There's an old saying that you can't put your foot in the same river twice. The message conveyed is that whenever we enter a situation or engage an issue, we change it. In the context of our individual daily lives, any time we engage the world around us, we do not leave it where we found it!
Reflecting on the history of the Christian Science movement, we see important events that altered the course of human experience. Clearly the introduction of Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy was a powerful event that has transformed countless lives. And the publication of Science and Health provided a solid basis for our Leader to, in her words, "organize a church designed to commemorate the word and works of our Master, which should reinstate primitive Christianity and its lost element of healing."Manual of The Mother Church, p. 17
The building of the Original Mother Church, followed shortly by the Extension, was another significant event. Later the building that houses The Christian Science Publishing Society was constructed to support the Publishing Society's mission of promoting the interests of Christian Science. During this entire period of history the members' concept of the Church of Christ, Scientist, was broadening. All of this inevitably had an impact on the world's thought, and mankind felt in some degree the power of the spiritual discovery made by Mrs. Eddy. These events permanently bless the human experience. The world continues to be changed by the Christian Science movement!
In the late 1960s and early 1970s The Mother Church built the Sunday School, the new Administration building, and what is today the Broadcasting Center. The completion of those buildings made a statement—to members, to the community of Boston, to the world. To our members this work said that our Church must have an expanding concept of its mission in both Boston and the world. To the community of Boston it was emphasized that the Church is a permanent member of the community. To many, the tangible evidence is the buildings that enhance the beauty and character of the city and have resulted in urban renewal in the neighborhood. Finally, to the world we could say that the Christian Science movement is on the move. We were declaring that the Church is a presence in the community, cares about people, and is reaching out to good men and women everywhere. We were expressing the good that is within the Church and every member, and we welcomed all to join us.
Now the Church is once again taking significant steps with the revitalization of its daily newspaper, The Christian Science Monitor; the introduction of daily television, daily shortwave radio broadcasting, and a new monthly magazine, World Monitor. But why are these activities important? In one sense they can be seen as mere human steps like those taken by many other organizations. But what is the underlying purpose that distinguishes our Church's recent efforts? To reach the hungering heart wherever it is; to meet the needs of our fellowman where he or she is; to make the healing Christ more widely known; to embrace all humanity.
On December 8, 1984, the entire membership of The Mother Church was given the opportunity to meet together in a worldwide videoconference during which all members rededicated themselves to live for all mankind. That commitment was clearly a step in the process of fulfilling Mrs. Eddy's prophecy in Pulpit and Press, where she writes: "If the lives of Christian Scientists attest their fidelity to Truth, I predict that in the twentieth century every Christian church in our land, and a few in far-off lands, will approximate the understanding of Christian Science sufficiently to heal the sick in his name. Christ will give to Christianity his new name, and Christendom will be classified as Christian Scientists."Pul., p. 22
Our Leader tells us throughout her writings how we individually demonstrate our understanding of the Science of being and by so doing attest our "fidelity to Truth." Therefore, for practicing Christian Scientists it is our daily—moment by moment—witnessing of the Christ in our lives that says to our neighbors and hence to our world that the Science of Christ is here and available to each and every heart hungering for a better sense of health, home, community, and world. Evidences of the allness of God can be found in the numerous stories in the Bible where we read about the healings by some of the prophets and Christ Jesus. Where mortal sense presented blindness, deformity, dementia, and the myriad discordant forms of mortal thought, Jesus saw the perfect man embraced and included in the allness of God and never a part of the mortal dream whose existence is an illusion, without basis or reality.
If each individual is working diligently and thereby attesting his or her fidelity, what more is required? Isn't demonstration for one's self sufficient? Not really. Jesus demonstrated the allness of God wherever there was a need—in homes, the marketplace, the places of worship. He went out and preached, was visible, met people at their own level of understanding, and sent his disciples forth to minister to the needs of humanity. Mrs. Eddy's vision for her Church was as Jesus exemplified. Christian Scientists would need not only to demonstrate the truth but also to go out into the world and proclaim the universal availability of Truth. She established The Christian Science Publishing Society within her Church to extend and promote the interests of Christian Science—to make it public.
Jesus demonstrated the
allness of God wherever there
was a need—in homes, the
marketplace, the places of
worship. He went out and
preached, was visible, met
people at their own level of
understanding, and sent his
disciples forth to minister
to the needs of humanity.
To each member of the Church, Mrs. Eddy writes, "The Christian Scientist has enlisted to lessen evil, disease, and death; and he will overcome them by understanding their nothingness and the allness of God, or good."Science and Health, p. 450 The practical evidence of such enlistment has been the renewed vigor in all church activities and the expansion of the publications of the Publishing Society. This is demonstrated in a more expansive vision of The Christian Science Monitor; a more challenging thrust by The Christian Science Board of Lectureship at human indifference; and a worldwide series of meetings on the healing practice of Christian Science. Today we are reaching an ever-expanding audience. The gratitude expressed for the daily broadcasts over shortwave radio is demonstrable evidence that people are listening, and witnessing the universality of Truth as practiced by Christ Jesus and revealed to us by our Leader, Mrs. Eddy.
In the sixteenth chapter of Mark, Jesus commands the apostles, "Go ye into all the world,"Mark 16:15 and in the tenth chapter of Matthew his instructions are very specific: "And as ye go, preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand. Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils: freely ye have received, freely give."Matt. 10:7, 8 The Church of Christ, Scientist, is daily endeavoring to fulfill the direction of the Master, Christ Jesus. Each of us has the opportunity to see the spirit of Christ, Truth, reach all mankind in the twentieth century in fulfillment of our Leader's prophecy.
