Editorials

WHAT a helpful possession is the ability rightly to appraise and appreciate the worth and work of one's fellows! In his famous tribute to the virtues of chaste, industrious womanhood, King Lemuel, in the book of Proverbs ( 31:31 ) says, "Give her of the fruit of her hands; and let her own works praise her in the gates. " Can Christian Scientists be accused of deifying their Leader, Mary Baker Eddy, when they thank God for the purity and selflessness of her life, and express gratitude for the blessings her work has brought to mankind? In fact, do they truly understand the message of Christian Science until they recognize the fact that its Discoverer and Founder walked and talked with God, and voice their thankfulness therefor? Christ Jesus did not seek personal homage from his disciples, but he did stress their acceptance of his words and work as evidence that he was a teacher divinely authorized and endowed.

Who can define the mission of our periodicals so clearly and definitely as she under whose inspired wisdom they were founded—Mary Baker Eddy—our beloved Leader, the humble and intrepid follower of our Master, Christ Jesus? On page 353 of "The First Church of Christ, Scientist, and Miscellany," Mrs. Eddy says: "I have given the name to all the Christian Science periodicals.

When an electric light bulb is screwed into its socket and receives the electric current, it instantly radiates light in all directions. When the individual, through understanding prayer, realizes something of the living oneness of man with the All-God, his Truth-enlightened thought reaches far and wide, improving human consciousness.

Has not the thought of mountains ever been attractive to humankind? Hardy climbers, fired with the urge of adventure, view a rugged peak as a challenge to their bodily and mental vigor. Poet and psalmist sing of lifting one's eyes to the hills, and Israel's prophets, throughout the Old Testament, frequently use the figure of mountains in their exhortations to mortals to leave the plains and valleys of materialism for the higher altitudes of spiritual sense.

An inquirer, impressed by the teaching of Christian Science that in reality there is no material sensation, once posed the question: "How does Mrs. Eddy know that she has read and studied correctly, if one must deny the evidences of the senses? She had to use her eyes to read.

To those uninstructed in Christian Science the great truth that God does not and cannot know evil is a part of what St. Paul calls "the mystery of godliness.

It is indeed fitting that Christian Scientists through the pages of the Journal should record their deep appreciation of and gratitude for the signal service rendered by the thousands of young students of Christian Science, men and women, who are now putting aside their uniforms and re-entering civilian life. The experiences of these young people who answered the call of their country, and who carried into camp and scenes of conflict the light of the healing Christ, Truth, make indeed thrilling reading.

THERE is one creator and one creation. Christian Science is founded on this scientific fact.

THE words "sense," "senses," and "sensation" are used so often by Mary Baker Eddy in explaining the teachings of Christian Science that it behooves every student of this Science to ponder well their thought value, and to utilize them correctly. The word "sense," used by this author only as a noun, is defined in the Oxford Dictionary as "any of the special bodily faculties by which sensation is roused ( the five senses , sight, hearing, smell, taste, and touch.

ONWARD , Christian soldiers"—when this stirring hymn is sung, what heart does not respond to the call to go forward, ever forward, in the Christian's warfare? Is not the thought of retrogression repugnant to a progressive thinker? Who enjoys taking a retrograde step? To retrogress or retrograde means simply to step backward. To a Christian Scientist, whose watchword is progress, the suggestion of possible retrogression is unthinkable.