|
Page 176
TO FIRST CHURCH OF
CHRIST, SCIENTIST, WILMINGTON, N. C.
|
| 3 |
IN APPRECIATION OF A GIFT OF
FIFTY DOLLARS IN GOLD TOWARDS
THE CONCORD (N. H.) STREET
FUND
My Beloved Brethren: - Long ago you of the dear |
| 6 |
South paved the way to my forever gratitude, and now
illustrate the past by your present love. God grant
that such great
goodness, pointing the path to heaven |
| 9 |
within you, hallow your Palmetto home with palms of
victory and songs of glory.
Page 177
CHAPTER
VIII - DEDICATORY MESSAGES TO BRANCH CHURCHES
FIRST CHURCH OF CHRIST, SCIENTIST,
of CHICAGO, ILL.
|
| 3 |
BELOVED BRETHREN: - Most happily would I com-
ply with
your cordial invitation and be with you on
so interesting an occasion as
the dedication of First |
| 6 |
Church of Christ, Scientist, in Chicago. But daily duties
attention elsewhere, and I am glad to say that
there seems to be no
special need of my personal pres- |
| 9 |
ence at your religious jubilee. I am quite able to take
the trip to your city, and if wisdom lengthens my sum
of years to fourscore
(already imputed to me), I shall |
| 12 |
then be even younger and nearer the eternal meridian
than
now, for the true knowledge and proof of life is in
putting off the
limitations and putting on the possibilities |
| 15 |
and permanence of Life.
In your renowned city, the genesis of Christian Science
was allied to that olden axiom: "The blood of the martyrs |
| 18 |
is the seed of the Church;" but succeeding years show in
livid lines that the great Shepherd has nurtured and
nourished this church
as a fatling of the flock. To-day |
| 21 |
the glory of His presence rests upon it, the joy of many
generations awaits it, and this prophecy of Isaiah is
fulfilled among you:
"I will direct their work in truth, |
| 24 |
and I will make an everlasting covenant with them."
Page 178
|
| 1 |
Your Bible and your textbook, pastor and ethical
tenets,
do not mislead the seeker after Truth. These |
| 3 |
unpretentious preachers cloud not the spiritual meaning
of Holy Writ by material interpretations, nor lose the
invincible process
and purity of Christianity whereby |
| 6 |
the sick are healed and sinners saved. The Science of
Christianity is not generally understood, but it hastens
hourly to this
end. This Science is the essence of religion, |
| 9 |
distilled in the laboratory of infinite Love and prepared
for all peoples. And because Science is naturally divine,
is this natural
Science less profitable or scientific than |
| 12 |
"counting the legs of insects"? The Scripture declares
that God is All. Then all is Spirit and spiritual. The
true sense of life
is lost to those who regard being |
| 15 |
as material. The Scripture pronounces all that God
made
"good;" therefore if evil exists, it exists without
God. But this is
impossible in reality, for He made |
| 18 |
all "that was made." Hence the inevitable revelation
of
Christian Science - that evil is unreal; and this is
the best of it.
|
| 21 |
On April 15, 1891, the Christian Science textbook lay
on
a table in a burning building. A Christian Scientist
entered the house
through a window and snatched this |
| 24 |
book from the flames. Instantly the table sank a charred
mass. The covers of the book were burned up, but not
one word in the book
was effaced. If the world were in |
| 27 |
ashes, the contents of "Science and Health with Key to
the Scriptures" would remain immortal.
It is said that the nearest approach
to the sayings of |
| 30 |
the great Master is the Logia of Papias, written in
A.D.
145, and that all else reported as his sayings are transla-
tions.
The ancient Logia, or imputed sayings of Jesus
Page 179
|
| 1 |
by Papias, are undoubtedly the beginning of the gospel
writings. The synoptic Scriptures, as set forth in the |
| 3 |
first and second chapters of Genesis, were in two dis-
tinct manuscripts. The first gave an account of the
spiritual creation, and
the second was an opposite story, |
| 6 |
or allegory, of a material universe and man made of
dust. In this allegorical document the power and pre-
rogative of Spirit
are submerged in matter. In other |
| 9 |
words, soul enters non-intelligent dust and man becomes
both good and evil, both mind and matter, mortal and
immortal, - all of
which divine Science shows to be an |
| 12 |
impossibility.
The Old and the New Testaments contain self-evident
truths that cannot be lost, but being translations, the |
| 15 |
Scriptures are criticized. Some dangerous skepticism ex-
ists as to the verification of our Master's sayings. But
Christians and
Christian Scientists know that if the Old |
| 18 |
Testament and gospel narratives had never been written,
the nature of Christianity, as depicted in the life of our
Lord, and the
truth in the Scriptures, are sufficient to au- |
| 21 |
thenticate Christ's Christianity as the perfect ideal. The
character of the Nazarene Prophet illustrates the Prin-
ciple and
practice of a true divinity and humanity. The |
| 24 |
different renderings or translations of Scripture in no
wise affect Christian Science. Christianity and Science,
being contingent
on nothing written and based on the |
| 27 |
divine Principle of being, must be, are, irrefutable and
eternal.
We are indeed privileged in having the untranslated
|
| 30 |
revelations of Christian Science. They afford such expo-
sitions of the therapeutics, ethics, and Christianity of
Christ as make
even God demonstrable, the divine Love
Page 180
practical, and so furnish rules whereby man can prove
God's love, healing the sick and the sinner.
|
| 3 |
Whosoever understands Christian Science knows beyond
a
doubt that its life-giving truths were preached and
practised in the first
century by him who proved their |
| 6 |
practicality, who uttered Christ's Sermon on the Mount,
who taught his disciples the healing Christianity which
applies to all
ages, and who dated time. A spiritual |
| 9 |
understanding of the Scriptures restores their origi-
nal
tongue in the language of Spirit, that primordial
standard of Truth.
|
| 12 |
Christian Science contains no element whatever of hyp-
notism or animal magnetism. It appeals alone to God, to
the divine
Principle, or Life, Truth, and Love, to whom |
| 15 |
all things are possible; and this Principle heals sin, sick-
ness, disease, and death. Christian Science meets error
with Truth,
death with Life, hate with Love, and thus, |
| 18 |
and only thus, does it overcome evil and heal disease.
The obstinate sinner, however, refuses to see this grand
verity or to
acknowledge it, for he knows not that in justice, |
| 21 |
as well as in mercy, God is Love.
In our struggles with sin and sinners, when we drop
compliance with their desires, insist on what we know is |
| 24 |
right, and act accordingly, the disguised or the self-
satisfied mind, not ready to be uplifted, rebels, miscon-
strues our best
motives, and calls them unkind. But this |
| 27 |
is the cross. Take it up, - it wins the crown; and in
the
spirit of our great Exemplar pray: "Father, forgive
them; for they know not
what they do."
|
| 30 |
No warfare exists between divine theology and Christian
Science, for the latter solves the whence and why of the
cosmos and defines
noumenon and phenomena spiritually,
Page 181
|
| 1 |
not materially. The specific quest of Christian Science
is
to settle all points beyond cavil, on the Biblical basis that |
| 3 |
God is All-in-all; whereas philosophy and so-called
natural
science, dealing with human hypotheses, or material cause
and
effect, are aided only at long intervals with elementary |
| 6 |
truths, and ultimate in unsolved problems and outgrown,
proofless positions.
Progress is spiritual. Progress is the
maturing concep- |
| 9 |
tion of divine Love; it demonstrates the scientific, sinless
life of man and mortal's painless departure from matter
to Spirit, not
through death, but through the true idea of |
| 12 |
Life, - and Life not in matter but in Mind.
The Puritans possessed the motive of
true religion,
which, demonstrated on the Golden Rule, would
have |
| 15 |
solved ere this the problem of religious liberty and
human
rights. It is "a consummation devoutly to be wished"
that all
nations shall speedily learn and practise the |
| 18 |
intermediate line of justice between the classes and
masses
of mankind, and thus exemplify in all things the universal
equity of Christianity.
|
| 21 |
Thirty years ago (1866) Christian Science was discovered
in America. Within those years it is estimated that
Chicago has gained from
a population of 238,000 to the |
| 24 |
number of 1,650,000 inhabitants.
The statistics of mortality show that
thirty years ago
the death-rate was at its maximum. Since that time
it |
| 27 |
has steadily decreased. It is authentically said that one
expositor of Daniel's dates fixed the year 1866 or 1867 for
the return of
Christ - the return of the spiritual idea to |
| 30 |
the material earth or antipode of heaven. It is a marked
coincidence that those dates were the first two years of
my discovery of
Christian Science.
Page 182
Thirty years ago Chicago had few
Congregational
churches. To-day it is said to have a majority of
these |
| 3 |
churches over any other city in the United States. Thirty
years ago at my request I received from the Congrega-
tional Church a
letter of dismissal and recommendation |
| 6 |
to evangelical churches - thenceforth to exemplify my
early love for this church and a membership of thirty
years by establishing
a new-old church, the foundations |
| 9 |
of which are the same, even Christ, Truth, as the chief
corner-stone.
In 1884, I taught a class in Christian
Science and |
| 12 |
formed a Christian Scientist Association in Chicago.
From
this small sowing of the seed of Truth, which, when
sown, seemed the least
among seeds, sprang immortal |
| 15 |
fruits through God's blessing and the faithful labor of
loyal students, - the healing of the sick, the reforming
of the sinner, and
First Church of Christ, Scientist, with |
| 18 |
its large membership and majestic cathedral.
Humbly, gratefully, trustingly, I
dedicate this beauti-
ful house of worship to the God of Israel, the
divine |
| 21 |
Love that reigns above the shadow, that launched the
earth in its orbit, that created and governs the universe -
guarding,
guiding, giving grace, health, and immortality |
| 24 |
to man.
May the wanderer in the wilderness of
mortal beliefs
and fears turn hither with satisfied hope. May the
birds |
| 27 |
of passage rest their weary wings amid the fair foliage
of
this vine of His husbanding, find shelter from the storm
and a
covert from the tempest. May this beloved |
| 30 |
church adhere to its tenets, abound in the righteousness
of Love, honor the name of Christian Science, prove the
practicality of
perfection, and press on to the infinite
Page 183
|
| 1 |
uses of Christ's creed, namely, - "Thou shalt love the
Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, |
| 3 |
and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and
thy
neighbor as thyself." Thus may First Church of
Christ, Scientist, in this
great city of Chicago, verify what |
| 6 |
John Robinson wrote in 1620 to our Pilgrim Fathers:
"When Christ reigns, and not till then, will the world
have rest."
FIRST CHURCH OF CHRIST, SCIENTIST,
LONDON, ENGLAND
Beloved Brethren across the Sea: - To-day a nation
is |
| 12 |
born. Spiritual apprehension unfolds, transfigures, heals.
With you be there no more sea, no ebbing faith, no night.
Love be thy
light upon the mountain of Israel. God |
| 15 |
will multiply thee.
FIRST CHURCH OF CHRIST, SCIENTIST,
BROOKLYN, N. Y.
|
| 18 |
Beloved Brethren: - I rejoice with you; the day has
come when the forest becomes a fruitful field, and the deaf
hear the
words of the Book, and the eyes of the blind see |
| 21 |
out of obscurity.
FIRST CHURCH OF CHRIST, SCIENTIST,
DETROIT, MICH.
|
| 24 |
Beloved Students and Church: - Thanks for invitation
to your dedication. Not afar off I am blending with
thine my prayer
and rejoicing. God is with thee. "Arise, |
| 27 |
shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is
risen upon thee."
Page 184
FIRST CHURCH OF CHRIST, SCIENTIST,
TORONTO, CANADA
|
| 3 |
Beloved Brethren: - Have just received your des-
patch. Since the world was, men have not heard with
the ear, neither hath
the eye seen, what God hath prepared |
| 6 |
for them that wait upon Him and work righteousness.
WHITE MOUNTAIN CHURCH
My Beloved Brethren: - To-day I am privileged to
|
| 9 |
congratulate the Christian Scientists of my native State
upon having built First Church of Christ, Scientist, at
the the Mountains.
Your kind card, inviting me to |
| 12 |
be present at at dedication, came when I was so occu-
pied that I omitted to wire an acknowledgment thereof
and to return my
cordial thanks at an earlier date. The |
| 15 |
beautiful birch bark on which it was written pleased me;
it was so characteristic of our Granite State, and I
treasure it next to
your compliments. That rustic scroll |
| 18 |
brought back to me the odor of my childhood, a love
which
stays the shadows of years. God grant that this
little church shall prove a
historic gem on the glowing |
| 21 |
records of Christianity, and lay upon its altars a sacrifice
and service acceptable in God's sight.
Your rural chapel is a social success quite sacred in
its |
| 24 |
results. The prosperity of Zion is very precious in the
sight of divine Love, holding unwearied watch over a
world. Isaiah said:
"How beautiful upon the mountains |
| 27 |
are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, . . . that
saith unto Zion, Thy God reigneth!" Surely, the Word
that is God must
at some time find utterance and accept-
Page 185
|
| 1 |
ance throughout the earth, for he that soweth shall reap.
To such as have waited patiently for the appearing of |
| 3 |
Truth, the day dawns and the harvest bells are ringing.
"Let us, then, be up and
doing,
With a heart for any fate;
|
| 6 |
Still achieving, still pursuing,
Learn to labor and to wait."
The peace of Love is published, and
the sword of the |
| 9 |
Spirit is drawn; nor will it be sheathed till Truth shall
reign triumphant over all the earth. Truth, Life, and
Love are
formidable, wherever thought, felt, spoken, or |
| 12 |
written, - in the pulpit, in the court-room, by the way-
side, or in our homes. They are the victors never to be
vanquished. Love is
the generic term for God. Love |
| 15 |
formed this trinity, Truth, Life, Love, the trinity no man
can sunder. Life is the spontaneity of Love, inseparable
from Love,
and Life is the "Lamb slain from the foun- |
| 18 |
dation of the world," - even that which "was dead, and
is
alive again; and was lost, and is found;" for Life is
Christ, and Christ,
as aforetime, heals the sick, saves |
| 21 |
sinners, and destroys the last enemy, death.
In 1888 I visited these mountains and
spoke to an
attentive audience collected in the hall at the Fabyan
|
| 24 |
House. Then and there I foresaw this hour, and spoke
of
the little church to be in the midst of the mountains,
closing my remarks
with the words of Mrs. Hemans: -
|
| 27 |
For the strength of the hills, we bless Thee,
Our God, our fathers' God!
The sons and daughters of the Granite
State are rich in |
| 30 |
signs and symbols, sermons in stones, refuge in mountains,
Page 186
|
| 1 |
and good universal. The rocks, rills, mountains,
meadows,
fountains, and forests of our native State should be
3 prophetic of the finger divine that
writes in living char-
acters their lessons on our lives. May God's little
ones
cluster around this rock-ribbed church like tender
nestlings |
| 6 |
in the crannies of the rocks, and preen their thoughts
for
upward flight.
Though neither dome nor turret tells
the tale of your |
| 9 |
little church, its song and sermon will touch the heart,
point the path above the valley, up the mountain, and on
to the celestial
hills, echoing the Word welling up from |
| 12 |
the infinite and swelling the loud anthem of one Father-
Mother God, o'er all victorious! Rest assured that He
in whom dwelleth all
life, health, and holiness, will supply |
| 15 |
all your needs according to His riches in glory.
FIRST CHURCH OF CHRIST, SCIENTIST,
DULUTH, MINN.
18 First Church of Christ, Scientist, Duluth, Minn.:
- May
our God make this church the fold of flocks, and may
those that
plant the vineyard eat the fruit thereof. Here |
| 21 |
let His promise be verified: "Before they call, I will
answer; and while they are yet speaking, I will hear."
FIRST CHURCH OF CHRIST, SCIENTIST,
SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH
Beloved Brethren: - Accept my thanks for your cordial
card inviting me to be with you on the day of your church |
| 27 |
dedication. It gives me great pleasure to know that
you
have erected a Church of Christ, Scientist, in your
Page 187
|
| 1 |
city. Surely, your fidelity, faith, and Christian zeal
fairly indicate that, spiritually as well as literally, the |
| 3 |
church in Salt Lake City hath not lost its saltness. I
may at some near future visit your city, but am too busy
to think of doing
so at present.
|
| 6 |
May the divine light of Christian Science that lighteth
every enlightened thought illumine your faith and under-
standing, exclude
all darkness or doubt, and signal the |
| 9 |
perfect path wherein to walk, the perfect Principle
whereby
to demonstrate the perfect man and the perfect law of
God. In
the words of St. Paul: "Now the end of the |
| 12 |
commandment is charity out of a pure heart, and of a
good
conscience, and of faith unfeigned;" and St. John
says: "For this is the
message that ye heard from the |
| 15 |
beginning, that we should love one another."
May the grace and love of God be and
abide with
you all.
|
| 18 |
PLEASANT VIEW, CONCORD, N.
