0.0 – Christian Science – 16 Books by Mary Baker Eddy – Bk 16 – The First Church of Christ Scientist and Miscellany – Chpt 9 – Letters to Branch Churches

                    Chapter IX 

  	          LETTERS TO BRANCH CHURCHES

 1	         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,
 9	                               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
 
                                                          Miscellany                                   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?" 


 9	         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. 
 
                              Letters to Branch Churches                        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,
 9	                                 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
 
                                                          Miscellany                                   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. 

 
                              Letters to Branch Churches                        203


 1	          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
 
                                                          Miscellany                                   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. 


12	           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. 
 
                              Letters to Branch Churches                        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. 
  
                                                          Miscellany                                   206


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." 

 
                              Letters to Branch Churches                     207


 1	           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. 


 6	          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 
  
                                                          Miscellany                                   208


1	            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. 
 
                              Letters to Branch Churches                     209


 1	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.SHOW ALL