Message to The Mother Church

Message

The Mother Church

Boston, Massachusetts

June, 1900

Mary Baker Eddy

Pastor Emeritus and Author of Science and Health

with Key to the Scriptures

Published by the

Trustees under the Will of Mary Baker G. Eddy

Boston, U.S.A.

By Mary Baker G. Eddy

__________

Printed in the United States of America

__________

Message for 1900

1 MY beloved brethren, methinks even I am touched

with the tone of your happy hearts, and can see

3 your glad faces, aglow with gratitude, chinked within the

storied walls of The Mother Church. If, indeed, we may

be absent from the body and present with the ever-present

6 Love filling all space, time, and immortality - then I am

with thee, heart answering to heart, and mine to thine in

the glow of divine reflection.

9 I am grateful to say that in the last year of the nine-

teenth century this first church of our denomination,

chartered in 1879, is found crowned with unprecedented

12 prosperity; a membership of over sixteen thousand com-

municants in unity, with rapidly increasing numbers, rich

spiritual attainments, and right convictions fast forming

themselves into conduct.

Christian Science already has a hearing and following

in the five grand divisions of the globe; in Australia, the

18 Philippine Islands, Hawaiian Islands; and in most of the

principal cities, such as Boston, New York, Philadelphia,

Washington, Baltimore, Charleston, S. C., Atlanta, New

21 Orleans, Chicago, St. Louis, Denver, Salt Lake City, San

Francisco, Montreal, London, Edinburgh, Dublin, Paris,

Berlin, Rome, Pekin. Judging from the number of the

readers of my books and those interested in them, over a

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1 million of people are already interested in Christian

Science; and this interest increases. Churches of this

3 denomination are springing up in the above-named cities,

and, thanks to God, the people most interested in this

old-new theme of redeeming Love are among the best people

on earth and in heaven.

The song of Christian Science is, "Work - work -

work - watch and pray." The close observer reports

three types of human nature - the right thinker and

worker, the idler, and the intermediate.

The right thinker works; he gives little time to society

12 manners or matters, and benefits society by his example

and usefulness. He takes no time for amusement, ease,

frivolity; he earns his money and gives it wisely to the

world.

The wicked idler earns little and is stingy; he has

plenty of means, but he uses them evilly. Ask how he

18 gets his money, and his satanic majesty is supposed to

answer smilingly: "By cheating, lying, and crime; his

dupes are his capital; his stock in trade, the wages of sin;

21 your idlers are my busiest workers; they will leave a

lucrative business to work for me." Here we add: The

doom of such workers will come, and it will be more sudden,

severe, and lasting than the adversary can hope.

The intermediate worker works at times. He says:

"It is my duty to take some time for myself; however, I

27 believe in working when it is convenient." Well, all that

is good. But what of the fruits of your labors? And he

answers: "I am not so successful as I could wish, but I

work hard enough to be so."

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1 Now, what saith Christian Science? "When a man is

right, his thoughts are right, active, and they are fruitful;

3 he loses self in love, and cannot hear himself, unless he

loses the chord. The right thinker and worker does his

best, and does the thinking for the ages. No hand that

6 feels not his help, no heart his comfort. He improves

moments; to him time is money, and he hoards this capital

to distribute gain."

9 If the right thinker and worker's servitude is duly valued,

he is not thereby worshipped. One's idol is by no means

his servant, but his master. And they who love a good

12 work or good workers are themselves workers who appre-

ciate a life, and labor to awake the slumbering capability

of man. And what the best thinker and worker has said

15 and done, they are not far from saying and doing. As a

rule the Adam-race are not apt to worship the pioneer

of spiritual ideas, - but ofttimes to shun him as their

18 tormentor. Only the good man loves the right thinker

and worker, and cannot worship him, for that would de-

stroy this man's goodness.

21 To-day it surprises us that during the period of captivity

the Israelites in Babylon hesitated not to call the divine

name Yahwah, afterwards transcribed Jehovah; also

24 that women's names contained this divine appellative and

so sanctioned idolatry, - other gods. In the heathen

conception Yahwah, misnamed Jehovah, was a god of

27 hate and of love, who repented himself, improved on his

work of creation, and revenged himself upon his enemies.

