Page 95 CHAPTER IV - ADDRESSES
CHRISTIAN SCIENCE IN TREMONT TEMPLE
FROM the platform of the Monday lectureship in | |
| 3 | Tremont Temple, on Monday, March 16, 1885, as will be seen by what follows, Reverend Mary Baker G. Eddy was presented to Mr. Cook's audience, and allowed |
| 6 | ten minutes in which to reply to his public letter con- demning her doctrines; which reply was taken in full by a shorthand reporter who was present, and is transcribed |
| 9 | below. Mrs. Eddy responding, said: - As the time so kindly allotted me is insufficient for |
| 12 | even a synopsis of Christian Science, I shall confine my- Am I a spiritualist? |
| 15 | I am not, and never was. I understand the impossi- bility of intercommunion between the so-called dead and living. There have always attended my life phenomena |
| 18 | of an uncommon order, which spiritualists have mis- called mediumship; but I clearly understand that no human agencies were employed, - that the divine Mind |
| 21 | reveals itself to humanity through spiritual law. And Page 96 |
| 1 | finitude of divinity and the way of man's salvation from sickness and death, as wrought out by Jesus, who robbed |
| 3 | the grave of victory and death of its sting. I understand that God is an ever-present help in all times of trouble, - have found Him so; and would have no other gods, no |
| 6 | remedies in drugs, no material medicine. Do I believe in a personal God? I believe in God as the Supreme Being. I know not |
| 9 | what the person of omnipotence and omnipresence is, or what the infinite includes; therefore, I worship that of which I can conceive, first, as a loving Father and |
| 12 | Mother; then, as thought ascends the scale of being to diviner consciousness, God becomes to me, as to the apostle who declared it, "God is Love," - divine Prin- |
| 15 | ciple, - which I worship; and "after the manner of my Do I believe in the atonement of Christ? |
| 18 | I do; and this atonement becomes more to me since it includes man's redemption from sickness as well as from sin. I reverence and adore Christ as never before. |
| 21 | It brings to my sense, and to the sense of all who en- tertain this understanding of the Science of God, a whole salvation. |
| 24 | How is the healing done in Christian Science? This answer includes too much to give you any con- |
| 27 | means by which it is not done. It is not one mind acting upon another mind; it
is |
| 30 | other minds; it is not supported by the evidence before Page 97 |
| 1 | to destroy the power of the flesh; it is Truth over error; that understood, gives man ability to rise above the evi- |
| 3 | dence of the senses, take hold of the eternal energies of Truth, and destroy mortal discord with immortal har- mony, - the grand verities of being. It is not one mortal |
| 6 | thought transmitted to another's thought from the human Our Master said of one of his students, "He is a devil," |
| 9 | and repudiated the idea of casting out devils through Beelzebub. Erring human mind is by no means a de- sirable or efficacious healer. Such suppositional healing |
| 12 | I deprecate. It is in no way allied to divine power. All human control is animal magnetism, more despicable than all other methods of treating disease. |
| 15 | Christian Science is not a remedy of faith alone, but combines faith with understanding, through which we may touch the hem of His garment; and know that om- |
| 18 | nipotence has all power. "I am the Lord, and there is Is there a personal man? |
| 21 | The Scriptures inform us that man was made in the image and likeness of God. I commend the Icelandic translation: "He created man in the image and likeness |
| 24 | of Mind, in the image and likeness of Mind created He him." To my sense, we have not seen all of man; he is more than personal sense can cognize, who is the |
| 27 | image and likeness of the infinite. I have not seen a perfect man in mind or body, - and such must be the personality of him who is the true likeness: the lost |
| 30 | image is not this personality, and corporeal man is this Page 98 |
| 1 | question of personality a point, or of any importance, is that man's perfect model should be held in mind, whereby |
| 3 | to improve his present condition; that his contemplation SCIENCE AND THE SENSES Substance of my Address at the National Convention in Chicago, |
| 9 | The National Christian Scientist Association has brought us together to minister and to be ministered unto; mutually to aid one another in finding ways and |
| 12 | means for helping the whole human family; to quicken and extend the interest already felt in a higher mode of medicine; to watch with eager joy the individual growth |
| 15 | of Christian Scientists, and the progress of our common Cause in Chicago, - the miracle of the Occident. We come to strengthen and perpetuate our organizations |
| 18 | and institutions; and to find strength in union, - strength to build up, through God's right hand, that pure and undefiled religion whose Science demonstrates God and |
| 21 | the perfectibility of man. This purpose is immense, and it must begin with individual growth, a "consum- mation devoutly to be wished." The lives of all re- |
| 24 | formers attest the authenticity of their mission, and call the world to acknowledge its divine Principle. Truly is it written: - |
| 27 | "Thou must be true thyself, if thou the truth would'st
teach; Page 99 |
| 1 | Science is absolute and final. It is revolutionary in its very nature; for it upsets all that is not upright. |
| 3 | It annuls false evidence, and saith to the five material senses, "Having eyes ye see not, and ears ye hear not; neither can you understand." To weave one thread of |
| 6 | Science through the looms of time, is a miracle in itself. The risk is stupendous. It cost Galileo, what? This awful price: the temporary loss of his self-respect. His |
| 9 | fear overcame his loyalty; the courage of his convictions fell before it. Fear is the weapon in the hands of tyrants. |
| 12 | Men and women of the nineteenth century, are you called to voice a higher order of Science? Then obey this call. Go, if you must, to the dungeon or the scaf- |
| 15 | fold, but take not back the words of Truth. How many are there ready to suffer for a righteous cause, to stand a long siege, take the front rank, face the foe, and be |
| 18 | in the battle every day? In no other one thing seemed Jesus of Nazareth
more |
| 21 | He said, "Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away;" and they have not. The winds of time sweep clean the centuries, but they can |
| 24 | never bear into oblivion his words. They still live, and to-morrow speak louder than to-day. They are to-day as the voice of one crying in the wilderness, "Make |
| 27 | straight God's paths; make way for health, holiness, universal harmony, and come up hither." The gran- deur of the word, the power of Truth, is again casting |
| 30 | out evils and healing the sick; and it is whispered, "This Jesus taught by the wayside, in humble homes. He Page 100 |
| 1 | spake of Truth and Love to artless listeners and dull disciples. His immortal words were articulated in a |
| 3 | decaying language, and then left to the providence of God. Christian Science was to interpret them; and woman, "last at the cross," was to awaken the dull senses, |
| 6 | intoxicated with pleasure or pain, to the infinite mean- Past, present, future, will show the word and might of |
| 9 | Truth - healing the sick and reclaiming the sinner - so long as there remains a claim of error for Truth to deny or to destroy. Love's labors are not lost. The |
