|
A CHRISTIAN SCIENCE
STATUTE
I hereby state, in unmistakable
language, the follow- ing statute in the morale of Christian
Science: - |
18 |
A man or woman, having voluntarily entered into wedlock,
and accepted the claims of the marriage cove- nant, is held in Christian
Science as morally bound to |
21 |
fulfil all the claims growing out of this contract,
unless such claims are relinquished by mutual consent of both parties,
or this contract is legally dissolved. If the man |
24 |
is dominant over the animal, he will count the conse-
quences of his own conduct; will consider the effects, on himself and his
progeny, of selfishness, unmerciful- |
27 |
ness, tyranny, or lust.
Trust Truth, not error; and Truth will
give you all that belongs to the rights of freedom. The Hebrew bard
Page 298 |
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wrote, "Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean
not unto thine own understanding." Nothing is gained |
3 |
by wrong-doing. St. Paul's words take in the situation:
"Not . . . (as we be slanderously reported, and as some affirm that we
say,) Let us do evil, that good may come? |
6 |
whose damnation is just."
When causing others to go astray, we
also are wan- derers. "With what measure ye mete, it shall be
meas- |
9 |
ured to you again." Ask yourself: Under the same
circumstances, in the same spiritual ignorance and power of passion, would
I be strengthened by having my best |
12 |
friend break troth with me? These words of St. Matthew
have special application to Christian Scientists; namely, "It is not good
to marry." |
15 |
To build on selfishness is to build on sand. When Jesus
received the material rite of water baptism, he did not say that it was
God's command; but implied that |
18 |
the period demanded it. Trials purify mortals and deliver
them from themselves, - all the claims of sensuality. Abide by the
morale of absolute Christian Science, - |
21 |
self-abnegation and purity; then Truth delivers you from
the seeming power of error, and faith vested in righteous- ness
triumphs!
ADVICE TO
STUDENTS
The true consciousness is the true
health. One says, "I find relief from pain in unconscious sleep." I
say, |
27 |
You mistake; through unconsciousness one no more gains
freedom from pain than immunity from evil. When unconscious of a mistake,
one thinks he is not mistaken; |
30 |
but this false consciousness does not change the fact,
or
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its results; suffering and mistakes recur until one is
awake to their cause and character. To know the what, when, |
3 |
and how of error, destroys error. The error that is seen
aright as error, has received its death-blow; but never until then. |
6 |
Let us look through the lens of Christian Science, not of
"self," at the following mistake, which demands our present attention. I
have no time for detailed report |
9 |
of this matter, but simply answer the following question
sent to me; glad, indeed, that this query has finally come with the courage
of conviction to the minds of many |
12 |
students.
"Is it right to copy your works and
read them for our public services?" |
15 |
The good which the material senses see not is the only
absolute good; the evil which these senses see not is the only absolute
evil. |
18 |
If I enter Mr. Smith's store and take from it his gar-
ments that are on sale, array myself in them, and put myself and them on
exhibition, can I make this right |
21 |
by saying, These garments are Mr. Smith's; he manu-
factured them and owns them, but you must pay me, not him, for this
exhibit? |
24 |
The spectators may ask, Did he give you permission to do
this, did he sell them or loan them to you? No. Then have you asked
yourself this question on the sub- |
27 |
ject, namely, What right have I to do this? True, it
saves your purchasing these garments, and gives to the public new patterns
which are useful to them; but does |
30 |
this silence your conscience? or, because you have con-
fessed that they are the property of a noted firm, and you wished to handle
them, does it justify you in appro-
Page 300 |
1 |
priating them, and so avoiding the cost of hiring or
purchasing? |
3 |
Copying my published works verbatim, compiling
them in connection with the Scriptures, taking this copy into the
pulpit, announcing the author's name, then reading |
6 |
it publicly as your own compilation, is - what?
We answer, It is a mistake; in common
parlance, it is an ignorant wrong. |
9 |
If you should print and publish your copy of my works,
you would be liable to arrest for infringement of copy- right, which the
law defines and punishes as theft. Read- |
12 |
ing in the pulpit from copies of my publications gives
you the clergyman's salary and spares you the printer's bill, but does it
spare you our Master's condemnation? |
15 |
You literally publish my works through the pulpit,
instead of the press, and thus evade the law, but not the gospel.
When I consent to this act, you will then be justified |
18 |
in it.
Your manuscript copy is liable, in
some way, to be printed as your original writings, thus incurring the
pen- |
21 |
alty of the law, and increasing the record of theft in
the United States Circuit Court.
To The Church of Christ, Scientist, in
Boston, which I |
24 |
had organized and of which I had for many years been
pastor, I gave permission to cite, in the Christian Science
Quarterly, from my work Science and Health, passages |
27 |
giving the spiritual meaning of Bible texts; but this
was a special privilege, and the author's gift.
Christian Science demonstrates that
the patient who |
30 |
pays whatever he is able to pay for being healed, is
more apt to recover than he who withholds a slight equiva- lent for
health. Healing morally and physically are one.
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1 |
Then, is compiling and delivering that sermon for which
you pay nothing, and which you deliver without the |
3 |
author's consent, and receive pay therefor, the
precedent for preaching Christian Science, - and are you doing
to the author of the above-named book as you would |
6 |
have others do unto you?
Those authors and editors of pamphlets
and periodi- cals whose substance is made up of my publications,
are |
9 |
morally responsible for what the law construes as crime.
There are startling instances of the above-named law- breaking and
gospel-opposing system of authorship, which |
12 |
characterize the writings of a few professed Christian
Scientists. My Christian students who have read copies of my works in the
pulpit require only a word to be wise; |
15 |
too sincere and morally statuesque are they to be long
led into temptation; but I must not leave persistent plagiarists without
this word of warning in public, since |
18 |
my private counsel they disregard.
To the question of my true-hearted
students, "Is it right to copy your works and read them for our
public |
21 |
services?" I answer: It is not right to copy my book and
read it publicly without my consent. My reasons are as follows:
- |
24 |
First: This method is an unseen form of injustice
standing in a holy place.
Second: It breaks the Golden Rule, - a divine rule |
27 |
for human conduct.
Third: All error tends to harden the heart, blind the eyes, stop
the ears of understanding, and inflate |
30 |
self; counter to the commands of our hillside Priest, to
whom Isaiah alluded thus: "I have trodden the wine- press alone; and of the
people there was none with me."
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1 |
Behind the scenes lurks an evil which you can prevent it
is a purpose to kill the reformation begun and increas- |
3 |
ing through the instructions of "Science and Health with
Key to the Scriptures;" it encourages infringement of my copyright, and
seeks again to "cast lots for his vesture," |
6 |
- while the perverter preserves in his own consciousness
and teaching the name without the Spirit, the skeleton without the heart,
the form without the comeliness, the |
9 |
sense without the Science, of Christ's healing. My stu-
dents are expected to know the teaching of Christian Sci- ence sufficiently
to discriminate between error and Truth, |
12 |
thus sparing their teacher a task and themselves the
temptation to be misled.
Much good has been accomplished
through Christian |
15 |
Science Sunday services. If Christian Scientists
occasion- ally mistake in interpreting revealed Truth, of two evils the
less would be not to leave the Word unspoken and |
18 |
untaught. I allowed, till this permission was
withdrawn, students working faithfully for Christ's cause on
earth, the privilege of copying and reading my works for Sunday |
21 |
service; provided, they each and all destroyed the
copies at once after said service. When I should so elect and give
suitable notice, they were to desist from further copy- |
24 |
ing of my writings as aforesaid.
This injunction did not curtail the
benefit which the student derived from making his copy, nor detract
from |
27 |
the good that his hearers received from his reading
thereof; but it was intended to forestall the possible evil of putting
the divine teachings contained in "Science and Health |
30 |
with Key to the Scriptures" into human hands, to sub-
vert or to liquidate.
I recommend that students stay within
their own fields
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of labor, to work for the race; they are lights that can-
not be hid, and need only to shine from their home sum- |
3 |
mits to be sought and found as healers physical and
moral.
The kindly shepherd has his own fold
and tends his |
6 |
own flock. Christian students should have their own
institutes and, unmolested, be governed by divine Love alone in
teaching and guiding their students. When |
9 |
wisdom garrisons these strongholds of Christian Science,
peace and joy, the fruits of Spirit, will rest upon us all. We are brethren
in the fullest sense of that word; there- |
12 |
fore no queries should arise as to "who shall be great-
est." Let us serve instead of rule, knock instead of push at the door of
human hearts, and allow to each |
15 |
and every one the same rights and privileges that we
claim for ourselves. If ever I wear out from serving students, it shall be
in the effort to help them to obey |
18 |
the Ten Commandments and imbibe the spirit of Christ's
Beatitudes.
NOTICE |
21 |
Editor of Christian Science Journal: - You will oblige
me by giving place in your Journal to the following notice.
The idea and purpose of a Liberty Bell is pleasing, and |
24 |
can be made profitable to the heart of our country. I
feel assured that many Christian Scientists will respond to this letter
by contributions. |
27 |
MARY BAKER EDDY
Page 304 |
1 |
COLUMBIAN LIBERTY BELL COMMITTEE,
1505 PENNA. AVE., WASHINGTON, D. C. |
3 |
TO THE DAUGHTERS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION:
-
It has been determined to create a Columbian Liberty
Bell, to be placed by the lovers of liberty and peace in |
6 |
the most appropriate place in the coming World's Expo-
sition at Chicago. After the close of the Exhibition this bell will pass
from place to place throughout the world |
9 |
as a missionary of freedom, coming first to the capital
of the nation under the care of our society.
Then it will go to Bunker Hill or Liberty Island,
to |
12 |
the battle-field of New Orleans ( 1812), to San Francisco,
to the place where any great patriotic celebration is being held,
until 1900, when it will be sent to the next World's |
15 |
Exhibition, which takes place at Paris, France. There it
will continue until that Exhibition closes.
When not in use in other places, it will return to
Wash- |
18 |
ington under the care of the Daughters of the American
Revolution. Washington will be its home, and from there it will journey
from place to place, fulfilling its mission |
21 |
throughout the world.
The following is the proposed use of the bell: It shall
ring at sunrise and sunset; at nine o'clock in the morn- |
24 |
ing on the anniversaries of the days on which great events
have occurred marking the world's progress toward liberty; at twelve
o'clock on the birthdays of the "creators of |
27 |
liberty;" and at four o'clock it will toll on the anniver-
saries of their death. (It will always ring at nine o'clock on October
11th, in recognition of the organization on |
30 |
that day of the Daughters of the American Revolution.) .
. The responsibility of its production, and the direc- tion of its use,
have been placed in the hands of a
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committee of women representing each State and Ter-
ritory, one representative from each Republic in the |
3 |
world, and a representative from the patriotic societies,
- Daughters and Sons of the American Revolution, the Lyceum League of
America, the Society of Ger- |
6 |
man Patriots, the Human Freedom League, and kindred
organizations.
The National Board of Management has
placed upon |
9 |
me the responsibility of representing the National
Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution upon the General
Committee, and this circular is sent to every |
12 |
member of the society, asking for her personal coopera-
tion in making the undertaking successful. In creating the bell it is
particularly desired that the largest number |
15 |
of persons possible shall have a part in it. For this
reason small contributions from many persons are to be asked for,
rather than large contributions from a few. They |
18 |
are to be of two kinds: -
First: Material that can be made a part of the bell; articles of
historic interest will be particularly appre- |
21 |
ciated - gold, silver, bronze, copper, and nickel can be
fused.
Second: Of money with which to pay for the bell. |
24 |
Each member of the society is asked to contribute one
cent to be fused into the bell, and twenty-five cents to pay for it. She is
also asked to collect two dollars from |
27 |
others, in pennies, if possible, and send with the amount
the name of each contributor. In order that the bell shall be cast April
30th, the anniversary of the inaugu- |
30 |
ration of George Washington as the first President of
the United States, we ask every one receiving this cir- cular to act at
once.
Page 306 |
1 |
In forwarding material to be melted into the bell, please
send fullest historical description. This will be entered |
3 |
carefully in a book which will accompany the bell
wherever it goes.
. . . As the motto has not yet been
decided upon, any |
6 |
ideas on that subject will be gratefully received; we
will also welcome suggestions of events to be celebrated and names to
be commemorated. |
9 |
Very cordially yours, MARY DESHA,
ex-Vice-President General, D. A. R. |
12 |
Contributions should be sent to the Liberty National
Bank, corner Liberty and West Streets, New York, and a duplicate letter
written, as a notification of the same, |
15 |
to Miss Mary Desha, 1505 Penna. Ave., Washington, D.
C., or to Miss Minnie F. Mickley, Mickleys, Pa.
We would add, as being of interest,
that Mrs. Eddy is |
18 |
a member of the above organization, having been made such
by the special request of the late Mrs. Harrison, wife of the ex-President,
who was at that time the Presi- |
21 |
dent thereof. - ED.
ANGELS
When angels visit us, we do not hear
the rustle of wings, |
24 |
nor feel the feathery touch of the breast of a dove; but
we know their presence by the love they create in our hearts. Oh, may you
feel this touch, - it is not the |
27 |
clasping of hands, nor a loved person present; it is
more than this: it is a spiritual idea that lights your path! The
Psalmist saith: "He shall give His angels charge
Page 307 |
1 |
over thee." God gives you His spiritual ideas, and in
turn, they give you daily supplies. Never ask for to- |
3 |
morrow: it is enough that divine Love is an ever-present
help; and if you wait, never doubting, you will have all you need every
moment. What a glorious inheritance |
6 |
is given to us through the understanding of omnipresent
Love! More we cannot ask: more we do not want: more we cannot have. This
sweet assurance is the |
9 |
"Peace, be still" to all human fears, to suffering of
every sort.
DEIFICATION OF
PERSONALITY |
12 |
Notwithstanding the rapid sale already of two editions of
"Christ and Christmas," and many orders on hand, I have thought best to
stop its publication. |
15 |
In this revolutionary religious period, the increasing
inquiry of mankind as to Christianity and its unity - and above all, God's
love opening the eyes of the blind |
18 |
- is fast fitting all minds for the proper reception of
Christian Science healing.
But I must stand on this absolute
basis of Christian |
21 |
Science; namely, Cast not pearls before the unprepared
thought. Idolatry is an easily-besetting sin of all peoples. The apostle
saith, "Little children, keep yourselves from |
24 |
idols."
The illustrations were not intended
for a golden calf, at which the sick may look and be healed.
Christian |
27 |
Scientists should beware of unseen snares, and adhere to
the divine Principle and rules for demonstration. They must guard against
the deification of finite person- |
30 |
ality. Every human thought must turn instinctively to
Page 308 |
1 |
the divine Mind as its sole centre and intelligence.
Until this be done, man will never be found harmonious and |
3 |
immortal.
Whosoever looks to me personally for
his health or holiness, mistakes. He that by reason of human love
or |
6 |
hatred or any other cause clings to my material per-
sonality, greatly errs, stops his own progress, and loses the path to
health, happiness, and heaven. The Scrip- |
9 |
tures and Christian Science reveal "the way," and per-
sonal revelators will take their proper place in history, but will not be
deified. |
12 |
Advanced scientific students are ready for "Christ and
Christmas;" but those are a minority of its readers, and even they know
its practicality only by healing |
15 |
the sick on its divine Principle. In the words of the
prophet, "Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God is one Lord." |
18 |
Friends, strangers, and Christian Scientists, I thank
you, each and all, for your liberal patronage and scholarly, artistic, and
scientific notices of my book. This little |
21 |
messenger has done its work, fulfilled its mission,
retired with honor (and mayhap taught me more than it has others), only
to reappear in due season. The knowledge |
24 |
that I have gleaned from its fruitage is, that intensely
contemplating personality impedes spiritual growth; even as holding in mind
the consciousness of disease prevents |
27 |
the recovery of the sick.
Christian Science is taught through
its divine Prin- ciple, which is invisible to corporeal sense. A
material |
30 |
human likeness is the antipode of man in the image and
likeness of God. Hence, a finite person is not the model for a
metaphysician. I earnestly advise all Christian |
33 |
Scientists to remove from their observation or study
Page 309 |
1 |
the personal sense of any one, and not to dwell in
thought upon their own or others' corporeality, either as good or |
3 |
evil.
