There's an airplane flight I especially enjoy. It's a trip to Seattle, Washington. And when purchasing a ticket I always ask to sit on the right side of the plane in order to have a good view of the beautiful Cascade Range. Mount Jefferson, Mount Hood, Mount Adams, are all there poking their snowy heads above the surrounding clouds. But above, and higher than all of them, is beautiful Mount Rainier, so often covered in the pink and gold colors created by the sun shining upon its peak.
A child accompanying me on the trip might look out the window and thoughtfully ask, "Why is Mount Rainier higher than all the rest of the mountains?" An adult knows the answer—the forces of nature raised that mountain to its impressive height. And so that particular mountain catches the first rays of the dawning sun.
Perhaps this simple analogy can help answer questions many people have about Mary Baker Eddy. Many who are familiar with her life history would agree that she was an exceptionally spiritually-minded woman whose consciousness had been so refined through years of prayer and loving God and man, that like the highest mountain peak, her thought caught the light—the spiritual truth of God's allness and perfection, and of man as the reflection of God. Yet the very magnitude of her work has caused thinkers to ponder an even deeper dimension to her life. Students of Christian Science feel that she was the Discoverer of this Science because she yielded to God's direction. It might also be said that she was the Discoverer because the divine Mind was unfolding its own idea in the identity which to us is Mary Baker Eddy. This was her God-given purpose. And the mountain peak analogy is valid only when we see it as growing out of this spiritual fact.