| 12 | five personal senses, that grasp neither the meaning nor the magnitude of self-abnegation, may lose sight thereof; but Science voices unselfish love, unfolds infinite good, |
| 15 | leads on irresistible forces, and will finally show the fruits of Love. Human reason is inaccurate; and the scope of the senses is inadequate to grasp the word of Truth, |
| 18 | and teach the eternal. Science speaks when the senses are silent, and then |
| 21 | itor understood is coincidence of the divine with the human, the acme of Christian Science. Pure humanity, friendship, home, the interchange of love, bring to earth |
| 24 | a foretaste of heaven. They unite terrestrial and celes- The Christian Scientist loves man more because he |
| 27 | loves God most. He understands this Principle, - Love. Who is sufficient for these things? Who remembers that patience, forgiveness, abiding faith, and affection, are |
| 30 | the symptoms by which our Father indicates the dif- Page 101 |
| 1 | are made eloquent, how hearts are inspired, how heal- ing becomes spontaneous, and how the divine Mind is |
| 3 | understood and demonstrated? He alone knows these wonders who is departing from the thraldom of the senses and accepting spiritual truth, - that which blesses |
| 6 | its adoption by the refinement of joy and the dismissal of Christian Science and the senses are at war. It is a |
| 9 | revolutionary struggle. We already have had two in this nation; and they began and ended in a contest for the true idea, for human liberty and rights. Now cometh |
| 12 | a third struggle; for the freedom of health, holiness, and The scientific sense of being which establishes har- |
| 15 | mony, enters into no compromise with finiteness and feebleness. It undermines the foundations of mortality, of physical law, breaks their chains, and sets the captive |
| 18 | free, opening the doors for them that are bound. He who turns to the body for evidence, bases his
con- |
| 21 | to man, "God hath all-power." The Science of omnipotence demonstrates but one |
| 24 | but Mind. This virtually destroys matter and evil, in- If God is All, and God is good, it follows that all |
| 27 | must be good; and no other power, law, or intelligence can exist. On this proof rest premise and conclusion in Science, and the facts that disprove the evidence of the |
| 30 | senses. God is individual Mind. This one Mind and His Page 102 individualities, and prophesy the nature and stature
of |
| 3 | A corporeal God, as often defined by lexicographers and scholastic theologians, is only an infinite finite being, an unlimited man, - a theory to me inconceivable. If |
| 6 | the unlimited and immortal Mind could originate in a limited body, Mind would be chained to finity, and the infinite forever finite. |
| 9 | In this limited and lower sense God is not personal. His infinity precludes the possibility of corporeal person- ality. His being is individual, but not physical. |
| 12 | God is like Himself and like nothing else. He is uni- versal and primitive. His character admits of no degrees of comparison. God is not part, but the whole. In His |
| 15 | individuality I recognize the loving, divine Father-Mother God's ways are not ours. His pity is expressed in |
| 18 | modes above the human. His chastisements are the manifestations of Love. The sympathy of His eternal Mind is fully expressed in divine Science, which blots |
| 21 | out all our iniquities and heals all our diseases. Human Science supports harmony, denies suffering, and de- |
| 24 | stroys it with the divinity of Truth. Whatever seems mate- rial, seems thus only to the material senses, and is but the subjective state of mortal and material thought. |
| 27 | Science has inaugurated the irrepressible conflict be- tween sense and Soul. Mortal thought wars with this sense as one that beateth the air, but Science outmasters |
| 30 | it, and ends the warfare. This proves daily that "one Science defines omnipresence as universality,
that which Page 103 |
| 1 | precludes the presence of evil. This verity annuls the tes- timony of the senses, which say that sin is an evil power, |
| 3 | and substance is perishable. Intelligent Spirit, Soul, is substance, far more impregnable and solid than matter; for one is temporal, while the other is eternal, the ultimate |
| 6 | and predicate of being. Mortality, materiality, and destructive forces,
such as |
| 9 | but these are the substance of things not hoped for. For lack of knowing what substance is, the senses say vaguely: "The substance of life is sorrow and mortality; for who |
| 12 | knoweth the substance of good?" In Science, form and individuality are never lost, thoughts are outlined, indi- vidualized ideas, which dwell forever in the divine Mind |
| 15 | as tangible, true substance, because eternally conscious. Unlike mortal mind, which must be ever in bondage, the eternal Mind is free, unlimited, and knows not the |
| 18 | temporal. Neither does the temporal know the eternal. Mortal |
| 21 | of immortal man. Any inference of the divine derived from the human, either as mind or body, hides the actual power, presence, and individuality of God. |
| 24 | Jesus' personality in the flesh, so far as material sense could discern it, was like that of other men; but Science exchanges this human concept of Jesus for the divine |
| 27 | ideal, his spiritual individuality that reflected the Im- manuel, or "God with us." This God was not outlined. He was too mighty for that. He was eternal Life, infinite |
| 30 | Truth and Love. The individuality is embraced in Mind, Page 104 |
| 1 | his personality was on earth and in anguish, his individual being, the Christ, was at rest in the eternal harmony. |
| 3 | His unseen individuality, so superior to that which was seen, was not subject to the temptations of the flesh, to laws material, to death, or the grave. Formed and gov- |
| 6 | erned by God, this individuality was safe in the substance of Soul, the substance of Spirit, - yea, the substance of God, the one inclusive good. |
| 9 | In Science all being is individual; for individuality is endless in the calculus of forms and numbers. Herein sin is miraculous and supernatural; for it is not in the |
| 12 | nature of God, and good is forever good. Accord- ing to Christian Science, perfection is normal, - not miraculous. Clothed, and in its right Mind, man's |
| 15 | individuality is sinless, deathless, harmonious, eternal. His materiality, clad in a false mentality, wages feeble fight with his individuality, - his physical senses with |
| 18 | his spiritual senses. The latter move in God's grooves of Science: the former revolve in their own orbits, and must stand the friction of false selfhood until self- |
| 21 | destroyed. In obedience to the divine nature, man's individuality |
| 24 | we reach our true selves? Through Love. The Prin- ciple of Christian Science is Love, and its idea represents Love. This divine Principle and idea are demonstrated, |
| 27 | in healing, to be God and the real man. Who wants to be mortal, or would not gain the true |
| 30 | love, if another hates. I will gain a balance on the side of Page 105 |
| 1 | implicit faith engendered by Christian Science, which appeals intelligently to the facts of man's spirituality, in- |
| 3 | dividuality, to disdain the fears and destroy the discords On our Master's individual demonstrations over sin, |
| 6 | sickness, and death, rested the anathema of priesthood and the senses; yet this demonstration is the foundation of Christian Science. His physical sufferings, which |
| 9 | came from the testimony of the senses, were over when he resumed his individual spiritual being, after showing us the way to escape from the material body. |
