies his textbooks, the Holy Bible and Science and Health by Mrs. Eddy, in conjunction with the Christian Science Quarterly, which gives him his weekly Lesson-Sermon. And he has another daily friend—the Manual of The Mother Church by Mrs. Eddy.
Someone, however, might wonder how a book comprised of Rules and By-Laws can be interesting, inspirational, and advantageous to healing, how one can consider it a daily friend. The divine impulsion that inspired and motivated Mrs. Eddy to write the Manual came from Love. This same power is gradually unfolding the inspired meaning of the Rules and By-Laws of the Manual to everyone who studies them. As he obeys them, he finds them imprinted in his heart. He finds his daily friend!
The Manual was a gradual unfoldment to its author. In Lyman P. Powell's Mary Baker Eddy: A Life Size Portrait (1950 Edition), we find an enlightening account of the way the need for the Manual appeared to Mrs. Eddy's waiting thought (see p. 192). Through God's guidance she supplied what was needed for the complete mothering of her followers, so that nothing could steal from them her revelation of Christian Science. This is why the Manual often ranks next to Science and Health among Christian Scientists and is their daily friend and guide.