H.,
November 16, 1898
FIRST CHURCH OF CHRIST, SCIENTIST,
ATLANTA, GEORGIA
My Beloved Brethren: - You have met to conse-
crate your beautiful temple to the worship of the only |
| 24 |
true God. Since the day in which you were brought into
the light and liberty of His children, it has been in the
hearts of this
people to build a house unto Him whose |
| 27 |
name they would glorify in a new commandment -
"that ye
love one another." In this new recognition of
the riches of His love and
the majesty of His might you |
| 30 |
have built this house - laid its foundations on the rock
Page 188
|
| 1 |
of Christ, and the stone which the builders rejected you
have made the head of the corner. This house is hallowed |
| 3 |
by His promise: "I have hallowed this house, which thou
hast built, to put my name there forever; and mine eyes
and mine heart
shall be there perpetually." "Now mine |
| 6 |
eyes shall be open, and mine ears attent unto the prayer
that is made in this place." Your feast days will not be
in commemoration,
but in recognition of His presence; |
| 9 |
your ark of the covenant will not be brought out of the
city of David, but out of "the secret place of the most
High," whereof the
Psalmist sang, even the omniscience |
| 12 |
of omnipotence; your tabernacle of the congregation will
not be temporary, but a "house not made with hands,
eternal in the
heavens;" your oracle, under the wings of |
| 15 |
the cherubim, is Truth's evangel, enunciating, "God is
Love."
In spirit I enter your inner
sanctuary, your heart's |
| 18 |
heart, breathing a benediction for God's largess. He
surely will not shut me out from your presence, and the
ponderous walls of
your grand cathedral cannot prevent |
| 21 |
me from entering where the heart of a Southron has
welcomed me.
Christian Science has a place in its
court, in which, like |
| 24 |
beds in hospitals, one man's head lies at another's feet.
As you work, the ages win; for the majesty of Christian
Science teaches the
majesty of man. When it is learned |
| 27 |
that spiritual sense and not the material senses convey
all
impressions to man, man will naturally seek the Science of
his
spiritual nature, and finding it, be God-endowed for |
| 30 |
discipleship.
When divine Love gains admittance to a
humble heart,
that individual ascends the scale of miracles and meets the
Page 189
|
| 1 |
warmest wish of men and angels. Clad in invincible
armor,
grasping the sword of Spirit, you have started in |
| 3 |
this sublime ascent, and should reach the mount of
revela-
tion; for if ye would run, who shall hinder you? So dear,
so
due, to God is obedience, that it reaches high heaven |
| 6 |
in the common walks of life, and it affords even me a
perquisite of joy.
You worship no distant deity, nor talk
of unknown |
| 9 |
love. The silent prayers of our churches, resounding
through the dim corridors of time, go forth in waves of
sound, a diapason
of heart-beats, vibrating from one |
| 12 |
pulpit to another and from one heart to another, till
truth and love, commingling in one righteous prayer,
shall encircle and
cement the human race.
|
| 15 |
The government of divine Love derives its omnipotence
from the love it creates in the heart of man; for love is
allegiant, and
there is no loyalty apart from love. When |
| 18 |
the human senses wake from their long slumber to see how
soon earth's fables flee and faith grows wearisome, then
that which defies
decay and satisfies the immortal cravings |
| 21 |
is sought and found. In the twilight of the world's
pageantry, in the last-drawn sigh of a glory gone, we are
drawn towards
God.
|
| 24 |
Beloved brethren, I cannot forget that yours is the first
church edifice of our denomination erected in the sunny
South - once my
home. There my husband died, and |
| 27 |
the song and the dirge, surging my being, gave
expression
to a poem written in 1844, from which I copy this verse: -
Friends, why throng in pity round
me? |
| 30 |
Wherefore, pray, the bell did toll?
Dead is he who
loved me dearly:
Am I not alone in soul?
Page 190
|
| 1 |
Did that midnight shadow, falling upon the bridal
wreath,
bring the recompense of human woe, which is the |
| 3 |
merciful design of divine Love, and so help to evolve
that
larger sympathy for suffering humanity which is eman-
cipating it
with the morning beams and noonday glory of |
| 6 |
Christian Science?
The age is fast answering this
question: Does Christian
Science equal materia medica in healing the
worst forms |
| 9 |
of contagious and organic diseases? My experience in
both
practices - materia medica and the scientific meta-
physical
practice of medicine - shows the latter not only |
| 12 |
equalling but vastly excelling the former.
Christians who accept our Master as
authority, regard
his sayings as infallible. Jesus' students, failing to
cure a |
| 15 |
severe case of lunacy, asked their great Teacher, "Why
could not we cast him out?" He answered, "This kind
goeth not out but by
prayer and fasting." This declara- |
| 18 |
tion of our Master, as to the relative value, skill, and
certainty of the divine laws of Mind over the human
mind and above
matter in healing disease, remains beyond |
| 21 |
questioning a divine decision in behalf of Mind.
Jesus gave his disciples (students)
power over all manner
of diseases; and the Bible was written in order that
all |
| 24 |
peoples, in all ages, should have the same opportunity to
become students of the Christ, Truth, and thus become
God-endued with power
(knowledge of divine law) and |
| 27 |
with "signs following." Jesus declared that his teaching
and practice would remain, even as it did, "for them also
which shall
believe on me through their word." Then, |
| 30 |
in the name of God, wherefore vilify His prophets to-day
who are fulfilling Jesus' prophecy and verifying his last
promise, "Lo, I
am with you alway"? It were well for
Page 191
|
| 1 |
the world if there survived more of the wisdom of Nico-
demus of old, who said, "No man can do these miracles |
| 3 |
that thou doest, except God be with him."
Be patient towards persecution.
Injustice has not a
tithe of the power of justice. Your enemies will
advertise |
| 6 |
for you. Christian Science is spreading steadily through-
out the world. Persecution is the weakness of tyrants
engendered by their
fear, and love will cast it out. Con- |
| 9 |
tinue steadfast in love and good works. Children of
light, you are not children of darkness. Let your light
shine. Keep in mind
the foundations of Christian |
| 12 |
Science - one God and one Christ. Keep personality
out of
sight, and Christ's "Blessed are ye" will seal your
apostleship.
|
| 15 |
This glad Easter morning witnesseth a risen Saviour, a
higher human sense of Life and Love, which wipes away
all tears. With
grave-clothes laid aside, Christ, Truth, has |
| 18 |
come forth from the tomb of the past, clad in
immortality.
The sepulchres give up their dead. Spirit is saying unto
matter: I am not there, am not within you. Behold the |
| 21 |
place where they laid me; but human thought has risen!
Mortality's thick gloom is pierced.
The stone is rolled
away. Death has lost its sting, and the grave its
victory. |
| 24 |
Immortal courage fills the human breast and lights the
living way of Life.
SECOND CHURCH OF CHRIST, SCIENTIST,
CHICAGO, ILL.
My Beloved Brethren: - Your card of invitation to
this
feast of soul - the dedication of your church - was duly |
| 30 |
received. Accept my thanks.
Page 192
|
| 1 |
Ye sit not in the idol's temple. Ye build not to an
unknown God. Ye worship Him whom ye serve. Boast |
| 3 |
not thyself, thou ransomed of divine Love, but press on
unto the possession of unburdened bliss. Heal the sick,
make spotless the
blemished, raise the living dead, cast |
| 6 |
out fashionable lunacy.
The ideal robe of Christ is seamless.
Thou hast touched
its hem, and thou art being healed. The risen Christ
is |
| 9 |
thine. The haunting mystery and gloom of his glory
rule
not this century. Thine is the upspringing hope, the
conquest over sin and
mortality, that lights the living |
| 12 |
way to Life, not to death.
May the God of our fathers, the
infinite Person whom
we worship, be and abide with you. May the blessing
of |
| 15 |
divine Love rest with you. My heart hovers around your
churches in Chicago, for the dove of peace sits smilingly
on these branches
and sings of our Redeemer.
FIRST CHURCH OF CHRIST, SCIENTIST,
LOS ANGELES, CAL.
Beloved Students: - Your kind letter, inviting me
to |
| 21 |
be present at the dedication of your church, was duly
received. It would indeed give me pleasure to visit you,
to witness your
prosperity, and "rejoice with them that |
| 24 |
do rejoice," but the constant recurring demands upon
my
time and attention pin me to my post. Of this,
however, I can sing: My love
can fly on wings of joy to |
| 27 |
you and leave a leaf of olive; it can whisper to you of
the divine ever-presence, answering your prayers, crown-
ing your
endeavors, and building for you a house "eternal |
| 30 |
in the heavens."
Page 193
|
| 1 |
You will dedicate your temple in faith unfeigned, not to
the unknown God, but unto Him whom to know aright |
| 3 |
is life everlasting. His presence with you will bring to
your hearts so much of heaven that you will not feel my
absence. The
privilege remains mine to watch and work |
| 6 |
for all, from East to West, from the greensward and
gorgeous skies of the Orient to your dazzling glory
in the Occident, and to
thank God forever "for His |
| 9 |
goodness, and for His wonderful works to the children
of
men."
PLEASANT VIEW, CONCORD, N.
H.,
12 November 20, 1902
SECOND CHURCH OF CHRIST, SCIENTIST,
MINNEAPOLIS, MINN.
|
| 15 |
Beloved: - The spiritual dominates the temporal. Love
gives nothing to take away. Nothing dethrones His
house. You are
dedicating yours to Him. Protesting |
| 18 |
against error, you unite with all who believe in Truth.
God guard and guide you.
FIRST CHURCH OF CHRIST, SCIENTIST,
NEW YORK, N. Y.
Beloved Brethren: - Carlyle writes, "Give a thing
time;
if it succeeds, it is a right thing." Here I aver that you |
| 24 |
have grasped time and labor, taking the first by the fore-
lock and the last by love. In this lofty temple, dedicated
to God and
humanity, may the prophecy of Isaiah be |
| 27 |
fulfilled: "Fear not: . . . I have called thee by thy
name; thou art mine." Within its sacred walls may
Page 194
|
| 1 |
song and sermon generate only that which Christianity
writes in broad facts over great continents - sermons |
| 3 |
that fell forests and remove mountains, songs of joy
and
gladness.
The letter of your work dies, as do
all things material, |
| 6 |
but the spirit of it is immortal. Remember that a temple
but foreshadows the idea of God, the "house not made
with hands, eternal in
the heavens," while a silent, grand |
| 9 |
man or woman, healing sickness and destroying sin,
builds
that which reaches heaven. Only those men and
women gain greatness who gain
themselves in a complete |
| 12 |
subordination of self.
The tender memorial engraven on your
grand edifice
stands for human self lost in divine light, melted into
the |
| 15 |
radiance of His likeness. It stands for meekness and
might, for Truth as attested by the Founder of your
denomination and
emblazoned on the fair escutcheon of |
| 18 |
your church.
Beloved Students: - Your telegram, in which you pre-
sent to me the
princely gift of your magnificent church |
| 21 |
edifice in New York City, is an unexpected token of your
gratitude and love. I deeply appreciate it, profoundly
thank you for it,
and gratefully accept the spirit of it; |
| 24 |
but I must decline to receive that for which you have
sacrificed so much and labored so long. May divine
Love abundantly bless
you, reward you according to |
| 27 |
your works, guide and guard you and your church
through
the depths; and may you
"Who stood the storm when seas were
rough, |
| 30 |
Ne'er in a sunny hour fall off."
Page 195
FIRST CHURCH OF CHRIST, SCIENTIST,
CLEVELAND, OHIO
|
| 3 |
Beloved Brethren: - You will pardon my delay in
acknowledging your card of invitation to the dedicatory
services of your
church. Adverse circumstances, loss of |
| 6 |
help, new problems to be worked out for the field,
etc,.
have hitherto prevented my reply. However, it is never
too late to repent, to love more, to work more, to watch |
| 9 |
and pray; but those privileges I have not had time to
express, and so have submitted to necessity, letting the
deep love which I
cherished for you be hidden under an |
| 12 |
appearance of indifference.
We must resign with good grace what we are denied, and
press on with what we are, for we cannot do more than we |
| 15 |
are nor understand what is not ripening in us. To do
good
to all because we love all, and to use in God's service
the one talent
that we all have, is our only means of |
| 18 |
adding to that talent and the best way to silence a deep
discontent with our shortcomings.
Christian Science is at length learned to be no
miserable |
| 21 |
piece of ideal legerdemain, by which we poor mortals ex-
pect to live and die, but a deep-drawn breath fresh from
God, by whom and
in whom man lives, moves, and has |
| 24 |
deathless being. The praiseworthy success of this church,
and its united efforts to build an edifice in which to worship
the
infinite, sprang from the temples erected first in the |
| 27 |
hearts of its members - the unselfed love that builds
without hands, eternal in the heaven of Spirit. God
grant that this unity
remain, and that you continue to |
| 30 |
build, rebuild, adorn, and fill these spiritual temples with
grace, Truth, Life, and Love.
Page 196
FIRST CHURCH OF CHRIST, SCIENTIST,
PITTSBURGH, PA.
|
| 3 |
My Beloved Brethren: - I congratulate you upon erect-
ing the first edifice of our denomination in the Keystone
State, a
State whose metropolis is called the "city of |
| 6 |
brotherly love." May this dear church militant accept
my
tender counsel in these words of the Scripture, to be
engrafted in church
and State: -
|
| 9 |
"Let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to
wrath." "He that is slow to anger is better than the
mighty; and he that
ruleth his spirit than he that taketh |
| 12 |
a city." "If any man offend not in word, the same is
a
perfect man, and able also to bridle the whole body."
"By thy words thou
shalt be condemned." "Love thy |
| 15 |
neighbor as thyself."
"Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example,
that [we] should follow his steps: . . . who, when he was |
| 18 |
reviled, reviled not again; when he suffered, he threatened
not; but committed himself to Him that judgeth right-
eously."
"Consider him that endured such contradiction |
| 21 |
of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in
your minds."
FIRST CHURCH OF CHRIST, SCIENTIST,
ST. LOUIS, MO.
My Beloved Brethren: - The good in being, even
the
spiritually indispensable, is your daily bread. Work and |
| 27 |
pray for it. The poor toil for our bread, and we should
work for their health and holiness. Over the glaciers of
winter the summer
glows. The beauty of holiness comes
Page 197
|
| 1 |
with the departure of sin. Enjoying good things is
not
evil, but becoming slaves to pleasure is. That error |
| 3 |
is most forcible which is least distinct to conscience.
Attempt nothing without God's help.
May the beauty of holiness be upon
this dear people, |
| 6 |
and may this beloved church be glorious, without spot
or
blemish.
FIRST CHURCH OF CHRIST, SCIENTIST,
SAN JOSE, CAL.
Beloved Students: -Words are inadequate to
express
my deep appreciation of your labor and success in com- |
| 12 |
pleting and dedicating your church edifice, and of the
great hearts and ready hands of our far Western students,
the Christian
Scientists.
|
| 15 |
Comparing such students with those whose words
are but
the substitutes for works, we learn that the
translucent atmosphere of the
former must illumine the |
| 18 |
midnight of the latter, else Christian Science will dis-
appear from among mortals.
I thank divine Love for the hope set before us in the
|
| 21 |
Word and in the doers thereof, "for of such is the kingdom
of heaven."
FIRST CHURCH OF CHRIST, SCIENTIST,
WILMINGTON, N. C.
My Beloved Brethren: - At this dedicatory season
of
your church edifice in the home of my heart, I send lov- |
| 27 |
ing congratulations, join with you in song and sermon.
God will bless the work of your hearts and hands.
PLEASANT VIEW, CONCORD, N. H.,
30 July 27, 1907
Page 198
FIRST CHURCH OF CHRIST, SCIENTIST,
LONDON, ENGLAND
|
| 3 |
Beloved Students and Brethren: - Your letters of May
1
and June 19, informing me of the dedication of your
magnificent church edifice, have been received with many
|
| 6 |
thanks to you and great gratitude to our one Father.
May God grant not only the continuance of His favors, but
their abundant and ripened fruit.
|
| 9 |
CHESTNUT HILL, MASS.,
June 26, 1909
Page 199
CHAPTER IX
- LETTERS TO BRANCH CHURCHES
FIRST CHURCH OF CHRIST, SCIENTIST,
PHILADELPHIA, PA.
|
| 3 |
MY BELOVED STUDENTS AND BRETHREN: - I rejoice
with thee.
Blessed art thou. In place of dark-
ness, light hath sprung up. The reward
of thy hands |
| 6 |
is given thee to-day. May God say this of the church
in
Philadelphia: I have naught against thee.
FIRST CHURCH OF CHRIST, SCIENTIST,
WASHINGTON, D. C.
Beloved Brethren: - The Board of Directors and
Trustees of this church will please accept my grateful |
| 12 |
acknowledgment of the receipt of their Christian canon
pertaining to the hour. The joint resolutions contained
therein show
explicitly the attitude of this church in our |
| 15 |
capital towards me and towards the Cause of Christian
Science, so dear to our hearts and to all loyal lovers of
God and man.
|
| 18 |
This year, standing on the verge of the twentieth cen-
tury, has sounded the tocsin of a higher hope, of strength-
ened hands, of
unveiled hearts, of fourfold unity between |
| 21 |
the churches of our denomination in this and in other
Page 200
|
| 1 |
lands. Religious liberty and individual rights under the
Constitution of our nation are rapidly advancing, avow- |
| 3 |
ing and consolidating the genius of Christian Science.
Heaven be praised for the signs of the
times. Let "the
heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing;"
our |
| 6 |
trust is in the Almighty God, who ruleth in heaven and
upon earth, and none can stay His hand or say, "What
doest thou?"