| 12 | Science would have no conflict with Life or common sense, if this sense were consistently sensible. Man's real life or existence is in harmony with Life and its glorious |
| 15 | phenomena. It upholds being, and destroys the too common sense of its opposites - death, disease, and sin. Christian Science is an everlasting victor, and vanquish- |
| 18 | ment is unknown to the omnipresent Truth. I must ever Christian Science is my only ideal; and the individual |
| 21 | and his ideal can never be severed. If either is misunder- stood or maligned, it eclipses the other with the shadow cast by this error. |
| 24 | Truth destroys error. Nothing appears to the physi- cal senses but their own subjective state of thought. The senses join issue with error, and pity what has no right |
| 27 | either to be pitied or to exist, and what does not exist in Science. Destroy the thought of sin, sickness, death, and you destroy their existence. "Whatsoever a man soweth, |
| 30 | that shall he also reap." Because God is Mind, and this Mind is good, all Page 106 |
| 1 | universe. Then what and where are sin, sickness, and death? |
| 3 | Christian Science and Christian Scientists will, must, have a history; and if I could write the history in poor parody on Tennyson's grand verse, it would read |
| 6 | thus: - Traitors to right of them, M. D.'s to left of them, |
| 9 | Priestcraft in front of them, Volleyed and thundered! Into the jaws of hate, |
| 12 | Out through the door of Love, EXTRACT FROM MY Friends and Brethren: - Your Sunday Lesson, com- |
| 18 | posed of Scripture and its correlative in "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures," has fed you. In addi- tion, I can only bring crumbs fallen from this table of |
| 21 | Truth, and gather up the fragments. It has long been a question of earnest import,
How |
| 24 | unadored, - and where shall begin that praise that shall never end? Beneath, above, beyond, methinks I hear the soft, sweet sigh of angels answering, "So live, that |
| 27 | your lives attest your sincerity and resound His praise." Music is the harmony of being; but the music of
Soul |
| 30 | and awaken the heart's harpstrings. Moved by mind, Page 107 |
| 1 | instruments, praises Him; but even the sweetness and beauty in and of this temple that praise Him, are earth's |
| 3 | accents, and must not be mistaken for the oracles of God. Art must not prevail over Science. Christianity is not superfluous. Its redemptive power is seen in sore trials, |
| 6 | self-denials, and crucifixions of the flesh. But these come to the rescue of mortals, to admonish them, and plant the feet steadfastly in Christ. As we rise above the seem- |
| 9 | ing mists of sense, we behold more clearly that all the More love is the great need of mankind. A pure af- |
| 12 | fection, concentric, forgetting self, forgiving wrongs and Three cardinal points must be gained before poor |
| 15 | humanity is regenerated and Christian Science is dem- onstrated: (1) A proper sense of sin; (2) repentance; (3) the understanding of good. Evil is a negation: it |
| 18 | never started with time, and it cannot keep pace with eternity. Mortals' false senses pass through three states and stages of human consciousness before yielding error. |
| 21 | The deluded sense must first be shown its falsity through a knowledge of evil as evil, so-called. Without a sense of one's oft-repeated violations of divine law, the in- |
| 24 | dividual may become morally blind, and this deplorable mental state is moral idiocy. The lack of seeing one's deformed mentality, and of repentance therefor, deep, |
| 27 | never to be repented of, is retarding, and in certain mor- bid instances stopping, the growth of Christian Scientists. Without a knowledge of his sins, and repentance so severe |
| 30 | that it destroys them, no person is or can be a Christian Mankind thinks either too much or too little of
sin. Page 108 |
| 1 | The sensitive, sorrowing saint thinks too much of it: the sordid sinner, or the so-called Christian asleep, thinks too |
| 3 | little of sin. To allow sin of any sort is anomalous in Christian |
| 6 | Our Master, in his definition of Satan as a liar from the beginning, attested the absolute powerlessness - yea, nothingness - of evil: since a lie, being without founda- |
| 9 | tion in fact, is merely a falsity; spiritually, literally, it is nothing. Not to know that a false claim is false, is to be in danger |
| 12 | of believing it; hence the utility of knowing evil aright, then reducing its claim to its proper denominator, - nobody and nothing. Sin should be conceived of only |
| 15 | as a delusion. This true conception would remove mortals' ignorance and its consequences, and advance the second stage of human consciousness, repentance. The first |
| 18 | state, namely, the knowledge of one's self, the proper knowledge of evil and its subtle workings wherein evil seems as real as good, is indispensable; since that which |
| 21 | is truly conceived of, we can handle; but the misconcep- tion of what we need to know of evil, - or the concep- tion of it at all as something real, - costs much. Sin |
| 24 | needs only to be known for what it is not; then we are its master, not servant. Remember, and act on, Jesus' definition of sin as a lie. This cognomen makes it less |
| 27 | dangerous; for most of us would not be seen believing in, or adhering to, that which we know to be untrue. What would be thought of a Christian Scientist who be- |
| 30 | lieved in the use of drugs, while declaring that they have Page 109 |
| 1 | which is untrue, and at the same time declaring the unity of Truth, and its allness? Beware of those who mis- |
| 3 | represent facts; or tacitly assent where they should dis- sent; or who take me as authority for what I disapprove, or mayhap never have thought of, and try to reverse, in- |
| 6 | vert, or controvert, Truth; for this is a sure pretext of Examine yourselves, and see what, and how much, sin |
| 9 | claims of you; and how much of this claim you admit as valid, or comply with. The knowledge of evil that brings on repentance is the most hopeful stage of mortal |
| 12 | mentality. Even a mild mistake must be seen as a mis- take, in order to be corrected; how much more, then, should one's sins be seen and repented of, before they |
| 15 | can be reduced to their native nothingness! Ignorance is only blest by reason of its nothingness; for seeing the need of somethingness in its stead, blesses |
| 18 | mortals. Ignorance was the first condition of sin in the allegory of Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden. Their mental state is not desirable, neither is a knowledge of |
| 21 | sin and its consequences, repentance, per se; but, ad- mitting the existence of both, mortals must hasten through the second to the third stage, - the knowledge of good; |
| 24 | for without this the valuable sequence of knowledge would be lacking, - even the power to escape from the false claims of sin. To understand good, one must discern |
| 27 | the nothingness of evil, and consecrate one's life anew. Beloved brethren, Christ, Truth, saith unto you,
"Be |
| 30 | but only fear to sin. Watch and pray for self-knowledge; Page 110 |
| 1 | Repentance is better than sacrifice. The costly balm of Araby, poured on our Master's feet, had not the value |
| 3 | of a single tear. Beloved children, the world has need of you, -
and |
| 6 | innocence, unselfishness, faithful affection, uncontami- nated lives. You need also to watch, and pray that you preserve these virtues unstained, and lose them not through |
