Until recently there has been little news to share about the important legal case mentioned in the Journal one year ago.See The Church in Action section of the July 1982 Journal. Various legal steps have delayed any significant change in status. It now appears, however, this case may go forward to trial in late summer of this year.
The continuing prayer of Christian Scientists is plainly needed. Already this prayer has resulted in increased unity and strength in the movement and in clearer focus of the issues. Such prayer is more than "supportive"; it reveals God's unerring purpose and direction in the midst of human events. Just because one is in his own home instead of in the courtroom, is he limited in what he can contribute? Mrs. Eddy writes, "Truth, Life, and Love are formidable, wherever thought, felt, spoken, or written,—in the pulpit, in the court-room, by the wayside, or in our homes." The First Church of Christ, Scientist, and Miscellany, p. 185.
The issues in this case are vital not only to Christian Scientists in the United States, but in fact to all people, since these issues relate to the future and freedom of religion itself. Through the decades of this century there has been increasing erosion of the primacy of religious values. This has led to subtle encroachments on religious freedom in the United States and elsewhere.