However, the animus of heathen religion was not the in-

centive of the devout Jew - but has it not tainted the reli-

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1 gious sects? This seedling misnomer couples love and

hate, good and evil, health and sickness, life and death,

3 with man - makes His opposites as real and normal as

the one God, and so unwittingly consents to many minds

and many gods. This precedent that would commingle

6 Christianity, the gospel of the New Testament and the

teaching of the righteous Galilean, Christ Jesus, with the

Babylonian and Neoplatonic religion, is being purged by

a purer Judaism and nearer approach to monotheism and

the perfect worship of one God.

To-day people are surprised at the new and forward

12 steps in religion, which indicate a renaissance greater than

in the mediaeval period; but ought not this to be an agree-

able surprise, inasmuch as these are progressive signs of

the times?

It should seem rational that the only perfect religion is

divine Science, Christianity as taught by our great Master;

18 that which leaves the beaten path of human doctrines and

is the truth of God, and of man and the universe. The

divine Principle and rules of this Christianity being de-

21 monstrable, they are undeniable; and they must be found

final, absolute, and eternal. The question as to religion

is: Does it demonstrate its doctrines? Do religionists

24 believe that God is One and All? Then whatever is real

must proceed from God, from Mind, and is His reflection

and Science. Man and the universe coexist with God in

27 Science, and they reflect God and nothing else. In divine

Science, divine Love includes and reflects all that really

is, all personality and individuality. St. Paul beautifully

enunciates this fundamental fact of Deity as the "Father

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of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all."

This scientific statement of the origin, nature, and govern-

3 ment of all things coincides with the First Commandment

of the Decalogue, and leaves no opportunity for idolatry

or aught besides God, good. It gives evil no origin, no

6 reality. Here note the words of our Master corroborating

this as self-evident. Jesus said the opposite of God -

good - named devil - evil - "is a liar, and the father

of it" - that is, its origin is a myth, a lie.

Applied to Deity, Father and Mother are synonymous

terms; they signify one God. Father, Son, and Holy

12 Ghost mean God, man, and divine Science. God is self-

existent, the essence and source of the two latter, and their

office is that of eternal, infinite individuality. I see no

15 other way under heaven and among men whereby to have

one God, and man in His image and likeness, loving an-

other as himself. This being the divine Science of divine

18 Love, it would enable man to escape from idolatry of

every kind, to obey the First Commandment of the Deca-

logue: "Thou shalt have no other gods before me;"

21 and the command of Christ: "Love thy neighbor as thy-

self." On this rock Christian Science is built. It may

be the rock which the builders reject for a season; but

24 it is the Science of God and His universe, and it will be-

come the head of the corner, the foundation of all systems

of religion.

27 The spiritual sense of the Scriptures understood enables

one to utilize the power of divine Love in casting out God's

opposites, called evils, and in healing the sick. Not mad-

ness, but might and majesty attend every footstep of

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1 Christian Science. There is no imperfection, no lack in

the Principle and rules which demonstrate it. Only the

3 demonstrator can mistake or fail in proving its power and

divinity. In the words of St. Paul: "I count not myself

to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting

6 those things which are behind, and reaching forth to those

things which are before, I press toward the mark for the

prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus" - in the

9 true idea of God. Any mystery in Christian Science de-

parts when dawns the spiritual meaning thereof; and the

spiritual sense of the Scriptures is the scientific sense which

12 interprets the healing Christ. A child can measurably

understand Christian Science, for, through his simple faith

and purity, he takes in its spiritual sense that puzzles the

15 man. The child not only accepts Christian Science more

readily than the adult, but he practises it. This notable

fact proves that the so-called fog of this Science obtains

18 not in the Science, but in the material sense which the

adult entertains of it. However, to a man who uses to-

bacco, is profane, licentious, and breaks God's com-

21 mandments, that which destroys his false appetites and

lifts him from the stubborn thrall of sin to a meek and

loving disciple of Christ, clothed and in his right mind, is

not darkness but light.