| 9 | contact with the world. What grander ambition is there than to maintain in yourselves what Jesus loved, and to know that your example, more than words, makes morals |
| 12 | for mankind ! ADDRESS BEFORE THE ALUMNI OF THE MASSACHUSETTS METAPHYSICAL COLLEGE, 1895 |
| 15 | My Beloved Students: - Weeks have passed into months, and months into years, since last we met; but time and space, when encompassed by divine presence, |
| 18 | do not separate us. Our hearts have kept time together, and our hands have wrought steadfastly at the same object-lesson, while leagues have lain between us. |
| 21 | We may well unite in thanksgiving for the continued progress and unprecedented prosperity of our Cause. It is already obvious that the world's acceptance and the |
| 24 | momentum of Christian Science, increase rapidly as As Christian Scientists, you have dared the perilous de- |
| 27 | fense of Truth, and have succeeded. You have learned Page 111 |
| 1 | You have proven that the greatest piety is scarcely sufficient to demonstrate what you have adopted and |
| 3 | taught; that your work, well done, would dignify angels. Faithfully, as meekly, you have toiled all night;
and |
| 6 | been so full that it broke: human pride, creeping into its meshes, extended it beyond safe expansion; then, losing hold of divine Love, you lost your fishes, and pos- |
| 9 | sibly blamed others more than yourself. But those whom God makes "fishers of men" will not pull for the shore; like Peter, they launch into the depths, cast their nets |
| 12 | on the right side, compensate loss, and gain a higher sense of the true idea. Nothing is lost that God gives: had He filled the net, it would not have broken. |
| 15 | Leaving the seed of Truth to its own vitality, it propa- gates: the tares cannot hinder it. Our Master said, "Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall |
| 18 | not pass away;" and Jesus' faith in Truth must not ex- ceed that of Christian Scientists who prove its power to be immortal. |
| 21 | The Christianity that is merely of sects, the pulpit, and fashionable society, is brief; but the Word of God abideth. Plato was a pagan; but no greater difference existed be- |
| 24 | tween his doctrines and those of Jesus, than to-day exists between the Catholic and Protestant sects. I love the orthodox church; and, in time, that church will love |
| 27 | Christian Science. Let me specially call the attention of this Association to the following false beliefs inclining mortal mind more deviously: - |
| 30 | The belief in anti-Christ: that somebody in the flesh Page 112 |
| 1 | in other words, the one evil - disporting itself with the subtleties of sin ! |
| 3 | Even honest thinkers, not knowing whence they come, may deem these delusions verities, before they know it, or really look the illusions in the face. The ages are bur- |
| 6 | dened with material modes. Hypnotism, microbes, X-rays, and ex-common sense, occupy time and thought; and error, given new opportunities, will improve them. The |
| 9 | most just man can neither defend the innocent nor detect the guilty, unless he knows how to be just; and this knowl- edge demands our time and attention. |
| 12 | The mental stages of crime, which seem to belong to the latter days, are strictly classified in metaphysics as some of the many features and forms of what is properly |
| 15 | denominated, in extreme cases, moral idiocy. I visited in his cell the assassin of President Garfield, and found him in the mental state called moral idiocy. He had no |
| 18 | sense of his crime; but regarded his act as one of simple justice, and himself as the victim. My few words touched him; he sank back in his chair, limp and pale; his flip- |
| 21 | pancy had fled. The jailer thanked me, and said, "Other visitors have brought to him bouquets, but you have brought what will do him good." |
| 24 | This mental disease at first shows itself in extreme sensitiveness; then, in a loss of self-knowledge and of self-condemnation, - a shocking inability to see one's |
| 27 | own faults, but an exaggerating sense of other people's. Unless this mental condition be overcome, it ends in a total loss of moral, intellectual, and spiritual discernment, |
| 30 | and is characterized in this Scripture: "The fool hath Page 113 |
| 1 | of sensuous mind in matter. Mind that is God is not in matter; and God's presence gives spiritual light, wherein |
| 3 | is no darkness. If, as is indisputably true, "God is Spirit,"
and Spirit |
| 6 | all that is real and eternal, when evil seems to predomi- nate and divine light to be obscured, free moral agency is lost; and the Revelator's vision, that "no man might |
| 9 | buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the Whoever is mentally manipulating human mind, and |
| 12 | is not gaining a higher sense of Truth by it, is losing in the scale of moral and spiritual being, and may be car- ried to the depths of perdition by his own consent. He |
| 15 | who refuses to be influenced by any but the divine Mind, commits his way to God, and rises superior to sugges- tions from an evil source. Christian Science shows that |
| 18 | there is a way of escape from the latter-day ultimatum of evil, through scientific truth; so that all are without excuse. |
| 21 | Already I clearly recognize that mental malpractice, if persisted in, will end in insanity, dementia, or moral idiocy. Thank God! this evil can be resisted by true |
| 24 | Christianity. Divine Love is our hope, strength, and shield. We have nothing to fear when Love is at the helm of thought, but everything to enjoy on earth and |
| 27 | in heaven. The systematized centres of Christian Science are
life- |
| 30 | Science Journal, and the Christian Science Quarterly, Page 114 |
| 1 | Our Publishing Society, and our Sunday Lessons, are of inestimable value to all seekers after Truth. The Com- |
| 3 | mittee on Sunday School Lessons cannot give too much time and attention to their task, and should spare no research in the preparation of the Quarterly as an educa- |
| 6 | tional branch. The teachers of Christian Science need to watch
inces- |
| 9 | be not secretly robbed, and themselves misguided, and so made to misteach others. Teachers must conform strictly to the rules of divine Science announced in the |
| 12 | Bible and their textbook, "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures." They must themselves practise, and teach others to practise, the Hebrew Decalogue, the Ser- |
| 15 | mon on the Mount, and the understanding and enuncia- They must always have on armor, and resist the foe |
| 18 | within and without. They cannot arm too thoroughly against original sin, appearing in its myriad forms: pas- sion, appetites, hatred, revenge, and all the et cetera of |
| 21 | evil. Christian Scientists cannot watch too sedulously, or bar their doors too closely, or pray to God too fer- vently, for deliverance from the claims of evil. Thus |
| 24 | doing, Scientists will silence evil suggestions, uncover their methods, and stop their hidden influence upon the lives of mortals. Rest assured that God in His wisdom |
| 27 | will test all mankind on all questions; and then, if found faithful, He will deliver us from temptation and show us the powerlessness of evil, - even its utter nothingness. |
| 30 | The teacher in Christian Science who does not spe- Page 115 |
| 1 | ing Truth, to protect themselves therefrom, is commit- ting an offense against God and humanity. With Science |
| 3 | and Health for their textbook, I am astounded at the apathy of some students on the subject of sin and mental malpractice, and their culpable ignorance of the work- |
