ONE MIGHT INDEED WONDER. It does seem that the world at large is not yet ready for the spiritualization of thought and Christianization of life-practice that this Science demands. Nevertheless, Christian Science—God's law of holiness, health, and eternal life—is here (as it always has been), and God is the One through whom it has appeared on the human scene. So the time must be ripe.
And God has ripened it.
Through a lifetime of earnest prayer, Bible study, and seeking God's guidance during sore trials, Mary Baker Eddy's thought and heart were being prepared to receive the Comforter that Jesus prayed the Father would send, which would be with us forever (see John 14:16). Twenty-two years after her discovery of this Comforter, Christian Science, Mrs. Eddy said in a sermon, "The Science of Christianity, that has appeared in the ripeness of time, reveals the incorporeal Christ; and this will continue to be seen more clearly until it be acknowledged, understood,—and the Saviour, which is Truth, be comprehended" (Miscellaneous Writings 1883–1896, p. 164). Also true was Mrs. Eddy's observation about the textbook of Christian Science: "Centuries will intervene before the statement of the inexhaustible topics of Science and Health is sufficiently understood to be fully demonstrated" (Retrospection and Introspection, p. 84). Yet, the ripening of human hearts goes on, and every day the spiritual ideas presented in that book are healing and regenerating human lives—one human heart at a time.
