The task of a First Reader is to glorify God and His completeness. The intelligent nurturing of moral qualities, whether in the congregation or the community, includes knowing how Truth and Love impersonalize and destroy the claims of evil—whatever overtly or subtly denies God's love for man.
Speaking of Readers' obligations, Mrs. Eddy states in the Manual of The Mother Church: "They must keep themselves unspotted from the world,— uncontaminated with evil,—that the mental atmosphere they exhale shall promote health and holiness, even that spiritual animus so universally needed." Man., Art. III, Sect . 1;
Readings based on the oneness of Principle and idea point out that in reality we all live in a universe of spiritual ideas and not a world of fragmented material beliefs. The one universal Ego does not know any limited, irreconcilable needs. Mind knows only its creation and is supremely satisfied with it. An understanding of this fact brings the ability to detect human needs and to select the specific truths that heal those needs.