| 6 | ings of these - and even the teacher's own deficiency in this department. I can account for this state of mind in the teacher only as the result of sin; otherwise, his own |
| 9 | guilt as a mental malpractitioner, and fear of being found The helpless ignorance of the community on this sub- |
| 12 | ject is pitiable, and plain to be seen. May God enable my students to take up the cross as I have done, and meet the pressing need of a proper preparation of heart to prac- |
| 15 | tise, teach, and live Christian Science! Your means of protection and defense from sin are, constant watchful- ness and prayer that you enter not into temptation and |
| 18 | are delivered from every claim of evil, till you intelligently know and demonstrate, in Science, that evil has neither prestige, power, nor existence, since God, good, is All- |
| 21 | in-all. The increasing necessity for relying on God to
de- |
| 24 | unreservedly to Him for help, and thus becomes a means of grace. If one lives rightly, every effort to hurt one will only help that one; for God will give the ability to |
| 27 | overcome whatever tends to impede progress. Know this that you cannot overcome the baneful effects of sin on yourself, if you in any way indulge in sin; for, |
| 30 | sooner or later, you will fall the victim of your own as Page 116 |
| 1 | do to you, will overcome evil with good, and destroy your own sensitiveness to the power of evil. |
| 3 | The God of all grace be with you, and save you from PLEASANT VIEW, CONCORD, N. H., |
| 6 | JUNE 3, 1895 ADDRESS BEFORE THE CHRISTIAN SCIENTIST ASSOCIATION OF THE MASSACHUSETTS METAPHYSICAL COLLEGE, IN 1893 SUBJECT: |
| 9 | "Obedience" My Beloved Students: - This question, ever nearest |
| 12 | to my heart, is to-day uppermost: Are we filling the measures of life's music aright, emphasizing its grand strains, swelling the harmony of being with tones whence |
| 15 | come glad echoes? As crescendo and diminuendo accent music, so the varied strains of human chords express life's loss or gain, - loss of the pleasures and pains and |
| 18 | pride of life: gain of its sweet concord, the courage of honest convictions, and final obedience to spiritual law. The ultimate of scientific research and attainment in |
| 21 | divine Science is not an argument: it is not merely say- ing, but doing, the Word - demonstrating Truth - even as the fruits of watchfulness, prayer, struggles, tears, and |
| 24 | triumph. Obeying the divine Principle which you profess
to un- |
| 27 | from your post, never off guard, never ill-humored, never unready to work for God, - is obedience; being "faith- ful over a few things." If in one instance obedience be |
| 30 | lacking, you lose the scientific rule and its reward: namely, Page 117 |
| 1 | to be made "ruler over many things." A progressive life is the reality of Life that unfolds its immortal Prin- ciple. |
| 3 | The student of Christian Science must first separate the tares from the wheat; discern between the thought, |
| 6 | motive, and act superinduced by the wrong motive or the true - the God-given intent and volition - arrest the former, and obey the latter. This will place him on |
| 9 | the safe side of practice. We always know where to look for the real Scientist, and always find him there. I agree with Rev. Dr. Talmage, that "there are wit, humor, and |
| 12 | enduring vivacity among God's people." Obedience is the offspring of Love; and Love is
the |
| 15 | acting; it fulfils the law. We see eye to eye and know as we are known, reciprocate kindness and work wisely, in proportion as we love. |
| 18 | It is difficult for me to carry out a divine commission while participating in the movements, or modus operandi, of other folks. To point out every step to a student and |
| 21 | then watch that each step be taken, consumes time, - and experiments ofttimes are costly. According to my calendar, God's time and mortals' differ. The neo- |
| 24 | phyte is inclined to be too fast or too slow: he works somewhat in the dark; and, sometimes out of season, he would replenish his lamp at the midnight hour and |
| 27 | borrow oil of the more provident watcher. God is the fountain of light, and He illumines one's way when one is obedient. The disobedient make their moves before |
| 30 | God makes His, or make them too late to follow Him. Page 118 |
| 1 | Human will must be subjugated. We cannot obey both God, good, and evil, - in other words, the ma- |
| 3 | terial senses, false suggestions, self-will, selfish motives, and human policy. We shall have no faith in evil when faith finds a resting-place and scientific under- |
| 6 | standing guides man. Honesty in every condition, under every circumstance, is the indispensable rule of obedience. To obey the principle of mathematics ninety- |
| 9 | nine times in one hundred and then allow one numeral to make incorrect your entire problem, is neither Science nor obedience. |
| 12 | However keenly the human affections yearn to for- give a mistake, and pass a friend over it smoothly, one's sympathy can neither atone for error, advance individual |
| 15 | growth, nor change this immutable decree of Love: "Keep My commandments." The guerdon of meritorious faith or trustworthiness rests on being willing to work |
| 18 | alone with God and for Him, - willing to suffer patiently for error until all error is destroyed and His rod and His staff comfort you. |
| 21 | Self-ignorance, self-will, self-righteousness, lust, covet- ousness, envy, revenge, are foes to grace, peace, and progress; they must be met manfully and overcome, |
| 24 | or they will uproot all happiness. Be of good cheer; the warfare with one's self is grand; it gives one plenty of employment, and the divine Principle worketh with |
| 27 | you, - and obedience crowns persistent effort with everlasting victory. Every attempt of evil to harm good is futile, and ends in the fiery punishment of the |
| 30 | evil-doer. Jesus said, "Not that which goeth into the
mouth Page 119 |
| 1 | this defileth a man." If malicious suggestions whisper evil through the mind's tympanum, this were no apology |
| 3 | for acting evilly. We are responsible for our thoughts and acts; and instead of aiding other people's devices by obeying them, - and then whining over misfortune, - |
| 6 | rise and overthrow both. If a criminal coax the unwary man to commit a crime, our laws punish the dupe as ac- cessory to the fact. Each individual is responsible for |
| 9 | himself. Evil is impotent to turn the righteous man from
his |
| 12 | born than the circumstance, will always be found argu- ing for itself, - its habits, tastes, and indulgences. This material nature strives to tip the beam against the spir- |
| 15 | itual nature; for the flesh strives against Spirit, - against whatever or whoever opposes evil, - and weighs mightily in the scale against man's high destiny. This conclusion |
| 18 | is not an argument either for pessimism or for optimism, but is a plea for free moral agency, - full exemption from all necessity to obey a power that should be and is |
| 21 | found powerless in Christian Science. Insubordination to the law of Love even in the
least, |
| 24 | tween the real and the unreal Scientist. Justice, a prominent statute in the divine law, demands of all trespassers upon the sparse individual rights which one |
| 27 | justly reserves to one's self, - Would you consent that others should tear up your landmarks, manipulate your students, nullify or reverse your rules, countermand |
| 30 | your orders, steal your possessions, and escape the Page 120 |
