Articles

THERE are few persons who do not hope to attain greater happiness and more enduring harmony than they now enjoy. Some merely hope for a favorable turn of the wheel of fortune, while others believe they know what is necessary to bring about the desired result and they labor to that end.

THE study of Christian Science undoubtedly helps us to fit together the various pieces of the puzzle of human existence, and they have to be placed aright before they can form an harmonious whole. This is simplified, in great measure, by the constant application of spiritual understanding to each thought and deed.

THE familiar illustration which the Master gave of the efficacy of even a little faith in God, has comforted and inspired many a pilgrim on his journey heavenward; but only the plea of human inadequacy would assume that Jesus intended the mustard-seed, "the least of all seeds," to symbolize the standard of a Christian's faith. He had already likened the kingdom of heaven to this seed in its wonderful productiveness, so that his simile evidently did not refer to the mustard-seed itself, but to the results "when it is sown.

First Church of Christ, Scientist, Leeds, England THE seed of Christian Science which very soon grew into First Church of Christ, Scientist, Leeds, was planted toward the end of 1902, and in September, 1904, Sunday services were started in a private house. In about a year, finding it impossible to accommodate the people, it was decided to secure larger quarters.

OF all the phantoms that worry and weary mankind, perhaps none is more inconsistent with the concept of a just God and a scientific universe than the fear of lack of the necessities of existence. Nevertheless all around us we see men and women struggling to "eke out a livelihood," many of them haunted continually by the thought that want may overwhelm them despite their best efforts; that cherished children may suffer from lack of food, manhood's strength waste from want, and the hoary-haired father or mother sink in sorrow from lack of sustenance.

NATURALNESS is a much abused and misused word, yet taken at its best and in its highest meaning it is something greatly to be desired, and is within the reach of every human being. What then is naturalness? The dictionary tells us that it is "freedom from affectation, artificiality, or exaggeration," but it is much more than this.

THE natural tendency of mortals is to seek after that which will give them pleasure or in some way add to their happiness; but reasoning from a wholly material basis, their treasure, present or prospective, is that which is pleasing to the human senses, and all too soon they find it infected, by moth or rust and hopelessly corrupted. Until mankind can look at life from a different standpoint and obey the behest of the master Christian to seek "first the kingdom of God," all efforts toward finding true happiness or even peace, must prove futile.

IN working out the question of supply there is probably no more helpful and inspiring lesson in the whole range of the Scriptures than that contained in the account given in the opening verses of the fourth chapter of the second book of Kings. The man of God was faced with what seemed a difficult and distressing problem; a crisis had arisen in the life of one of his friends, which, if not handled promptly and firmly, promised a tragic finale.

THE clear little brook that flows joyously along its natural course in accord with the law which governs it, spontaneously supplies a great need to the many. Nothing does it know of the wants of men; and yet, by simply being itself and seeking with ever onward flow its inevitable destination, the brook involuntarily blesses whoever seeks its help.

THE Christian Science church organization is designed to be as complete and as pure a democracy as it is possible to formulate in human language and practice. Though The Mother Church is the head of the organization, it does not exercise control over the branch churches in local affairs, nor does it claim to do so.