A PIONEERING SPIRITUAL JOURNALIST'S EXAMPLE LOOKS timelier than ever.
In the Journal's maiden-voyage issue, dated April 14, 1883, founder and first editor Mary Baker Eddy wrote about half the editorial content in that eight-page periodical. In just the first three pages, she penned the lead article, "Prospectus," provided answers for an "Answers to Questions" section, and wrote "A Timely Issue," surveying public demand for a higher, more effective healthcare system (sound familiar?). Oh, and page 3 ends with a poem from the editor, "The Oak on the Summit." As the months rolled on, other writers stepped up as contributors, but for a significant stretch as editor, Mary Baker Eddy poured her heart and Christian spirit into this magazine. Anyone who works on the Journal for any length of time feels the impress of her example.
Check out "A Timely Issue" in its original form (she edited it somewhat for inclusion in her book, Miscellaneous Writings 1883–1896), and you, too, might just feel called to help out, wherever you may be as a reader. "An organ from the Christian Scientists," she wrote, "has become a necessity. ... Further enlightenment is necessary for the age, and a paper devoted to this work seems alone adequate to meet the requirement." Ever precise with words, our first editor said "from" not "to" those who are discovering for themselves this way of knowing God as the divine Love that heals spiritually.
