Addendum - Preface

As a preface to the following article, I here record the extraordinary way in which it came about. The day before its writing, I was gathered with a group of Christian Scientists around a large table, where we were sharing inspirational ideas and testimonies. When it was time for a new subject, I requested that we discuss the Church Manual since I was in a quandary as to how the operation of the church was supposed to work without Mrs. Eddy being physically present. One person was emphatically opposed to any discussion on that subject and no more was said. I was left in the lurch. I needed some light on the subject, and it looked like I was not going to get it from any human opinions. That night, an hour or so after I went to bed, I was wakened by the title of this article dictated in the precise words here printed. I arose in the dark, wrote it down, and went back to bed. Shortly thereafter the first sentence came as a silent but distinct voice. I arose again and wrote it down, this time carrying the paper back to bed with me. Every ten minutes or so, another message was dictated to me and I copied it down. Expectantly I waited at the door on the day of the new moon for the next vision, and hour after hour the messages arrived in slow bursts. As the day dawned, I began to see a pattern of the apparently divine message and felt I had received something of an outline of the operation of the Manual and its destiny.

George Denninger ©