FIRST CHURCH OF CHRIST, SCIENTIST,
LONDON, ENGLAND
My Beloved Brethren: - The chain of Christian
unity, |
| 12 |
unbroken, stretches across the sea and rises upward to the
realms of incorporeal Life - even to the glorious beati-
tudes of
divine Love. Striving to be good, to do good, and |
| 15 |
to love our neighbor as ourself, man's soul is safe; man
emerges from mortality and receives his rights inalienable
- the love of
God and man. What holds us to the Chris- |
| 18 |
tian life is the seven-fold shield of honesty, purity, and
unselfed love. I need not say this to you, for you know
the way in
Christian Science.
|
| 21 |
Pale, sinful sense, at work to lift itself on crumbling
thrones of justice by pulling down its benefactors,
will tumble from this
scheme into the bottomless |
| 24 |
abyss of self-damnation, there to relinquish its league
with evil. Wide yawns the gap between this course
and Christian
Science.
|
| 27 |
God spare this plunge, lessen its depths, save sin-
ners
and fit their being to recover its connection with
its divine Principle,
Love. For this I shall continue to |
| 30 |
pray.
Page 201
|
| 1 |
God is blessing you, my beloved students and breth-
ren.
Press on towards the high calling whereunto |
| 3 |
divine Love has called us and is fast fulfilling the
promises.
Satan is unchained only for a season,
as the Revelator |
| 6 |
foresaw, and love and good will to man, sweeter than a
sceptre, are enthroned now and forever.
FIRST CHURCH OF
CHRIST, SCIENTIST, NEW YORK, N. Y.
My Beloved Brethren: - Your Soul-full words and song
repeat my legacies in
blossom. Such elements of friend- |
| 12 |
ship, faith, and hope repossess us of heaven. I thank
you out of a full heart. Even the crown of thorns, which
mocked the
bleeding brow of our blessed Lord, was over- |
| 15 |
crowned with a diadem of duties done. So let us meekly
meet, mercifully forgive, wisely ponder, and lovingly
scan the convulsions
of mortal mind, that its sudden |
| 18 |
sallies may help us, not to a start, but to a tenure of
unprecarious joy. Rich hope have I in him who says in
his heart: -
|
| 21 |
I will listen for Thy voice,
Lest my footsteps
stray;
I will follow and rejoice |
| 24 |
All the rugged way.
SECOND CHURCH OF
CHRIST, SCIENTIST, NEW YORK, N. Y.
|
| 27 |
Beloved Brethren: - Please accept a line from me in
lieu
of my presence on the auspicious occasion of the open-
ing of
your new church edifice. Hope springs exultant
Page 202
|
| 1 |
on this blest morn. May its white wings overshadow this
white temple and soar above it, pointing the path from |
| 3 |
earth to heaven - from human ambition, fear, or distrust
to the faith, meekness, and might of him who hallowed
this Easter morn.
|
| 6 |
Now may his salvation draw near, for the night is far
spent and the day is at hand. In the words of St. Paul:
"Render therefore
to all their dues: tribute to whom |
| 9 |
tribute is due; custom to whom custom; . . . honor to
whom honor. Owe no man any thing, but to love one
another: for he that
loveth another hath fulfilled the |
| 12 |
law."
May the benediction of "Well done,
good and faithful,"
rest worthily on the builders of this beautiful temple,
and |
| 15 |
the glory of the resurrection morn burst upon the
spiritual
sense of this people with renewed vision, infinite mean-
ings, endless hopes, and glad victories in the onward and |
| 18 |
upward chain of being.
FIRST CHURCH OF
CHRIST, SCIENTIST, OAKLAND, CAL.
|
| 21 |
Beloved Brethren: - I thank you for the words of
cheer
and love in your letter. The taper unseen in sunlight
cheers the
darkness. My work is reflected light, - a |
| 24 |
drop from His ocean of love, from the underived glory,
the divine Esse. From the dear tone of your letter,
you must be
bringing your sheaves into the store- |
| 27 |
house. Press on. The way is narrow at first, but it
expands as we walk in it. "Herein is my Father glori-
fied, that ye bear
much fruit." God bless this vine of |
| 30 |
His planting.
Page 203
FIRST CHURCH OF
CHRIST, SCIENTIST, WASHINGTON, D. C.
|
| 3 |
Beloved Brethren: - I have nothing new to communi-
cate; all is in your textbooks. Pray aright and demon-
strate your
prayer; sing in faith. Know that religion |
| 6 |
should be distinct in our consciousness and life, but not
clamorous for worldly distinction. Church laws which
are obeyed without
mutiny are God's laws. Goodness |
| 9 |
and philanthropy begin with work and never stop working.
All that is worth reckoning is what we do, and the best of
everything is
not too good, but is economy and riches. |
| 12 |
Be great not as a grand obelisk, nor by setting up to be
great, - only as good. A spiritual hero is a mark for
gamesters, but he is
unutterably valiant, the summary of |
| 15 |
suffering here and of heaven hereafter. Our thoughts
beget our actions; they make us what we are. Dis-
honesty is a mental
malady which kills its possessor; it |
| 18 |
is a sure precursor that its possessor is mortal. A deep
sincerity is sure of success, for God takes care of it. God
bless this dear
church, and I am sure that He will if it is |
| 21 |
ready for the blessing.
FIRST CHURCH OF
CHRIST, SCIENTIST, LONDON, ENGLAND
|
| 24 |
Beloved Students: - You have laid the corner-stone
of
your church edifice impressively, and buried immortal
truths in the
bosom of earth safe from all chance of being |
| 27 |
challenged.
You whose labors are doing so much to
benefit mankind
will not be impatient if you have not accomplished all
you
Page 204
|
| 1 |
desire, nor will you be long in doing more. My faith in
God and in His followers rests in the fact that He is infinite |
| 3 |
good, and that He gives His followers opportunity to use
their hidden virtues, to put into practice the power which
lies concealed
in the calm and which storms awaken to |
| 6 |
vigor and to victory.
It is only by looking heavenward that
mutual friend-
ships such as ours can begin and never end. Over
sea |
| 9 |
and over land, Christian Science unites its true
followers
in one Principle, divine Love, that sacred ave and essence
of Soul which makes them one in Christ.
FIRST CHURCH OF
CHRIST, SCIENTIST, COLUMBUS, OHIO
IN REPLY TO A LETTER ANNOUNCING THE
PURPOSE OF THE |
| 15 |
CHRISTIAN SCIENTISTS TO PRACTISE WITHOUT FEES
IN COM-
PLIANCE WITH THE STATE LAWS
Beloved Brethren: - I
congratulate you tenderly on the |
| 18 |
decision you have made as to the present practice of
Christian Science in your State, and thoroughly recom-
mend it under the
circumstances. I practised gratui- |
| 21 |
tously when starting this great Cause, which was then
the
scoff of the age.
The too long treatment of a disease, the charging of
|
| 24 |
the sick whom you have not healed a full fee for treat-
ment, the suing for payment, hypnotism, and the resent-
ing of injuries,
are not the fruits of Christian Science, |
| 27 |
while returning good for evil, loving one's enemies, and
overcoming evil with good, - these are its fruits;
and its therapeutics,
based as aforetime on this divine |
| 30 |
Principle, heals all disease.
Page 205
|
| 1 |
We read in the Scriptures: "There is therefore now no
condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk |
| 3 |
not after the flesh, but after the Spirit." "Stand fast
therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us
free." "Be ye
therefore wise as serpents, and harmless |
| 6 |
as doves."
Wisdom is won through faith,
prayer, experience; and
God is the giver.
|
| 9 |
"God moves in a mysterious way
His wonders to
perform;
He plants His footsteps in the sea |
| 12 |
And rides upon the storm."
THIRD CHURCH OF
CHRIST, SCIENTIST, LONDON, ENGLAND
|
| 15 |
Beloved Brethren: - Love and unity are hieroglyphs
of
goodness, and their philosophical impetus, spiritual
Aesculapius and
Hygeia, saith, "As the thought is, so is the |
| 18 |
deed; as the thing made is good or bad, so is its maker."
This idealism connects itself with spiritual understanding,
and so
makes God more supreme in consciousness, man |
| 21 |
more His likeness, friends more faithful, and enemies
harmless. Scholastic theology at its best touches but the
hem of Christian
Science, shorn of all personality, wholly |
| 24 |
apart from human hypotheses, matter, creed and dogma,
the lust of the flesh and the pride of power. Christian
Science is the full
idea of its divine Principle, God; it is |
| 27 |
forever based on Love, and it is demonstrated by perfect
rules; it is unerring. Hence health, holiness, immortality,
are its natural
effects. The practitioner may fail, but the |
| 30 |
Science never.
Page 206
Miscellany
|
| 1 |
Philosophical links, which would unite dead mat-
ter with
animate, Spirit with matter and material |
| 3 |
means, prayer with power and pride of position, hinder
the divine influx and lose Science,- lose the Principle
of divine
metaphysics and the tender grace of spiritual |
| 6 |
understanding, that love-linked holiness which heals
and
saves.
Schisms, imagination, and human beliefs are not |
| 9 |
parts of Christian Science; they darken the discern-
ment
of Science; they divide Truth's garment and cast
lots for it.
|
| 12 |
Seeing a man in the moon, or seeing a person in the
picture of Jesus, or believing that you see an individual
who has passed
through the shadow called death, is |
| 15 |
not seeing the spiritual idea of God; but it is seeing
a
human belief, which is far from the fact that portrays
Life, Truth,
Love.
|
| 18 |
May these words of the Scriptures comfort you: "The
Lord
shall be unto thee an everlasting light, and thy God
thy glory." "The city
had no need of the sun, neither |
| 21 |
of the moon, to shine in it: for the glory of God did
lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof." "Ye
are a chosen
generation, a royal priesthood, an holy |
| 24 |
nation, a peculiar people; that ye should show forth the
praises of Him who hath called you out of darkness into
His marvellous
light." "Giving thanks unto the Father, |
| 27 |
which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inherit-
ance of the saints in light: who hath delivered us from
the power of
darkness, and hath translated us into the |
| 30 |
kingdom of His dear Son." "Ye were sometimes dark-
ness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children
of light."
Page 207
FIRST CHURCH OF
CHRIST, SCIENTIST, MILWAUKEE, WIS.
|
| 3 |
Beloved Brethren: - Your communication is gratefully
received. Press on! The wrath of men shall praise God,
and the
remainder thereof He will restrain.
A TELEGRAM AND MRS.
EDDY'S REPLY
Beloved Leader: - The representatives of churches and
societies of
Christian Science in Missouri, in annual |
| 9 |
conference assembled, unite in loving greetings to you,
and pledge themselves to strive more earnestly, day
by day, for the clearer
understanding and more perfect |
| 12 |
manifestation of the truth which you have unfolded to
the
world, and by which sin and sickness are destroyed
and life and immortality
brought to light. |
| 15 |
Yours in loving obedience,
CHURCHES AND SOCIETIES OF
CHRISTIAN
SCIENCE IN MISSOURI |
| 18 |
ST. JOSEPH, MISSOURI,
January 5,
1909
Mrs. Eddy's Reply
|
| 21 |
"Well done, thou good and faithful servant: . . . enter
thou into the joy of thy lord" - the satisfaction of
meeting and mastering
evil and defending good, thus |
| 24 |
predicating man upon divine Science. (See Science
and
Health, p. 227.)
CHESTNUT HILL, MASS, |
| 27 |
January 6, 1909
Page 208
FIRST CHURCH OF
CHRIST, SCIENTIST, SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA
|
| 3 |
Beloved Brethren: - Accept my deep thanks for your
highly interesting letter. It would seem as if the whole
import of
Christian Science had been mirrored forth by |
| 6 |
your loving hearts, to reflect its heavenly rays over all
the
earth.
BOX G, BROOKLINE,
MASS., |
| 9 |
July 15, 1909
FIRST CHURCH OF
CHRIST, SCIENTIST, EDINBURGH, SCOTLAND
|
| 12 |
Beloved Christian Scientists: - Like the gentle dews
of
heaven and the refreshing breeze of morn, comes your
dear letter to
my waiting heart, - waiting in due expec- |
| 15 |
tation of just such blessedness, crowning the hope and
hour of divine Science, than which nothing can exceed
its ministrations of
God to man.
|
| 18 |
I congratulate you on the prospect of erecting a church
building, wherein to gather in praise and prayer for the
whole human
family.
|
| 21 |
BOX G, BROOKLINE, MASS.,
November 2, 1909
THE COMMITTEES IN
CONFERENCE, CHICAGO, ILL.
|
| 24 |
The Committees: - God bless the courageous,
far-seeing
committees in conference for their confidence in His
ways
and means of reaching the very acme of Christian |
| 27 |
Science.
Page 209
COMMENT ON LETTER FROM
FIRST CHURCH OF
CHRIST, SCIENTIST, OTTAWA, ONTARIO
|
| 3 |
God will abundantly bless this willing and obedient
church with the rich reward of those that seek and serve
Him. No greater
hope have we than in right thinking |
| 6 |
and right acting, and faith in the blessing of fidelity,
courage, patience, and grace.
Page 210
CHAPTER X
- ADMONITION AND COUNSEL
WHAT OUR LEADER
SAYS
BELOVED Christian Scientists, keep
your minds so |
| 3 |
filled with Truth and Love, that sin, disease, and
death
cannot enter them. It is plain that nothing can
be added to the mind
already full. There is no door |
| 6 |
through which evil can enter, and no space for evil to
fill
in a mind filled with goodness. Good thoughts are an
impervious
armor; clad therewith you are completely |
| 9 |
shielded from the attacks of error of every sort. And not
only yourselves are safe, but all whom your thoughts rest
upon are thereby
benefited.
|
| 12 |
The self-seeking pride of the evil thinker injures him
when he would harm others. Goodness involuntarily
resists evil. The evil
thinker is the proud talker and |
| 15 |
doer. The right thinker abides under the shadow of the
Almighty. His thoughts can only reflect peace, good will
towards men,
health, and holiness.(1)
WAYS THAT ARE
VAIN
Certain individuals entertain the
notion that Chris-
tian Science Mind-healing should be two-sided, and
only |
| 21 |
denounce error in general, - saying nothing, in particu-
(1) Copyright, 1909, by Mary Baker Eddy.
Renewed, 1937.
Page 211
|
| 1 |
lar, of error that is damning men. They are sticklers
for
a false, convenient peace, straining at gnats and |
| 3 |
swallowing camels. The unseen wrong to individuals
and
society they are too cowardly, too ignorant, or too
wicked to uncover, and
excuse themselves by denying |
| 6 |
that this evil exists. This mistaken way, of hiding sin
in order to maintain harmony, has licensed evil, allowing
it first to
smoulder, and then break out in devouring |
| 9 |
flames. All that error asks is to be let alone; even as
in Jesus' time the unclean spirits cried out, "Let us
alone; what have we
to do with thee?"
|
| 12 |
Animal magnetism, in its ascending steps of evil,
entices its victim by unseen, silent arguments. Revers-
ing the modes of
good, in their silent allurements to |
| 15 |
health and holiness, it impels mortal mind into error of
thought, and tempts into the committal of acts foreign
to the natural
inclinations. The victims lose their |
| 18 |
individuality, and lend themselves as willing tools to
carry out the designs of their worst enemies, even those
who would induce
their self-destruction. Animal mag- |
| 21 |
netism fosters suspicious distrust where honor is due,
fear
where courage should be strongest, reliance where there
should be
avoidance, a belief in safety where there is |
| 24 |
most danger; and these miserable lies, poured constantly
into his mind, fret and confuse it, spoiling that indi-
vidual's
disposition, undermining his health, and sealing |
| 27 |
his doom, unless the cause of the mischief is found out
and destroyed.
Other minds are made dormant by it,
and the victim |
| 30 |
is in a state of semi-individuality, with a mental hazi-
ness which admits of no intellectual culture or spiritual
growth. The
state induced by this secret evil influence
Page 212
|
| 1 |
is a species of intoxication, in which the victim is led
to
believe and do what he would never, otherwise, think |
| 3 |
or do voluntarily.
This intricate method of animal
magnetism is the
essence, or spirit, of evil, which makes mankind
drunken. |
| 6 |
In this era it is taking the place of older and more open
sins, and other forms of intoxication. A harder fight
will be necessary to
expose the cause and effects of |
| 9 |
this evil influence, than has been required to put down
the evil effects of alcohol. The alcoholic habit is the
use of higher forms
of matter, wherewith to do evil; |
| 12 |
whereas animal magnetism is the highest form of mental
evil, wherewith to complete the sum total of sin.
The question is often asked, Why is
there so much |
| 15 |
dissension among mental practitioners? We answer,
Because
they do not practise in strict accordance with
the teaching of Christian
Science Mind-healing. If they |
| 18 |
did, there would be unity of action. Being like the
disciples of old, "with one accord in one place," they
would receive a
spiritual influx impossible under other |
| 21 |
conditions, and so would recognize and resist the
animal
magnetism by which they are being deceived
and misled.
|
| 24 |
The mental malpractitioner, interfering with the
rights
of Mind, destroys the true sense of Science, and
loses his own power to
heal. He tries to compensate |
| 27 |
himself for his own loss by hindering in every way con-
ceivable the success of others. You will find this prac-
titioner saying
that animal magnetism never troubles |
| 30 |
him, but that Mrs. Eddy teaches animal magnetism;
and he
says this to cover his crime of mental malprac-
tice, in furtherance of
unscrupulous designs.
