Page:The First Church of Christ, Scientist, and Miscellany.djvu/71

Rh the Egyptians, but this deliverance did not put them in possession of the promised land. An unknown wilderness was before them, and that wilderness must be conquered. The law was given that they might know what was required of them, that they might have a definite rule of action whereby to order aright the affairs of daily life. Obedience to the demands of the law revealed the God of their fathers, and they learned to know Him. During their sojourn in the wilderness they suffered defeats and met with disappointments, but they learned from experience and finally became willingly obedient to the voice of their leader. The crossing of the Jordan brought them into the promised land, and this experience was almost as marvellous as had been the passage of the Red Sea forty years before. In obedience to the command of Joshua, twelve stones taken from the midst of the river were set up on the other side for a memorial. In future generations when it was asked, “What mean ye by these stones?” it was told them: Israel came over this Jordan on dry ground.

Forty years ago the Science of Christian healing was revealed to our beloved Leader, the Rev. Mary Baker Eddy. A few years later she gave us our textbook, “Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures.” Obedience to the teachings of this book has brought us to this hour. We have learned from experience, and to-day we rejoice that we have found in Christian Science that which heals and saves.

The world looks with wonder upon this grand achievement, — the completion and dedication of our magnificent temple, — and many are asking, “What mean ye by these stones?” The answer is, The way out of the wilderness