Page:The First Church of Christ, Scientist, and Miscellany.djvu/74

46 arches, in generous hallways, in commodious foyer and broad stairways, in exquisite and expansive auditorium, and in towering, overshadowing dome, the great structure stands, silently but eloquently beckoning us on towards a higher and more spiritual plane of living, for we know that without this spiritual significance it were but a passing dream.

In the best sense it stands in prophetic verity of the primary declaration of this church in its original organization; namely, “To organize a church designed to commemorate the word and works of our Master, which should reinstate primitive Christianity and its lost element of healing.” (Church Manual, p. 17.) To rise to the demands of this early pronouncement is the work of true Christian Scientists.

To preach the gospel and heal the sick on the Christ-basis is the essential requirement of a reinstated Christianity. Only as we pledge ourselves anew to this demand, and then fulfil the pledge in righteous living, are we faithful, obedient, deserving disciples.

On this solemn occasion, and in the presence of this assembled host, we do hereby pledge ourselves to a deeper consecration, a more sincere and Christly love of God and our brother, and a more implicit obedience to the sacred teachings of the Bible and our textbook, as well as to the all-inclusive instructions and admonitions of our Church Manual in its spiritual import, that we may indeed reach “unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels, to the general assembly and church of the firstborn.” , Clerk.&emsp; &emsp;