A woman recognized the need of Elisha, the great prophet, for a place apart, where he could rest during his journeyings. "And she said unto her husband, Behold now, I perceive that this is an holy man of God, which passeth by us continually. Let us make a little chamber, I pray thee, on the wall; and let us set for him there a bed, and a table, and a stool, and a candlestick: and it shall be, when he cometh to us, that he shall turn in thither."II Kings 4:9, 10;
When Christ Jesus' disciples returned to him after journeys filled with preaching and healing, he said to them, "Come ye yourselves apart into a desert place, and rest a while."Mark 6:31;
Just as the little room in Elisha's day and the "desert place" in Jesus' time provided quiet from the activities of the material world, so the Christian Science Reading Rooms can be the answer to those seeking a quiet place apart today. Mrs. Eddy says, "When God called the author to proclaim His Gospel to this age, there came also the charge to plant and water His vineyard."Science and Health, Pref., p. xi. The Reading Rooms are the result of Mrs. Eddy's demonstration of divine Love's provision for mankind.
