1 To those leaning on the sustaining infinite, to-day is big with blessings. The wakeful shepherd beholds

3 the first faint morning beams, ere cometh the full radiance of a risen day. So shone the pale star to the prophetshepherds; yet it traversed the night, and came where, in

6 cradled obscurity, lay the Bethlehem babe, the human herald of Christ, Truth, who would make plain to benighted understanding the way of salvation through Christ

9 Jesus, till across a night of error should dawn the morning beams and shine the guiding star of being. The Wisemen were led to behold and to follow this daystar of

12 divine Science, lighting the way to eternal harmony. The time for thinkers has come. Truth, independent of doctrines and time-honored systems, knocks at the

15 portal of humanity. Contentment with the past and the cold conventionality of materialism are crumbling away. Ignorance of God is no longer the stepping18 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

21 reign forever." A book introduces new thoughts, but it cannot make them speedily understood. It is the task of the sturdy

24 pioneer to hew the tall oak and to cut the rough granite. Future ages must declare what the pioneer has accomplished. [Pg vi:1-26]

Right Motive

2: 1-7 ~ What are the motives for prayer? Do we pray to make ourselves better or to benefit those who hear us, to enlighten the infinite or to be heard of men? Are we benefited by praying? Yes, the desire which goes forth hungering after righteousness is blessed of our Father, and it does not return unto us void.

Diety Unchangeable

2:8-22 God is not moved by the breath of praise to do more than He has already done, nor can the infinite do less than bestow all good, since He is unchanging wisdom and Love. We can do more for ourselves by humble fervent petitions, but the All-loving does not grant them simply on the ground of lip-service, for He already knows all.

Prayer cannot change the Science of being, but it tends to bring us into harmony with it. Goodness attains the demonstration of Truth. A request that God will save us is not all that is required. The mere habit of pleading with the divine Mind, as one pleads with a human being, perpetuates the belief in God as humanly circumscribed, — an error which impedes spiritual growth.