No other activity today needs or deserves our support, love, and careful attention more than does the Cause of Christian Science. The mission of the Church of Christ, Scientist, is to share with everyone the demonstrable Science of Christianity. This Science frees from enslavement to the material belief that life is dependent on and inheres in matter. This spiritually scientific system presents the religion of Love, setting forth the great truth that God is supreme and infinite Spirit; that He is the only creative force; and that consequently man, His creation, is wholly spiritual and can experience only abundant, ceaseless good.
Christian Science explains the spiritual basis upon which true peace, everlasting supply, and permanent health are established. Its work is to transform men's sense of themselves and their universe from a material concept to the true spiritual basis of the immortality and present perfection of God's creation.
To further this most important of all causes, we need to see clearly that Christian Science is the work of God. It is God's unfolding of Himself to mankind. He initiates and furthers every step in the unfoldment of this divine revelation. The textbook, Science and Health by Mrs. Eddy; her Manual of The Mother Church; the Church of Christ, Scientist, itself; and the Christian Science periodicals—each is an inseparable outgrowth of the revelation that came from God to one who for years had earnestly sought an understanding of Him.
Mrs. Eddy was deeply conscious that her discovery of Christian Science came from God. She worked diligently to understand God as He is. The clouds of material sense parted for her, revealing a grand view of God's perfect creation, and she established her Church on the eternal foundation of the rock, Christ. She has given us this counsel: "Exercise more faith in God and His spiritual means and methods, than in man and his material ways and means, of establishing the Cause of Christian Science." Miscellaneous Writings, pp. 152-153;
It is God who is revealing Himself to mankind. It is each individual's inescapable opportunity through prayer to understand what God has for him to do. No power on earth, no illusion of mortal thought, can interfere with or deter what God wills.
How shall we further such a righteous Cause? Certainly we need to constantly search our Leader's writings to understand how she viewed this Cause. Mrs. Eddy knew that God's ways are wholly spiritual and are never aided by merely material means. She envisioned a church that was to be built first in the hearts and minds of her followers. The human organization she established was simple and unencumbered by conventional theological views. She saw every step of human progress for this organization as the unfoldment of the divine idea, Church.
Our support of this great Cause is individual. It is not what others should do but what I am doing that is important. Our strength and our support do not come from our fellowman but from our individual seeking of help from God. Our support calls forth our highest and holiest thought and our purest word and deed. Can anything that personal sense would obtrude in thought be allowed to deter or divert us from fulfilling our purpose to support the Cause we love? Can worldly criticism, biased judgment, or strong human opinions and views be allowed to cloud our prayerful reasoning about our Church's needs and the course of its present activities?
The only avenue through which error could divert or hinder the Cause of Christian Science would be through influencing the thought of the individual Christian Scientist. Evil's subtle allurements tend to make us dissatisfied. It would cause captious criticism of individuals and policies or of church organization. But there is no enemy "out there." Since evil has no intelligence or reality except as belief, the only way it can act is through appearing as our thought. When we accept its suggestions as our own thinking, we are accepting its divisive attempts to destroy good.
Mrs. Eddy's words in Miscellaneous Writings give loving encouragement to those seeking more effective human action: "The baptism of the Holy Ghost is the spirit of Truth cleansing from all sin; giving mortals new motives, new purposes, new affections, all pointing upward. This mental condition settles into strength, freedom, deep-toned faith in God; and a marked loss of faith in evil, in human wisdom, human policy, ways, and means." ibid., p. 204;
The strength of our individual support for our Cause comes as each one rejects self-will and mortal beliefs and turns to God for guidance. There are no mortal opinions in divine Mind. Mind's ideas are harmonious and orderly. All evidence of true progress is controlled by Mind. Our limited human views can never grasp the infinite. We need to yield up the false sense and let the divine transform the human.
Sometimes one may believe he sees more clearly than those in office what should be done in church organization. But we should recognize that God will guide each one in his own office in the furtherance of God's work. We can cherish whatever inspiration comes to us individually that seems a better way and can affirm that God will unfold this idea if it is right for His church. Our selfless prayers for the prosperity of all activities connected with this great Cause will help to bring a sweet season of love, support, and inspiration to all who have assigned responsibilities. God opens up every right step needed to further the unfolding of Christian healing. We can know that those who serve Him are God-directed.
Supporting our Cause is maintaining the truth of it, no matter what the material senses indicate. The way to heal the sick is to deny that disease has any actuality or connection with the patient. Can we not be equally in earnest in denying inharmony, lack, frustration, or any other suggestions regarding our movement? In place of every unloving, discordant thought we can find the true fact. We can argue for the good we want to see expressed. When we are faced with injustice or with inharmony in church affairs, are we alert to say, "No, I won't accept this testimony, for I know that this is God's church and nothing can separate me or anyone else from the good He is pouring forth on all"?
Each one of us today has the opportunity to see more clearly Mrs. Eddy's concept of her Church—a Church placed in the hands of God and whose members are inspired by ever-fresh glimpses of reality through their study of the Bible and the textbook. The overturning of evil may appear as chemicalization in human thought. But these mental collisions cannot distract the alert student of Christian Science. He keeps his thought under divine Mind's control. He continues calm and mentally poised in the face of human change. He trusts God to show him how to act in the settlement of all questions. He never lends his thought to idle gossip or speculation about human ways and means of furthering our Cause. He turns to God daily, hourly, to find the sweet assurance, "Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God." Rev. 21:3.
Never was there a more urgent need than now for each student of this Science to feel the reciprocal love that comes from his care and support of The Mother Church. Each student is needed, each one is valued by God in revealing to mankind the healing and saving agent of the Christ. As we rise to do our part, nothing on earth can stop or stay this truth from reaching every heart in the universe.