According to Christian Science,
material personality is an error in premise, and must result in erroneous
con- |
6 |
clusions. All will agree with me that material
portraiture often fails to express even mortal man, and this declares
its unfitness for fable or fact to build upon. |
9 |
The face of Jesus has uniformly been so unnaturally
delineated that it has turned many from the true con- templation of his
character. He advances most in divine |
12 |
Science who meditates most on infinite spiritual sub-
stance and intelligence. Experience proves this true. Pondering on the
finite personality of Jesus, the son of |
15 |
man, is not the channel through which we reach the
Christ, or Son of God, the true idea of man's divine Principle. |
18 |
I warn students against falling into the error of anti-
Christ. The consciousness of corporeality, and what- ever is connected
therewith, must be outgrown. Corporeal |
21 |
falsities include all obstacles to health, holiness, and
heaven. Man's individual life is infinitely above a bodily form of
existence, and the human concept an- |
24 |
tagonizes the divine. "Science and Health with Key to the
Scriptures," on page 229, third and fourth para- graphs, elucidates this
topic.(l) |
27 |
My Christmas poem and its illustrations are not a text-
book. Scientists sometimes take things too intensely. Let them soberly
adhere to the Bible and Science and |
30 |
Health, which contain all and much more than they have
yet learned. We should prohibit ourselves the
(1) See the revised edition of 1890,
or page 334, in editions
subsequent to 1902.
Page 310 |
1 |
childish pleasure of studying Truth through the senses,
for this is neither the intent of my works nor possible |
3 |
in Science.
Even the teachings of Jesus would be
misused by sub- stituting personality for the Christ, or the
impersonal |
6 |
form of Truth, amplified in this age by the discovery of
Christian Science. To impersonalize scientifically the material sense of
existence - rather than cling to per- |
9 |
sonality - is the lesson of to-day.
A CARD
My answer to manifold letters relative
to the return |
12 |
of members that have gone out of The First Church of
Christ, Scientist, in Boston, is this: While my affec- tions plead for all
and every one, and my desire is that |
15 |
all shall be redeemed, I am not unmindful that the Scrip-
tures enjoin, "Let all things be done decently and in order." |
18 |
To continue one's connection with this church, or to
regain it, one must comply with the church rules. All who desire its
fellowship, and to become members of it, |
21 |
must send in their petitions to this effect to the Clerk
of the church; and upon a meeting being called, the First Members will
determine the action of the church |
24 |
on this subject.
OVERFLOWING
THOUGHTS
In this receding year of religious
jubilee, 1894, I as |
27 |
an individual would cordially invite all persons who
have left our fold, together with those who never have
Page 311 |
1 |
been in it, - all who love God and keep His command-
ments, - to come and unite with The Mother Church in |
3 |
Boston. The true Christian Scientists will be welcomed,
greeted as brethren endeavoring to walk with us hand in hand, as we journey
to the celestial city. |
6 |
Also, I would extend a tender invitation to Christian
Scientists' students, those who are ready for the table of our Lord: so,
should we follow Christ's teachings; so, |
9 |
bury the dead past; so, loving one another, go forth to
the full vintage-time, exemplifying what we profess. But some of the older
members are not quite ready to take |
12 |
this advanced step in the full spirit of that charity
which thinketh no evil; and if it be not taken thus, it is impracti-
cal, unfruitful, Soul-less. |
15 |
My deepest desires and daily labors go to prove that I
love my enemies and would help all to gain the abiding consciousness of
health, happiness, and heaven. |
18 |
I hate no one; and love others more than they can love
me. As I now understand Christian Science, I would as soon harm myself as
another; since by breaking |
21 |
Christ's command, "Thou shalt love thy neighbor as
thyself," I should lose my hope of heaven.
The works I have written on Christian
Science con- |
24 |
tain absolute Truth, and my necessity was to tell it;
therefore I did this even as a surgeon who wounds to heal. I was a scribe
under orders; and who can |
27 |
refrain from transcribing what God indites, and ought not
that one to take the cup, drink all of it, and give thanks? |
30 |
Being often reported as saying what never escaped from
my lips, when rehearsing facts concerning others who were reporting false
charges, I have been sorry that
Page 312 |
1 |
I spoke at all, and wished I were wise enough to guard
against that temptation. Oh, may the love that is talked, |
3 |
be felt! and so lived, that when weighed in the
scale of God we be not found wanting. Love is consistent, uni- form,
sympathetic, self-sacrificing, unutterably kind; even |
6 |
that which lays all upon the altar, and, speechless and
alone, bears all burdens, suffers all inflictions, endures all piercing for
the sake of others, and for the kingdom |
9 |
of heaven's sake.
A GREAT MAN AND HIS
SAYING
Hon. Charles Carrol Bonney, President
of the World's |
12 |
Congress Auxiliary, in his remarks before that body,
said, "No more striking manifestation of the interposi- tion of divine
Providence in human affairs has come in |
15 |
recent years, than that shown in the raising up of the
body of people known as Christian Scientists, who are called to declare the
real harmony between religion and |
18 |
Science, and to restore the waning faith of many in the
verities of the sacred Scriptures."
In honest utterance of veritable
history, and his own |
21 |
spiritual discernment, this man must have risen above
worldly schemes, human theorems or hypotheses, to conclusions which reason
too supine or misemployed |
24 |
cannot fasten upon. He spake inspired; he touched a tone
of Truth that will continue to reverberate and renew its emphasis
throughout the entire centuries, into the vast |
27 |
forever.
Page 313
WORDS OF
COMMENDATION
Editor of The Christian Science
Journal: - Permit me |
3 |
to say that your editorial in the August number is
par excellence.
It is a digest of good manners,
morals, methods, and |
6 |
means. It points to the scientific spiritual molecule,
pearl, and pinnacle, that everybody needs. May the Christlikeness it
reflects rest on the dear readers, and |
9 |
throw the light of penetration on the page; even as the
dawn, kindling its glories in the east, lightens earth's landscape. |
12 |
I thank the contributors to The Christian Science
Journal for their jewels of thought, so adapted to the hour, and
without ill-humor or hyperbolic tumor. I |
15 |
was impressed by the articles entitled "The New Pas-
tor," by Rev. Lanson P. Norcross, "The Lamp," by Walter Church, "The
Temptation," a poem by J. J. |
18 |
Rome, etc.
The field waves its white ensign, the
reapers are strong, the rich sheaves are ripe, the storehouse is ready:
pray |
21 |
ye therefore the God of harvest to send forth more
laborers of the excellent sort, and garner the supplies for a world.
CHURCH AND
SCHOOL
Humbly, and, as I believe, divinely
directed, I hereby ordain the Bible, and "Science and Health with
Key |
27 |
to the Scriptures," to be hereafter the only pastor of
Page 314 |
1 |
The Church of Christ, Scientist, throughout our land and
in other lands. |
3 |
From this date the Sunday services of our denomina- tion
shall be conducted by Readers in lieu of pastors. Each church, or society
formed for Sunday worship, |
6 |
shall elect two Readers: a male, and a female. One of
these individuals shall open the meeting by reading the hymns, and chapter
(or portion of the chapter) in the |
9 |
Bible, lead in silent prayer, and repeat in concert with
the congregation the Lord's Prayer. Also, this First Reader shall give out
any notices from the pulpit, shall |
12 |
read the Scriptures indicated in the Sunday School Les-
son of the Christian Science Quarterly, and shall pro- nounce the
benediction. |
15 |
The First Reader shall read from my book, "Science and
Health with Key to the Scriptures," alternately in response to the
congregation, the spiritual interpreta- |
18 |
tion of the Lord's Prayer; also, shall read all the
selec- tions from Science and Health referred to in the Sunday
Lessons. |
21 |
The Reader of the Scriptures shall name, at each reading,
the book, chapter, and verses. The Reader of "Science and Health with Key
to the Scriptures" shall |
24 |
commence by announcing the full title of this book, with
the name of its author, and add to this announcement, "the Christian
Science textbook." It is unnecessary to |
27 |
repeat the title or page. This form shall also be
observed at the Communion service; the selections from both the Bible
and the Christian Science textbook shall be taken |
30 |
from the Quarterly, as heretofore, and this Lesson
shall be such as is adapted to that service. On the first Sunday of
each month, except Communion Sunday, a sermon
Page 315 |
1 |
shall be preached to the children, from selections taken
from the Scriptures and Science and Health, especially |
3 |
adapted to the occasion, and read after the manner of the
Sunday service. The children's service shall be held on the Sunday
following Communion Day. |
6 |
No copies from my books are allowed to be written, and
read from manuscripts, either in private or in pub- lic assemblies, except
by their author. |
9 |
Christian Scientists, all over the world, who are let-
terly fit and specially spiritually fitted for teachers, can teach annually
three classes only. They shall teach |
12 |
from the Christian Science textbook. Each class shall
consist of not over thirty-three students, carefully selected, and only of
such as have promising proclivities toward |
15 |
Christian Science. The teacher shall hold himself mor-
ally obligated to look after the welfare of his students, not only through
class term, but after it; and to watch |
18 |
well that they prove sound in sentiment, health, and
practical Christian Science.
Teaching Christian Science shall be no
question of |
21 |
money, but of morals and of uplifting the race. Teachers
shall form associations for this purpose; and for the first few years,
convene as often as once in three months. |
24 |
Teachers shall not silently mentally address the thought,
to handle it, nor allow their students to do thus, except the individual
needing it asks for mental treatment. |
27 |
They shall steadily and patiently strive to educate their
students in conformity to the unerring wisdom and law of God, and shall
enjoin upon them habitually to study |
30 |
His revealed Word, the Scriptures, and "Science and
Health with Key to the Scriptures."
They shall teach their students how to
defend them-
Page 316 |
1 |
selves against mental malpractice, but never to return
evil for evil; never to attack the malpractitioner, but |
3 |
to know the truth that makes free, - and so to be a law
not unto others, but themselves.
CLASS, PULPIT,
STUDENTS' STUDENTS |
6 |
When will you take a class in Christian Science or speak
to your church in Boston? is often asked.
I shall speak to my dear church at
Boston very seldom. |
9 |
The Mother Church must be self-sustained by God. The date
of a class in Christian Science should depend on the fitness of things, the
tide which flows heavenward, |
12 |
the hour best for the student. Until minds become less
worldly-minded, and depart farther from the primitives of the race, and
have profited up to their present capac- |
15 |
ity from the written word, they are not ready for the
word spoken at this date.
My juniors can tell others what they
know, and turn |
18 |
them slowly toward the haven. Imperative, accumula- tive,
sweet demands rest on my retirement from life's bustle. What, then, of
continual recapitulation of tired |
21 |
aphorisms and disappointed ethics; of patching breaches
widened the next hour; of pounding wisdom and love into sounding brass; of
warming marble and quench- |
24 |
ing volcanoes! Before entering the Massachusetts Meta-
physical College, had my students achieved the point whence they could have
derived most benefit from their |
27 |
pupilage, to-day there would be on earth paragons of
Christianity, patterns of humility, wisdom, and might for the world.
Page 317 |
1 |
To the students whom I have not seen that ask, "May I
call you mother?" my heart replies, Yes, if you are |
3 |
doing God's work. When born of Truth and Love, we are
all of one kindred.
The hour has struck for Christian
Scientists to do their |
6 |
own work; to appreciate the signs of the times; to dem-
onstrate self-knowledge and self-government; and to demonstrate, as this
period demands, over all sin, disease, |
9 |
and death. The dear ones whom I would have great pleasure
in instructing, know that the door to my teaching was shut when my College
closed. |
12 |
Again, it is not absolutely requisite for some people to
be taught in a class, for they can learn by spiritual growth and by the
study of what is written. Scarcely a |
15 |
moiety, compared with the whole of the Scriptures and the
Christian Science textbook, is yet assimilated spirit- ually by the most
faithful seekers; yet this assimilation is |
18 |
indispensable to the progress of every Christian
Scientist. These considerations prompt my answers to the above
questions. Human desire is inadequate to adjust the |
21 |
balance on subjects of such earnest import. These words
of our Master explain this hour: "What I do thou knowest not now; but thou
shalt know hereafter." |
24 |
My sympathies are deeply enlisted for the students of
students; having already seen in many instances their talents, culture, and
singleness of purpose to uplift the |
27 |
race. Such students should not pay the penalty for other
people's faults; and divine Love will open the way for them. My soul abhors
injustice, and loves |
30 |
mercy. St. John writes: "Whom God hath sent speaketh the
words of God: for God giveth not the Spirit by meas- ure unto him."
Page 318
MY STUDENTS AND THY
STUDENTS
Mine and thine are obsolete terms in
absolute Christian |
3 |
Science, wherein and whereby the universal brotherhood of
man is stated and demands to be demonstrated. I have a large affection, not
alone for my students, but for thy |
6 |
students, - for students of the second generation. I can-
not but love some of those devoted students better than some of mine who
are less lovable or Christly. This |
9 |
natural affection for goodness must go on ad libitum
unto the third and fourth and final generation of those who love God
and keep His commandments. Hence the |
12 |
following is an amendment of the paragraph on page 47
(1) of "Retrospection and Introspection": -
Any student, having received
instructions in a Primary |
15 |
class from me, or from a loyal student of Christian
Science, and afterwards studied thoroughly "Science and Health with Key
to the Scriptures," can enter upon the gospel |
18 |
work of teaching Christian Science, and so fulfil the
com- mand of Christ. Before entering this sacred field of labor, the
student must have studied faithfully the latest edi- |
21 |
tions of my works, and be a good Bible scholar and a
devout, consecrated Christian. These are the
indispensable demands on all those who |
24 |
become teachers.
UNSEEN SIN
Two points of danger beset mankind;
namely, making |
27 |
sin seem either too large or too little: if too large,
we
(1) See edition of 1909.
Page 319 |
1 |
are in the darkness of all the ages, wherein the true
sense of the unity of good and the unreality of evil is lost. |
3 |
If good is God, even as God is good, then good and evil
can neither be coeval nor coequal, for God is All-in- all. This closes the
argument of aught besides Him, aught |
6 |
else than good.
If the sense of sin is too little,
mortals are in danger of not seeing their own belief in sin, but of seeing
too |
9 |
keenly their neighbor's. Then they are beset with egotism
and hypocrisy. Here Christian Scientists must be most watchful. Their habit
of mental and audible |
12 |
protest against the reality of sin, tends to make sin
less or more to them than to other people. They must either be
overcoming sin in themselves, or they must not lose |
15 |
sight of sin; else they are self-deceived sinners of the
worst sort.
A WORD TO THE
WISE |
18 |
Will all the dear Christian Scientists accept my tender
greetings for the forthcoming holidays, and grant me this request, - let
the present season pass without one |
21 |
gift to me.
Our church edifice must be built in
1894. Take thither thy saintly offerings, and lay them in the
outstretched |
24 |
hand of God. The object to be won affords ample oppor-
tunity for the grandest achievement to which Christian Scientists can
direct attention, and feel themselves alone |
27 |
among the stars.
No doubt must intervene between the
promise and event; faith and resolve are friends to Truth; seize them,
Page 320 |
1 |
trust the divine Providence, push upward our prayer in
stone, - and God will give the benediction.
CHRISTMAS
This interesting day, crowned with the
history of Truth's idea, - its earthly advent and nativity, -
is |
6 |
especially dear to the heart of Christian Scientists; to
whom Christ's appearing in a fuller sense is so precious, and fraught with
divine benedictions for mankind. |
9 |
The star that looked lovingly down on the manger of our
Lord, lends its resplendent light to this hour: the light of Truth, to
cheer, guide, and bless man as he |
12 |
reaches forth for the infant idea of divine perfection
dawning upon human imperfection, - that calms man's fears, bears his
burdens, beckons him on to Truth and |
15 |
Love and the sweet immunity these bring from sin, sick-
ness, and death.