| 1 | so to them." The professors of Christian Science must take off their shoes at our altars; they must unclasp |
| 3 | the material sense of things at the very threshold of Christian Science: they must obey implicitly each and every injunction of the divine Principle of life's long |
| 6 | problem, or repeat their work in tears. In the words of St. Paul, "Know ye not, that to whom ye yield your- selves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye |
| 9 | obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto Beloved students, loyal laborers are ye that have wrought |
| 12 | valiantly, and achieved great guerdons in the vineyard of our Lord; but a mighty victory is yet to be won, a great freedom for the race; and Christian success is |
| 15 | under arms, - with armor on, not laid down. Let us rejoice, however, that the clarion call of peace will at length be heard above the din of battle, and come more |
| 18 | sweetly to our ear than sound of vintage bells to villagers I recommend that this Association hereafter meet tri- |
| 21 | ennially: many of its members reside a long distance from Massachusetts, and they are members of The Mother Church who would love to be with you on Sunday, and |
| 24 | once in three years is perhaps as often as they can afford COMMUNION ADDRESS, JANUARY, 1896 |
| 27 | Friends and Brethren: - The Biblical record of the great Nazarene, whose character we to-day commemorate, is scanty; but what is given, puts to flight every doubt as |
| 30 | to the immortality of his words and works. Though Page 121 |
| 1 | written in a decaying language, his words can never pass away: they are inscribed upon the hearts of men: they |
| 3 | are engraved upon eternity's tablets. Undoubtedly our Master partook of the Jews' feast |
| 6 | This, however, is not the cup to which I call your at- tention, - even the cup of martyrdom: wherein Spirit and matter, good and evil, seem to grapple, and the |
| 9 | human struggles against the divine, up to a point of discovery; namely, the impotence of evil, and the om- nipotence of good, as divinely attested. Anciently, the |
| 12 | blood of martyrs was believed to be the seed of the Church. Stalled theocracy would make this fatal doctrine just and sovereign, even a divine decree, a law of Love! That |
| 15 | the innocent shall suffer for the guilty, is inhuman. The prophet declared, "Thou shalt put away the guilt of innocent blood from Israel." This is plain: that what- |
| 18 | ever belittles, befogs, or belies the nature and essence of Deity, is not divine. Who, then, shall father or favor this sentence passed upon innocence? thereby giving the |
| 21 | signet of God to the arrest, trial, and crucifixion of His beloved Son, the righteous Nazarene, - christened by John the Baptist, "the Lamb of God." |
| 24 | Oh! shameless insult to divine royalty, that drew from the great Master this answer to the questions of the rabbinical rabble: "If I tell you, ye will not believe; and |
| 27 | if I also ask you, ye will not answer me, nor let me go." Infinitely greater than human pity, is divine Love,
- |
| 30 | borrow their sense of justice from the divine Principle Page 122 |
| 1 | of a good man to suffer for evil-doers - a crime! When foretelling his own crucifixion, he said, "Woe unto the |
| 3 | world because of offenses! for it must needs be that offenses come; but woe to that man by whom the offense cometh!" |
| 6 | Would Jesus thus have spoken of what was indis- pensable for the salvation of a world of sinners, or of the individual instrument in this holy (?) alliance for accom- |
| 9 | plishing such a monstrous work? or have said of him whom God foreordained and predestined to fulfil a divine decree, "It were better for him that a millstone were |
| 12 | hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the The divine order is the acme of mercy: it is neither |
| 15 | questionable nor assailable: it is not evil producing good, nor good ultimating in evil. Such an inference were impious. Holy Writ denounces him that declares, "Let |
| 18 | us do evil, that good may come! whose damnation is Good is not educed from its opposite: and Love divine |
| 21 | spurned, lessens not the hater's hatred nor the criminal's crime; nor reconciles justice to injustice; nor substitutes the suffering of the Godlike for the suffering due to sin. |
| 24 | Neither spiritual bankruptcy nor a religious chancery can win high heaven, or the "Well done, good and faithful servant, . . . enter thou into the joy of thy Lord." |
| 27 | Divine Love knows no hate; for hate, or the hater, is nothing: God never made it, and He made all that was made. The hater's pleasures are unreal; his sufferings, |
| 30 | self-imposed; his existence is a parody, and he ends - The murder of the just Nazarite was incited by
the Page 123 |
| 1 | same spirit that in our time massacres our missionaries, butchers the helpless Armenians, slaughters innocents. |
| 3 | Evil was, and is, the illusion of breaking the First Com- mandment, "Thou shalt have no other gods before me:" it is either idolizing something and somebody, or hating |
| 6 | them: it is the spirit of idolatry, envy, jealousy, covet- That man can break the forever-law of infinite Love, |
| 9 | was, and is, the serpent's biggest lie! and ultimates in a religion of pagan priests bloated with crime; a religion that demands human victims to be sacrificed to human |
| 12 | passions and human gods, or tortured to appease the anger of a so-called god or a miscalled man or woman ! The Assyrian Merodach, or the god of sin, was the "lucky |
| 15 | god;" and the Babylonian Yawa, or Jehovah, was the Jewish tribal deity. The Christian's God is neither, and is too pure to behold iniquity. |
| 18 | Divine Science has rolled away the stone from the sepul- chre of our Lord; and there has risen to the awakened thought the majestic atonement of divine Love. The |
| 21 | at one ment with Christ has appeared - not through vicarious suffering, whereby the just obtain a pardon for the unjust, - but through the eternal law of justice; |
| 24 | wherein sinners suffer for their own sins, repent, forsake sin, love God, and keep His commandments, thence to receive the reward of righteousness: salvation from sin, |
| 27 | not through the death of a man, but through a divine Life, Holy Writ declares that God is Love, is Spirit; hence |
| 30 | it follows that those who worship Him, must worship Page 124 |
| 1 | plain that aught unspiritual, intervening between God and man, would tend to disturb the divine order, and |
| 3 | countermand the Scripture that those who worship the Father must worship Him in spirit. It is also plain, that we should not seek and cannot find God in mat- |
| 6 | ter, or through material methods; neither do we love and obey Him by means of matter, or the flesh, - which warreth against Spirit, and will not be reconciled |
| 9 | thereto. We turn, with sickened sense, from a pagan Jew's |
| 12 | rest in the spiritual ideal, or Christ. For "who is so great a God as our God!" unchangeable, all-wise, all- just, all-merciful; the ever-loving, ever-living Life, Truth, |
| 15 | Love: comforting such as mourn, opening the prison doors to the captive, marking the unwinged bird, pitying with more than a father's pity; healing the sick, cleansing |
| 18 | the leper, raising the dead, saving sinners. As we think thereon, man's true sense is filled with peace, and power; and we say, It is well that Christian Science has taken |
| 21 | expressive silence wherein to muse His praise, to kiss the feet of Jesus, adore the white Christ, and stretch out our arms to God. |