Page 213
|
| 1 |
The natural fruits of Christian Science Mind-healing
are
harmony, brotherly love, spiritual growth and |
| 3 |
activity. The malicious aim of perverted mind-power,
or
animal magnetism, is to paralyze good and give
activity to evil. It starts
factions and engenders envy |
| 6 |
and hatred, but as activity is by no means a right of
evil and its emissaries, they ought not to be encouraged
in it. Because
this age is cursed with one rancorous |
| 9 |
and lurking foe to human weal, those who are the
truest
friends of mankind, and conscientious in their
desire to do right and to
live pure and Christian lives, |
| 12 |
should be more zealous to do good, more watchful and
vigilant. Then they will be proportionately successful
and bring out
glorious results.
|
| 15 |
Unless one's eyes are opened to the modes of mental
malpractice, working so subtly that we mistake its sug-
gestions for the
impulses of our own thought, the victim |
| 18 |
will allow himself to drift in the wrong direction with-
out knowing it. Be ever on guard against this enemy.
Watch your thoughts,
and see whether they lead you |
| 21 |
to God and into harmony with His true followers.
Guard
and strengthen your own citadel more strongly.
Thus you will grow wiser and
better through every |
| 24 |
attack of your foe, and the Golden Rule will not rust
for lack of use or be misinterpreted by the adverse
influence of animal
magnetism.
ONLY ONE QUOTATION
The following three quotations from
"Science and
Health with Key to the Scriptures" are submitted
|
| 30 |
to the dear Churches of Christ, Scientist. From these
Page 214
|
| 1 |
they may select one only to place on the walls of their
church. Otherwise, as our churches multiply, promiscu- |
| 3 |
ous selections would write your textbook on the walls of
your churches.
Divine Love always has met and always will meet
every |
| 6 |
human need.
MARY BAKER EDDY
Christianity is again demonstrating
the Life that is |
| 9 |
Truth, and the Truth that is Life.
MARY BAKER EDDY
Jesus' three days' work in the
sepulchre set the seal |
| 12 |
of eternity on time. He proved Life to be deathless and
Love to be the master of hate.
MARY BAKER EDDY
THE LABORER AND HIS
HIRE
In reply to letters questioning the
consistency of
Christian Scientists taking pay for their labors, and
with |
| 18 |
the hope of relieving the questioners' perplexity, I will
say:
Four years after my discovery of Christian Science, while
taking
no remuneration for my labors, and for healing all |
| 21 |
manner of diseases, I was confronted with the fact that I
had no monetary means left wherewith to hire a hall in
which to speak, or
to establish a Christian Science home |
| 24 |
for indigent students, which I yearned to do, or even to
meet my own current expenses. I therefore halted from
necessity.
|
| 27 |
I had cast my all into the treasury of Truth, but where
were the means with which to carry on a Cause? To
desert the Cause never
occurred to me, but nobody
Page 215
|
| 1 |
then wanted Christian Science, or gave it a halfpenny.
Though sorely oppressed, I was above begging and |
| 3 |
knew well the priceless worth of what had been bestowed
without money or price. Just then God stretched forth
His hand. He it was
that bade me do what I did, |
| 6 |
and it prospered at every step. I wrote "Science and
Health with Key to the Scriptures," taught students for
a tuition of three
hundred dollars each, though I seldom |
| 9 |
taught without having charity scholars, sometimes a
dozen
or upward in one class. Afterwards, with touch-
ing tenderness, those very
students sent me the full |
| 12 |
tuition money. However, I returned this money with
love;
but it was again mailed to me in letters begging
me to accept it, saying,
"Your teachings are worth much |
| 15 |
more to me than money can be."
It was thus that I earned the means
with which to start
a Christian Science home for the poor worthy student,
to |
| 18 |
establish a Metaphysical College, to plant our first
maga-
zine, to purchase the site for a church edifice, to give my
church The Christian Science Journal, and to keep "the |
| 21 |
wolves in sheep's clothing," preying upon my pearls, from
clogging the wheels of Christian Science.
When the great Master first sent forth
his students, he |
| 24 |
bade them take no scrip for their journey, saying, "The
laborer is worthy of his hire." Next, on the contrary,
he bade them take
scrip. Can we find a better example |
| 27 |
for our lives than that of our Master? Why did he send
forth his students first without, and then with, provision
for their
expenses? Doubtless to test the effect of both |
| 30 |
methods on mankind. That he preferred the latter is
evident, since we have no hint of his changing this direc-
tion; and that
his divine wisdom should temper human
Page 216
|
| 1 |
affairs, is plainly set forth in the Scriptures. Till
Christian
Scientists give all their time to spiritual things, live
without |
| 3 |
eating, and obtain their money from a fish's mouth, they
must earn it in order to help mankind with it. All sys-
tems of religion
stand on this basis.
|
| 6 |
The law and the gospel, - Christian, civil, and educa-
tional means, - manufacture, agriculture, tariff, and
revenue subsist on
demand and supply, regulated by a |
| 9 |
government currency, by which each is provided for and
maintained. What, then, can a man do with truth
and without a cent to
sustain it? Either his life must |
| 12 |
be a miracle that frightens people, or his truth not
worth a cent.
THE CHILDREN
CONTRIBUTORS
|
| 15 |
My Beloved Children: - Tenderly thanking you for
your sweet industry and love on behalf of the room
of the Pastor Emeritus
in The First Church of Christ, |
| 18 |
Scientist, Boston, I say: The purpose of God to you-
ward
indicates another field of work which I present to
your thought, work by
which you can do much good and |
| 21 |
which is adapted to your present unfolding capacity. I
request that from this date you disband as a society,
drop the insignia of
"Busy Bees," work in your own sev- |
| 24 |
eral localities, and no longer contribute to The Mother
Church flower fund.
As you grow older, advance in the
knowledge of self- |
| 27 |
support, and see the need of self-culture, it is to be
expected
you will feel more than at present that charity begins at
home, and that you will want money for your own uses. |
| 30 |
Contemplating these important wants, I see that you
should begin now to earn for a purpose even higher, the
Page 217
|
| 1 |
money that you expend for flowers. You will want it for
academics, for your own school education, or, if need be, |
| 3 |
to help your parents, brothers, or sisters.
Further to encourage your early,
generous incentive
for action, and to reward your hitherto unselfish toil,
I |
| 6 |
have deeded in trust to The Mother Church of Christ,
Scientist, in Boston, the sum of four thousand dollars
to be invested in
safe municipal bonds for my dear chil- |
| 9 |
dren contributors to the room of the Pastor Emeritus.
This sum is to remain on interest till it is disbursed in
equal shares to
each contributor. This disbursal will |
| 12 |
take place when the contributors shall have arrived at
legal age, and each contributor will receive his divi-
dend with interest
thereon up to date, provided he has |
| 15 |
complied with my request as above named.
A CORRECTION
In the last Sentinel [Oct. 12,
1899] was the following |
| 18 |
question: "If all matter is unreal, why do we deny the
existence of disease in the material body and not the body
itself?"
|
| 21 |
We deny first the existence of disease, because we can
meet this negation more readily than we can negative all
that the
material senses affirm. It is written in "Science |
| 24 |
and Health with Key to the Scriptures": "An improved
belief is one step out of error, and aids in taking the
next step and in
understanding the situation in Christian |
| 27 |
Science" (p. 296).
Thus it is that our great
Exemplar, Jesus of Nazareth,
first takes up the subject. He does not
require the last
|
| 30 |
step to be taken first. He came to the world not to
destroy the law of being, but to fulfil it in righteousness.
Page 218
|
| 1 |
He restored the diseased body to its normal action,
functions, and organization, and in explanation of his |
| 3 |
deeds he said, "Suffer it to be so now: for thus it be-
cometh us to fulfil all righteousness." Job said, "In
my flesh shall I see
God." Neither the Old nor the New |
| 6 |
Testament furnishes reasons or examples for the destruc-
tion of the human body, but for its restoration to life
and health as the
scientific proof of "God with us." |
| 9 |
The power and prerogative of Truth are to destroy all
disease and to raise the dead - even the self-same
Lazarus. The
spiritual body, the incorporeal idea, came |
| 12 |
with the ascension.
Jesus demonstrated the divine
Principle of Christian
Science when he presented his material body
absolved |
| 15 |
from death and the grave. The introduction of pure
abstractions into Christian Science, without their correl-
atives, leaves
the divine Principle of Christian Science |
| 18 |
unexplained, tends to confuse the mind of the reader,
and
ultimates in what Jesus denounced, namely, straining
at gnats and
swallowing camels.
QUESTION
ANSWERED
A fad of belief is the fool of
mesmerism. The belief
that an individual can either teach or heal by proxy
is a |
| 24 |
false faith that will end bitterly. My published works
are
teachers and healers. My private life is given to a serv-
itude the
fruit of which all mankind may share. Such |
| 27 |
labor is impartial, meted out to one no more than to
another. Therefore an individual should not enter the
Massachusetts
Metaphysical College with the expecta- |
| 30 |
tion of receiving instruction from me, other than that
Page 219
|
| 1 |
which my books afford, unless I am personally present.
Nor should patients anticipate being helped by me through |
| 3 |
some favored student. Such practice would be erro-
neous,
and such an anticipation on the part of the sick a
hindrance rather than
help.
|
| 6 |
My good students have all the honor of their success
in
teaching or in healing. I by no means would pluck
their plumes. Human power
is most properly used in |
| 9 |
preventing the occasion for its use; otherwise its use
is abuse.
CHRISTIAN SCIENCE
HEALING
|
| 12 |
To say that it is sin to ride to church on an electric
car, would not be more preposterous than to believe
that man's Maker is not
equal to the destruction of disease |
| 15 |
germs. Christ, Truth, the ever-present spiritual idea,
who raises the dead, is equal to the giving of life and health
to man and
to the healing, as aforetime, of all manner of |
| 18 |
diseases. I would not charge Christians with doubting
the
Bible record of our great Master's life of healing, since
Christianity
must be predicated of what Christ Jesus |
| 21 |
taught and did; but I do say that Christian Science cannot
annul nor make void the laws of the land, since Christ,
the great
demonstrator of Christian Science, said, "Think |
| 24 |
not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets:
I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil."
I have expressed my opinion publicly
as to the pre- |
| 27 |
cautions against the spread of so-called infectious and
contagious diseases in the following words: -
"Rather than quarrel
over vaccination, I recommend, if |
| 30 |
the law demand, that an individual submit to this process,
that he obey the law, and then appeal to the gospel to
Page 220
|
| 1 |
save him from bad physical results. Whatever changes
come
to this century or to any epoch, we may safely |
| 3 |
submit to the providence of God, to common justice, to
the maintenance of individual rights, and to govern-
mental usages. This
statement should be so interpreted |
| 6 |
as to apply, on the basis of Christian Science, to the
reporting of a contagious case to the proper authorities
when the law so
requires. When Jesus was questioned |
| 9 |
concerning obedience to human law, he replied: 'Render
to
Caesar the things that are Caesar's,' even while you
render 'to God the
things that are God's.' "
|
| 12 |
I believe in obeying the laws of the land. I practise and
teach this obedience, since justice is the moral signification
of law.
Injustice denotes the absence of law. Each day |
| 15 |
I pray for the pacification of all national difficulties,
for
the brotherhood of man, for the end of idolatry and
infidelity, and
for the growth and establishment of |
| 18 |
Christian religion - Christ's Christianity. I also have
faith that my prayer availeth, and that He who is
overturning will overturn
until He whose right it is shall |
| 21 |
reign. Each day I pray: "God bless my enemies; make
them
Thy friends; give them to know the joy and the
peace of love."
|
| 24 |
Past, present, or future philosophy or religion, which
departs from the instructions and example of the great
Galilean Prophet,
cannot be Christlike. Jesus obeyed |
| 27 |
human laws and fell a victim to those laws. But nineteen
centuries have greatly improved human nature and
human statutes. That the
innocent should suffer for the |
| 30 |
guilty, seems less divine, and that humanity should
share
alike liberty of conscience, seems more divine to-day than
it did
yesterday.
Page 221
|
| 1 |
The earthly price of spirituality in religion and
medicine
in a material age is persecution, and the moral distance |
| 3 |
between Christianity and materialism precludes Jesus'
doctrine, now as then, from finding favor with certain
purely human views.
The prophets of old looked for |
| 6 |
something higher than the systems and practices of their
times. They foresaw the new dispensation of Truth
and the demonstration of
God in His more infinite |
| 9 |
meanings, - the demonstration which was to destroy sin,
disease, and death, establish the definition of omnipotence,
and illustrate
the Science of Mind. Earth has not known |
| 12 |
another so great and good as Christ Jesus. Then can
we
find a better moral philosophy, a more complete,
natural, and divine
Science of medicine, or a better |
| 15 |
religion than his?
God is Spirit. Then modes of healing,
other than the
spiritual and divine, break the First Commandment
of |
| 18 |
the Decalogue, "Thou shalt have no other gods before
me." There are no other heaven-appointed means than
the spiritual with
which to heal sin and disease. Our |
| 21 |
Master conformed to this law, and instructed his follow-
ers, saying, "He that believeth on me, the works that I
do shall he do
also." This is enough.
|
| 24 |
All issues of morality, of Christianity, of pleasure, or of
pain must come through a correct or incorrect state
of thought, since
matter is not conscious; then, like a |
| 27 |
watchman forsaking his post, shall we have no faith in
God, in the divine Mind, thus throwing the door wide
open to the intruding
disease, forgetting that the divine |
| 30 |
Mind, Truth and Life, can guard the entrance?
We earnestly ask: Shall we not believe
the Scripture,
"The prayer of faith shall save the sick"? In the seven-
Page 222
|
| 1 |
teenth chapter of the Gospel according to St. Matthew,
we
read that even the disciples of Jesus once failed mentally |
| 3 |
to cure by their faith and understanding a violent case
of
lunacy. And because of this Jesus rebuked them, saying:
"O faithless
and perverse generation, how long shall I be |
| 6 |
with you ? how long shall I suffer you? bring him hither
to
me." When his disciples asked him why they could not
heal that case,
Jesus, the master Metaphysician, answered, |
| 9 |
"Because of your unbelief" (lack of faith); and
then
continued: "If ye have faith as a grain of mustard
seed, ye shall
say unto this mountain, Remove hence |
| 12 |
to yonder place; and it shall remove." Also he added:
"This kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting"
(refraining from
admitting the claims of the senses). |
| 15 |
Even in those dark days Jesus was not arrested and
executed (for "insanity") because of his faith and
his great demands on the
faith of his followers, but |
| 18 |
he was arrested because, as was said, "he stirreth
up the
people." Be patient, O Christian Scientist!
It is well that thou canst
unloose the sandals of thy |
| 21 |
Master's feet.
The Constitution of the United States
does not provide
that materia medica shall make laws to regulate
man's |
| 24 |
religion; rather does it imply that religion shall
permeate
our laws. Mankind will be God-governed in proportion
as God's
government becomes apparent, the Golden Rule |
| 27 |
utilized, and the rights of man and the liberty of
conscience
held sacred. Meanwhile, they who name the name of
Christian
Science will assist in the holding of crime in |
| 30 |
check, will aid the ejection of error, will maintain law
and order, and will cheerfully await the end - justice and
judgment.
Page 223
RULES OF CONDUCT
I hereby notify the public that no
comers are received |
| 3 |
at Pleasant View without previous appointment by letter.
Also that I neither listen to complaints, read letters, nor
dictate replies
to letters which pertain to church diffi- |
| 6 |
culties outside of The Mother Church of Christ,
Scientist,
or to any class of individual discords. Letters from the
sick are not read by me or by my secretaries. They |
| 9 |
should be sent to the Christian Science practitioners
whose cards are in The Christian Science Journal.
Letters and despatches from
individuals with whom I |
| 12 |
have no acquaintance and of whom I have no knowl-
edge,
containing questions about secular affairs, I do
not answer. First, because
I have not sufficient time to |
| 15 |
waste on them; second, because I do not consider myself
capable of instructing persons in regard to that of which
I know nothing.
All such questions are superinduced by |
| 18 |
wrong motives or by "evil suggestions," either of which
I do not entertain.
All inquiries, coming directly or
indirectly from a |
| 21 |
member of The Mother Church of Christ, Scientist, which
relate in any manner to the keeping or the breaking
of one of the Church
By-laws, should be addressed to |
| 24 |
the Christian Science Board of Directors and not to the
Pastor Emeritus.
A WORD TO THE
WISE
|
| 27 |
The hour is imminent. Upon it lie burdens that
time
will remove. Just now divine Love and wisdom
saith, "Be still, and
know that I am God." Do all Chris-
Page 224
|
| 1 |
tian Scientists see or understand the importance of that
demand at the moment, when human wisdom is inade- |
| 3 |
quate to meet the exigencies of the hour and when they
should wait on the logic of events?