This polar star, fixed in the heavens
of divine Science, |
18 |
shall be the sign of his appearing who "healeth all our
diseases;" it hath traversed night, wading through darkness and gloom, on
to glory. It doth meet the |
21 |
antagonism of error; addressing to dull ears and undis-
ciplined beliefs words of Truth and Life.
The star of Bethlehem is the star of
Boston, high in |
24 |
the zenith of Truth's domain, that looketh down on the
long night of human beliefs, to pierce the darkness and melt into
dawn. |
27 |
The star of Bethlehem is the light of all ages; is the
light of Love, to-day christening religion undefiled, divine Science;
giving to it a new name, and the white stone in |
30 |
token of purity and permanence.
Page 321 |
1 |
The wise men follow this guiding star; the watchful
shepherd chants his welcome over the cradle of a great |
3 |
truth, and saith, "Unto us a child is born," whose birth
is less of a miracle than eighteen centuries ago; and "his name shall be
called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty |
6 |
God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace."
My heart is filled with joy, that each
receding year sees the steady gain of Truth's idea in Christian Science;
that |
9 |
each recurring year witnesses the balance adjusted more
on the side of God, the supremacy of Spirit; as shown by the triumphs of
Truth over error, of health over sick- |
12 |
ness, of Life over death, and of Soul over sense.
"The hour cometh, and now is, when the
true wor- shippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in
truth." |
15 |
"For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath
made me free from the law of sin and death." "Fear not, little flock;
for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you |
18 |
the kingdom."
Press on, press on! ye sons
of light, Untiring in your holy fight, |
21 |
Still treading each
temptation down, And battling for a brighter crown.
CARD |
24 |
In reply to all invitations from Chicago to share the
hospitality of their beautiful homes at any time during the great wonder of
the world, the World's Fair, I say, |
27 |
Do not expect me. I have no desire to see or to hear
what is to be offered upon this approaching occasion.
I have a world of wisdom and Love to
contemplate, |
30 |
that concerns me, and you, infinitely beyond all earthly
Page 322 |
1 |
expositions or exhibitions. In return for your kindness,
I earnestly invite you to its contemplation with me, and |
3 |
to preparation to behold it.
MESSAGE TO THE
MOTHER CHURCH
Beloved Brethren: - People coming from a distance |
6 |
expecting to hear me speak in The Mother Church, are
frequently disappointed. To avoid this, I may here- after notify the
Directors when I shall be present to |
9 |
address this congregation, and the Clerk of the church
can inform correspondents. Your dual and impersonal pastor, the Bible, and
"Science and Health with Key to |
12 |
the Scriptures," is with you; and the Life these give,
the Truth they illustrate, the Love they demonstrate, is the great
Shepherd that feedeth my flock, and leadeth |
15 |
them "beside the still waters." By any personal pres-
ence, or word of mine, your thought must not be diverted or diverged, your
senses satisfied, or self be justified. |
18 |
Therefore, beloved, my often-coming is unnecessary; for,
though I be present or absent, it is God that feed- eth the hungry heart,
that giveth grace for grace, that |
21 |
healeth the sick and cleanseth the sinner. For this
consummation He hath given you Christian Science, and my past poor labors
and love. He hath shown you |
24 |
the amplitude of His mercy, the justice of His judgment,
the omnipotence of His love; and this, to compensate your zealous affection
for seeking good, and for labor- |
27 |
ing in its widening grooves from the infinitesimal to
the infinite.
Page 323
CHAPTER IX
- THE FRUIT OF SPIRIT
AN ALLEGORY
PICTURE to yourself "a city set upon a
hill," a |
3 |
celestial city above all clouds, in serene azure and
unfathomable glory: having no temple therein, for God is the temple
thereof; nor need of the sun, neither of the |
6 |
moon, for God doth lighten it. Then from this sacred
summit behold a Stranger wending his way downward, to where a few laborers
in a valley at the foot of the moun- |
9 |
tain are working and watching for his coming.
The descent and ascent are beset with
peril, priva- tion, temptation, toil, suffering. Venomous serpents
hide |
12 |
among the rocks, beasts of prey prowl in the path, wolves
in sheep's clothing are ready to devour; but the Stranger meets and masters
their secret and open attacks with |
15 |
serene confidence.
The Stranger eventually stands in the
valley at the foot of the mountain. He saith unto the patient
toilers |
18 |
therein: "What do ye here? Would ye ascend the moun-
tain, - climbing its rough cliffs, hushing the hissing serpents, taming the
beasts of prey, -and bathe in its |
21 |
streams, rest in its cool grottos, and drink from its
living fountains? The way winds and widens in the valley; up the hill
it is straight and narrow, and few there be that |
24 |
find it."
Page 324 |
1 |
His converse with the watchers and workers in the valley
closes, and he makes his way into the streets of a |
3 |
city made with hands.
Pausing at the threshold of a palatial
dwelling, he knocks and waits. The door is shut. He hears
the |
6 |
sounds of festivity and mirth; youth, manhood, and age
gayly tread the gorgeously tapestried parlors, dancing- halls, and
banquet-rooms. But a little while, and the |
9 |
music is dull, the wine is unsipped, the footfalls abate,
the laughter ceases. Then from the window of this dwel- ling a face looks
out, anxiously surveying him who waiteth |
12 |
at the door.
Within this mortal mansion are
adulterers, fornicators, idolaters; drunkenness, witchcraft, variance,
envy, emu- |
15 |
lation, hatred, wrath, murder. Appetites and passions
have so dimmed their sight that he alone who looks from that dwelling,
through the clearer pane of his own heart |
18 |
tired of sin, can see the Stranger.
Startled beyond measure at beholding
him, this mortal inmate withdraws; but growing more and more
troubled, |
21 |
he seeks to leave the odious company and the cruel walls,
and to find the Stranger. Stealing cautiously away from his comrades, he
departs; then turns back, - he is afraid |
24 |
to go on and to meet the Stranger. So he returns to the
house, only to find the lights all wasted and the music fled. Finding no
happiness within, he rushes again |
27 |
into the lonely streets, seeking peace but finding none.
Naked, hungry, athirst, this time he struggles on, and at length reaches
the pleasant path of the valley at the |
30 |
foot of the mountain, whence he may hopefully look for
the reappearance of the Stranger, and receive his heavenly guidance.
Page 325 |
1 |
The Stranger enters a massive carved stone mansion, and
saith unto the dwellers therein, "Blessed are the |
3 |
poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven."
But they understand not his saying.
These are believers of different
sects, and of no sect; |
6 |
some, so-called Christian Scientists in sheep's clothing;
and all "drunken without wine." They have small con- ceptions of spiritual
riches, few cravings for the immortal, |
9 |
but are puffed up with the applause of the world: they
have plenty of pelf, and fear not to fall upon the Stranger, seize his
pearls, throw them away, and afterwards try to |
12 |
kill him.
Somewhat disheartened, he patiently
seeks another dwelling, - only to find its inmates asleep at
noontide! |
15 |
Robust forms, with manly brow nodding on cushioned
chairs, their feet resting on footstools, or, flat on their backs, lie
stretched on the floor, dreaming away the |
18 |
hours. Balancing on one foot, with eyes half open, the
porter starts up in blank amazement and looks at the Stranger, calls out,
rubs his eyes, - amazed beyond |
21 |
measure that anybody is animated with a purpose, and
seen working for it!
They in this house are those that
"provoke Him in |
24 |
the wilderness, and grieve Him in the desert." Away from
this charnel-house of the so-called living, the Stranger turns quickly,
and wipes off the dust from his feet as a |
27 |
testimony against sensualism in its myriad forms. As he
departs, he sees robbers finding ready ingress to that dwelling of sleepers
in the midst of murderous hordes, |
30 |
without watchers and the doors unbarred!
Next he enters a place of worship, and
saith unto them, "Go ye into all the world; preach the gospel, heal the
Page 326 |
1 |
sick, cast out devils, raise the dead; for the Scripture
saith the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath |
3 |
made you free from the law of sin and death." And
they cast him out.
Once more he seeks the dwelling-place
of mortals and |
6 |
knocks loudly. The door is burst open, and sufferers
shriek for help: that house is on fire! The flames caught in the dwelling
of luxury, where the blind saw them not, |
9 |
but the flesh at length did feel them; thence they spread
to the house of slumberers who heeded them not, until they became
unmanageable; fed by the fat of hypocrisy |
12 |
and vainglory, they consumed the next dwelling; then
crept unseen into the synagogue, licking up the blood of martyrs and
wrapping their altars in ruins. "God is a |
15 |
consuming fire."
Thus are all mortals, under every hue
of circumstances, driven out of their houses of clay and, homeless
wan- |
18 |
derers in a beleaguered city, forced to seek the Father's
house, if they would be led to the valley and up the mount. |
21 |
Seeing the wisdom of withdrawing from those who
persistently rejected him, the Stranger returned to the valley; first, to
meet with joy his own, to wash their |
24 |
feet, and take them up the mountain. Well might this
heavenly messenger exclaim, "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the
prophets, and stonest them which |
27 |
are sent unto thee, . . . Behold, your house is left
unto you desolate."
Discerning in his path the penitent
one who had groped |
30 |
his way from the dwelling of luxury, the Stranger saith
unto him, "Wherefore comest thou hither?"
He answered, "The sight of thee
unveiled my sins, and
Page 327 |
1 |
turned my misnamed joys to sorrow. When I went back into
the house to take something out of it, my misery |
3 |
increased; so I came hither, hoping that I might follow
thee whithersoever thou goest." And the Stranger
saith unto him, "Wilt thou climb |
6 |
the mountain, and take nothing of thine own with thee?"
He answered, "I will."
"Then," saith the Stranger, "thou hast
chosen the |
9 |
good part; follow me." Many there
were who had entered the valley to specu- late in worldly policy, religion,
politics, finance, and to |
12 |
search for wealth and fame. These had heavy baggage of
their own, and insisted upon taking all of it with them, which must greatly
hinder their ascent. |
15 |
The journey commences. The encumbered travellers halt
and disagree. They stoutly belay those who, hav- ing less baggage, ascend
faster than themselves, and |
18 |
betimes burden them with their own. Despairing of gaining
the summit, loaded as they are, they conclude to stop and lay down a few of
the heavy weights, - but |
21 |
only to take them up again, more than ever determined
not to part with their baggage.
All this time the Stranger is pointing
the way, show- |
24 |
ing them their folly, rebuking their pride, consoling
their afflictions, and helping them on, saying, "He that loseth his
life for my sake, shall find it." |
27 |
Obstinately holding themselves back, and sore-footed,
they fall behind and lose sight of their guide; when, stumbling and
grumbling, and fighting each other, they |
30 |
plunge headlong over the jagged rocks.
Then he who has no baggage goes back
and kindly binds up their wounds, wipes away the blood stains, and
Page 328 |
1 |
would help them on; but suddenly the Stranger shouts,
"Let them alone; they must learn from the things they |
3 |
suffer. Make thine own way; and if thou strayest, listen
for the mountain-horn, and it will call thee back to the path that goeth
upward." |
6 |
Dear reader, dost thou suspect that the valley is hu-
mility, that the mountain is heaven-crowned Christianity, and the Stranger
the ever-present Christ, the spiritual |
9 |
idea which from the summit of bliss surveys the vale of
the flesh, to burst the bubbles of earth with a breath of heaven, and
acquaint sensual mortals with the mystery |
12 |
of godliness, - unchanging, unquenchable Love? Hast not
thou heard this Christ knock at the door of thine own heart, and closed it
against Truth, to "eat and drink |
15 |
with the drunken"? Hast thou been driven by suffer- ing
to the foot of the mount, but earth-bound, burdened by pride, sin, and
self, hast thou turned back, stumbled, |
18 |
and wandered away? Or hast thou tarried in the habita-
tion of the senses, pleased and stupefied, until wakened through the
baptism of fire? |
21 |
He alone ascends the hill of Christian Science who
follows the Way-shower, the spiritual presence and idea of God. Whatever
obstructs the way, - causing to |
24 |
stumble, fall, or faint, those mortals who are striving
to enter the path, - divine Love will remove; and up- lift the fallen and
strengthen the weak. Therefore, give |
27 |
up thy earth-weights; and observe the apostle's admoni-
tion, "Forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto
those which are before." Then, |
30 |
loving God supremely and thy neighbor as thyself, thou
wilt safely bear thy cross up to the throne of everlasting glory.
Page 329
VOICES OF SPRING
Mine is an obstinate penchant
for nature in all her |
3 |
moods and forms, a satisfaction with whatever is hers.
And what shall this be named, a weakness, or a - virtue? |
6 |
In spring, nature like a thrifty housewife sets the earth
in order; and between taking up the white carpets and putting down the
green ones, her various apartments are |
9 |
dismally dirty.
Spring is my sweetheart, whose voices
are sad or glad, even as the heart may be; restoring in memory the
sweet |
12 |
rhythm of unforgotten harmonies, or touching tenderly
its tearful tones.
Spring passes over mountain and
meadow, waking up |
15 |
the world; weaving the wavy grass, nursing the timid
spray, stirring the soft breeze; rippling all nature in ceaseless flow,
with "breath all odor and cheek all bloom." |
18 |
Whatever else droops, spring is gay: her little feet trip
lightly on, turning up the daisies, paddling the water- cresses, rocking
the oriole's cradle; challenging the sed- |
21 |
entary shadows to activity, and the streams to race for
the sea. Her dainty fingers put the fur cap on pussy-willow, paint in
pink the petals of arbutus, and sweep in soft |
24 |
strains her Orphean lyre. "The voice of the turtle is
heard in our land." The snow-bird that tarried through the storm, now
chirps to the breeze; the cuckoo sounds |
27 |
her invisible lute, calling the feathered tribe back to
their summer homes. Old robin, though stricken to the heart with
winter's snow, prophesies of fair earth and sunny |
30 |
skies. The brooklet sings melting murmurs to merry
Page 330 |
1 |
meadows; the leaves clap their hands, and the winds make
melody through dark pine groves. |
3 |
What is the anthem of human life?
Has love ceased to moan over the
new-made grave, and, looking upward, does it patiently pray for the
per- |
6 |
petual springtide wherein no arrow wounds the dove? Human
hope and faith should join in nature's grand har- mony, and, if on minor
key, make music in the heart. |
9 |
And man, more friendly, should call his race as gently to
the springtide of Christ's dear love. St. Paul wrote, "Rejoice in the Lord
always." And why not, since man's |
12 |
possibilities are infinite, bliss is eternal, and the
conscious- ness thereof is here and now?
The alders bend over the streams to
shake out their |
15 |
tresses in the water-mirrors; let mortals bow before the
creator, and, looking through Love's transparency, behold man in God's own
image and likeness, arranging in the |
18 |
beauty of holiness each budding thought. It is good to
talk with our past hours, and learn what report they bear, and how they
might have reported more spirit- |
21 |
ual growth. With each returning year, higher joys, holier
aims, a purer peace and diviner energy, should freshen the fragrance of
being. Nature's first and last |
24 |
lessons teach man to be kind, and even pride should
sanction what our natures need. Popularity, - what is it? A mere mendicant
that boasts and begs, and God |
27 |
denies charity.
When gentle violet lifts its blue eye
to heaven, and crown imperial unveils its regal splendor to the
sun; |
30 |
when the modest grass, inhabiting the whole earth,
stoops meekly before the blast; when the patient corn waits on the
elements to put forth its slender blade, construct
Page 331 |
1 |
the stalk, instruct the ear, and crown the full corn in
the ear, - then, are mortals looking up, waiting on God, |
3 |
and committing their way unto Him who tosses earth's mass
of wonders into their hands? When downtrodden like the grass, did it make
them humble, loving, obedi- |
6 |
ent, full of good odor, and cause them to wait patiently
on God for man's rich heritage, - "dominion over all the earth"? Thus
abiding in Truth, the warmth and |
9 |
sunlight of prayer and praise and understanding will
ripen the fruits of Spirit, and goodness will have its spring- tide of
freedom and greatness. |
12 |
When the white-winged dove feeds her callow brood,
nestles them under her wings, and, in tones tremulous with tenderness,
calls them to her breast, do mortals |
15 |
remember their cradle hymns, and thank God for
those redemptive words from a mother's lips which taught them the
Lord's Prayer? |
18 |
O gentle presence, peace and
joy and power; O Life divine, that owns each waiting hour; Thou Love
that guards the nestling's faltering flight! |
21 |
Keep Thou my child on upward
wing to-night. Midst the falling leaves of old-time faiths, above
the frozen crust of creed and dogma, the divine Mind-force, |
24 |
filling all space and having all power, upheaves the
earth. In sacred solitude divine Science evolved nature as thought, and
thought as things. This supreme potential Principle |
27 |
reigns in the realm of the real, and is "God with us,"
the I AM.