Again, that Christian Science is the Science of God is

proven when, in the degree that you accept it, understand

27 and practise it, you are made better physically, morally,

and spiritually. Some modern exegesis on the prophetic

Scriptures cites 1875 as the year of the second coming of

Christ. In that year the Christian Science textbook,

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1 "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures," was

first published. From that year the United States official

3 statistics show the annual death-rate to have gradually

diminished. Likewise the religious sentiment has in-

creased; creeds and dogmas have been sifted, and a

6 greater love of the Scriptures manifested. In 1895 it was

estimated that during the past three years there had been

more Bibles sold than in all the other 1893 years. Many

9 of our best and most scholarly men and women, distin-

guished members of the bar and bench, press and pulpit,

and those in all the walks of life, will tell you they never

12 loved the Bible and appreciated its worth as they did after

reading "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures. "

This is my great reward for having suffered, lived, and

learned, in a small degree, the Science of perfectibility

through Christ, the Way, the Truth, and the Life.

Is there more than one Christ, and hath Christ a second

18 appearing? There is but one Christ. And from ever-

lasting to everlasting this Christ is never absent. In doubt

and darkness we say as did Mary of old: "I know not

21 where they have laid him." But when we behold the

Christ walking the wave of earth's troubled sea, like Peter

we believe in the second coming, and would walk more

24 closely with Christ; but find ourselves so far from the em-

bodiment of Truth that ofttimes this attempt measurably

fails, and we cry, "Save, or I perish !" Then the tender,

27 loving Christ is found near, affords help, and we are saved

from our fears. Thus it is we walk here below, and wait

for the full appearing of Christ till the long night is past

and the morning dawns on eternal day. Then, if sin and

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1 flesh are put off, we shall know and behold more nearly

the embodied Christ, and with saints and angels shall be

satisfied to go on till we awake in his likeness.

The good man imparts knowingly and unknowingly

goodness; but the evil man also exhales consciously and

6 unconsciously his evil nature - hence, be careful of your

company. As in the floral kingdom odors emit character-

istics of tree and flower, a perfume or a poison, so the hu-

9 man character comes forth a blessing or a bane upon

individuals and society. A wicked man has little real

intelligence; he may steal other people's good thoughts,

and wear the purloined garment as his own, till God's

discipline takes it off for his poverty to appear.

Our Master saith to his followers: "Bring forth things

15 new and old." In this struggle remember that sensitive-

ness is sometimes selfishness, and that mental idleness or

apathy is always egotism and animality. Usefulness is

18 doing rightly by yourself and others. We lose a percentage

due to our activity when doing the work that belongs to

another. When a man begins to quarrel with himself he

21 stops quarrelling with others. We must exterminate self

before we can successfully war with mankind. Then, at

last, the right will boil over the brim of life and the fire

that purifies sense with Soul will be extinguished. It is not

Science for the wicked to wallow or the good to weep.

Learn to obey; but learn first what obedience is.

27 When God speaks to you through one of His little ones,

and you obey the mandate but retain a desire to follow

your own inclinations, that is not obedience. I some-

times advise students not to do certain things which I

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1 know it were best not to do, and they comply with my

counsel; but, watching them, I discern that this obedience

3 is contrary to their inclination. Then I sometimes with-

draw that advice and say: "You may do it if you de-

sire." But I say this not because it is the best thing to

do, but because the student is not willing - therefore,

not ready - to obey.

The secret of Christian Science in right thinking and

9 acting is open to mankind, but few, comparatively, see it;

or, seeing it, shut their eyes and wait for a more convenient

season; or as of old cry out: "Why art thou come hither

to torment me before the time?"

Strong desires bias human judgment and misguide ac-

tion, else they uplift them. But the reformer continues

15 his lightning, thunder, and sunshine till the mental at-

mosphere is clear. The reformer must be a hero at all

points, and he must have conquered himself before he can

conquer others. Sincerity is more successful than genius

or talent.

The twentieth century in the ebb and flow of thought

21 will challenge the thinkers, speakers, and workers to do

their best. Whosoever attempts to ostracize Christian

Science will signally fail; for no one can fight against God,

and win.

My loyal students will tell you that for many years I

have desired to step aside and to have some one take my

27 place as leader of this mighty movement. Also that I

strove earnestly to fit others for this great responsibility.

But no one else has seemed equal to "bear the burden and

heat of the day."