I respectfully call your attention to
this demand, know- |
| 6 |
ing a little, as I ought, the human need, the divine com-
mand, the blessing which follows obedience and the bane
which follows
disobedience. Hurried conclusions as to |
| 9 |
the public thought are not apt to be correctly drawn. The
public sentiment is helpful or dangerous only in proportion
to its right or
its wrong concept, and the forward footsteps |
| 12 |
it impels or the prejudice it instils. This prejudice the
future must disclose and dispel. Avoid for the immediate
present public
debating clubs. Also be sure that you are |
| 15 |
not caught in some author's net, or made blind to his
loss of the Golden Rule, of which Christian Science is the
predicate and
postulate, when he borrows the thoughts, |
| 18 |
words, and classification of one author without
quotation-
marks, at the same time giving full credit to another more
fashionable but less correct.
|
| 21 |
My books state Christian Science correctly. They may
not
be as taking to those ignorant of this Science as
books less correct and
therefore less profound. But it is |
| 24 |
not safe to accept the latter as standards. We would not
deny their authors a hearing, since the Scripture declares,
"He that is not
against us is on our part." And we should |
| 27 |
also speak in loving terms of their efforts, but we
cannot
afford to recommend any literature as wholly Christian
Science
which is not absolutely genuine.
|
| 30 |
Beloved students, just now let us adopt the classic
saying, "They also serve who only stand and wait."
Our Cause is growing
apace under the present persecution
Page 225
|
| 1 |
thereof. This is a crucial hour, in which the coward and
the hypocrite come to the surface to pass off, while the |
| 3 |
loyal at heart and the worker in the spirit of Truth are
rising to the zenith of success, - the "Well done, good
and faithful,"
spoken by our Master.
CAPITALIZATION
A correct use of capital letters in
composition caps the
climax of the old "new tongue. " Christian Science is
not |
| 9 |
understood by the writer or the reader who does not com-
prehend where capital letters should be used in writing
about Christian
Science.
|
| 12 |
In divine Science all belongs to God, for God is All;
hence the propriety of giving unto His holy name
due deference, - the
capitalization which distinguishes |
| 15 |
it from all other names, thus obeying the leading of our
Lord's Prayer.
The coming of Christ's kingdom on
earth begins in the |
| 18 |
minds of men by honoring God and sacredly holding His
name apart from the names of that which He creates.
Mankind almost
universally gives to the divine Spirit |
| 21 |
the name God. Christian Science names God as divine
Principle, Love, the infinite Person. In this, as in all
that is right,
Christian Scientists are expected to stick |
| 24 |
to their text, and by no illogical conclusion, either in
speaking or in writing, to forget their prayer, "Hallowed
be Thy
name."
|
| 27 |
In their textbook it is clearly stated that God is divine
Principle and that His synonyms are Love, Truth, Life,
Spirit, Mind,
Soul, which combine as one. The divine |
| 30 |
Principle includes them all. The word Principle, when
referring to God, should not be written or used as a
Page 226
|
| 1 |
common noun or in the plural number. To avoid using
this
word incorrectly, use it only where you can substi- |
| 3 |
tute the word God and make sense. This rule strictly
observed will preserve an intelligent usage of the word
and convey its
meaning in Christian Science.
|
| 6 |
What are termed in common speech the principle of har-
monious vibration, the principle of conservation of num-
ber in geometry,
the principle of the inclined plane in |
| 9 |
mechanics, etc., are but an effect of one universal
cause, -
an emanation of the one divine intelligent Principle that
holds the earth in its orbit by evolved spiritual power, |
| 12 |
that commands the waves and the winds, that marks the
sparrow's fall, and that governs all from the infinitesimal
to the
infinite, - namely, God. Withdraw God, divine |
| 15 |
Principle, from man and the universe, and man and the
universe would no longer exist. But annihilate matter,
and man and the
universe would remain the forever fact, |
| 18 |
the spiritual "substance of things hoped for;" and the
evidence of the immortality of man and the cosmos is
sustained by the
intelligent divine Principle, Love.
|
| 21 |
Beloved students, in this you learn to hallow His name,
even as you value His all-power, all-presence, all-Science,
and depend on
Him for your existence.
WHEREFORE?
Our faithful laborers in the field of
Science have
been told by the alert editor-in-chief of the
Christian |
| 27 |
Science Sentinel and Journal that "Mrs. Eddy
advises,
until the public thought becomes better acquainted with
Christian Science, that Christian Scientists decline to |
| 30 |
doctor infectious or contagious diseases."
Page 227
|
| 1 |
The great Master said, "For which of those works do
ye
stone me?" He said this to satisfy himself regarding |
| 3 |
that which he spake as God's representative - as one who
never weakened in his own personal sense of righteousness
because of
another's wickedness or because of the minify- |
| 6 |
ing of his own goodness by another. Charity is quite as
rare as wisdom, but when charity does appear, it is known
by its patience
and endurance.
|
| 9 |
When, under the protection of State or United States
laws, good citizens are arrested for manslaughter because
one out of three
of their patients, having the same disease |
| 12 |
and in the same family, dies while the others recover, we
naturally turn to divine justice for support and wait on
God.
Christian Scientists should be influenced by their |
| 15 |
own judgment in taking a case of malignant disease.
They
should consider well their ability to cope with the
claim, and they should
not overlook the fact that there |
| 18 |
are those lying in wait to catch them in their sayings;
neither should they forget that in their practice, whether
successful or
not, they are not specially protected by law. |
| 21 |
The above quotation by the editor-in-chief stands for this:
Inherent justice, constitutional individual rights, self-
preservation, and the gospel injunction, "Neither cast |
| 24 |
ye your pearls before swine, lest they trample them
under
their feet, and turn again and rend you."
And it stands side by side with
Christ's command, |
| 27 |
"Whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to
him the other also." I abide by this rule and triumph by
it. The sinner
may sneer at this beatitude, for "the fool |
| 30 |
hath said in his heart, There is no God." Statistics show
that Christian Science cures a larger per cent of malignant
diseases
than does materia medica.
Page 228
|
| 1 |
I call disease by its name and have cured it thus; so
there is nothing new on this score. My book Science and |
| 3 |
Health names disease, and thousands are healed by
learning that so-called disease is a sensation of mind, not
of matter. Evil
minds signally blunder in divine meta- |
| 6 |
physics; hence I am always saying the unexpected to
them.
The evil mind calls it "skulking," when to me it
is wisdom to "overcome
evil with good." I fail to know |
| 9 |
how one can be a Christian and yet depart from Christ's
teachings.
SIGNIFICANT
QUESTIONS
|
| 12 |
Who shall be greatest? Referring to John the Baptist,
of
whom he said none greater had been born of women,
our Master declared: "He
that is least in the kingdom of |
| 15 |
heaven is greater than he." That is, he that hath the
kingdom of heaven, the reign of holiness, in the least in his
heart, shall
be greatest.
|
| 18 |
Who shall inherit the earth? The meek, who sit at the
feet of Truth, bathing the human understanding with
tears of repentance and
washing it clean from the taints of |
| 21 |
self-righteousness, hypocrisy, envy, - they shall
inherit
the earth, for "wisdom is justified of her children."
"Who shall dwell in Thy holy hill? He
that walketh |
| 24 |
uprightly, and worketh righteousness, and speaketh the
truth in his heart."
Who shall be called to Pleasant View?
He who strives, |
| 27 |
and attains; who has the divine presumption to say: "For
I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that
he is able to keep that
which I have committed unto him |
| 30 |
against that day" (St. Paul). It goes without saying
that
such a one was never called to Pleasant View for penance
Page 229
|
| 1 |
or for reformation; and I call none but genuine Christian
Scientists, unless I mistake their calling. No mesmerist |
| 3 |
nor disloyal Christian Scientist is fit to come hither. I
have no use for such, and there cannot be found at Pleasant
View one of
this sort. "For all that do these things are |
| 6 |
an abomination unto the Lord: and because of these
abominations the Lord thy God doth drive them out from
before thee."
(Deuteronomy 18: 12.)
|
| 9 |
It is true that loyal Christian Scientists, called to the
home of the Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science,
can acquire in one
year the Science that otherwise might |
| 12 |
cost them a half century. But this should not be the
incentive for going thither. Better far that Christian
Scientists go to
help their helper, and thus lose all selfish- |
| 15 |
ness, as she has lost it, and thereby help themselves and
the whole world, as she has done, according to this saying
of Christ Jesus:
"And whosoever doth not bear his cross, |
| 18 |
and come after me, cannot be my disciple."
MENTAL DIGESTION
Will those beloved students, whose
growth is taking in |
| 21 |
the Ten Commandments and scaling the steep ascent of
Christ's Sermon on the Mount, accept profound thanks for
their swift
messages of rejoicing over the twentieth cen- |
| 24 |
tury Church Manual? Heaps upon heaps of praise con-
front
me, and for what? That which I said in my heart
would never be needed, -
namely, laws of limitation for a |
| 27 |
Christian Scientist. Thy ways are not as ours. Thou
knowest best what we need most, - hence my disap-
pointed hope and grateful
joy. The redeemed should be |
| 30 |
happier than the elect. Truth is strong with destiny;
it takes life profoundly; it measures the infinite against
Page 230
|
| 1 |
the finite. Notwithstanding the sacrilegious moth of
time,
eternity awaits our Church Manual, which will maintain |
| 3 |
its rank as in the past, amid ministries aggressive and
active, and will stand when those have passed to rest.
Scientific pathology illustrates the
digestion of spiritual |
| 6 |
nutriment as both sweet and bitter, - sweet in expectancy
and bitter in experience or during the senses' assimilation
thereof, and
digested only when Soul silences the dyspepsia |
| 9 |
of sense. This church is impartial. Its rules apply not
to one member only, but to one and all equally. Of this
I am sure, that
each Rule and By-law in this Manual will |
| 12 |
increase the spirituality of him who obeys it, invigorate
his
capacity to heal the sick, to comfort such as mourn, and
to awaken
the sinner.
TEACHING IN THE
SUNDAY SCHOOL
TO THE SUPERINTENDENT AND TEACHERS OF
THE
MOTHER CHURCH SUNDAY SCHOOL
|
| 18 |
Beloved Students: - I read with pleasure your
approval
of the amendments to Article XIX, Sections 5 and 6, (1)
in our
Church Manual. Be assured that fitness and |
| 21 |
fidelity such as thine in the officials of my church give
my solitude sweet surcease. It is a joy to know that
they who are faithful
over foundational trusts, such as |
| 24 |
the Christian education of the dear children, will reap
the reward of rightness, rise in the scale of being, and
realize at last
their Master's promise, "And they shall be |
| 27 |
all taught of God."
PLEASANT VIEW, CONCORD, N.
H.,
November 14, 1904
|
| 30 |
(1) Article XX, Sections 2 and 3 in 89th edition.
Page 231
CHARITY AND
INVALIDS
Mrs. Eddy endeavors to bestow her
charities for such |
| 3 |
purposes only as God indicates. Giving merely in com-
pliance with solicitations or petitions from strangers,
incurs the
liability of working in wrong directions. As |
| 6 |
a rule, she has suffered most from those whom she has
labored much to benefit - also from the undeserving
poor to whom she has
given large sums of money, worse |
| 9 |
than wasted. She has, therefore, finally resolved to
spend no more time or money in such uncertain, un-
fortunate investments.
She has qualified students for |
| 12 |
healing the sick, and has ceased practice herself in
order
to help God's work in other of its highest and infinite
meanings,
as God, not man, directs. Hence, letters from |
| 15 |
invalids demanding her help do not reach her. They are
committed to the waste-basket by her secretaries.
"Charity suffereth long and is kind,"
but wisdom must |
| 18 |
govern charity, else love's labor is lost and giving is
un-
kind. As it is, Mrs. Eddy is constantly receiving more
important
demands on her time and attention than one |
| 21 |
woman is sufficient to supply. It would therefore be as
unwise for her to undertake new tasks, as for a landlord
who has not an
empty apartment in his house, to receive |
| 24 |
more tenants.
LESSONS IN THE
SUNDAY SCHOOL
TO THE OFFICERS OF THE
SUNDAY SCHOOL OF SECOND CHURCH |
| 27 |
OF CHRIST, SCIENTIST, NEW
YORK
Beloved Brethren: -You will accept my thanks for
your
interesting report regarding the By-law, "Subject for |
| 30 |
Lessons" (Article XX, Section 3 of Church Manual).
Page 232
|
| 1 |
It rejoices me that you are recognizing the proper
course,
unfurling your banner to the breeze of God, and sailing |
| 3 |
over rough seas with the helm in His hands. Steering
thus, the waiting waves will weave for you their winning
webs of life in
looms of love that line the sacred shores. |
| 6 |
The right way wins the right of way, even the way of
Truth and Love whereby all our debts are paid, mankind
blessed, and God
glorified.
WATCHING
versus WATCHING OUT
COMMENT ON AN EDITORIAL
WHICH APPEARED IN THE CHRISTIAN
SCIENCE SENTINEL, SEPTEMBER 23, 1905
|
| 12 |
Our Lord and Master left to us the following sayings as
living lights in our darkness: "What I say unto you I say
unto all, Watch"
(Mark 13: 37); and, "If the goodman |
| 15 |
of the house had known what hour the thief would come,
he
would have watched, and not have suffered his house
to be broken through."
(Luke 12: 39.)
|
| 18 |
Here we ask: Are Christ's teachings the true authority
for Christian Science? They are. Does the textbook of
Christian Science,
"Science and Health with Key to the |
| 21 |
Scriptures," read on page 252, "A knowledge of error
and
of its operations must precede that understanding
of Truth which destroys
error, until the entire mortal, |
| 24 |
material error finally disappears, and the eternal verity,
man created by and of Spirit, is understood and recog-
nized as the
true likeness of his Maker"? It does. If |
| 27 |
so-called watching produces fear or exhaustion and no
good results, does that watch accord with Jesus' saying?
It does not. Can
watching as Christ demands harm |
| 30 |
you? It cannot. Then should not "watching out"
mean,
watching against a negative watch, alias, no
Page 233
|
| 1 |
watch, and gaining the spirit of true watching, even the
spirit of our Master's command? It must mean that.
|
| 3 |
Is there not something to watch in yourself, in your
daily life, since "by their fruits ye shall know them,"
which prevents an
effective watch? Otherwise, where- |
| 6 |
fore the Lord's Prayer, "Deliver us from evil"? And
if
this something, when challenged by Truth, frightens
you, should you not put
that out instead of putting |
| 9 |
out your watch? I surely should. Then are you not
made better by watching? I am. Which should we
prefer, ease or dis-ease in
sin? Is not discomfort from |
| 12 |
sin better adapted to deliver mortals from the effects of
belief in sin than ease in sin? and can you demonstrate
over the
effects of other people's sins by ind]ifference |
| 15 |
thereto? I cannot.
The Scriptures say, "They have healed
also the hurt
of the daughter of my people slightly, saying,
Peace, |
| 18 |
peace; when there is no peace" (Jeremiah 6: 14), thus
taking the name of God in vain. Ignorance of self is the
most stubborn
belief to overcome, for apathy, dishonesty, |
| 21 |
sin, follow in its train. One should watch to know what
his errors are; and if this watching destroys his peace in
error, should
one watch against such a result? He should |
| 24 |
not. Our Master said, "He that taketh not his cross,
and
followeth after me, is not worthy of me . . . and he
that loseth his life
[his false sense of life] for my sake shall |
| 27 |
find it." (Matthew 10: 38, 39.)
PRINCIPLE OR
PERSON?
Do Christian Scientists love God as
much as they love |
| 30 |
mankind? Aye, that's the question. Let us examine it
for ourselves. Thinking of person implies that one is not
Page 234
|
| 1 |
thinking of Principle, and fifty telegrams per holiday
sig-
nalize the thinking of person. Are the holidays blest by |
| 3 |
absorbing one's time writing or reading congratulations?
I cannot watch and pray while reading telegrams; they
only cloud the clear
sky, and they give the appearance of |
| 6 |
personal worship which Christian Science annuls. Did
the
dear students know how much I love them, and how
I need every hour wherein
to express this love in labor |
| 9 |
for them, they would gladly give me the holidays for this
work and not task themselves with mistaken means.
But God will reward their
kind motives, and guide them |
| 12 |
every step of the way from human affection to spiritual
understanding, from faith to achievement, from light to
Love, from sense to
Soul.
CHRISTIAN SCIENCE
AND CHINA
Beloved Student: - The report of the success of Christian
Science in
benighted China, when regarded on one side |
| 18 |
only, is cheering, but to look at both sides of the great
question of introducing Christian Science into a heathen
nation gives the
subject quite another aspect. I believe |
| 21 |
that all our great Master's sayings are practical and
scientific. If the Dowager Empress could hold her
nation, there would be no
danger in teaching Christian |
| 24 |
Science in her country. But a war on religion in
China
would be more fatal than the Boxers' rebellion.
Silent prayer in and for a
heathen nation is just what |
| 27 |
is needed. But to teach and to demonstrate Christian
Science before the minds of the people are prepared
for it, and when the
laws are against it, is fraught with |
| 30 |
danger.
Page 235
INCONSISTENCY
To teach the truth of life without
using the word |
| 3 |
death, the suppositional opposite of life, were as impos-
sible as to define truth and not name its opposite, error.
Straining at
gnats, one may swallow camels.
|
| 6 |
The tender mother, guided by love, faithful to her in-
stincts, and adhering to the imperative rules of Science,
asks herself: Can
I teach my child the correct numer- |
| 9 |
ation of numbers and never name a cipher? Knowing
that
she cannot do this in mathematics, she should know
that it cannot be done
in metaphysics, and so she should |
| 12 |
definitely name the error, uncover it, and teach truth
scientifically.