As mortals awake from their dream of
material sen- |
30 |
sation, this adorable, all-inclusive God, and all
earth's hieroglyphics of Love, are understood; and infinite Mind
Page 332 |
1 |
is seen kindling the stars, rolling the worlds,
reflecting all space and Life, - but not life in matter. Wisely |
3 |
governing, informing the universe, this Mind is Truth, -
not laws of matter. Infinitely just, merciful, and wise, this Mind is Love,
- but not fallible love. |
6 |
Spring is here! and doors that closed on Christian
Science in "the long winter of our discontent," are open flung. Its
seedtime has come to enrich earth and en- |
9 |
robe man in righteousness; may its sober-suited autumn
follow with hues of heaven, ripened sheaves, and harvest songs.
"WHERE ART
THOU?"
In the allegory of Genesis, third
chapter and ninth verse, two mortals, walking in the cool of the day
midst |
15 |
the stately palms, many-hued blossoms, perfume-laden
breezes, and crystal streams of the Orient, pondered the things of man and
God. |
18 |
A sense of evil is supposed to have spoken, been listened
to, and afterwards to have formed an evil sense that blinded the eyes of
reason, masked with deformity the |
21 |
glories of revelation, and shamed the face of mortals.
What was this sense? Error versus
Truth: first, a supposition; second, a false belief; third,
suffering; |
24 |
fourth, death. Is man the supposer,
false believer, sufferer? Not man, but a mortal - the antipode of
immortal |
27 |
man. Supposing, false believing, suffering are not fac-
ulties of Mind, but are qualities of error. The
supposition is, that God and His idea are not all- |
30 |
power; that there is something besides Him; that this
Page 333 |
1 |
something is intelligent matter; that sin - yea, self-
hood - is apart from God, where pleasure and pain, |
3 |
good and evil, life and death, commingle, and are for-
ever at strife; even that every ray of Truth, of infinity, omnipotence,
omnipresence, goodness, could be absorbed |
6 |
in error! God cannot be obscured, and this renders error
a palpable falsity, yea, nothingness; on the basis that black is not a
color because it absorbs all the rays of |
9 |
light.
The "Alpha and Omega" of Christian
Science voices this question: Where do we hold intelligence to be?
Is |
12 |
it in both evil and good, in matter as well as Spirit? If
so, we are literally and practically denying that God, good, is supreme,
all power and presence, and are turn- |
15 |
ing away from the only living and true God, to "lords
many and gods many."
Where art thou, O mortal! who turnest
away from |
18 |
the divine source of being, - calling on matter to work
out the problem of Mind, to aid in understanding and securing the sweet
harmonies of Spirit that relate to the |
21 |
universe, including man?
Paul asked: "What communion hath light
with dark- ness? And what concord hath Christ with Belial?"
The |
24 |
worshippers of Baal worshipped the sun. They believed
that something besides God had authority and power, could heal and bless;
that God wrought through matter |
27 |
- by means of that which does not reflect Him in a single
quality or quantity! - the grand realities of Mind, thus to exemplify the
power of Truth and Love. |
30 |
The ancient Chaldee hung his destiny out upon the
heavens; but ancient or modern Christians, instructed in divine Science,
know that the prophet better understood
Page 334 |
1 |
Him who said: "He doeth according to His will in the army
of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth; |
3 |
and none can stay His hand, or say unto Him, What doest
Thou?"
Astrology is well in its place, but
this place is second- |
6 |
ary. Necromancy has no foundation, - in fact, no
intelligence; and the belief that it has, deceives itself. Whatever
simulates power and Truth in matter, does this |
9 |
as a lie declaring itself, that mortals' faith in matter
may have the effect of power; but when the whole fabrication is found
to be a lie, away goes all its supposed power and |
12 |
prestige.
Why do Christian Scientists treat
disease as disease, since there is no disease? |
15 |
This is done only as one gives the lie to a lie; because
it is a lie, without one word of Truth in it. You must find error to be
nothing: then, and only then, do you |
18 |
handle it in Science. The diabolism of suppositional evil
at work in the name of good, is a lie of the highest degree of nothingness:
just reduce this falsity to its proper |
21 |
denomination, and you have done with it.
How shall we treat a negation, or
error - by means of matter, or Mind? Is matter Truth? No! Then
it |
24 |
cannot antidote error.
Can belief destroy belief? No:
understanding is re- quired to do this. By the substitution of Truth
demon- |
27 |
strated, Science remedies the ills of material beliefs.
Because I have uncovered evil, and
dis-covered for you divine Science, which saith, "Be not overcome
of |
30 |
evil, but overcome evil with good," and you have not
loved sufficiently to understand this Golden Rule and demonstrate the might
of perfect Love that casteth out
Page 335 |
1 |
all fear, shall you turn away from this divine Principle
to graven images? Remember the Scripture: - |
3 |
"But and if that evil servant shall say in his heart, My
lord delayeth his coming;
"And shall begin to smite his
fellow-servants, and to |
6 |
eat and drink with the drunken;
"The lord of that servant shall come
in a day when he looketh not for him, and in an hour that he is
not |
9 |
aware of,
"And shall cut him asunder, and
appoint him his por- tion with the hypocrites." |
12 |
One mercilessly assails me for opposing the subtle lie,
others charge upon me with full-fledged invective for, as they say, having
too much charity; but neither moves |
15 |
me from the path made luminous by divine Love.
In my public works I lay bare the
ability, in belief, of evil to break the Decalogue, - to murder, steal,
commit |
18 |
adultery, and so on. Those who deny my wisdom or right to
expose error, are either willing participants in wrong, afraid of its
supposed power, or ignorant of it. |
21 |
The notion that one is covering iniquity by asserting its
nothingness, is a fault of zealots, who, like Peter, sleep when the Watcher
bids them watch, and when the |
24 |
hour of trial comes would cut off somebody's ears. Such
people say, "Would you have me get out of a burning house, or stay in
it?" |
27 |
I would have you already out, and know that you
are out; also, to remember the Scripture concerning those who do evil
that good may come, - "whose damnation |
30 |
is just;" and that whoso departeth from divine Science,
seeking power or good aside from God, has done himself harm.
Page 336 |
1 |
Mind is supreme: Love is the master of hate; Truth, the
victor over a lie. Hath not Science voiced this les- |
3 |
son to you, - that evil is powerless, that a lie is never
true? It is your province to wrestle with error, to handle the serpent and
bruise its head; but you cannot, as a |
6 |
Christian Scientist, resort to stones and clubs,-yea, to
matter, - to kill the serpent of a material mind.
Do you love that which represents God
most, His high- |
9 |
est idea as seen to-day? No!
Then you would hate Jesus if you saw
him personally, and knew your right obligations towards him. He
would |
12 |
insist on the rule and demonstration of divine Science:
even that you first cast out your own dislike and hatred of God's idea, -
the beam in your own eye that hinders |
15 |
your seeing clearly how to cast the mote of evil out of
other eyes. You cannot demonstrate the Principle of Christian Science and
not love its idea: we gather not |
18 |
grapes of thorns, nor figs of thistles.
Where art thou?
DIVINE
SCIENCE |
21 |
What is it but another name for Christian Science, the
cognomen of all true religion, the quintessence of Christianity, that heals
disease and sin and destroys |
24 |
death! Part and parcel of Truth and Love, wherever one
ray of its effulgence looks in upon the heart, behold a better man, woman,
or child. |
27 |
Science is the fiat of divine intelligence, which, hoary
with eternity, touches time only to take away its frailty. That it rests on
everlasting foundations, the sequence |
30 |
proves.
Page 337 |
1 |
Have I discovered and founded at this period Chris- tian
Science, that which reveals the truth of Love, - is |
3 |
the question.
And how can you be certain of so
momentous an affirmative? By proving its effect on yourself to be
- |
6 |
divine.
What is the Principle and rule of
Christian Science?
Infinite query! Wonder in heaven and
on earth, - |
9 |
who shall say? The immaculate Son of the Blessed has
spoken of them as the Golden Rule and its Principle, God who is Love.
Listen, and he illustrates the rule: |
12 |
"Jesus called a little child unto him, and set him in the
midst of them, and said, . . . Whosoever . . . shall humble himself as this
little child, the same is greatest |
15 |
in the kingdom of heaven."
Harmony is heaven. Science brings out
harmony; but this harmony is not understood unless it produces
a |
18 |
growing affection for all good, and consequent disaffec-
tion for all evil, hypocrisy, evil-speaking, lust, envy, hate. Where these
exist, Christian Science has no sure foot- |
21 |
hold: they obscure its divine element, and thus seem to
extinguish it. Even the life of Jesus was belittled and belied by
personalities possessing these defacing de- |
24 |
formities. Only the devout Marys, and such as lived
according to his precepts, understood the concrete char- acter of him who
taught - by the wayside, in humble |
27 |
homes, to itching ears and to dull disciples - the words
of Life.
The ineffable Life and light which he
reflected through |
30 |
divine Science is again reproduced in the character
which sensualism, as heretofore, would hide or besmear. Sin of any sort
tends to hide from an individual this grand
Page 338 |
1 |
verity in Science, that the appearing of good in an in-
dividual involves the disappearing of evil. He who first |
3 |
brings to humanity some great good, must have gained its
height beforehand, to be able to lift others toward it. I first proved to
myself, not by "words," - these |
6 |
afford no proof, - but by demonstration of Christian
Science, that its Principle is divine. All must go and do likewise. |
9 |
Faith illumined by works; the spiritual understanding
which cannot choose but to labor and love; hope hold- ing steadfastly to
good in the midst of seething evil; |
12 |
charity that suffereth long and is kind, but cancels not
sin until it be destroyed, - these afford the only rule I have found which
demonstrates Christian Science. |
15 |
And remember, a pure faith in humanity will subject one
to deception; the uses of good, to abuses from evil; and calm strength will
enrage evil. But the very heavens |
18 |
shall laugh at them, and move majestically to your de-
fense when the armies of earth press hard upon you.
"Thou must be true thyself, |
21 |
If thou the truth wouldst
teach; Thy soul must overflow, if thou Another's soul wouldst
reach; |
24 |
It needs the overflow of
heart, To give the lips full speech.
"Think truly, and thy
thoughts |
27 |
Shall the world's famine
feed; Speak truly, and each word of thine Shall be a fruitful
seed; |
30 |
Live truly, and thy life
shall be A great and noble creed."
Page 339
FIDELITY
If people would confine their talk to
subjects that are |
3 |
profitable, that which St. John informs us took place
once in heaven, would happen very frequently on earth, - silence for the
space of half an hour. |
6 |
Experience is victor, never the vanquished; and out of
defeat comes the secret of victory. That to-morrow starts from to-day and
is one day beyond it, robes the |
9 |
future with hope's rainbow hues.
In the battle of life, good is made
more industrious and persistent because of the supposed activity of
evil. |
12 |
The elbowing of the crowd plants our feet more firmly. In
the mental collisions of mortals and the strain of in- tellectual
wrestlings, moral tension is tested, and, if it |
15 |
yields not, grows stronger. The past admonishes us: with
finger grim and cold it points to every mortal mistake; or smiling saith,
"Thou hast been faithful over a few |
18 |
things."
Art thou a child, and hast added one
furrow to the brow of care? Art thou a husband, and hast
pierced |
21 |
the heart venturing its all of happiness to thy keeping?
Art thou a wife, and hast bowed the o'erburdened head of thy husband? Hast
thou a friend, and forgettest to be |
24 |
grateful? Remember, that for all this thou alone canst
and must atone. Carelessly or remorselessly thou mayest have sent along the
ocean of events a wave that will some |
27 |
time flood thy memory, surge dolefully at the door of
con- science, and pour forth the unavailing tear.
Change and the grave may part us; the
wisdom that |
30 |
might have blessed the past may come too late. One
Page 340 |
1 |
backward step, one relinquishment of right in an evil
hour, one faithless tarrying, has torn the laurel from many |
3 |
a brow and repose from many a heart. Good is never the
reward of evil, and vice versa.
There is no excellence without labor;
and the time to |
6 |
work, is now. Only by persistent, unremitting,
straight- forward toil; by turning neither to the right nor to the
left, seeking no other pursuit or pleasure than that which |
9 |
cometh from God, can you win and wear the crown of the
faithful.
That law-school is not at fault which
sends forth a |
12 |
barrister who never brings out a brief. Why? Because he
followed agriculture instead of litigation, forsook Blackstone for gray
stone, dug into soils instead of delv- |
15 |
ing into suits, raised potatoes instead of pleas, and
drew up logs instead of leases. He has not been faithful over a few
things. |
18 |
Is a musician made by his teacher? He makes him- self a
musician by practising what he was taught. The conscientious are
successful. They follow faithfully; |
21 |
through evil or through good report, they work on to the
achievement of good; by patience, they inherit the prom- ise. Be active,
and, however slow, thy success is sure: |
24 |
toil is triumph; and - thou hast been faithful over a
few things.
The lives of great men and women are
miracles of pa- |
27 |
tience and perseverance. Every luminary in the constel-
lation of human greatness, like the stars, comes out in the darkness to
shine with the reflected light of God. |
30 |
Material philosophy, human ethics, scholastic theology,
and physics have not sufficiently enlightened mankind. Human wrong,
sickness, sin, and death still appear in
Page 341 |
1 |
mortal belief, and they never bring out the right action
of mind or body. When will the whole human race have |
3 |
one God, - an undivided affection that leaves the unreal
material basis of things, for the spiritual foundation and superstructure
that is real, right, and eternal? |
6 |
First purify thought, then put thought into words, and
words into deeds; and after much slipping and clambering, you will go up
the scale of Science to the |
9 |
second rule, and be made ruler over many things. Fidelity
finds its reward and its strength in exalted purpose. Seek- ing is not
sufficient whereby to arrive at the results of |
12 |
Science: you must strive; and the glory of the strife
comes of honesty and humility.
Do human hopes deceive? is joy a
trembler? Then, |
15 |
weary pilgrim, unloose the latchet of thy sandals; for
the place whereon thou standest is sacred. By that, you may know you
are parting with a material sense of life and |
18 |
happiness to win the spiritual sense of good. O learn to
lose with God! and you find Life eternal: you gain all. To doubt this is
implicit treason to divine decree. |
21 |
The parable of "the ten virgins" serves to illustrate the
evil of inaction and delay. This parable is drawn from the sad history of
Vesta, - a little girl of eight |
24 |
years, who takes the most solemn vow of celibacy for
thirty years, and is subject to terrible torture if the lamp she tends
is not replenished with oil day and night, so that the |
27 |
flame never expires. The moral of the parable is
pointed, and the diction purely Oriental.
We learn from this parable that
neither the cares of |
30 |
this world nor the so-called pleasures or pains of mate-
rial sense are adequate to plead for the neglect of spiritual light, that
must be tended to keep aglow the flame of
Page 342 |
1 |
devotion whereby to enter into the joy of divine Science
demonstrated. |
3 |
The foolish virgins had no oil in their lamps: their way
was material; thus they were in doubt and dark- ness. They heeded not their
sloth, their fading warmth |
6 |
of action; hence the steady decline of spiritual light,
until, the midnight gloom upon them, they must borrow the better-tended
lamps of the faithful. By entering |
9 |
the guest-chamber of Truth, and beholding the bridal of
Life and Love, they would be wedded to a higher understanding of God. Each
moment's fair expect- |
12 |
ancy was to behold the bridegroom, the One "altogether
lovely."
