CHRISTIAN SCIENCE IN THE WAR
In this deprivation of church services many of the Science boys sought the quiet of the woods or camp libraries to read the lesson-sermons by themselves, or if, perchance, they were fortunate enough to meet other Science boys, two or three would gather together in His name and hold informal meetings. This was possible of course, because, as the notice in our Quarterly puts it, “The Bible and the Christian Science textbook are our only preachers.” With these books in their hands, earnest Christian Scientists never need miss a church service. A lad from Florida writes as follows of one which he conducted:
“I held a service all by myself yesterday out on the banks of the St. John River, reading from the Quarterly and singing the hymns from the Hymnal. I even took up a collection of thankfulness which I am sending to The Mother Church.”
Conditions in the training camps indicated clearly what would be faced by the men when in camp or at the front in Europe. Therefore the soldier Scientist must be shown that he need not lean upon civilians or any civilian organization in order to attain the spiritual comfort and sustenance which the Christian Science service would mean to him. He must be educated to grasp the fact of his sole dependence upon God and his independence of material surroundings. Therefore, the Camp Welfare Workers were sent forth with instructions to train the young Scientists to stand on their own feet where services were concerned, to prepare them for possibly greater isolation later across the Atlantic.
It was often in some such simple way as the following that services were started:
“Yesterday when the Worker drove up to the ‘Y’ eight
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