SIGNS OF THE
TIMES
|
| 15 |
Is God infinite? Yes. Did God make man? Yes.
Did God
make all that was made? He did. Is God
Spirit? He is. Did infinite Spirit
make that which is |
| 18 |
not spiritual? No. Who or what made matter? Matter
as
substance or intelligence never was made. Is mortal
man a creator, is he
matter or spirit ? Neither one. Why? |
| 21 |
Because Spirit is God and infinite; hence there can
be
no other creator and no other creation. Man is but His
image and
likeness.
|
| 24 |
Are you a Christian Scientist? I am. Do you adopt
as
truth the above statements? I do. Then why this
meaningless commemoration
of birthdays, since there are |
| 27 |
none?
Had I known what was being done in
time to have
prevented it, that which commemorated in deed or in
|
| 30 |
word what is not true, would never have entered into the
Page 236
|
| 1 |
history of our church buildings. Let us have no more of
echoing dreams. Will the beloved students accept my |
| 3 |
full heart's love for them and their kind thoughts.
NOTA BENE
My Beloved Christian
Scientists: - Because I suggested
|
| 6 |
the name for one central Reading Room, and this name
continues to be multiplied, you will permit me to make
the amende
honorable - notwithstanding "incompetence" |
| 9 |
- and to say, please adopt generally for your name,
Christian Science Reading Room. An old axiom says:
Too much of one thing
spoils the whole. Too many |
| 12 |
centres may become equivalent to no centre.
Here I have the joy of knowing that
Christian Scientists
will exchange the present name for the one which I
sug- |
| 15 |
gest, with the sweet alacrity and uniformity with which
they accepted the first name.
Merely this appellative seals the
question of unity, and |
| 18 |
opens wide on the amplitude of liberty and love a far-
reaching motive and success, of which we can say, the
more the better.
|
| 21 |
PLEASANT VIEW, CONCORD, N.
H.
JULY 8, 1907
TAKE NOTICE
|
| 24 |
I request the Christian Scientists universally to read
the paragraph beginning at line 30 of page 442 in the
edition of Science
and Health which will be issued Febru- |
| 27 |
ary 29 [1908]. I consider the information there given to
be of great importance at this stage of the workings of
animal magnetism,
and it will greatly aid the students in |
| 30 |
their individual experiences.
Page 237
|
| 1 |
The contemplated reference in Science and Health to
the
"higher criticism" announced in the Sentinel a few |
| 3 |
weeks ago, I have since decided not to publish.
TAKE NOTICE
What I wrote on Christian Science some
twenty-five |
| 6 |
years ago I do not consider a precedent for a present
student of this Science. The best mathematician has
not attained the full
understanding of the principle |
| 9 |
thereof, in his earliest studies or discoveries. Hence,
it
were wise to accept only my teachings that I know to
be correct and
adapted to the present demand.
TAKE NOTICE
To Christian
Scientists: - See Science and Health, page
442, line 30, and give daily attention thereto.
PRACTITIONERS'
CHARGES
Christian Science practitioners should
make their
charges for treatment equal to those of reputable
phy- |
| 18 |
sicians in their respective localities.
BROOKLINE, MASS., December
24, 1909
TAKE NOTICE
|
| 21 |
The article on the Church Manual by Blanche Hersey
Hogue,
in the Sentinel of September 10 [1910] is practi-
cal and
scientific, and I recommend its careful study to all |
| 24 |
Christian Scientists.
Page 238
CHAPTER XI
- QUESTIONS ANSWERED
QUESTIONS AND
ANSWERS
Will the Bible, if read and
practised, heal as effectually |
| 3 |
as your book, "Science and Health with Key to the
Scriptures"?
THE exact degree of comparison between
the effects |
| 6 |
produced by reading the above-named books can
only be
determined by personal proof. Rightly to read
and to practise the
Scriptures, their spiritual sense must |
| 9 |
be discerned, understood, and demonstrated. God being
Spirit, His language and meaning are wholly spiritual.
Uninspired knowledge
of the translations of the Scriptures |
| 12 |
has imparted little power to practise the Word. Hence
the
revelation, discovery, and presentation of Christian
Science - the Christ
Science, or "new tongue" of which |
| 15 |
St. Mark prophesied - became requisite in the divine
order. On the swift pinions of spiritual thought man
rises above the
letter, law, or morale of the inspired Word |
| 18 |
to the spirit of Truth, whereby the Science is reached
that demonstrates God. When the Bible is thus read
and practised, there is
no possibility of misinterpreta- |
| 21 |
tion. God is understandable, knowable, and applicable
to
every human need. In this is the proof that Chris-
tian Science is Science,
for it demonstrates Life, not
Page 239
|
| 1 |
death; health, not disease; Truth, not error; Love, not
hate. The Science of the Scriptures coexists with God; |
| 3 |
and "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures"
relegates Christianity to its primitive proof, wherein
reason, revelation,
the divine Principle, rules, and prac- |
| 6 |
tice of Christianity acquaint the student with God. In
the ratio that Christian Science is studied and under-
stood, mankind will,
as aforetime, imbibe the spirit and |
| 9 |
prove the practicality, validity, and redemptive power of
Christianity by healing all manner of disease, by over-
coming sin and
death.
|
| 12 |
Must mankind wait for the ultimate of the millennium -
until every man and woman comes into the knowledge of
Christ and all
are taught of God and see their apparent |
| 15 |
identity as one man and one woman - for God to be
represented by His idea or image and likeness?
God is one, and His idea, image, or
likeness, man, is one. |
| 18 |
But God is infinite and so includes all in one.
Man is the
generic term for men and women. Man, as the idea or
image
and likeness of the infinite God, is a compound, com- |
| 21 |
plex idea or likeness of the infinite one, or one
infinite,
whose image is the reflection of all that is real and eternal
in infinite identity. Gender means a kind. Hence man- |
| 24 |
kind - in other words, a kind of man who is identi-
fied
by sex - is the material, so-called man born of the
flesh, and is not the
spiritual man, created by God, |
| 27 |
Spirit, who made all that was made. The millennium
is a
state and stage of mental advancement, going
on since ever time was. Its
impetus, accelerated by |
| 30 |
the advent of Christian Science, is marked, and will
Page 240
|
| 1 |
increase till all men shall know Him (divine Love) from
the least to the greatest, and one God and the brother- |
| 3 |
hood of man shall be known and acknowledged through-
out
the earth.
THE HIGHER
CRITICISM
|
| 6 |
An earnest student writes to me: "Would it be asking
too
much of you to explain more fully why you call Chris-
tian Science the
higher criticism?"
|
| 9 |
I called Christian Science the higher criticism in my
dedicatory Message to The Mother Church, June 10,
1906, when I said, "This
Science is a law of divine Mind, |
| 12 |
. . . an ever-present help. Its presence is felt, for it
acts and acts wisely, always unfolding the highway of
hope, faith,
understanding."
|
| 15 |
I now repeat another proof, namely, that Christian
Science is the higher criticism because it criticizes evil,
disease, and
death - all that is unlike God, good - on a |
| 18 |
Scriptural basis, and approves or disapproves according
to the word of God. In the next edition of Science and
Health I shall refer
to this. |
| 21 |
MARY BAKER EDDY
CLASS TEACHING
Mrs. Eddy thus replies, through her
student, Mr. |
| 24 |
Adam Dickey, to the question, Does Mrs. Eddy approve
of
class teaching: -
Yes! She most assuredly does, when the
teaching is |
| 27 |
done by those who are duly qualified, who have re-
ceived certificates from the Massachusetts Metaphysical
College or the
Board of Education, and who have the
Page 241
|
| 1 |
necessary moral and spiritual qualifications to perform
this important work. Class teaching will not be abol- |
| 3 |
ished until it has accomplished that for which it was
established; viz., the elucidation of the Principle and
rule of Christian
Science through the higher meaning |
| 6 |
of the Scriptures. Students who are ready for this
step
should beware the net that is craftily laid and cun-
ningly concealed to
prevent their advancement in this |
| 9 |
direction.
INSTRUCTION BY MRS.
EDDY
We are glad to have the privilege of
publishing an ex- |
| 12 |
tract from a letter to Mrs. Eddy, from a Christian Scien-
tist in the West, and Mrs. Eddy's reply thereto. The
issue raised is
an important one and one upon which |
| 15 |
there should be absolute and correct teaching. Christian
Scientists are fortunate to receive instruction from their
Leader on this
point. The question and Mrs. Eddy's |
| 18 |
reply follow.
"Last evening I was catechized by a
Christian Science
practitioner because I referred to myself as an
immortal |
| 21 |
idea of the one divine Mind. The practitioner said that
my statement was wrong, because I still lived in my
flesh. I replied that I
did not live in my flesh, that |
| 24 |
my flesh lived or died according to the beliefs I enter-
tained about it; but that, after coming to the light of
Truth, I had found
that I lived and moved and had |
| 27 |
my being in God, and to obey Christ was not to know
as
real the beliefs of an earthly mortal. Please give the
truth in the
Sentinel, so that all may know it."
Page 242
Mrs. Eddy's
Reply
You are scientifically correct in your
statement about |
| 3 |
yourself. You can never demonstrate spirituality until
you
declare yourself to be immortal and understand that
you are so.
Christian Science is absolute; it is neither |
| 6 |
behind the point of perfection nor advancing towards
it;
it is at this point and must be practised therefrom.
Unless you fully
perceive that you are the child |
| 9 |
of God, hence perfect, you have no Principle to demon-
strate and no rule for its demonstration. By this I
do not mean that
mortals are the children of God, - |
| 12 |
far from it. In practising Christian Science you must
state its Principle correctly, or you forfeit your ability
to demonstrate
it.
TAKE NOTICE
I hereby announce to the Christian
Science field that
all inquiries or information relating to Christian
Science |
| 18 |
practice, to publication committee work, reading-room
work, or to Mother Church membership, should be sent
to the Christian
Science Board of Directors of The |
| 21 |
Mother Church; and I have requested my secretary
not to
make inquiries on these subjects, nor to reply to
any received, but to
leave these duties to the Clerk of |
| 24 |
The Mother Church, to whom they belong.
MARY BAKER
EDDY
September 28, 1910
Page 243
CHAPTER
XII - READERS, TEACHERS, LECTURERS
THE NEW YORK
CHURCHES
MY BELOVED STUDENTS: - According to
reports, the |
| 3 |
belief is springing up among you that the several
churches in New York City should come together and
form one church. This is
a suggestion of error, which |
| 6 |
should be silenced at its inception. You cannot have lost
sight of the rules for branch churches as published in our
Church
Manual. The Empire City is large, and there |
| 9 |
should be more than one church in it.
The Readers of The Church of Christ,
Scientist, hold
important, responsible offices, and two individuals
would |
| 12 |
meet meagrely the duties of half a dozen or more of the
present incumbents. I have not yet had the privilege of
knowing two
students who are adequate to take charge |
| 15 |
of three or more churches. The students in New York
and
elsewhere will see that it is wise to remain in their
own fields of labor
and give all possible time and attention |
| 18 |
to caring for their own flocks.
THE NOVEMBER CLASS,
1898
Beloved Christian
Scientists: - Your prompt presence
in |
| 21 |
Concord at my unexplained call witnesses your fidelity
to Christian Science and your spiritual unity with your
Page 244
|
| 1 |
Leader. I have awaited your arrival before informing
you
of my purpose in sending for you, in order to avoid |
| 3 |
the stir that might be occasioned among those who wish
to
share this opportunity and to whom I would gladly
give it at this time if a
larger class were advantageous |
| 6 |
to the students.
You have been invited hither to
receive from me one or
more lessons on Christian Science, prior to
conferring on |
| 9 |
any or all of you who are ready for it, the degree of
C.S.D.,
of the Massachusetts Metaphysical College. This oppor-
tunity
is designed to impart a fresh impulse to our spiritual |
| 12 |
attainments, the great need of which I daily discern.
I
have awaited the right hour, and to be called of God
to contribute my part
towards this result.
|
| 15 |
The "secret place," whereof David sang, is unquestion-
ably man's spiritual state in God's own image and like-
ness, even the
inner sanctuary of divine Science, in which |
| 18 |
mortals do not enter without a struggle or sharp experi-
ence, and in which they put off the human for the divine.
Knowing this, our
Master said: "Many are called, but few |
| 21 |
are chosen." In the highest sense of a disciple, all
loyal
students of my books are indeed my students, and your
wise,
faithful teachers have come so to regard them.
|
| 24 |
What I have to say may not require more than one
lesson.
This, however, must depend on results. But
the lessons will certainly not
exceed three in number. |
| 27 |
No charge will be made for my services.
MASSACHUSETTS
METAPHYSICAL COLLEGE
The Massachusetts Metaphysical College
of Boston, |
| 30 |
Massachusetts, was chartered A.D. 1881. As the people
observed the success of this Christian system of heal-
Page 245
|
| 1 |
ing all manner of disease, over and above the approved
schools of medicine, they became deeply interested |
| 3 |
in it. Now the wide demand for this universal bene-
fice
is imperative, and it should be met as heretofore,
cautiously,
systematically, scientifically. This Chris- |
| 6 |
tian educational system is established on a broad and
liberal basis. Law and order characterize its work
and secure a thorough
preparation of the student for |
| 9 |
practice.
The growth of human inquiry and the
increasing pop-
ularity of Christian Science, I regret to say, have
called |
| 12 |
out of their hiding-places those poisonous reptiles and
de-
vouring beasts, superstition and jealousy. Towards the
animal
elements manifested in ignorance, persecution, |
| 15 |
and lean glory, and to their Babel of confusion worse
confounded, let Christian Scientists be charitable. Let
the voice of Truth
and Love be heard above the dire |
| 18 |
din of mortal nothingness, and the majestic march of
Christian Science go on ad infinitum, praising God,
doing the works
of primitive Christianity, and enlighten- |
| 21 |
ing the world.
To protect the public, students of the
Massachusetts
Metaphysical College have received certificates, and
these |
| 24 |
credentials are still required of all who claim to teach
Christian Science.
Inquiries have been made as to the
precise significa- |
| 27 |
tion of the letters of degrees that follow the names of
Christian Scientists. They indicate, respectively, the
degrees of Bachelor
and Doctor of Christian Science, |
| 30 |
conferred by the President or Vice-President of the
Massachusetts Metaphysical College. The first degree
(C.S.B.) is given to
students of the Primary class; the
Page 246
|
| 1 |
second degree (C.S.D.) is given to those who, after
receiving the first degree, continue for three years as |
| 3 |
practitioners of Christian Science in good and regular
standing.
Students who enter the Massachusetts
Metaphys- |
| 6 |
ical College, or are examined under its auspices by
the
Board of Education, must be well educated and
have practised Christian
Science three years with good |
| 9 |
success.
THE BOARD OF
EDUCATION
In the year 1889, to gain a higher
hope for the race, I |
| 12 |
closed my College in the midst of unprecedented pros-
perity, left Boston, and sought in solitude and silence a
higher
understanding of the absolute scientific unity which |
| 15 |
must exist between the teaching and letter of
Christianity
and the spirit of Christianity, dwelling forever in the
divine Mind or Principle of man's being and revealed |
| 18 |
through the human character.
While revising "Science and Health
with Key to the
Scriptures," the light and might of the divine
concur- |
| 21 |
rence of the spirit and the Word appeared, and the
result
is an auxiliary to the College called the Board of
Education of The Mother
Church of Christ, Scientist, |
| 24 |
in Boston, Mass.
Our Master said: "What I do thou
knowest not now;
but thou shalt know hereafter;" and the spirit of
his |
| 27 |
mission, the wisdom of his words, and the immortal-
ity
of his works are the same to-day as yesterday and
forever.
|
| 30 |
The Magna Charta of Christian Science means much,
Page 247
|
| 1 |
multum in parvo, - all-in-one and one-in-all. It
stands
for the inalienable, universal rights of men. Essentially |
| 3 |
democratic, its government is administered by the
common
consent of the governed, wherein and whereby
man governed by his creator is
self-governed. The |
| 6 |
church is the mouthpiece of Christian Science, - its
law
and gospel are according to Christ Jesus; its rules
are health, holiness,
and immortality, - equal rights and |
| 9 |
privileges, equality of the sexes, rotation in office.
TO A FIRST
READER
Beloved Student: - Christ is meekness and Truth |
| 12 |
enthroned. Put on the robes of Christ, and you will
be
lifted up and will draw all men unto you. The
little fishes in my fountain
must have felt me when I |
| 15 |
stood silently beside it, for they came out in orderly
line to the rim where I stood. Then I fed these
sweet little thoughts that,
not fearing me, sought their |
| 18 |
food of me.
God has called you to be a fisher
of men. It is not a
stern but a loving look which brings forth mankind
to
|
| 21 |
receive your bestowal, - not so much eloquence as
tender
persuasion that takes away their fear, for it is Love
alone
that feeds them.
|
| 24 |
Do you come to your little flock so filled with divine
food that you cast your bread upon the waters? Then
be sure that after many
or a few days it will return |
| 27 |
to you.
The little that I have accomplished
has all been
done through love, - self-forgetful, patient,
unfaltering |
| 30 |
tenderness.