It was midnight: darkness profound
brooded over |
15 |
earth's lazy sleepers. With no oil in their lamps, no
spiritual illumination to look upon him whom they had pierced, they heard
the shout, "The bridegroom cometh!" |
18 |
But how could they behold him? Hear that human cry: "Oh,
lend us your oil! our lamps have gone out, - no light! earth's fables flee,
and heaven is afar |
21 |
off."
The door is shut. The wise virgins had
no oil to spare, and they said to the foolish, "Go to them that sell,
and |
24 |
buy for yourselves." Seek Truth, and pursue it. It should
cost you something: you are willing to pay for error and receive nothing in
return; but if you pay the price of |
27 |
Truth, you shall receive all.
"The children of this world are in
their generation wiser than the children of light;" they watch the
market, |
30 |
acquaint themselves with the etiquette of the exchange,
and are ready for the next move. How much more should we be faithful over
the few things of Spirit, that are able
Page 343 |
1 |
to make us wise unto salvation! Let us watch and pray
that we enter not into the temptation of ease in sin; and |
3 |
let us not forget that others before us have laid upon
the altar all that we have to sacrifice, and have passed to their
reward. Too soon we cannot turn from disease |
6 |
in the body to find disease in the mortal mind, and its
cure, in working for God. Thought must be made better, and human life
more fruitful, for the divine energy to move |
9 |
it onward and upward.
Warmed by the sunshine of Truth,
watered by the heavenly dews of Love, the fruits of Christian
Science |
12 |
spring upward, and away from the sordid soil of self and
matter. Are we clearing the gardens of thought by up- rooting the noxious
weeds of passion, malice, envy, and |
15 |
strife? Are we picking away the cold, hard pebbles of
selfishness, uncovering the secrets of sin and burnishing anew the hidden
gems of Love, that their pure perfection |
18 |
shall appear? Are we feeling the vernal freshness and
sunshine of enlightened faith?
The weeds of mortal mind are not
always destroyed |
21 |
by the first uprooting; they reappear, like devastating
witch-grass, to choke the coming clover. O stupid gar- dener ! watch their
reappearing, and tear them away from |
24 |
their native soil, until no seedling be left to propagate
- and rot.
Among the manifold soft chimes that
will fill the haunted |
27 |
chambers of memory, this is the sweetest: "Thou hast
been faithful !"
Page 344
TRUE PHILOSOPHY AND
COMMUNION
It is related of Justin Martyr that,
hearing of a Pythag- |
3 |
orean professor of ethics, he expressed the wish to be-
come one of his disciples. "Very well," the teacher replied; "but have you
studied music, astronomy, and |
6 |
geometry, and do you think it possible for you to under-
stand aught of that which leads to bliss, without hav- ing mastered the
sciences that disengage the soul from |
9 |
objects of sense, so rendering it a fit habitation for
the intelligences?" On Justin's confessing that he had not studied those
branches, he was dismissed by the |
12 |
professor.
Alas for such a material science of
life! Of what avail would geometry be to a poor sinner struggling
with |
15 |
temptation, or to a man with the smallpox?
Ancient and modern philosophies are
spoiled by lack of Science. They would place Soul wholly inside of
body, |
18 |
intelligence in matter; and from error of premise would
seek a correct conclusion. Such philosophy can never demonstrate the
Science of Life, - the Science which |
21 |
Paul understood when he spoke of willingness "to be
absent from the body, and present with the Lord." Such philosophy is far
from the rules of the mighty Nazarene |
24 |
Prophet. His words, living in our hearts, were these:
"Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child, shall in
no wise enter therein." Not through |
27 |
astronomy did he point out the way to heaven and the
reign of harmony.
We need the spirit of St. Paul, when
he stood on Mars' |
30 |
hill at Athens, bringing Christianity for the first time
Page 345 |
1 |
into Europe. The Spirit bestows spiritual gifts, God's
presence and providence. St. Paul stood where Socrates |
3 |
had stood four hundred years before, defending himself
against the charge of atheism; in the place where De- mosthenes had pleaded
for freedom in immortal strains |
6 |
of eloquence.
We need the spirit of the pious
Polycarp, who, when the proconsul said to him, "I will set the beasts
upon |
9 |
you, unless you yield your religion," replied: "Let them
come; I cannot change from good to bad." Then they bound him to the stake,
set fire to the fagots, and his |
12 |
pure and strong faith rose higher through the baptism of
flame.
Methinks the infidel was blind who
said, "Christianity |
15 |
is fit only for women and weak men;" but even infidels
may disagree. Bonaparte declared, "Ever since the reign of Christianity
began the loftiest intellects have had |
18 |
a practical faith in God." Daniel Webster said, "My heart
has always assured and reassured me that Chris- tianity must be a divine
reality." |
21 |
To turn the popular indignation against an advanced form
of religion, the pagan slanderers affirmed that Christians took their
infants to a place of worship in |
24 |
order to offer them in sacrifice, - a baptism not of
water but of blood, thus distorting or misapprehending the purpose of
Christian sacraments. Christians met |
27 |
in midnight feasts in the early days, and talked of the
crucified Saviour; thence arose the rumor that it was a part of Christian
worship to kill and eat a human |
30 |
being.
Really, Christianity turned men away
from the thought of fleshly sacrifice, and directed them to spiritual
attain-
Page 346 |
1 |
ments. Life, not death, was and is the very centre of its
faith. Christian Science carries this thought even |
3 |
higher, and insists on the demonstration of moral and
spiritual healing as eminent proof that God is understood and
illustrated.
ORIGIN OF EVIL
The origin of evil is the problem of
ages. It confronts each generation anew. It confronts Christian
Science. |
9 |
The question is often asked, If God created only the
good, whence comes the evil?
To this question Christian Science
replies: Evil never |
12 |
did exist as an entity. It is but a belief that there is
an opposite intelligence to God. This belief is a species of idolatry,
and is not more true or real than that an image |
15 |
graven on wood or stone is God.
The mortal admission of the reality of
evil perpetuates faith in evil; and the Scriptures declare that "to
whom |
18 |
ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye
are." This leading, self-evident proposition of Christian Science, that,
good being real, its opposite is necessarily |
21 |
unreal, needs to be grasped in all its divine
requirements.
TRUTH VERSUS
ERROR
"A word fitly spoken is like apples of
gold in pictures |
24 |
of silver." It is a rule in Christian Science never to
re- peat error unless it becomes requisite to bring out Truth. Then
lift the curtain, let in the light, and countermand
Page 347 |
1 |
this first command of Solomon, "Answer not a fool accord-
ing to his folly, lest thou also be like unto him." |
3 |
A distant rumbling and quivering of the earth foretell
the internal action of pent-up gas. To avoid danger from this source people
have to escape from their houses to the |
6 |
open space. A conical cloud, hanging like a horoscope in
the air, foreshadows a cyclone. To escape from this calamity people prepare
shelter in caves of the earth. |
9 |
They who discern the face of the skies cannot always
discern the mental signs of these times, and peer through the opaque error.
Where my vision begins and is clear, |
12 |
theirs grows indistinct and ends.
There are diversities of operation by
the same spirit. Two individuals, with all the goodness of generous
na- |
15 |
tures, advise me. One says, Go this way; the other says,
Take the opposite direction! Between the two I stand still; or, accepting
the premonition of one of them, |
18 |
I follow his counsel, take a few steps, then halt. A true
sense not unfamiliar has been awakened. I see the way now. The guardians of
His presence go before me. I |
21 |
enter the path. It may be smooth, or it may be rugged;
but it is always straight and narrow; and if it be up- hill all the way,
the ascent is easy and the summit can |
24 |
be gained.
God is responsible for the mission of
those whom He has anointed. Those who know no will but His
take |
27 |
His hand, and from the night He leads to light. None can
say unto Him, What doest Thou?
The Christian Science
Journal was the oldest and |
30 |
only authenticated organ of Christian Science up to
1898. Loyal Scientists are targets for envy, rivalry, slander; and whoever
hits this mark is well paid by the
Page 348 |
1 |
umpire. But the Scientists aim highest. They press for-
ward towards the mark of a high calling. They recog- |
3 |
nize the claims of the law and the gospel. They know that
whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he reap. They infringe neither the
books nor the business of others; and |
6 |
with hearts overflowing with love for God, they help on
the brotherhood of men. It is not mine but Thine they
seek.
When God bids one uncover iniquity, in
order to |
9 |
exterminate it, one should lay it bare; and divine Love
will bless this endeavor and those whom it reaches. "Nothing is hid that
shall not be revealed." |
12 |
It is only a question of time when God shall reveal His
rod, and show the plan of battle. Error, left to itself, accumulates.
Hence, Solomon's transverse command: |
15 |
"Answer a fool according to his folly, lest he be wise
in his own conceit."
To quench the growing flames of
falsehood, once in |
18 |
about seven years I have to repeat this, - that I use no
drugs whatever, not even coffea (coffee), thea (tea), cap- sicum (red
pepper); though every day, and especially at |
21 |
dinner, I indulge in homoeopathic doses of Natrum
muri- aticum (common salt).
When I found myself under this new
régime of medi- |
24 |
cine, the medicine of Mind, I wanted to satisfy my curi-
osity as to the effect of drugs on one who had lost all faith in them.
Hence I tried several doses of medicine, |
27 |
and so proved to myself that drugs have no beneficial
effect on an individual in a proper state of mind.
I have by no means encouraged students
of the Massa- |
30 |
chusetts Metaphysical College to enter medical schools,
and afterwards denied this and objected to their entering those schools. A
student who consulted me on this sub-
Page 349 |
1 |
ject, received my consent and even the offer of pecuniary
assistance to take lessons outside of my College, provided |
3 |
he received these lessons of a certain regular-school
physi- cian, whose instructions included about twelve lessons, three
weeks' time, and the surgical part of midwifery. I |
6 |
have students with the degree of M. D., who are skilful
obstetricians. Such a course with such a teacher would not necessitate
essential materialization of a student's |
9 |
thought, nor detract from the metaphysical mode of
obstetrics taught in my College.
This student had taken the above-named
course in |
12 |
obstetrics when he consulted me on the feasibility of
enter- ing a medical school; and to this I objected on the ground that
it was inconsistent with Christian Science, which he |
15 |
claimed to be practising; but I was willing, and said so,
that, notwithstanding my objection, he should do as he deemed best, for I
claim no jurisdiction over any stu- |
18 |
dents. He entered the medical school, and several other
students with him. My counsel to all of them was in substance the same as
the foregoing, and some of these |
21 |
students have openly acknowledged this.
In answer to a question on the
following subject, I will state that I preached four years, and built up
the |
24 |
church, before I would accept the slightest remuneration.
When the church had sufficient members and means to pay a salary, and
refused to give me up or to receive my |
27 |
gratuitous services, I accepted, for a time, fifteen
dollars each Sunday when I preached. I never received more than this;
and the contributions, when I preached, |
30 |
doubled that amount. I have accepted no pay from my
church for about three years, and believe that I have put into the
church-fund about two thousand dollars of
Page 350 |
1 |
my own contributions. I hold receipts for $1,489.50 paid
in, and the balance was never receipted for. |
3 |
I temporarily organized a secret society known as the P.
M., the workings whereof were not "terrible and too shocking to relate." By
and with advice of the very |
6 |
student who brings up the question of this society, it
was formed. The P. M. (Private Meeting) Society met only twice. The first
subject given out for considera- |
9 |
tion was this: "There is no Animal Magnetism." There was
no advice given, no mental work, and there were no transactions at those
meetings which I would hesi- |
12 |
tate to have known. On the contrary, our deliberations
were, as usual, Christian, and like my public instruction. The second P. M.
convened in about one week from the |
15 |
first. The subject given out at that meeting was, in sub-
stance, "God is All; there is none beside Him." This proved to be our last
meeting. I dissolved the society, |
18 |
and we have not met since. If harm could come from the
consideration of these two topics, it was because of the misconception of
those subjects in the mind that |
21 |
handled them. An individual state of mind sometimes
occasions effects on patients which are not in harmony with Science and the
soundness of the argument used. |
24 |
Hence it prevents the normal action, and the benefit
that would otherwise accrue.
I issue no arguments, and cause none
to be used in |
27 |
mental practice, which consign people to suffering. On
the contrary, I cannot serve two masters; therefore I teach the use of such
arguments only as promote health |
30 |
and spiritual growth. My life, consecrated to humanity
through nameless suffering and sacrifice, furnishes its own proof of my
practice.
Page 351 |
1 |
I have sometimes called on students to test their ability
and meet the mental malpractice, so as to lift the burdens |
3 |
imposed by students.
The fact is, that for want of time,
and for the purpose of blessing even my enemies, I neglect myself. I
never |
6 |
have practised by arguments which, perverted, are the
weapons of the silent mental malpractice. I have no skill in occultism; and
I could not if I would, and would not |
9 |
if I could, harm any one through the mental method of
Mind-healing, or in any manner.
The late much-ado-about-nothing arose
solely from |
12 |
mental malicious practice, and the audible falsehood
designed to stir up strife between brethren, for the purpose of placing
Christian Science in the hands of aspirants |
15 |
for place and power. These repeated attempts of mad
ambition may retard our Cause, but they never can place it in the wrong
hands and hold it there, nor benefit |
18 |
mankind by such endeavors.
FALLIBILITY OF HUMAN
CONCEPTS
Evil counterfeits good: it says, "I am
Truth," though |
21 |
it is a lie; it says, "I am Love," - but Love is spirit-
ual, and sensuous love is material, wherefore it is hate instead of Love;
for the five senses give to mortals pain, |
24 |
sickness, sin, and death, - pleasure that is false, life
that leads unto death, joy that becomes sorrow. Love that is not the
procurator of happiness, declares itself the anti- |
27 |
pode of Love; and Love divine punishes the joys of this
false sense of love, chastens its affection, purifies it, and turns it
into the opposite channels. |
30 |
Material life is the antipode of spiritual life; it
mocks
Page 352 |
1 |
the bliss of spiritual being; it is bereft of permanence
and peace. |
3 |
When human sense is quickened to behold aright the error,
- the error of regarding Life, Truth, Love as material and not spiritual,
or as both material and spir- |
6 |
itual, - it is able for the first time to discern the
Science of good. But it must first see the error of its present
erroneous course, to be able to behold the facts of Truth |
9 |
outside of the error; and, vice versa, when it
discovers the truth, this uncovers the error and quickens the true
consciousness of God, good. May the human shadows of |
12 |
thought lengthen as they approach the light, until they
are lost in light and no night is there!
In Science, sickness is healed upon
the same Principle |
15 |
and by the same rule that sin is healed. To know the
supposed bodily belief of the patient and what has claimed to produce it,
enables the practitioner to act more under- |
18 |
standingly in destroying this belief. Thus it is in heal-
ing the moral sickness; the malicious mental operation must be understood
in order to enable one to destroy |
21 |
it and its effects. There is not sufficient spiritual
power in the human thought to heal the sick or the sinful. Through the
divine energies alone one must either get |
24 |
out of himself and into God so far that his consciousness
is the reflection of the divine, or he must, through argu- ment and the
human consciousness of both evil and good, |
27 |
overcome evil.
The only difference between the
healing of sin and the healing of sickness is, that sin must be
uncovered before |
30 |
it can be destroyed, and the moral sense be aroused to
reject the sense of error; while sickness must be cov- ered with the veil
of harmony, and the consciousness be
Page 353 |
1 |
allowed to rejoice in the sense that it has nothing to
mourn over, but something to forget. |
3 |
Human concepts run in extremes; they are like the action
of sickness, which is either an excess of action or not action enough; they
are fallible; they are neither |
6 |
standards nor models.
If one asks me, Is my concept of you
right? I reply, The human concept is always imperfect; relinquish your
human |
9 |
concept of me, or of any one, and find the divine, and
you have gained the right one - and never until then. People give me
too much attention of the misguided, fallible sort, |
12 |
and this misrepresents one through malice or ignorance.