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1 Success in sin is downright defeat. Hatred bites the

heel of love that is treading on its head. All that worketh

3 good is some manifestation of God asserting and develop-

ing good. Evil is illusion, that after a fight vanisheth with

the new birth of the greatest and best. Conflict and perse-

6 cution are the truest signs that can be given of the greatness

of a cause or of an individual, provided this warfare is

honest and a world-imposed struggle. Such conflict never

ends till unconquerable right is begun anew, and hath

gained fresh energy and final victory.

Certain elements in human nature would undermine

12 the civic, social, and religious rights and laws of nations

and peoples, striking at liberty, human rights, and self-

government - and this, too, in the name of God, justice,

15 and humanity ! These elements assail even the new-old

doctrines of the prophets and of Jesus and his disciples.

History shows that error repeats itself until it is extermi-

18 nated. Surely the wisdom of our forefathers is not added

but subtracted from whatever sways the sceptre of self and

pelf over individuals, weak provinces, or peoples. Here

our hope anchors in God who reigns, and justice and judg-

ment are the habitation of His throne forever.

Only last week I received a touching token of unselfed

24 manhood from a person I never saw. But since publishing

this page I have learned it was a private soldier who sent

to me, in the name of a first lieutenant of the United States

27 infantry in the Philippine Islands, ten five-dollar gold

pieces snuggled in Pears' soap. Surely it is enough for a

soldier serving his country in that torrid zone to part with

his soap, but to send me some of his hard-earned money

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1 cost me a tear! Yes, and it gave me more pleasure than

millions of money could have given.

3 Beloved brethren, have no discord over music. Hold

in yourselves the true sense of harmony, and this sense

will harmonize, unify, and unself you. Once I was pas-

6 sionately fond of material music, but jarring elements

among musicians weaned me from this love and wedded

me to spiritual music, the music of Soul. Thus it is with

9 whatever turns mortals away from earth to heaven; we

have the promise that "all things work together for good

to them that love God," - love good. The human sigh

12 for peace and love is answered and compensated by divine

love. Music is more than sound in unison. The deaf

Beethoven besieges you with tones intricate, profound,

15 commanding. Mozart rests you. To me his composition

is the triumph of art, for he measures himself against

deeper grief. I want not only quality, quantity, and vari-

18 ation in tone, but the unction of Love. Music is divine.

Mind, not matter, makes music; and if the divine tone be

lacking, the human tone has no melody for me. Adelaide

A. Proctor breathes my thought: -

It flooded the crimson twilight

Like the close of an angel's psalm,

And it lay on my fevered spirit

With a touch of infinite calm.

In Revelation St. John refers to what "the Spirit saith

unto the churches." His allegories are the highest criticism

on all human action, type, and system. His symbolic

ethics bravely rebuke lawlessness. His types of purity

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1 pierce corruption beyond the power of the pen. They are

bursting paraphrases projected from divinity upon human-

3 ity, the spiritual import whereof "holdeth the seven stars

in His right hand and walketh in the midst of the seven

golden candlesticks" - the radiance of glorified Being.

6 In Revelation, second chapter, his messages to the

churches commence with the church of Ephesus. History

records Ephesus as an illustrious city, the capital of Asia

9 Minor. It especially flourished as an emporium in the

time of the Roman Emperor Augustus. St. Paul's life

furnished items concerning this city. Corresponding to

12 its roads, its gates, whence the Ephesian elders travelled to

meet St. Paul, led northward and southward. At the head

of the harbor was the temple of Diana, the tutelary divinity

15 of Ephesus. The earlier temple was burned on the night

that Alexander the Great was born. Magical arts pre-

vailed at Ephesus; hence the Revelator's saying: "I

18 have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy

first love . . . and will remove thy candlestick out of his

place, except thou repent." This prophecy has been ful-

21 filled. Under the influence of St. Paul's preaching the

magical books in that city were publicly burned. It were

well if we had a St. Paul to purge our cities of charlatanism.

24 During St. Paul's stay in that city - over two years - he

labored in the synagogue, in the school of Tyrannus, and

also in private houses. The entire city is now in ruins.