Page 248
THE CHRISTIAN
SCIENCE BOARD OF LECTURESHIP
Beloved Students: - I am more than satisfied with your |
| 3 |
work: its grandeur almost surprises me. Let your watch-
word always be:
"Great, not like
Caesar, stained with blood, |
| 6 |
But only great as I am
good."
You are not setting up to be great; you are here for the
purpose of grasping and defining the demonstrable, the |
| 9 |
eternal. Spiritual heroes and prophets are they whose
new-old birthright is to put an end to falsities in a wise
way and to
proclaim Truth so winningly that an honest, |
| 12 |
fervid affection for the race is found adequate for the
emancipation of the race.
You are the needed and the inevitable
sponsors for the |
| 15 |
twentieth century, reaching deep down into the univer-
sal and rising above theorems into the transcendental,
the infinite - yea,
to the reality of God, man, nature, |
| 18 |
the universe. No fatal circumstance of idolatry can fold
or falter your wings. No fetishism with a symbol can
fetter your flight.
You soar only as uplifted by God's |
| 21 |
power, or you fall for lack of the divine impetus. You
know that to conceive God aright you must be good.
The Christ mode of understanding Life
- of extermi- |
| 24 |
nating sin and suffering and their penalty, death - I
have largely committed to you, my faithful witnesses.
You go forth to face
the foe with loving look and with the |
| 27 |
religion and philosophy of labor, duty, liberty, and
love,
to challenge universal indifference, chance, and creeds.
Your
highest inspiration is found nearest the divine |
| 30 |
Principle and nearest the scientific expression of
Truth.
Page 249
|
| 1 |
You may condemn evil in the abstract without harming
any
one or your own moral sense, but condemn persons |
| 3 |
seldom, if ever. Improve every opportunity to correct
sin
through your own perfectness. When error strives to
be heard above Truth,
let the "still small voice" produce |
| 6 |
God's phenomena. Meet dispassionately the raging ele-
ment of individual hate and counteract its most gigantic
falsities.
|
| 9 |
The moral abandon of hating even one's enemies ex-
cludes goodness. Hate is a moral idiocy let loose for
one's own
destruction. Unless withstood, the heat of |
| 12 |
hate burns the wheat, spares the tares, and sends forth a
mental miasma fatal to health, happiness, and the morals
of mankind, -
and all this only to satiate its loathing of |
| 15 |
love and its revenge on the patience, silence, and lives
of saints. The marvel is, that at this enlightened period
a respectable
newspaper should countenance such evil |
| 18 |
tendencies.
Millions may know that I am the
Founder of Chris-
tian Science. I alone know what that means.
READERS IN
CHURCH
The report that I prefer to have a
man, rather than
a woman, for First Reader in The Church of
Christ, |
| 24 |
Scientist, I desire to correct. My preference lies with
the individual best fitted to perform this important
function. If both the
First and Second Readers are my |
| 27 |
students, then without reference to sex I should prefer
that student who is most spiritually-minded. What our
churches need is that
devout, unselfed quality of thought |
| 30 |
which spiritualizes the congregation.
Page 250
WORDS FOR THE
WISE
The By-law of The Mother Church of
Christ, Scientist, |
| 3 |
relative to a three years' term for church Readers, was
entitled to and has received profound attention. Rotation
in office
promotes wisdom, quiets mad ambition, satisfies |
| 6 |
justice, and crowns honest endeavors.
The best Christian Scientists will be
the first to adopt
this By-law in their churches, and their Readers
will |
| 9 |
retire ex officio, after three years of acceptable
service as
church Readers, to higher usefulness in this vast vineyard
of our Lord.
|
| 12 |
The churches who adopt this By-law will please send
to
the Editor of our periodicals notice of their action.
AFTERGLOW
|
| 15 |
Beloved Students: - The By-law of The Mother
Church of Christ, Scientist, stipulating three years as
the term for its
Readers, neither binds nor compels the |
| 18 |
branch churches to follow suit; and the By-law applies
only to Christian Science churches in the United States
and Canada.
Doubtless the churches adopting this |
| 21 |
By-law will discriminate as regards its adaptability to
their conditions. But if now is not the time, the branch
churches can wait
for the favored moment to act on this |
| 24 |
subject.
I rest peacefully in knowing that the
impulsion of this
action in The Mother Church was from above. So I
have |
| 27 |
faith that whatever is done in this direction by the
branch
churches will be blest. The Readers who have filled this
sacred
office many years, have beyond it duties and
Page 251
|
| 1 |
attainments beckoning them. What these are I cannot
yet
say. The great Master saith: "What I do thou |
| 3 |
knowest not now; but thou shalt know hereafter."
TEACHERS OF
CHRISTIAN SCIENCE
I reply to the following question from
unknown ques- |
| 6 |
tioners:
"Are the students, whom I have taught,
obliged to
take both Primary and Normal class instruction in the
|
| 9 |
Board of Education in order to become teachers of Pri-
mary classes?"
No, not if you and they are loyal
Christian Scientists, |
| 12 |
and not if, after examination in the Board of Education,
your pupils are found eligible to enter the Normal class,
which at present
is taught in the Board of Education |
| 15 |
only.
There is evidently some
misapprehension of my meaning
as to the mode of instruction in the Board of
Education.
|
| 18 |
A Primary student of mine can teach pupils the prac-
tice of Christian Science, and after three years of good
practice, my
Primary student can himself be examined in |
| 21 |
the Board of Education, and if found eligible, receive a
certificate of the degree C.S.D.
THE GENERAL
ASSOCIATION OF TEACHERS, 1903
|
| 24 |
My Beloved Students: - I call you mine, for all is
Thine
and mine. What God gives, elucidates, armors, and tests
in His
service, is ours; and we are His. You have con- |
| 27 |
vened only to convince yourselves of this grand verity:
namely, the unity in Christian Science. Cherish stead-
fastly this fact.
Adhere to the teachings of the Bible,
Page 252
|
| 1 |
Science and Health, and our Manual, and you will obey
the
law and gospel. Have one God and you will |
| 3 |
have no devil. Keep yourselves busy with divine Love.
Then you will be toilers like the bee, always distributing
sweet things
which, if bitter to sense, will be salutary as |
| 6 |
Soul; but you will not be like the spider, which weaves
webs that ensnare.
Rest assured that the good you do unto
others you do |
| 9 |
to yourselves as well, and the wrong you may commit
must,
will, rebound upon you. The entire purpose of
true education is to make one
not only know the truth |
| 12 |
but live it - to make one enjoy doing right, make one
not
work in the sunshine and run away in the storm, but
work midst clouds of
wrong, injustice, envy, hate; and |
| 15 |
wait on God, the strong deliverer, who will reward
right-
eousness and punish iniquity. "As thy days, so shall thy
strength be."
THE LONDON TEACHERS'
ASSOCIATION, 1903
Beloved Students: - Your letter and dottings are an
oasis in my wilderness.
They point to verdant pastures, |
| 21 |
and are already rich rays from the eternal sunshine of
Love, lighting and leading humanity into paths of peace
and holiness.
|
| 24 |
Your "Thanksgiving Day," instituted in England on
New
Year's Day, was a step in advance. It expressed
your thanks, and gave to
the "happy New Year" a higher |
| 27 |
hint. You are not aroused to this action by the allure-
ments of wealth, pride, or power; the impetus comes from
above - it is
moral, spiritual, divine. All hail to this |
| 30 |
higher hope that neither slumbers nor is stilled by the
cold impulse of a lesser gain!
Page 253
|
| 1 |
It rejoices me to know that you know that healing
the
sick, soothing sorrow, brightening this lower sphere |
| 3 |
with the ways and means of the higher and everlasting
harmony, brings to light the perfect original man and uni-
verse. What
nobler achievement, what greater glory can |
| 6 |
nerve your endeavor? Press on! My heart and hope
are
with you.
"Thou art not here for ease
or pain, |
| 9 |
But manhood's glorious crown
to gain."
THE GENERAL
ASSOCIATION OF TEACHERS, 1904
Beloved Brethren: - I thank you. Jesus said: "The |
| 12 |
world hath not known Thee: but I have known Thee,
and
these have known that Thou hast sent me."
THE CANADIAN
TEACHERS, 1904
|
| 15 |
Beloved Brethren: - Accept my love and these words
of Jesus: "Holy Father, keep through Thine own name
those whom Thou
hast given me, that they may be one, |
| 18 |
as we are."
STUDENTS IN THE
BOARD OF EDUCATION, DECEMBER, 1904
|
| 21 |
Beloved Students: - You will accept my profound
thanks for your letter and telegram. If wishing is wise,
I send with this a
store of wisdom in three words: God |
| 24 |
bless you. If faith is fruition, you have His rich blessing
already and my joy therewith.
We understand best that which begins
in ourselves |
| 27 |
and by education brightens into birth. Dare to be
faithful to God and man. Let the creature become
Page 254
|
| 1 |
one with his creator, and mysticism departs, heaven
opens, right reigns, and you have begun to be a Chris- |
| 3 |
tian Scientist.
THE MAY CLASS,
1905
Beloved: - I am glad you enjoy the dawn of Christian |
| 6 |
Science; you must reach its meridian. Watch, pray,
demonstrate. Released from materialism, you shall run
and not be weary,
walk and not faint.
THE DECEMBER CLASS,
1905
Beloved Students: - Responding to your kind letter,
let me say: You will
reap the sure reward of right think- |
| 12 |
ing and acting, of watching and praying, and you will
find the ever-present God an ever-present help. I
thank the faithful
teacher of this class and its dear |
| 15 |
members.
"ROTATION IN OFFICE"
Dear Leader: - May we have permission to print, as |
| 18 |
a part of the preamble to our By-laws, the following
extract from your article "Christian Science Board of
Education" in the
June Journal of 1904, page 184: -
|
| 21 |
"The Magna Charta of Christian Science means
much,
multum in parvo, - all-in-one and one-in-all. It
stands for the
inalienable, universal rights of men. |
| 24 |
Essentially democratic, its government is administered
by
the common consent of the governed, wherein and
whereby man governed by his
creator is self-governed. |
| 27 |
The church is the mouthpiece of Christian Science,
- its
law and gospel are according to Christ Jesus;
Page 255
|
| 1 |
its rules are health, holiness, and immortality, - equal
rights and privileges, equality of the sexes, rotation |
| 3 |
in office."
Mrs. Eddy's
Reply
Christian Science churches have my
consent to publish |
| 6 |
the foregoing in their By-laws. By "rotation in office"
I do not mean that minor officers who are filling their
positions
satisfactorily should be removed every three |
| 9 |
years, or be elevated to offices for which they are not
qualified.
CHESTNUT HILL,
MASS., |
| 12 |
March 6, 1909
Page 256
CHAPTER
XIII - CHRISTMAS
EARLY CHIMES,
DECEMBER, 1898
BEFORE the Christmas bells shall ring,
allow me |
| 3 |
to improvise some new notes, not specially musi-
cal to
be sure, but admirably adapted to the key of my
feeling and emphatically
phrasing strict observance or |
| 6 |
note well.
This year, my beloved Christian
Scientists, you must
grant me my request that I be permitted total
exemption |
| 9 |
from Christmas gifts. Also I beg to send to you all a
deep-drawn, heartfelt breath of thanks for those things
of beauty and use
forming themselves in your thoughts |
| 12 |
to send to your Leader. Thus may I close the door of
mind
on this subject, and open the volume of Life on
the pure pages of
impersonal presents, pleasures, achieve- |
| 15 |
ments, and aid.
CHRISTMAS, 1900
Again loved Christmas is here, full of
divine benedic- |
| 18 |
tions and crowned with the dearest memories in human
history - the earthly advent and nativity of our Lord
and Master. At this
happy season the veil of time |
| 21 |
springs aside at the touch of Love. We count our bless-
ings and see whence they came and whither they tend.
Parents call home
their loved ones, the Yule-fires burn, |
| 24 |
the festive boards are spread, the gifts glow in the
dark
Page 257
|
| 1 |
green branches of the Christmas-tree. But alas for the
broken household band! God give to them more of |
| 3 |
His dear love that heals the wounded heart.
To-day the watchful shepherd shouts
his welcome over
the new cradle of an old truth. This truth has
traversed |
| 6 |
night, through gloom to glory, from cradle to crown. To
the awakened consciousness, the Bethlehem babe has left
his
swaddling-clothes (material environments) for the |
| 9 |
farm and comeliness of the divine ideal, which has passed
from a corporeal to the spiritual sense of Christ and is
winning the heart
of humanity with ineffable tenderness. |
| 12 |
The Christ is speaking for himself and for his mother,
Christ's heavenly origin and aim. To-day the Christ is,
more than ever
before, "the way, the truth, and the |
| 15 |
life," - "which lighteth every man that cometh into the
world," healing all sorrow, sickness, and sin. To this
auspicious
Christmastide, which hallows the close of the |
| 18 |
nineteenth century, our hearts are kneeling humbly. We
own his grace, reviving and healing. At this immortal
hour, all human hate,
pride, greed, lust should bow and |
| 21 |
declare Christ's power, and the reign of Truth and Life
divine should make man's being pure and blest.
CHRISTMAS GIFTS
|
| 24 |
Beloved Students: - For your manifold Christmas
memo-
rials, too numerous to name, I group you in one benison
and send
you my Christmas gift, two words enwrapped, |
| 27 |
- love and thanks.
To-day Christian Scientists have their
record in the
monarch's palace, the Alpine hamlet, the Christian
trav- |
| 30 |
eller's resting-place. Wherever the child looks up in
Page 258
|
| 1 |
prayer, or the Book of Life is loved, there the sinner is
reformed and the sick are healed. Those are the "signs |
| 3 |
following." What is it that lifts a system of religion to
deserved fame? Nothing is worthy the name of religion
save one lowly
offering - love.
|
| 6 |
This period, so fraught with opposites, seems illumi-
nated for woman's hope with divine light. It bids her
bind the tenderest
tendril of the heart to all of holiest |
| 9 |
worth. To the woman at the sepulchre, bowed in strong
affection's anguish, one word, "Mary," broke the gloom
with Christ's
all-conquering love. Then came her resurrec- |
| 12 |
tion and task of glory, to know and to do God's will, -
in the words of St. Paul: "Looking unto Jesus the author
and finisher of
our faith; who for the joy that was set be- |
| 15 |
fore him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is
set down at the right hand of the throne of God."
The memory of the Bethlehem babe bears
to mortals |
| 18 |
gifts greater than those of Magian kings, - hopes that
cannot deceive, that waken prophecy, gleams of glory,
coronals of meekness,
diadems of love. Nor should they |
| 21 |
who drink their Master's cup repine over blossoms that
mock their hope and friends that forsake. Divinely
beautiful are the
Christmas memories of him who sounded |
| 24 |
all depths of love, grief, death, and humanity.
To the dear children let me say: Your
Christmas gifts
are hallowed by our Lord's blessing. A
transmitted |
| 27 |
charm rests on them. May this consciousness of God's
dear
love for you give you the might of love, and may
you move onward and
upward, lowly in its majesty.
|
| 30 |
To the children who sent me that beautiful statuette
in
alabaster - a child with finger on her lip reading a book
- I write: Fancy
yourselves with me; take a peep into
Page 259
|
| 1 |
my studio; look again at your gift, and you will see the
sweetest sculptured face and form conceivable, mounted |
| 3 |
on its pedestal between my bow windows, and on either
side lace and flowers. I have named it my white student.
From First Church of Christ,
Scientist, in London, |
| 6 |
Great Britain, I received the following cabled message: -
REV. MRS. EDDY, PLEASANT VIEW,
Concord, N. H.
|
| 9 |
Loving, grateful Christmas greetings from members
London, England, church.
December 24, 1901
|
| 12 |
To this church across the sea I return my heart's wire-
less love. All our dear churches' Christmas telegrams to
me are refreshing
and most pleasing Christmas presents, |
| 15 |
for they require less attention than packages and give me
more time to think and work for others. I hope that in
1902 the churches
will remember me only thus. Do not |
| 18 |
forget that an honest, wise zeal, a lowly, triumphant
trust, a true heart, and a helping hand constitute man,
and nothing less is
man or woman.
|
| 21 |
[New York World]
THE SIGNIFICANCE OF
CHRISTMAS
Certain occasions, considered either
collectively or |
| 24 |
individually and observed properly, tend to give the
activity of man infinite scope; but mere merry-making
or needless
gift-giving is not that in which human capac- |
| 27 |
ities find the most appropriate and proper exercise.
Christmas respects the Christ too much to submerge
itself in merely
temporary means and ends. It represents |
| 30 |
the eternal informing Soul recognized only in harmony,
Page 260
|
| 1 |
in the beauty and bounty of Life everlasting, - in the
truth that is Life, the Life that heals and saves man- |
| 3 |
kind. An eternal Christmas would make matter an alien
save as phenomenon, and matter would reverentially
withdraw itself before
Mind. The despotism of material |
| 6 |
sense or the flesh would flee before such reality, to
make
room for substance, and the shadow of frivolity and the
inaccuracy
of material sense would disappear.
|
| 9 |
In Christian Science, Christmas stands for the real, the
absolute and eternal, - for the things of Spirit, not of mat-
ter. Science
is divine; it hath no partnership with human |
| 12 |
means and ends, no half-way stations. Nothing condi-
tional or material belongs to it. Human reason and phi-
losophy may pursue
paths devious, the line of liquids, the |
| 15 |
lure of gold, the doubtful sense that falls short of
sub-
stance, the things hoped for and the evidence unseen.
