vii:1To those leaning on the sustaining infinite, to-day is
big with blessings. The wakeful shepherd beholds
the first faint morning beams, ere cometh the full radiance
of a risen day. So shone the pale star to the prophet-
shepherds; yet it traversed the night, and came where, in
cradled obscurity, lay the Bethlehem babe, the human
herald of Christ, Truth, who would make plain to be-
nighted understanding the way of salvation through Christ
Jesus, till across a night of error should dawn the morn-
ing beams and shine the guiding star of being. The Wise-
men were led to behold and to follow this daystar of
divine Science, lighting the way to eternal harmony.
vii:13The time for thinkers has come. Truth, independent
of doctrines and time-honored systems, knocks at the
portal of humanity. Contentment with the past and
the cold conventionality of materialism are crumbling
away. Ignorance of God is no longer the stepping-
stone to faith. The only guarantee of obedience is a
right apprehension of Him whom to know aright is
Life eternal. Though empires fall, "the Lord shall
reign forever."
vii:22A book introduces new thoughts, but it cannot make
them speedily understood. It is the task of the sturdy
pioneer to hew the tall oak and to cut the rough
granite. Future ages must declare what the pioneer
has accomplished.
vii:27Since the author's discovery of the might of Truth in
viii:1the treatment of disease as well as of sin, her system has
been fully tested and has not been found wanting; but
to reach the heights of Christian Science, man must live
in obedience to its divine Principle. To develop the full
might of this Science, the discords of corporeal sense
must yield to the harmony of spiritual sense, even as the
science of music corrects false tones and gives sweet con-
cord to sound.