27 The Revelation of St. John in the apostolic age is sym-

bolic, rather than personal or historical. It refers to the

Hebrew Balaam as the devourer of the people. Nicolaitan

church presents the phase of a great controversy, ready to

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1 destroy the unity and the purity of the church. It is said

"a controversy was inevitable when the Gentiles entered

3 the church of Christ" in that city. The Revelator com-

mends the church at Ephesus by saying: "Thou hatest

the deeds of the Nicolaitanes, which I also hate." It is

6 written of this church that their words were brave and their

deeds evil. The orgies of their idolatrous feasts and their

impurities were part of a system supported by their doc-

9 trine and their so-called prophetic illumination. Their

distinctive feature the apostle justly regards as heathen,

and so he denounces the Nicolaitan church.

12 Alexander the Great founded the city of Smyrna, and

after a series of wars it was taken and sacked. The Reve-

lator writes of this church of Smyrna: "Be thou faithful

unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life." A glad

promise to such as wait and weep.

The city of Pergamos was devoted to a sensual worship.

18 There AEsculapius, the god of medicine, acquired fame;

and a serpent was the emblem of AEsculapius. Its medical

practice included charms and incantations. The Reve-

21 lator refers to the church in this city as dwelling "where

Satan's seat is." The Pergamene church consisted of the

school of Balaam and AEsculapius, idolatry and medicine.

24 The principal deity in the city of Thyatira was Apollo.

Smith writes: "In this city the amalgamation of different

pagan religions seems not to have been wholly discoun-

tenanced by the authorities of the Judaeo-Christian

church."

The Revelator speaks of the angel of the church in

Philadelphia as being bidden to write the approval of this

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1 church by our Master - he saith: "Thou hast a little

strength, and hast kept my word, and hast not denied my

3 name. Behold, I will make them of the synagogue of

Satan . . . to know that I have loved thee. . . . Hold

that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown."

6 He goes on to portray seven churches, the full number

of days named in the creation, which signifies a complete

time or number of whatever is spoken of in the Scriptures.

9 Beloved, let him that hath an ear (that discerneth spirit-

ually) hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; and

seek thou the divine import of the Revelator's vision -

12 and no other. Note his inspired rebuke to all the churches

except the church in Philadelphia-the name whereof

signifies "brotherly love." I call your attention to this

15 to remind you of the joy you have had in following the

more perfect way, or Golden Rule: "As ye would that

men should do to you, do ye." Let no root of bitterness

18 spring up among you, but hold in your full hearts fervently

the charity that seeketh not only her own, but another's

good. The angel that spake unto the churches cites Jesus

21 as "he that hath the key of David; that openeth and no

man shutteth, and shutteth and no man openeth;" in

other words, he that toiled for the spiritually indispensable.

24 At all times respect the character and philanthropy of

the better class of M.D.'s - and if you are stoned from

the pulpit, say in your heart as the devout St. Stephen said:

"Lord, lay not this sin to their charge."

When invited to a feast you naturally ask who are to be

the guests. And being told they are distinguished indi-

viduals, you prepare accordingly for the festivity. Putting

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1 aside the old garment, you purchase, at whatever price, a

new one that is up to date. To-day you have come to a

3 sumptuous feast, to one that for many years has been await-

ing you. The guests are distinguished above human title

and this feast is a Passover. To sit at this table of their

6 Lord and partake of what divine Love hath prepared for

them, Christian Scientists start forward with true ambi-

tion. The Passover, spiritually discerned, is a wonderful

9 passage over a tear-filled sea of repentance - which of

all human experience is the most divine; and after this

Passover cometh victory, faith, and good works.

12 When a supercilious consciousness that saith "there is

no sin," has awakened to see through sin's disguise the

claim of sin, and thence to see that sin has no claim, it

15 yields to sharp conviction - it sits in sackcloth - it waits

in the desert - and fasts in the wilderness. But all this

time divine Love has been preparing a feast for this

18 awakened consciousness. To-day you have come to Love's

feast, and you kneel at its altar. May you have on a wed-

ding garment new and old, and the touch of the hem of

his garment heal the sick and the sinner!

In the words of St. John, may the angel of The Mother

Church write of this church: "Thou hast not left thy first

24 love, I know thy works, and charity, and service, and faith,

and thy patience, and thy works; and the last to be more

than the first."

27 Watch! till the storms are o'er -

The cold blasts done,

The reign of heaven begun,

30 And love, the evermore.

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