My brother was a manufacturer; and one
day a work- man in his mills, a practical joker, set a man who
applied |
15 |
for work, in the overseer's absence, to pour a bucket of
water every ten minutes on the regulator. When my brother returned and saw
it, he said to the jester, "You |
18 |
must pay that man." Some people try to tend folks, as if
they should steer the regulator of mankind. God makes us pay for
tending the action that He adjusts. |
21 |
The regulator is governed by the principle that makes the
machinery work rightly; and because it is thus gov- erned, the
folly of tending it is no mere jest. The divine |
24 |
Principle carries on His harmony.
Now turn from the metaphor of the mill
to the Mother's four thousand children, most of whom, at about
three |
27 |
years of scientific age, setup housekeeping alone.
Certain students, being too much interested in themselves to think of
helping others, go their way. They do not love Mother, |
30 |
but pretend to; they constantly go to her for help,
interrupt the home-harmony, criticise and disobey her; then "return to
their vomit," - world worship, pleasure seeking, and
Page 354 |
1 |
sense indulgence, - meantime declaring they "never dis-
obey Mother"! It exceeds my conception of human |
3 |
nature. Sin in its very nature is marvellous ! Who but a
moral idiot, sanguine of success in sin, can steal, and lie and lie, and
lead the innocent to doom? History needs it, |
6 |
and it has the grandeur of the loyal, self-forgetful,
faith- ful Christian Scientists to overbalance this foul stuff.
When the Mother's love can no longer
promote peace |
9 |
in the family, wisdom is not "justified of her children."
When depraved reason is preferred to revelation, error to Truth, and evil
to good, and sense seems sounder than |
12 |
Soul, the children are tending the regulator; they are
indeed losing the knowledge of the divine Principle and rules of Christian
Science, whose fruits prove the nature |
15 |
of their source. A little more grace, a motive made pure,
a few truths tenderly told, a heart softened, a character subdued, a life
consecrated, would restore the right action |
18 |
of the mental mechanism, and make manifest the move-
ment of body and soul in accord with God.
Instead of relying on the Principle of
all that really |
21 |
exists, - to govern His own creation, - self-conceit,
igno- rance, and pride would regulate God's action. Expe- rience shows
that humility is the first step in Christian |
24 |
Science, wherein all is controlled, not by man or laws
material, but by wisdom, Truth, and Love.
Go gaze on the eagle, his
eye on the sun, |
27 |
Fast gathering strength for a
flight well begun, As rising he rests in a liberty higher Than genius
inflated with worldly desire. |
30 |
No tear dims his eye, nor his
pinions lose power To gaze on the lark in her emerald bower - Whenever
he soareth to fashion his nest, |
33 |
No vision more bright than
the dream in his breast.
Page 355
THE WAY
The present stage of progress in
Christian Science pre- |
3 |
sents two opposite aspects, - a full-orbed promise, and a
gaunt want. The need, however, is not of the letter, but the spirit. |
6 |
Less teaching and good healing is to-day the acme of
"well done;" a healing that is not guesswork, - chronic recovery ebbing
and flowing, - but instantaneous cure. |
9 |
This absolute demonstration of Science must be revived.
To consummate this desideratum, mortal mind must pass through three
stages of growth. |
12 |
First, self-knowledge. The physician must know him- self
and understand the mental state of his patient. Error found out is
two-thirds destroyed, and the last third |
15 |
pierces itself, for the remainder only stimulates and
gives scope to higher demonstration. To strike out right and left
against the mist, never clears the vision; but to lift |
18 |
your head above it, is a sovereign panacea. Mental dark-
ness is senseless error, neither intelligence nor power, and its victim is
responsible for its supposititious presence. |
21 |
"Cast the beam out of thine own eye." Learn what in thine
own mentality is unlike "the anointed," and cast it out; then thou wilt
discern the error in thy patient's |
24 |
mind that makes his body sick, and remove it, and rest
like the dove from the deluge.
"Physician, heal thyself." Let no
clouds of sin gather |
27 |
and fall in mist and showers from thine own mental
atmosphere. Hold thy gaze to the light, and the iris of faith, more
beautiful than the rainbow seen from my |
30 |
window at the close of a balmy autumnal day, will span
thy heavens of thought.
Page 356 |
1 |
A radiant sunset, beautiful as blessings when they take
their flight, dilates and kindles into rest. Thus will a |
3 |
life corrected illumine its own atmosphere with
spiritual glow and understanding.
The pent-up elements of mortal mind
need no terrible |
6 |
detonation to free them. Envy, rivalry, hate need no
temporary indulgence that they be destroyed through suffering; they should
be stifled from lack of air and |
9 |
freedom.
My students, with cultured intellects,
chastened affec- tions, and costly hopes, give promise of grand
careers. |
12 |
But they must remember that the seedtime is passed, the
harvest hour has come; and songs should ascend from the mount of
revelation, sweeter than the sound of |
15 |
vintage bells.
The seed of Christian Science, which
when sown was "the least of all seeds," has sprung up, borne fruit,
and |
18 |
the birds of the air, the uplifted desires of the human
heart, have lodged in its branches. Now let my faithful students carry the
fruit of this tree into the rock-ribbed |
21 |
nests of the raven's callow brood.
The second stage of mental development
is humility. This virtue triumphs over the flesh; it is the genius
of |
24 |
Christian Science. One can never go up, until one has
gone down in his own esteem. Humility is lens and prism to the
understanding of Mind-healing; it must be |
27 |
had to understand our textbook; it is indispensable to
personal growth, and points out the chart of its divine Principle and rule
of practice. |
30 |
Cherish humility, "watch," and "pray without ceas- ing,"
or you will miss the way of Truth and Love. Hu- mility is no busybody: it
has no moments for trafficking
Page 357 |
1 |
in other people's business, no place for envy, no time
for idle words, vain amusements, and all the et cetera of the |
3 |
ways and means of personal sense.
Let Christian Scientists minister to
the sick; the school- room is the dernier ressort. Let them seek the
lost sheep |
6 |
who, having strayed from the true fold, have lost their
great Shepherd and yearn to find living pastures and rest beside still
waters. These long for the Christlike- |
9 |
ness that is above the present status of religion and be-
yond the walks of common life, quite on the verge of heaven. Without the
cross and healing, Christianity has |
12 |
no central emblem, no history.
The seeds of Truth fall by the
wayside, on artless listeners. They fall on stony ground and shallow
soil. |
15 |
The fowls of the air pick them up. Much of what has been
sown has withered away, but what remaineth has fallen into the good and
honest hearts and is bearing |
18 |
fruit.
The third stage of mental growth is
manifested in love, the greatest of all stages and states of being;
love that |
21 |
is irrespective of self, rank, or following. For some
time it has been clear to my thought that those students of Christian
Science whose Christian characters and lives |
24 |
recommend them, should receive full fellowship from us,
no matter who has taught them. If they have been taught wrongly, they are
not morally responsible for this, and |
27 |
need special help. They are as lambs that have sought the
true fold and the great Shepherd, and strayed inno- cently; hence we should
be ready and glad to help them |
30 |
and point the way.
Divine Love is the substance of
Christian Science, the basis of its demonstration, yea, its foundation and
super-
Page 358 |
1 |
structure. Love impels good works. Love is greatly
needed, and must be had to mark the way in divine |
3 |
Science.
The student who heals by teaching and
teaches by healing, will graduate under divine honors, which
are |
6 |
the only appropriate seals for Christian Science. State
honors perish, and their gain is loss to the Christian Scientist. They
include for him at present naught but |
9 |
tardy justice, hounded footsteps, false laurels. God
alone is his help, his shield and great reward. He that seeketh aught
besides God, loseth in Life, Truth, and |
12 |
Love. All men shall be satisfied when they "awake in His
likeness," and they never should be until then. Hu- man pride is human
weakness. Self-knowledge, humility, |
15 |
and love are divine strength. Christ's vestures are put
on only when mortals are "washed in the blood of the Lamb;" we must walk in
the way which Jesus marked |
18 |
out, if we would reach the heaven-crowned summit of
Christian Science.
Be it understood that I do not require
Christian Sci- |
21 |
entists to stop teaching, to dissolve their
organizations, or to desist from organizing churches and associations.
The Massachusetts Metaphysical
College, the first |
24 |
and only College for teaching Christian Science Mind-
healing, after accomplishing the greatest work of the ages, and at the
pinnacle of prosperity, is closed. Let |
27 |
Scientists who have grown to self-sacrifice do their
present work, awaiting, with staff in hand, God's commands. |
30 |
When students have fulfilled all the good ends of
organization, and are convinced that by leaving the material forms thereof
a higher spiritual unity is won,
Page 359 |
1 |
then is the time to follow the example of the Alma
Mater. Material organization is requisite in the beginning; but |
3 |
when it has done its work, the purely Christly method of
teaching and preaching must be adopted. On the same principle, you continue
the mental argument in the prac- |
6 |
tice of Christian healing until you can cure without it
instantaneously, and through Spirit alone.
St. Paul says: "When I was a child, I
spake as a |
9 |
child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but
when I became a man, I put away childish things. For now we see through a
glass, darkly; but then face to |
12 |
face." Growth is restricted by forcing humanity out of
the proper channels for development, or by holding it in fetters. |
15 |
For Jesus to walk the water was scientific, insomuch as
he was able to do this; but it is neither wisdom nor Science for poor
humanity to step upon the Atlantic until |
18 |
we can walk on the water.
Peter's impetuosity was rebuked. He
had to learn from experience; so have we. The methods of
our |
21 |
Master were in advance of the period in which he per-
sonally appeared; but his example was right, and is available at the right
time. The way is absolute divine |
24 |
Science: walk ye in it; but remember that Science is
demonstrated by degrees, and our demonstration rises only as we rise in the
scale of being.
SCIENCE AND
PHILOSOPHY
Men give counsel; but they give not
the wisdom to profit by it. To ask wisdom of God, is the beginning
of |
30 |
wisdom.
Page 360 |
1 |
Meekness, moderating human desire, inspires wisdom and
procures divine power. Human lives are yet un- |
3 |
carved, - in the rough marble, encumbered with crude,
rude fragments, and awaiting the hammering, chiselling, and transfiguration
from His hand. |
6 |
Great only as good, because fashioned divinely, were
those unpretentious yet colossal characters, Paul and Jesus. Theirs were
modes of mind cast in the moulds |
9 |
of Christian Science: Paul's, by the supremely natural
transforming power of Truth; and the character of Jesus, by his original
scientific sonship with God. Phi- |
12 |
losophy never has produced, nor can it reproduce, these
stars of the first magnitude - fixed stars in the heavens of Soul. When
shall earth be crowned with the true |
15 |
knowledge of Christ?
When Christian Science has melted away
the cloud of false witnesses; and the dews of divine grace,
fall- |
18 |
sing upon the blighted flowers of fleeting joys, shall
lift every thought-leaflet Spiritward; and "Israel after the flesh," who
partaketh of its own altars, shall be |
21 |
no more, - then, "the Israel according to Spirit" shall
fill earth with the divine energies, understanding, and ever-flowing tides
of spiritual sensation and con- |
24 |
sciousness.
When mortal mind is silenced by the
"still, small voice" of Truth that regenerates philosophy and logic;
and |
27 |
Jesus, as the true idea of Him, is heard as of yore
saying to sensitive ears and dark disciples, "I came from the Father,"
"Before Abraham was, I am," coexistent and |
30 |
coeternal with God, - and this idea is understood, -
then will the earth be filled with the true knowledge of Christ. No
advancing modes of human mind made
Page 361 |
1 |
Jesus; rather was it their subjugation, and the pure
heart that sees God. |
3 |
When the belief in material origin, mortal mind, sen-
sual conception, dissolves through self-imposed suffering, and its
substances are found substanceless, - then its |
6 |
miscalled life ends in death, and death itself is
swallowed up in Life, - spiritual Life, whose myriad forms are neither
material nor mortal. |
9 |
When every form and mode of evil disappear to hu- man
thought, and mollusk and radiate are spiritual con- cepts testifying to one
creator, - then, earth is full of |
12 |
His glory, and Christian Science has overshadowed all
human philosophy, and being is understood in startling contradiction of
human hypotheses; and Socrates, Plato, |
15 |
Kant, Locke, Berkeley, Tyndall, Darwin, and Spencer sit
at the feet of Jesus.
To this great end, Paul admonished,
"Let us lay aside |
18 |
every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us,
and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, looking unto
Jesus the author and finisher of our |
21 |
faith." So shall mortals soar to final freedom, and rest
from the subtlety of speculative wisdom and human woe. |
24 |
God is the only Mind, and His manifestation is the
spiritual universe, including man and all eternal indi- viduality. God, the
only substance and divine Principle |
27 |
of creation, is by no means a creative partner in the
firm of error, named matter, or mortal mind. He elucidates His own
idea, wherein Principle and idea, God and man, |
30 |
are not one, but are inseparable as cause and effect. If
one, who could say which that "one" was?
His ways are not as our ways. The
divine modes
Page 362 |
1 |
and manifestations are not those of the material senses;
for instance, intelligent matter, or mortal mind, material |
3 |
birth, growth, and decay: they are the forever-existing
realities of divine Science; wherein God and man are perfect, and man's
reason is at rest in God's wisdom, - |
6 |
who comprehends and reflects all real mode, form, indi-
viduality, identity.
Scholastic dogma has made men blind.
Christ's logos |
9 |
gives sight to these blind, ears to these deaf, feet to
these lame, - physically, morally, spiritually. Theologians make the
mortal mistake of believing that God, having |
12 |
made all, made evil; but the Scriptures declare that
all that He made was good. Then, was evil part and parcel of His
creation? |
15 |
Philosophy hypothetically regards creation as its own
creator, puts cause into effect, and out of nothing would create something,
whose noumenon is mortal mind, |
18 |
with its phenomenon matter, - an evil mind already
doomed, whose modes are material manifestations of evil, and that
continually, until self-extinguished by |
21 |
suffering!
Here revelation must come to the
rescue of mortals, to remove this mental millstone that is dragging
them |
24 |
downward, and refute erring reason with the spiritual
cosmos and Science of Soul. We all must find shelter from the storm and
tempest in the tabernacle of Spirit. |
27 |
Truth is won through Science or suffering: O vain mor-
tals! which shall it be? And suffering has no reward, except when it is
necessary to prevent sin or reform |
30 |
the sinner. And pleasure is no crime except when it
strengthens the influence of bad inclinations or lessens the activities of
virtue. The more nearly an erring so-
Page 363 |
1 |
called mind approaches purity, the more conscious it
becomes of its own unreality, and of the great reality of |
3 |
divine Mind and true happiness.
The "ego" that claims selfhood in
error, and passes from molecule and monkey up to man, is no ego, but
is |
6 |
simply the supposition that the absence of good is mind
and makes men, - when its greatest flatterer, identifica- tion, is piqued
by Him who compensateth vanity with |
9 |
nothingness, dust with dust!
The mythology of evil and mortality is
but the ma- terial mode of a suppositional mind; while the
immortal |
12 |
modes of Mind are spiritual, and pass through none of the
changes of matter, or evil. Truth said, and said from the beginning, "Let
us [Spirit] make man perfect;" and |
15 |
there is no other Maker: a perfect man would not desire
to make himself imperfect, and God is not chargeable with imperfection. His
modes declare the beauty of holi- |
18 |
ness, and His manifold wisdom shines through the visible
world in glimpses of the eternal verities. Even through the mists of
mortality is seen the brightness of His |
21 |
coming.
We must avoid the shoals of a sensual
religion or philosophy that misguides reason and affection,
and |
24 |
hold fast to the Principle of Christian Science as the
Word that is God, Spirit, and Truth. This Word cor- rects the
philosopher, confutes the astronomer, exposes |
27 |
the subtle sophist, and drives diviners mad. The Bible is
the learned man's masterpiece, the ignorant man's dictionary, the wise
man's directory. |
30 |
I foresee and foresay that every advancing epoch of
Truth will be characterized by a more spiritual appre- hension of the
Scriptures, that will show their marked
Page 364 |
1 |
consonance with the textbook of Christian Science Mind-
healing, "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures." |
3 |
Interpreting the Word in the "new tongue," whereby the
sick are healed, naturally evokes new paraphrase from the world of letters.
"Wait patiently on the Lord, |
6 |
and He will renew your strength." In return for indi-
vidual sacrifice, what a recompense to have healed, through Truth, the sick
and sinful, made the public your friend, |
9 |
and posterity your familiar!