| 24 | The last act of the tragedy on Calvary rent the veil of matter, and unveiled Love's great legacy to mortals: Love forgiving its enemies. This grand act crowned |
| 27 | and still crowns Christianity: it manumits mortals; it translates love; it gives to suffering, inspiration; to patience, experience; to experience, hope; to hope, faith; |
| 30 | to faith, understanding; and to understanding, Love tri- In proportion to a man's spiritual progress, he
will Page 125 |
| 1 | indeed drink of our Master's cup, and be baptized with his baptism ! be purified as by fire, - the fires of suffering; |
| 3 | then hath he part in Love's atonement, for "whom the Lord loveth He chasteneth." Then shall he also reign with him: he shall rise to know that there is no sin, |
| 6 | that there is no suffering; since all that is real is right. This knowledge enables him to overcome the world, the flesh, and all evil, to have dominion over his own sinful |
| 9 | sense and self. Then shall he drink anew Christ's cup, in the kingdom of God - the reign of righteousness - within him; he shall sit down at the Father's right hand: |
| 12 | sit down; not stand waiting and weary; but rest on the bosom of God; rest, in the understanding of divine Love that passeth all understanding; rest, in that which "to |
| 15 | know aright is Life eternal," and whom, not having seen, Then shall he press on to Life's long lesson, the eternal |
| 18 | lore of Love; and learn forever the infinite meanings of MESSAGE TO THE ANNUAL MEETING OF THE MOTHER CHURCH, BOSTON, 1896
Beloved Brethren, Children, and Grandchildren: - |
| 24 | Apart from the common walks of mankind, revolving oft the hitherto untouched problems of being, and oftener, perhaps, the controversies which baffle it, |
| 27 | Mother, thought-tired, turns to-day to you; turns to her dear church, to tell the towers thereof the remarkable achievements that have been ours within the past few |
| 30 | years: the rapid transit from halls to churches, from un- Page 126 |
| 1 | settled questions to permanence, from danger to escape, from fragmentary discourses to one eternal sermon; yea, |
| 3 | from darkness to daylight, in physics and metaphysics. Truly, I half wish for society again; for once,
at least, |
| 6 | ear in tones that leap for joy, with love for God and Who hath not learned that when alone he has his |
| 9 | own thoughts to guard, and when struggling with man- kind his temper, and in society his tongue? We also have gained higher heights; have learned that trials lift |
| 12 | us to that dignity of Soul which sustains us, and finally conquers them; and that the ordeal refines while it chastens. |
| 15 | Perhaps our church is not yet quite sensible of what we owe to the strength, meekness, honesty, and obedi- ence of the Christian Science Board of Directors; to |
| 18 | the able editors of The Christian Science Journal, and No reproof is so potent as the silent lesson of a good |
| 21 | example. Works, more than words, should characterize Christian Scientists. Most people condemn evil-doing, evil-speaking; yet nothing circulates so rapidly: even gold |
| 24 | is less current. Christian Scientists have a strong race to run, and foes in ambush; but bear in mind that, in the long race, honesty always defeats dishonesty. |
| 27 | God hath indeed smiled on my church, - this daughter of Zion: she sitteth in high places; and to de- ride her is to incur the penalty of which the Hebrew |
| 30 | bard spake after this manner: "He that sitteth in the Page 127 |
| 1 | Hitherto, I have observed that in proportion as this church has smiled on His "little ones," He has blessed |
| 3 | her. Throughout my entire connection with The Mother Church, I have seen, that in the ratio of her love for others, hath His love been bestowed upon her; watering |
| 6 | her waste places, and enlarging her borders. One thing I have greatly desired, and again earnestly |
| 9 | elsewhere, pray daily for themselves; not verbally, nor on bended knee, but mentally, meekly, and importu- nately. When a hungry heart petitions the divine Father- |
| 12 | Mother God for bread, it is not given a stone, - but more grace, obedience, and love. If this heart, humble and trustful, faithfully asks divine Love to feed it with the |
| 15 | bread of heaven, health, holiness, it will be conformed to a fitness to receive the answer to its desire; then will flow into it the "river of His pleasure," the tributary of divine |
| 18 | Love, and great growth in Christian Science will follow, - To love, and to be loved, one must do good to others. |
| 21 | The inevitable condition whereby to become blessed, is to bless others: but here, you must so know yourself, under God's direction, that you will do His will even though |
| 24 | your pearls be downtrodden. Ofttimes the rod is His means of grace; then it must be ours, - we cannot avoid wielding it if we reflect Him. |
| 27 | Wise sayings and garrulous talk may fall to the ground, rather than on the ear or heart of the hearer; but a tender sentiment felt, or a kind word spoken, at the right moment, |
| 30 | is never wasted. Mortal mind presents phases of charac- Page 128 |
| 1 | sometimes roughly, and given a variety of turns, else it grows hard and uncomfortable whereon to repose. |
| 3 | The lessons of this so-called life in matter are too vast and varied to learn or to teach briefly; and especially within the limits of a letter. Therefore I close here, |
| 6 | with the apostle's injunction: "Finally, brethren, what- soever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, |
| 9 | whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things. Those things, which ye |
| 12 | have both learned, and received, and heard, and seen in Page 129 CHAPTER V - LETTERS
TO THE MOTHER CHURCH MY BELOVED BRETHREN: - If a member of the church |
| 3 | is inclined to be uncharitable, or to condemn his brother without cause, let him put his finger to his lips, and forgive others as he would be forgiven. One's first |
| 6 | lesson is to learn one's self; having done this, one will naturally, through grace from God, forgive his brother and love his enemies. To avenge an imaginary or an actual |
| 9 | wrong, is suicidal. The law of our God and the rule of our church is to tell thy brother his fault and thereby help him. If this rule fails in effect, then take the next Scrip- |
| 12 | tural step: drop this member's name from the church, and thereafter "let the dead bury their dead," - let silence prevail over his remains. |
| 15 | If a man is jealous, envious, or revengeful, he will seek occasion to balloon an atom of another man's indis- cretion, inflate it, and send it into the atmosphere of mortal |
| 18 | mind - for other green eyes to gaze on: he will always find somebody in his way, and try to push him aside; will see somebody's faults to magnify under the lens that |
| 21 | he never turns on himself. What have been your Leader's precepts and example! so long as a hope remained of thereby benefiting
him? |
| 3 | purity? She readily leaves the answer to those who know |
| 6 | Do we yet understand how much better it is to be wronged, than to commit wrong? What do we find in the Bible, and in the Christian Science textbook, on this |
| 9 | subject? Does not the latter instruct you that looking continually for a fault in somebody else, talking about it, thinking it over, and how to meet it, - "rolling sin as a |
| 12 | sweet morsel under your tongue," - has the same power to make you a sinner that acting thus regarding disease has to make a man sick? Note the Scripture on this |
| 15 | subject: "Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the The Christian Science Board of Directors has borne |