The basis of Christmas is the rock,
Christ Jesus; its |
| 18 |
fruits are inspiration and spiritual understanding of joy
and rejoicing, - not because of tradition, usage, or cor-
poreal pleasures,
but because of fundamental and de- |
| 21 |
monstrable truth, because of the heaven within us. The
basis of Christmas is love loving its enemies, returning
good for evil,
love that "suffereth long, and is kind." The |
| 24 |
true spirit of Christmas elevates medicine to Mind; it
casts out evils, heals the sick, raises the dormant facul-
ties, appeals to
all conditions, and supplies every need of |
| 27 |
man. It leaves hygiene, medicine, ethics, and religion
to
God and His Christ, to that which is the Way, in word
and in deed, - the
Way, the Truth, and the Life.
|
| 30 |
There is but one Jesus Christ on record. Christ is
incorporeal. Neither the you nor the I in the flesh can
be or is
Christ.
Page 261
CHRISTMAS FOR THE
CHILDREN
Methinks the loving parents and
guardians of youth |
| 3 |
ofttimes query: How shall we cheer the children's Christ-
mas and profit them withal? The wisdom of their elders,
who seek wisdom of
God, seems to have amply provided |
| 6 |
for this, according to the custom of the age and to the
full
supply of juvenile joy. Let it continue thus with one
exception:
the children should not be taught to believe |
| 9 |
that Santa Claus has aught to do with this pastime. A
deceit or falsehood is never wise. Too much cannot be
done towards guarding
and guiding well the germinating |
| 12 |
and inclining thought of childhood. To mould aright
the
first impressions of innocence, aids in perpetu-
ating purity and in
unfolding the immortal model, man |
| 15 |
in His image and likeness. St. Paul wrote, "When I
was a
child, I spake as a child, I understood as a
child, . . . but when I became
a man, I put away |
| 18 |
childish things."
PLEASANT VIEW, CONCORD, N. H.,
December 28, 1905
|
| 21 |
[Ladies' Home Journal]
WHAT CHRISTMAS MEANS
TO ME
To me Christmas involves an open
secret, understood |
| 24 |
by few - or by none - and unutterable except in Chris-
tian Science. Christ was not born of the flesh. Christ
is the Truth and
Life born of God - born of Spirit and |
| 27 |
not of matter. Jesus, the Galilean Prophet, was born
of
the Virgin Mary's spiritual thoughts of Life and its
manifestation.
Page 262
|
| 1 |
God creates man perfect and eternal in His own image.
Hence man is the image, idea, or likeness of perfection |
| 3 |
- an ideal which cannot fall from its inherent unity
with
divine Love, from its spotless purity and original
perfection.
|
| 6 |
Observed by material sense, Christmas commemorates
the
birth of a human, material, mortal babe - a babe
born in a manger amidst
the flocks and herds of a Jewish |
| 9 |
village.
This homely origin of the babe Jesus
falls far short
of my sense of the eternal Christ, Truth, never born
and |
| 12 |
never dying. I celebrate Christmas with my soul, my
spiritual sense, and so commemorate the entrance into
human understanding
of the Christ conceived of Spirit, |
| 15 |
of God and not of a woman-as the birth of Truth, the
dawn
of divine Love breaking upon the gloom of matter
and evil with the glory of
infinite being.
|
| 18 |
Human doctrines or hypotheses or vague human phi-
losophy
afford little divine effulgence, deific presence or
power. Christmas to me
is the reminder of God's great |
| 21 |
gift, - His spiritual idea, man and the universe, -
a
gift which so transcends mortal, material, sensual giv-
ing that the
merriment, mad ambition, rivalry, and |
| 24 |
ritual of our common Christmas seem a human mock-
ery in
mimicry of the real worship in commemoration
of Christ's coming.
|
| 27 |
I love to observe Christmas in quietude, humility,
benevolence, charity, letting good will towards man, elo-
quent silence,
prayer, and praise express my conception |
| 30 |
of Truth's appearing.
The splendor of this nativity of
Christ reveals infinite
meanings and gives manifold blessings. Material
gifts
Page 263
|
| 1 |
and pastimes tend to obliterate the spiritual idea in
con-
sciousness, leaving one alone and without His glory.
MRS. EDDY'S
CHRISTMAS MESSAGE
MY HOUSEHOLD
Beloved: - A word to the wise is sufficient. Mother |
| 6 |
wishes you all a happy Christmas, a feast of Soul and
a
famine of sense.
Lovingly thine, |
| 9 |
MARY BAKER EDDY
BOX G, BROOKLINE, MASS.,
December
25, 1909
Page 264
CHAPTER
XIV - CONTRIBUTIONS TO NEWSPAPERS AND MAGAZINES
|
| 1 |
[Boston Herald, May 5, 1900]
A WORD IN
DEFENCE
|
| 3 |
I EVEN hope that those who are kind enough to
speak well
of me may do so honestly and not too
earnestly, and this seldom, until
mankind learn more of |
| 6 |
my meaning and can speak justly of my living.
[Boston Globe, November 29,
1900]
CHRISTIAN SCIENCE
THANKS
|
| 9 |
On the threshold of the twentieth century, will you
please send through the Globe to the people of New
England, which is
the birthplace of Thanksgiving Day, a |
| 12 |
sentiment on what the last Thanksgiving Day of the
nineteenth century should signify to all mankind?
Mrs. Eddy's
Response
|
| 15 |
New England's last Thanksgiving Day of this century
signifies to the minds of men the Bible better understood
and Truth and
Love made more practical; the First |
| 18 |
Commandment of the Decalogue more imperative, and
Page 265
|
| 1 |
"Love thy neighbor as thyself" more possible and
pleasurable.
|
| 3 |
It signifies that love, unselfed, knocks more loudly than
ever before at the heart of humanity and that it finds
admittance; that
revelation, spiritual voice and vision, |
| 6 |
are less subordinate to material sight and sound and more
apparent to reason; that evil flourishes less, invests less
in trusts,
loses capital, and is bought at par value; that |
| 9 |
the Christ-spirit will cleanse the earth of human gore;
that civilization, peace between nations, and the brother-
hood of man
should be established, and justice plead not |
| 12 |
vainly in behalf of the sacred rights of individuals,
peoples,
and nations.
It signifies that the Science of
Christianity has dawned |
| 15 |
upon human thought to appear full-orbed in millennial
glory; that scientific religion and scientific therapeutics
are improving
the morals and increasing the longevity |
| 18 |
of mankind, are mitigating and destroying sin, disease,
and death; that religion and materia medica should be
no longer
tyrannical and proscriptive; that divine Love, |
| 21 |
impartial and universal, as understood in divine Sci-
ence, forms the coincidence of the human and divine,
which fulfils the
saying of our great Master, "The king- |
| 24 |
dom of God is within you;" that the atmosphere of the
human mind, when cleansed of self and permeated with
divine Love, will
reflect this purified subjective state in |
| 27 |
clearer skies, less thunderbolts, tornadoes, and extremes
of
heat and cold; that agriculture, manufacture, commerce,
and wealth
should be governed by honesty, indus- |
| 30 |
try, and justice, reaching out to all classes and peoples.
For these signs of the times we thank our Father-
Mother God.
Page 266
[New York World, December,
1900]
INSUFFICIENT
FREEDOM
|
| 3 |
To my sense, the most imminent dangers confronting
the
coming century are: the robbing of people of life and
liberty under the
warrant of the Scriptures; the claims of |
| 6 |
politics and of human power, industrial slavery, and
insuf-
ficient freedom of honest competition; and ritual, creed,
and
trusts in place of the Golden Rule, "Whatsoever ye |
| 9 |
would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them."
[Concord (N. H.)
Monitor, July, 1902]
CHRISTIAN SCIENCE
AND THE TIMES
|
| 12 |
Your article on the decrease of students in the semi-
naries and the consequent vacancies occurring in the
pulpits, points
unmistakably to the "signs of the times" |
| 15 |
of which Jesus spoke. This flux and flow in one direc-
tion, so generally apparent, tends in one ultimate - the
final
spiritualization of all things, of all codes, modes, |
| 18 |
hypotheses, of man and the universe. How can it be
otherwise, since God is Spirit and the origin of all that
really is, and
since this great fact is to be verified by the |
| 21 |
spiritualization of all?
Since 1877, these special "signs of
the times" have in-
creased year by year. My book, "Science and
Health |
| 24 |
with Key to the Scriptures," was published in 1875.
Note,
if you please, that many points in theology and
materia medica, at
that date undisturbed, are now agitated, |
| 27 |
modified, and disappearing, and the more spiritual modes
and significations are adopted.
It is undoubtedly true that Christian
Science is destined
Page 267
|
| 1 |
to become the one and the only religion and therapeutics
on this planet. And why not, since Christianity is fully |
| 3 |
demonstrated to be divine Science? Nothing can be cor-
rect and continue forever which is not divinely scientific,
for Science is
the law of the Mind that is God, who is |
| 6 |
the originator of all that really is. The Scripture
reads:
"All things were made by Him; and without Him was
not any thing
made that was made." Here let us re- |
| 9 |
member that God is not the Alpha and Omega of man
and the
universe; He is supreme, infinite, the great for-
ever, the eternal Mind
that hath no beginning and no |
| 12 |
end, no Alpha and no Omega.
HEAVEN
|
| 15 |
Is heaven spiritual?
Heaven is spiritual. Heaven is
harmony, - infinite,
boundless bliss. The dying or the departed enter
heaven |
| 18 |
in proportion to their progress, in proportion to their
fit-
ness to partake of the quality and the quantity of heaven.
One
individual may first awaken from his dream of life |
| 21 |
in matter with a sense of music; another with that of
relief from fear or suffering, and still another with a bit-
ter sense of
lost opportunities and remorse. Heaven is |
| 24 |
the reign of divine Science. Material thought tends to
obscure spiritual understanding, to darken the true con-
ception of man's
divine Principle, Love, wherein and |
| 27 |
whereby soul is emancipate and environed with ever-
lasting Life. Our great Teacher hath said: "Behold, the
kingdom of God is
within you" - within man's spiritual |
| 30 |
understanding of all the divine modes, means, forms, ex-
pression, and manifestation of goodness and happiness.
Page 268
[Boston Herald, March 5,
1905]
PREVENTION AND CURE
OF DIVORCE
|
| 3 |
The nuptial vow should never be annulled so long as
the
morale of marriage is preserved. The frequency of
divorce shows that
the imperative nature of the mar- |
| 6 |
riage relation is losing ground, - hence that some funda-
mental error is engrafted on it. What is this error?
If the motives of
human affection are right, the affec- |
| 9 |
tions are enduring and achieving. What God hath joined
together, man cannot sunder.
Divorce and war should be exterminated
according to |
| 12 |
the Principle of law and gospel, - the maintenance of
individual rights, the justice of civil codes, and the power
of Truth
uplifting the motives of men. Two command- |
| 15 |
ments of the Hebrew Decalogue, "Thou shalt not commit
adultery" and "Thou shalt not kill," obeyed, will elimi-
nate divorce and
war. On what hath not a "Thus saith |
| 18 |
the Lord," I am as silent as the dumb centuries without
a living Divina.
This time-world flutters in my thought
as an unreal |
| 21 |
shadow, and I can only solace the sore ills of mankind by
a lively battle with "the world, the flesh and the devil,"
in which Love
is the liberator and gives man the victory |
| 24 |
over himself. Truth, canonized by life and love, lays
the
axe at the root of all evil, lifts the curtain on the
Science of being, the
Science of wedlock, of living and of |
| 27 |
loving, and harmoniously ascends the scale of life. Look
high enough, and you see the heart of humanity warming
and winning. Look
long enough, and you see male and |
| 30 |
female one - sex or gender eliminated; you see the des-
ignation man meaning woman as well, and you see the
Page 269
|
| 1 |
whole universe included in one infinite Mind and
reflected
in the intelligent compound idea, image or likeness, called |
| 3 |
man, showing forth the infinite divine Principle, Love,
called God, - man wedded to the Lamb, pledged to inno-
cence, purity,
perfection. Then shall humanity have |
| 6 |
learned that "they which shall be accounted worthy to
obtain that world, and the resurrection from the dead,
neither marry, nor
are given in marriage: neither can |
| 9 |
they die any more: for they are equal unto the angels;
and are the children of God." (Luke 20: 35, 36.) This,
therefore, is
Christ's plan of salvation from divorce.
|
| 12 |
All are but parts of one
stupendous whole,
Whose body nature is, and God the Soul.
- POPE
15 [The Independent, November, 1906]
HARVEST
God hath thrust in the sickle, and He
is separating the |
| 18 |
tares from the wheat. This hour is molten in the furnace
of Soul. Its harvest song is world-wide, world-known,
world-great. The vine
is bringing forth its fruit; the |
| 21 |
beams of right have healing in their light. The windows
of heaven are sending forth their rays of reality - even
Christian Science,
pouring out blessing for cursing, and |
| 24 |
rehearsing: "I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes,
and he shall not destroy the fruits of your ground."
"Prove me now
herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I |
| 27 |
will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you
out
a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to
receive it."
|
| 30 |
The lie and the liar are self-destroyed. Truth is im-
Page 270
|
| 1 |
mortal. "Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: . . . for so
persecuted they the prophets which were before you." |
| 3 |
The cycle of good obliterates the epicycle of evil.
Because of the magnitude of their
spiritual import, we
repeat the signs of these times. In 1905, the First
Con- |
| 6 |
gregational Church, my first religious home in this
capital
city of Concord, N. H., kindly invited me to its one hun-
dred
and seventy-fifth anniversary; the leading editors |
| 9 |
and newspapers of my native State congratulate me; the
records of my ancestry attest honesty and valor. Divine
Love, nearer my
consciousness than before, saith: I am |
| 12 |
rewarding your waiting, and "thy people shall be my
people."
Let error rage and imagine a vain
thing. Mary Baker |
| 15 |
Eddy is not dead, and the words of those who say that she
is are the father of their wish. Her life is proven under
trial,
and evidences "as thy days, so shall thy strength be."
|
| 18 |
Those words of our dear, departing Saviour, breathing
love for his enemies, fill my heart: "Father, forgive them;
for they know
not what they do." My writings heal the |
| 21 |
sick, and I thank God that for the past forty years I
have returned good for evil, and that I can appeal to
Him as my witness to
the truth of this statement.
|
| 24 |
What we love determines what we are. I love the
prosperity of Zion, be it promoted by Catholic, by Prot-
estant, or by
Christian Science, which anoints with |
| 27 |
Truth, opening the eyes of the blind and healing the
sick.
I would no more quarrel with a man because of his religion
than I
would because of his art. The divine Principle of |
| 30 |
Christian Science will ultimately be seen to control
both
religion and art in unity and harmony. God is Spirit,
and "they
that worship Him must worship Him in spirit
Page 271
|
| 1 |
and in truth." If, as the Scriptures declare, God,
Spirit,
is infinite, matter and material sense are null, and there |
| 3 |
are no vertebrata, mollusca, or radiata.
When I wrote "Science and Health with
Key to the
Scriptures," I little understood all that I indited;
but |
| 6 |
when I practised its precepts, healing the sick and
reform-
ing the sinner, then I learned the truth of what I had
written.
It is of comparatively little importance what a |
| 9 |
man thinks or believes he knows; the good that a man
does
is the one thing needful and the sole proof of rightness.
[The Evening Press, Grand
Rapids, Mich., August, 1907]
MRS. EDDY DESCRIBES
HER HUMAN IDEAL
In a modest, pleasantly situated home
in the city of
Concord, N. H., lives at eighty-six years of age the
most |
| 15 |
discussed woman in all the world. This lady with sweet
smile and snowy hair is Mrs. Mary Baker Eddy, Founder
and Leader of
Christian Science, beloved of thousands |
| 18 |
of believers and followers of the thought that has made
her famous. It was to this aged woman of world-wide
renown that the editor
of The Evening Press addressed |
| 21 |
this question, requesting the courtesy of a reply: -
"What is nearest and dearest to your
heart to-day?"
Mrs. Eddy's reply will be read with
deep interest by all |
| 24 |
Americans, who, whatever their religious beliefs, cannot
fail to be impressed by the personality of this remarkable
woman.
Mrs. Eddy's
Answer
Editor of The Evening
Press: - To your courtesy and
to your
question permit me to say that, insomuch as I |
| 30 |
know myself, what is "nearest and dearest" to my heart
Page 272
|
| 1 |
is an honest man or woman - one who steadfastly and
actively strives for perfection, one who leavens the loaf |
| 3 |
of life with justice, mercy, truth, and love.
Goodness is greatness, and the logic
of events pushes
onward the centuries; hence the Scripture, "The law
of |
| 6 |
the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me [man]
free
from the law of sin and death."
This predicate and ultimate of
scientific being presents, |
| 9 |
however, no claim that man is equal to God, for the
finite
is not the altitude of the infinite.
The real man was, is, and ever shall
be the divine ideal, |
| 12 |
that is, God's image and likeness; and Christian Science
reveals the divine Principle, the example, the rule, and
the demonstration
of this idealism. |
| 15 |
Sincerely yours,
MARY BAKER EDDY
PLEASANT VIEW, CONCORD, N. H.
[Cosmopolitan, November, 1907] |