Christian Science refutes everything
that is not a postulate of the divine Principle, God. It is the soul
of |
12 |
divine philosophy, and there is no other philosophy. It
is not a search after wisdom, it is wisdom: it is God's right hand
grasping the universe, - all time, space, |
15 |
immortality, thought, extension, cause, and effect; con-
stituting and governing all identity, individuality, law, and power. It
stands on this Scriptural platform: |
18 |
that He made all that was made, and it is good, reflects
the divine Mind, is governed by it; and that nothing apart from this Mind,
one God, is self-created or evolves |
21 |
the universe.
Human hypotheses predicate matter of
Spirit and evil of good; hence these opposites must either
cooperate |
24 |
or quarrel throughout time and eternity, - or until this
impossible partnership is dissolved. If Spirit is the lawgiver to matter,
and good has the same power or |
27 |
modes as evil, it has the same consciousness, and there
is no absolute good. This error, carried to its ultimate, would either
extinguish God and His modes, or give |
30 |
reality and power to evil ad infinitum.
Christian Science rends this veil of
the temple of gods, and reproduces the divine philosophy of Jesus and
Paul.
Page 365 |
1 |
This philosophy alone will bear the strain of time and
bring out the glories of eternity; for "other founda- |
3 |
tion can no man lay than that is laid," which is Christ,
Truth.
Human theories weighed in the balances
of God are |
6 |
found wanting; and their highest endeavors are to Science
what a child's love of pictures is to art. The school whose schoolmaster is
not Christ, gets things wrong, and is igno- |
9 |
rant thereof.
If Christian Science lacked the proof
of its goodness and utility, it would destroy itself; for it rests alone
on |
12 |
demonstration. Its genius is right thinking and right
acting, physical and moral harmony; and the secret of its success lies in
supplying the universal need of better |
15 |
health and better men.
Good health and a more spiritual
religion form the common want, and this want has worked out a
moral |
18 |
result; namely, that mortal mind is calling for what im-
mortal Mind alone can supply. If the uniform moral and spiritual, as well
as physical, effects of divine Science |
21 |
were lacking, the demand would diminish; but it con-
tinues, and increases, which shows the real value of Christian Science to
the race. Even doctors agree that |
24 |
infidelity, bigotry, or sham has never met the growing
wants of humanity.
As a literature, Christian metaphysics
is hampered by |
27 |
lack of proper terms in which to express what it means.
As a Science, it is held back by the common ignorance of what it is and of
what it does, - and more than all |
30 |
else, by the impostors that come in its name. To be
appreciated, it must be conscientiously understood and introduced.
Page 366 |
1 |
If the Bible and "Science and Health with Key to the
Scriptures" had in our schools the time or attention that |
3 |
human hypotheses consume, they would advance the world.
True, it requires more study to understand and demonstrate what they teach
than to learn the doctrine |
6 |
of theology, philosophy, or physics, because they con-
tain and offer Science, with fixed Principle, given rule, and unmistakable
proof. |
9 |
The Scriptures give the keynote of Christian Science from
Genesis to Revelation, and this is the prolonged tone: "For the Lord He is
God, and there is |
12 |
none beside Him." And because He is All-in-all, He
is in nothing unlike Himself; and nothing that worketh or maketh a lie is
in Him, or can be divine con- |
15 |
sciousness.
At this date, poor jaded humanity
needs to get her eyes open to a new style of imposition in the field
of |
18 |
medicine and of religion, and to "beware of the leaven of
the scribes and Pharisees," the doctrines of men, even as Jesus
admonished. From first to last, evil insists on |
21 |
the unity of good and evil as the purpose of God; and on
drugs, electricity, and animal magnetism as modes of medicine. To a greater
or less extent, all mortal con- |
24 |
clusions start from this false premise, and they neces-
sarily culminate in sickness, sin, disease, and death. Erroneous doctrines
never have abated and never will |
27 |
abate dishonesty, self-will, envy, and lust. To destroy
sin and its sequence, is the office of Christ, Truth, - ac- cording to His
mode of Christian Science; and this is |
30 |
being done daily.
The false theories whose names are
legion, gilded with sophistry and what Jesus had not, namely, mere
book-
Page 367 |
1 |
learning, - letter without law, gospel, or demonstration,
- have no place in Christian Science. This Science re- |
3 |
quires man to be honest, just, pure; to love his
neighbor as himself, and to love God supremely.
Matter and evil are subjective states
of error or mortal |
6 |
mind. But Mind is immortal; and the fact of there being
no mortal mind, exposes the lie of suppositional evil, showing that error
is not Mind, substance, or |
9 |
Life. Thus, whatever is wrongfully-minded will dis-
appear in the proportion that Science is understood, and the reality of
being - goodness and harmony - is |
12 |
demonstrated.
Error says that knowing all things
implies the neces- sity of knowing evil, that it dishonors God to claim
that |
15 |
He is ignorant of anything; but God says of this fruit of
the tree of knowledge of both good and evil, "In the day that thou
eatest thereof, thou shalt surely die." If |
18 |
God is infinite good, He knows nothing but good; if He
did know aught else, He would not be infinite. Infinite Mind knows nothing
beyond Himself or Herself. To |
21 |
good, evil is never present; for evil is a different state
of consciousness. It was not against evil, but against know-
ing evil, that God forewarned. He dwelleth in light; |
24 |
and in the light He sees light, and cannot see darkness.
The opposite conclusion, that darkness dwelleth in light, has neither
precedent nor foundation in nature, in logic, |
27 |
or in the character of Christ.
The senses would say that whatever
saves from sin, must know sin. Truth replies that God is too
pure |
30 |
to behold iniquity; and by virtue of His ignorance of
that which is not, He knoweth that which is, and abideth in Himself,
the only Life, Truth, and Love,
Page 368 |
1 |
- and is reflected by a universe in His own image and
likeness. |
3 |
Even so, Father, let the light that shineth in dark-
ness, and the darkness comprehendeth it not, dispel this illusion of the
senses, open the eyes of the blind, and cause |
6 |
the deaf to hear. "Truth
forever on the scaffold, Wrong forever on the throne.
Yet that scaffold sways the
future, and, behind the dim unknown, |
9 |
Standeth God within the
shadow, keeping watch above His own."
LOWELL
"TAKE
HEED!" |
12 |
We regret to be obliged to say that all are not meta-
physicians, or Christian Scientists, who call themselves so. Charlatanism,
fraud, and malice are getting into |
15 |
the ranks of the good and pure, sending forth a poison
more deadly than the upas-tree in the eastern archi- pelago. This evil
obtains in the present false teaching |
18 |
and false practice of the Science of treating disease
through Mind. The silent address of a mental malpractitioner can only
be portrayed in these words of the apostle, |
21 |
"whisperers," and "the poison of asps is under their
tongue."
Some of the mere puppets of the hour
are playing |
24 |
only for money, and at a fearful stake. Others, from
malice and envy, are working out the destinies of the damned. But while the
best, perverted, on the mortal |
27 |
plane may become the worst, let us not forget that the
Lord reigns, and that this earth shall some time rejoice in His supreme
rule, - that the tired watchmen on the
Page 369 |
1 |
walls of Zion, and the true Christian Scientist at the
foot of the mount of revelation, shall look up with shouts and |
3 |
thanksgiving, - that God's law, as in divine Science,
shall be finally understood; and the gospel of glad tidings bring "on earth
peace, good will toward men."
THE CRY OF
CHRISTMAS-TIDE
Metaphysics, not physics, enables us
to stand erect on sublime heights, surveying the immeasurable
universe |
9 |
of Mind, peering into the cause which governs all
effects, while we are strong in the unity of God and man. There is
"method" in the "madness" of this system, - since |
12 |
madness it seems to many onlookers. This method sits
serene at the portals of the temple of thought, while the leaders of
materialistic schools indulge in mad |
15 |
antics. Metaphysical healing seeks a wisdom that is
higher than a rhubarb tincture or an ipecacuanha pill. This method is
devout enough to trust Christ more than |
18 |
it does drugs.
Meekly we kneel at our Master's feet,
for even a crumb that falleth from his table. We are hungry for
Love, |
21 |
for the white-winged charity that heals and saves; we are
tired of theoretic husks, - as tired as was the prodi- gal son of the
carobs which he shared with the swine, |
24 |
to whom he fed that wholesome but unattractive food. Like
him, we would find our Father's house again - the perfect and eternal
Principle of man. We thirst |
27 |
for inspiring wine from the vine which our Father tends.
We crave the privilege of saying to the sick, when their
Page 370 |
1 |
feebleness calls for help, "Rise and walk." We rejoice to
say, in the spirit of our Master, "Stretch forth thy |
3 |
hand, and be whole!"
When the Pharisees saw Jesus do such
deeds of mercy, they went away and took counsel how they might
remove |
6 |
him. The antagonistic spirit of evil is still abroad; but
the greater spirit of Christ is also abroad, - risen from the grave-clothes
of tradition and the cave of ignorance. |
9 |
Let the sentinels of Zion's watch-towers shout once
again, "Unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given." |
12 |
In different ages the divine idea assumes different
forms, according to humanity's needs. In this age it assumes, more
intelligently than ever before, the form |
15 |
of Christian healing. This is the babe we are to cherish.
This is the babe that twines its loving arms about the neck of omnipotence,
and calls forth infinite care from |
18 |
His loving heart.
BLIND LEADERS
What figure is less favorable than a
wolf in sheep's |
21 |
clothing? The braying donkey whose ears stick out is less
troublesome. What manner of man is it that has discovered an improvement on
Christian Science, a "met- |
24 |
aphysical healing" by which error destroys error, and
would gather all sorts into a "national convention" by the sophistry that
such is the true fold for Christian heal- |
27 |
ers, since the good shepherd cares for all?
Yes; the good Shepherd does
care for all, and His first care is to separate the sheep from the goats;
and
Page 371 |
1 |
this is among the first lessons on healing taught by our
great Master. |
3 |
If, as the gentleman aforesaid states, large flocks of
metaphysicians are wandering about without a leader, what has opened his
eyes to see the need of taking them |
6 |
out of the care of the great Shepherd, and behold the
remedy, to help them by his own leadership? Is it that he can guide
Christian Scientists better than they, through |
9 |
the guidance of our common Father, can guide them-
selves? or is it that they are incapable of helping them- selves thus? |
12 |
I as their teacher can say, They know far more of
Christian Science than he who deprecates their condition appears to, and my
heart pleads for them to possess |
15 |
more and more of Truth and Love; but mixing all grades of
persons is not productive of the better sort, although he who has
self-interest in this mixing is apt to pro- |
18 |
pose it.
Whoever desires to say, "good right,
and good wrong," has no truth to defend. It is a wise saying that
"men |
21 |
are known by their enemies." To sympathize in any degree
with error, is not to rectify it; but error always strives to unite, in a
definition of purpose, with Truth, |
24 |
to give it buoyancy. What is under the mask, but error
in borrowed plumes?
"CHRIST AND
CHRISTMAS" |
27 |
An Illustrated Poem
This poem and its illustrations are as hopelessly origi-
nal as is "Science and Health with Key to the Scrip-
Page 372 |
1 |
tures." When the latter was first issued, critics
declared that it was incorrect, contradictory, unscientific, unchris- |
3 |
tian; but those human opinions had not one feather's
weight in the scales of God. The fact remains, that the textbook of
Christian Science is transforming the |
6 |
universe.
"Christ and Christmas" voices
Christian Science through song and object-lesson. In two weeks from
the |
9 |
date of its publication in December, 1893, letters
extoll- ing it were pouring in from artists and poets. A mother wrote,
"Looking at the pictures in your wonderful book |
12 |
has healed my child."
Knowing that this book would produce a
stir, I sought the judgment of sound critics familiar with the
works |
15 |
of masters in France and Italy. From them came such
replies as the following: "The illustrations of your poem are truly a work
of art, and the artist seems quite familiar |
18 |
with delineations from the old masters." I am delighted
to find "Christ and Christmas" in accord with the ancient and most
distinguished artists. |
21 |
The Christian Science Journal gives no uncertain
dec- laration concerning the spirit and mission of "Christ and
Christmas." |
24 |
I aimed to reproduce, with reverent touch, the modest
glory of divine Science. Not by aid of foreign device or environment could
I copy art, - never having seen |
27 |
the painter's masterpieces; but the art of
Christian Science, with true hue and character of the living God, is
akin to its Science: and Science and Health gives |
30 |
scopes and shades to the shadows of divinity, thus im-
parting to humanity the true sense of meekness and might.
Page 373 |
1 |
One incident serves to illustrate the simple nature of
art. |
3 |
I insisted upon placing the serpent behind the woman in
the picture "Seeking and Finding." My artist at the easel objected, as he
often did, to my sense of Soul's |
6 |
expression through the brush; but, as usual, he finally
yielded. A few days afterward, the following from Roth- erham's translation
of the New Testament was handed |
9 |
to me, - I had never before seen it: "And the serpent
cast out of his mouth, behind the woman, water as a river, that he
might cause her to be river-borne." Neither |
12 |
material finesse, standpoint, nor perspective guides the
infinite Mind and spiritual vision that should, does, guide His
children. |
15 |
One great master clearly delineates Christ's appear- ing
in the flesh, and his healing power, as clad not in soft raiment or
gorgeous apparel; and when forced out |
18 |
of its proper channel, as living feebly, in kings'
courts. This master's thought presents a sketch of Christian- ity's
state, in the early part of the Christian era, as |
21 |
homelessness in a wilderness. But in due time Chris-
tianity entered into synagogues, and, as St. Mark writes, it has rich
possession here, with houses and |
24 |
lands. In Genesis we read that God gave man do- minion
over all things; and this assurance is followed by Jesus' declaration, "All
power is given unto me |
27 |
in heaven and in earth," and by his promise that the
Christlike shall finally sit down at the right hand of the Father. |
30 |
Christian Science is more than a prophet or a proph-
ecy: it presents not words alone, but works, - the daily demonstration of
Truth and Love. Its healing and sav-
Page 374 |
1 |
ing power was so great a proof of Immanuel and the
realism of Christianity, that it caused even the publi- |
3 |
cans to justify God. Although clad in panoply of power,
the Pharisees scorned the spirit of Christ in most of its varied
manifestations. To them it was cant and carica- |
6 |
ture, - always the opposite of what it was. Keen and
alert was their indignation at whatever rebuked hypocrisy and demanded
Christianity in life and religion. In view |
9 |
of this, Jesus said, "Wisdom is justified of all her
children."
Above the fogs of sense and storms of
passion, Chris- |
12 |
tian Science and its art will rise triumphant; ignorance,
envy, and hatred - earth's harmless thunder - pluck not their heaven-born
wings. Angels, with overtures, |
15 |
hold charge over both, and announce their Principle and
idea.
It is most fitting that Christian
Scientists memorize |
18 |
the nativity of Jesus. To him who brought a great light
to all ages, and named his burdens light, homage is in- deed due, - but is
bankrupt. I never looked on my |
21 |
ideal of the face of the Nazarite Prophet; but the one
illustrating my poem approximates it.
Extremists in every age either
doggedly deny or fran- |
24 |
tically affirm what is what: one renders not unto Caesar
"the things that are Caesar's;" the other sees "Helen's beauty in a brow
of Egypt." |
27 |
Pictures are portions of one's ideal, but this ideal is
not one's personality. Looking behind the veil, he that perceives a
semblance between the thinker and his thought |
30 |
on canvas, blames him not.
Because my ideal of an angel is a
woman without feathers on her wings, - is it less artistic or less
natu-
Page 375 |
1 |
ral? Pictures which present disordered phases of ma-
terial conceptions and personality blind with animality, |
3 |
are not my concepts of angels. What is the material ego,
but the counterfeit of the spiritual?
The truest art of Christian Science is
to be a Chris- |
6 |
tian Scientist; and it demands more than a Raphael to
delineate this art.