| 18 | the burden in the heat of the day, and it ought not to be expected that they could have accomplished, without one single mistake, such Herculean tasks as they have |
| 21 | accomplished. He who judges others should know well whereof he speaks. Where the motive to do right exists, and the majority of one's acts are right, we should avoid |
| 24 | referring to past mistakes. The greatest sin that one can commit against himself is to wrong one of God's "little ones." |
| 27 | Know ye not that he who exercises the largest charity, and waits on God, renews his strength, and is exalted? Love is not puffed up; and the meek and loving, God |
| 30 | anoints and appoints to lead the line of mankind's tri- Page 131 |
| 1 | Whoever challenges the errors of others and cherishes his own, can neither help himself nor others; he will be |
| 3 | called a moral nuisance, a fungus, a microbe, a mouse gnawing at the vitals of humanity. The darkness in one's self must first be cast out, in order rightly to discern |
| 6 | darkness or to reflect light. If the man of more than average avoirdupois kneels
on |
| 9 | necessity by doing likewise. Christian Scientists preserve unity, and so shadow forth the substance of our sublime faith, and the evidence of its being built upon the rock of |
| 12 | divine oneness, - one faith, one God, one baptism. If our Board of Directors is prepared to itemize
a report |
| 15 | The First Church of Christ, Scientist, let it do so; other- wise, I recommend that you waive the church By-law relating to finances this year of your firstfruits. This |
| 18 | Board did not act under that By-law; it was not in ex- istence all of the year. It is but just to consider the great struggles with perplexities and difficulties which the |
| 21 | Directors encountered in Anno Domini 1894, and which they have overcome. May God give unto us all that lov- ing sense of gratitude which delights in the opportunity to |
| 24 | cancel accounts. I, for one, would be pleased to have the Christian Science Board of Directors itemize a bill of this church's gifts to Mother; and then to have them let her |
| 27 | state the value thereof, if, indeed, it could be estimated. After this financial year, when you call on the
members |
| 30 | audit their accounts, these will be found already itemized, Page 132 |
| 1 | A motion was made, and a vote passed, at your last meeting, on a subject the substance whereof you had al- |
| 3 | ready accepted as a By-law. But, I shall take this as a favorable omen, a fair token that heavy lids are opening, |
| 6 | even wider than before, to the light of Love - and By-laws. Affectionately yours, MARY BAKER EDDY TO - , ON PRAYER |
| 9 | MASSACHUSETTS METAPHYSICAL COLLEGE, 571 COLUMBUS AVENUE, BOSTON, March 21, 1885 |
| 12 | Dear Sir: - In your communication to Zion's Herald, March 18, under the heading, "Prayer and Healing; sup- plemental," you state that you would "like to hear from |
| 15 | Dr. Cullis; and, by the way, from Mrs. Eddy, also." Because of the great demand upon my time, consisting |
| 18 | swering personally manifold letters and inquiries from all quarters, - having charge of a church, editing a maga- zine, teaching Christian Science, receiving calls, etc., - I |
| 21 | find it inconvenient to accept your invitation to answer you through the medium of a newspaper; but, for infor- mation as to what I believe and teach, would refer you to |
| 24 | the Holy Scriptures, to my various publications, and to my It was with a thrill of pleasure that I read in your arti- |
| 27 | cle these words: "If we have in any way misrepresented either Dr. Cullis or Mrs. Eddy, we are sorry." Even the desire to be just is a vital spark of Christianity. And those |
| 30 | words inspire me with the hope that you wish to be just. Page 133 |
| 1 | If this is so, you will not delay corrections of the statement you make at the close of your article, when referring to |
| 3 | me, "the pantheistic and prayerless Mrs. Eddy, of Boston." It would be difficult to build a sentence of so
few words |
| 6 | In refutation of your statement that I am a pantheist, As to being "prayerless," I call your attention and |
| 9 | deep consideration to the following Scripture, that voices "When thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites |
| 12 | are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. . . . But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, |
| 15 | and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly." |
| 18 | I hope I am not wrong in literally following the dictum of Jesus; and, were it not because of my desire to set you right on this question, I should feel a delicacy in mak- |
| 21 | ing the following statement: - Three times a day, I retire to seek the divine
blessing |
| 24 | salem of Love and Truth, in silent prayer to the Father which "seeth in secret," and with childlike confidence that He will reward "openly." In the midst of depressing care |
| 27 | and labor I turn constantly to divine Love for guidance, and find rest. It affords me great joy to be able to attest to the truth of Jesus' words. Love makes all burdens light, |
| 30 | it giveth a peace that passeth understanding, and with Page 134 |
| 1 | who are made hopeful, and the sinful and ignorant who have become "wise unto salvation"! |
| 3 | And now, dear sir, as you have expressed contrition for an act which you have immediately repeated, you are placed in this dilemma: To reiterate such words of |
| 6 | apology as characterize justice and Christianity. TO THE NATIONAL CHRISTIAN SCIENTIST
ASSOCIATION Beloved Students: -
Meet together and meet en masse, |
| 12 | Scientist Association. Be "of one mind," "in one place," and God will pour you out a blessing such as you never before received. He who dwelleth in eternal light is |
| 15 | bigger than the shadow, and will guard and guide His Let no consideration bend or outweigh your purpose |
| 18 | to be in Chicago on June 13. Firm in your allegiance to the reign of universal harmony, go to its rescue. In God's hour, the powers of earth and hell are proven powerless. |
| 21 | The reeling ranks of materia medica, with poisons, nos- trums, and knives, are impotent when at war with the omnipotent! Like Elisha, look up, and behold: "They |
| 24 | that be with us, are more than they that be with them." Error is only fermenting, and its heat hissing
at the |
| 27 | nor disarm God's voice. Spiritual wickedness is stand- Page 135 |
| 1 | Christians, and all true Scientists, marching under what- soever ensign, come into the ranks ! Again I repeat, per- |
| 3 | son is not in the question of Christian Science. Principle, instead of person, is next to our hearts, on our lips, and in our lives. Our watchwords are Truth and Love; and |
| 6 | if we abide in these, they will abound in us, and we shall be one in heart,-one in motive, purpose, pursuit. Abid- ing in Love, not one of you can be separated from me; and |
| 9 | the sweet sense of journeying on together, doing unto others as ye would they should do unto you, conquers all opposition, surmounts all obstacles, and secures success. |
| 12 | If you falter, or fail to fulfil this Golden Rule, though you Is it a cross to give one week's time and expense to the |
| 15 | jubilee of Spirit? Then take this cross, and the crown with it. Sending forth currents of Truth, God's methods and means of healing, and so spreading the gospel of |
| 18 | Love, is in itself an eternity of joy that outweighs an hour. Add one more noble offering to the unity of good, and so cement the bonds of Love. |
| 21 | With love, MARY BAKER EDDY |