The following is an extract from a
letter reverting to |
9 |
the illustrations of "Christ and Christmas": -
"In my last letter, I did not utter
all I felt about the wonderful new book you have given us. Years
ago, |
12 |
while in Italy, I studied the old masters and their great
works of art thoroughly, and so got quite an idea of what constitutes true
art. Then I spent two years in |
15 |
Paris, devoting every moment to the study of music and
art.
"The first thing that impressed me in
your illustra- |
18 |
tions was the conscientious application to detail, which
is the foundation of true art. From that, I went on to study each
illustration thoroughly, and to my amazement |
21 |
and delight I find an almost identical resemblance, in
many things, to the old masters! In other words, the art is perfect. |
24 |
"The hands and feet of the figures - how many times have
I seen these-hands and feet in Angelico's 'Jesus,' or Botticelli's
'Madonna'! |
27 |
"It gave me such a thrill of joy as no words can ex-
press, to see produced to-day that art - the only true art - that we have
identified with the old masters, and |
30 |
mourned as belonging to them exclusively, - a thing of
the past, impossible of reproduction.
"All that I can say to you, as one who
gives no mean
Page 376 |
1 |
attention to such matters, is that the art is perfect. It
is the true art of the oldest, most revered, most authen- |
3 |
tic Italian school, revived. I use the words most au-
thentic in the following sense: the face, figure, and drapery of Jesus,
very closely resemble in detail the |
6 |
face, figure, and drapery of that Jesus portrayed by the
oldest of the old masters, and said to have been authen- tic; the face
having been taken by Fra Angelico from |
9 |
Caesar's Cameo, the figure and garments from a descrip-
tion, in The Galaxy, of a small sketch handed down from the
living reality. Their productions are expres- |
12 |
sionless copies of an engraving cut in a stone. Yours
is a palpitating, living Saviour engraven on the heart. You have given
us back our Jesus, and in a much better |
15 |
form."
SUNRISE AT PLEASANT
VIEW
Who shall describe the brave splendor
of a November |
18 |
sky that this morning burst through the lattice for me,
on my bed? According to terrestrial calculations, above the horizon, in the
east, there rose one rod of rainbow |
21 |
hues, crowned with an acre of eldritch ebony. Little by
little this topmost pall, drooping over a deeply daz- zling sunlight,
softened, grew gray, then gay, and glided |
24 |
into a glory of mottled marvels. Fleecy, faint, fairy
blue and golden flecks came out on a background of cerulean hue; while the
lower lines of light kindled into |
27 |
gold, orange, pink, crimson, violet; and diamond, topaz,
opal, garnet, turquoise, and sapphire spangled the gloom in celestial space
as with the brightness of His glory. |
30 |
Then thought I, What are we, that He who fashions for-
Page 377 |
1 |
ever such forms and hues of heaven, should move our brush
or pen to paint frail fairness or to weave a web |
3 |
of words that glow with gladdening gleams of God, so
unapproachable, and yet so near and full of radiant relief in clouds and
darkness!
Page 378
CHAPTER X
INKLINGS
HISTORIC |
1 |
ABOUT the year 1862, while the author of this work was at
Dr. Vail's Hydropathic Institute in New |
3 |
Hampshire, this occurred: A patient considered incur-
able left that institution, and in a few weeks returned apparently well,
having been healed, as he informed |
6 |
the patients, by one Mr. P. P. Quimby of Portland,
Maine.
After much consultation among
ourselves, and a struggle |
9 |
with pride, the author, in company with several other
patients, left the water-cure, en route for the aforesaid doctor in
Portland. He proved to be a magnetic practi- |
12 |
tioner. His treatment seemed at first to relieve her,
but signally failed in healing her case.
Having practised homoeopathy, it never
occurred to the |
15 |
author to learn his practice, but she did ask him how
manipulation could benefit the sick. He answered kindly and squarely, in
substance, "Because it conveys electricity |
18 |
to them." That was the sum of what he taught her of his
medical profession.
The readers of my books cannot fail to
see that meta- |
21 |
physical therapeutics, as in Christian Science, are
farther removed from such thoughts than the nebulous system is from the
earth.
Page 379 |
1 |
After treating his patients, Mr. Quimby would retire to
an anteroom and write at his desk. I had a curiosity |
3 |
to know if he indited anything pathological relative to
his patients, and asked if I could see his pennings on my case. He
immediately presented them. I read the |
6 |
copy in his presence, and returned it to him. The com-
position was commonplace, mostly descriptive of the gen- eral appearance,
height, and complexion of the individual, |
9 |
and the nature of the case: it was not at all metaphysi-
cal or scientific; and from his remarks I inferred that his writings
usually ran in the vein of thought presented |
12 |
by these. He was neither a scholar nor a metaphysician. I
never heard him say that matter was not as real as Mind, or that
electricity was not as potential or remedial, or |
15 |
allude to God as the divine Principle of all healing. He
certainly had advanced views of his own, but they com- mingled error with
truth, and were not Science. On |
18 |
his rare humanity and sympathy one could write a
sonnet.
I had already experimented in medicine
beyond the |
21 |
basis of materia medica, - up to the highest
attenuation in homoeopathy, thence to a mental standpoint not un-
derstood, and with phenomenally good results; (1) mean- |
24 |
while, assiduously pondering the solution of this great
question: Is it matter, or is it Mind, that heals the sick ? |
27 |
It was after Mr. Quimby's death that I discovered, in
1866, the momentous facts relating to Mind and its superiority over matter,
and named my discovery Chris- |
30 |
tian Science. Yet, there remained the difficulty of ad-
justing in the scale of Science a metaphysical practice,
(1) See Science and Health, p. 47,
revised edition of 1890, and |
33 |
pp. 152, 153 in late editions.
Page 380 |
1 |
and settling the question, What shall be the outward sign
of such a practice: if a divine Principle alone heals, |
3 |
what is the human modus for demonstrating this, - in
short, how can sinful mortals prove that a divine Principle heals the sick,
as well as governs the universe, time, |
6 |
space, immortality, man?
When contemplating the majesty and
magnitude of this query, it looked as if centuries of spiritual
growth |
9 |
were requisite to enable me to elucidate or to dem-
onstrate what I had discovered: but an unlooked-for, imperative call for
help impelled me to begin this stu- |
12 |
pendous work at once, and teach the first student in
Christian Science. Even as when an accident, called fatal to life, had
driven me to discover the Science of |
15 |
Life, I again, in faith, turned to divine help, - and
com- menced teaching.
My students at first practised in
slightly differing |
18 |
forms. Although I could heal mentally, without a
sign save the immediate recovery of the sick, my students' patients,
and people generally, called for a sign-a ma- |
21 |
terial evidence wherewith to satisfy the sick that some-
thing was being done for them; and I said, "Suffer it to be so now," for
thus saith our Master. Experience, |
24 |
however, taught me the impossibility of demonstrating the
Science of metaphysical healing by any outward form of practice. |
27 |
In April, 1883, a bill in equity was filed in the United
States Circuit Court in Boston, to restrain, by decree and order of the
Court, the unlawful publishing and use of an |
30 |
infringing pamphlet printed and issued by a student of
Christian Science.
Answer was filed by the defendant,
alleging that the
Page 381 |
1 |
copyrighted works of Mrs. Eddy were not original with
her, but had been copied by her, or by her direction, |
3 |
from manuscripts originally composed by Dr. P. P.
Quimby.
Testimony was taken on the part of
Mrs. Eddy, the |
6 |
defendant being present personally and by counsel. The
time for taking testimony on the part of the defendant having nearly
expired, he gave notice through his coun- |
9 |
sel that he should not put in testimony. Later, Mrs. Eddy
requested her lawyer to inquire of defendant's counsel why he did not
present evidence to support his |
12 |
claim that Dr. Quimby was the author of her writings !
Accordingly, her counsel asked the defendant's counsel this question, and
he replied, in substance, "There is |
16 |
no evidence to present."
The stipulation for a judgment and a
decree in favor of Mrs. Eddy was drawn up and signed by
counsel. |
18 |
It was ordered that the complainant (Mrs. Eddy) recover
of the defendant her cost of suit, taxed at ($113.09) one hundred thirteen
and 9/100 dollars. |
21 |
A writ of injunction was issued under the seal of the
said Court, restraining the defendant from directly or indirectly printing,
publishing, selling, giving away, |
24 |
distributing, or in any way or manner disposing of, the
enjoined pamphlet, on penalty of ten thousand dollars. |
27 |
The infringing books, to the number of thirty-eight
hundred or thereabouts, were put under the edge of the knife, and their
unlawful existence destroyed, in |
30 |
Boston, Massachusetts.
It has been written that "nobody can
be both founder and discoverer of the same thing." If this declaration
Page 382 |
1 |
were either a truism or a rule, my experience would
contradict it and prove an exception. |
3 |
No works on the subject of Christian Science existed,
prior to my discovery of this Science. Before the publi- cation of my first
work on this doctrine, a few manu- |
6 |
scripts of mine were in circulation. The discovery and
founding of Christian Science has cost more than thirty years of
unremitting toil and unrest; but, comparing those |
9 |
with the joy of knowing that the sinner and the sick are
helped thereby, that time and eternity bear witness to this gift of God to
the race, I am the debtor. |
12 |
In the latter half of the nineteenth century I discov-
ered the Science of Christianity, and restored the first patient healed in
this age by Christian Science. I taught |
15 |
the first student in Christian Science Mind-healing; was
author and publisher of the first books on this subject; obtained the first
charter for the first Christian Science |
18 |
church, originated its form of government, and was its
first pastor. I donated to this church the land on which in 1894 was
erected the first church edifice of this de- |
21 |
nomination in Boston; obtained the first and only charter
for a metaphysical medical college, - was its first and only president; was
editor and proprietor of the first |
24 |
Christian Science periodical; organized the first Chris-
tian Scientist Association, wrote its constitution and by- laws, - as also
the constitution and by-laws of the |
27 |
National Christian Science Association; and gave it
The Christian Science Journal; inaugurated our denom- inational form
of Sunday services, Sunday School, and |
30 |
the entire system of teaching and practising Christian
Science.
In 1895 I ordained that the Bible, and
"Science and
Page 383 |
1 |
Health with Key to the Scriptures," the Christian Science
textbook, be the pastor, on this planet, of all the churches |
3 |
of the Christian Science denomination. This ordinance
took effect the same year, and met with the universal ap- proval and
support of Christian Scientists. Whenever |
6 |
and wherever a church of Christian Science is
established, its pastor is the Bible and my book.
In 1896 it goes without saying,
preeminent over igno- |
9 |
rance or envy, that Christian Science is founded by
its discoverer, and built upon the rock of Christ. The ele- ments
of earth beat in vain against the immortal parapets |
12 |
of this Science. Erect and eternal, it will go on with
the ages, go down the dim posterns of time unharmed, and on every
battle-field rise higher in the estimation of |
15 |
thinkers and in the hearts of Christians.
Page 384
CHAPTER XI
- POEMS
COME THOU
COME, in the minstrel's
lay; |
3 |
When two hearts meet, And true hearts greet, And all
is morn and May. |
6 |
Come Thou! and now, anew, To thought and deed Give
sober speed, |
9 |
Thy will to know, and do.
Stay! till the storms are o'er - The cold blasts
done, |
12 |
The reign of heaven begun, And Love, the evermore.
Be patient, waiting heart: |
15 |
Light, Love divine Is here, and thine; You therefore
cannot part. |
18 |
"The seasons come and go: Love, like the sea, Rolls
on with thee, - |
21 |
But knows no ebb and flow.
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1 |
"Faith, hope, and tears, triune, Above the sod |
3 |
Find peace in God, And one eternal noon."
Oh, Thou hast heard my
prayer; |
6 |
And I am blest! This is Thy high behest: Thou, here
and everywhere.
MEETING OF MY
DEPARTED MOTHER AND HUSBAND
"Joy for thee, happy friend! thy bark
is past The dangerous sea, and safely moored at last - |
12 |
Beyond rough foam. Soft gales celestial, in sweet music
bore - Spirit emancipate for this far shore - |
15 |
Thee to thy home.
"You've travelled long, and far from
mortal joys, To Soul's diviner sense, that spurns such
toys, |
18 |
Brave wrestler, lone. Now see thy ever-self; Life never
fled; Man is not mortal, never of the dead: |
21 |
The dark unknown.
"When hope soared high, and joy was
eagle-plumed, Thy pinions drooped; the flesh was weak, and
doomed |
24 |
To pass away. But faith triumphant round thy death-couch
shed Majestic forms; and radiant glory sped |
27 |
The dawning day.
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1 |
"Intensely grand and glorious life's sphere, - Beyond the
shadow, infinite appear |
3 |
Life, Love divine, - Where mortal yearnings come not,
sighs are stilled, And home and peace and hearts are found and filled, |
6 |
Thine, ever thine.
"Bearest thou no tidings from our
loved on earth, The toiler tireless for Truth's new birth |
9 |
All-unbeguiled? Our joy is gathered from her parting
sigh: This hour looks on her heart with pitying eye, - |
12 |
What of my child?"
"When, severed by death's dream, I
woke to Life, She deemed I died, and could not know the
strife |
15 |
At first to fill That waking with a love that steady
turns To God; a hope that ever upward yearns, |
18 |
Bowed to His will.
"Years had passed o'er thy broken
household band, When angels beckoned me to this bright
land, |
21 |
With thee to meet. She that has wept o'er thee, kissed my
cold brow, Rears the sad marble to our memory now, |
24 |
In lone retreat.
"By the remembrance of her loyal life,
And parting prayer, I only know my wife, |
27 |
Thy child, shall come - Where farewells cloud not o'er
our ransomed rest - Hither to reap, with all the crowned and blest, |
30 |
Of bliss the sum.
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1 |
"When Love's rapt sense the heart-strings gently sweep,
With joy divinely fair, the high and deep, |
3 |
To call her home, She shall mount upward unto purer
skies; We shall be waiting, in what glad surprise, |
6 |
Our spirits' own!"
LOVE
Brood o'er us with Thy shelt'ring
wing, |
9 |
'Neath which our spirits blend Like brother birds, that
soar and sing, And on the same branch bend. |
12 |
The arrow that doth wound the dove Darts not from those
who watch and love.
If thou the bending reed wouldst
break |
15 |
By thought or word unkind, Pray that his spirit you
partake, Who loved and healed mankind: |
18 |
Seek holy thoughts and heavenly strain, That make men
one in love remain.
Learn, too, that wisdom's rod is
given |
21 |
For faith to kiss, and know; That greetings glorious from
high heaven, Whence joys supernal flow, |
24 |
Come from that Love, divinely near, Which chastens pride
and earth-born fear,
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1 |
Through God, who gave that word of might Which swelled
creation's lay: |
3 |
"Let there be light, and there was light." What chased
the clouds away? 'T was Love whose finger traced aloud |
6 |
A bow of promise on the cloud.
Thou to whose power our hope we
give, Free us from human strife. |
9 |
Fed by Thy love divine we live, For Love alone is
Life; And life most sweet, as heart to heart |
12 |
Speaks kindly when we meet and part.
WOMAN'S RIGHTS
Grave on her monumental
pile: |
15 |
She won from vice, by virtue's smile, Her dazzling
crown, her sceptred throne, Affection's wreath, a happy home; |
18 |
The right to worship deep and pure, To bless the orphan,
feed the poor; Last at the cross to mourn her Lord, |
21 |
First at the tomb to hear his word:
To fold an angel's wings below;
And hover o'er the couch of woe; |
24 |
To nurse the Bethlehem babe so sweet, The right to sit
at Jesus' feet;
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1 |
To form the bud for bursting bloom, The hoary head with
joy to crown; |
3 |
In short, the right to work and pray, "To point to
heaven and lead the way."
THE MOTHER'S EVENING
PRAYER |
6 |
O gentle presence, peace and joy and power; O Life
divine, that owns each waiting hour, Thou Love that guards the nestling's
faltering flight! |
9 |
Keep Thou my child on upward wing to-night.
Love is our refuge; only with mine
eye Can I behold the snare, the pit, the fall: |
12 |
His habitation high is here, and nigh, His arm
encircles me, and mine, and all.
O make me glad for every scalding
tear, |
15 |
For hope deferred, ingratitude, disdain! Wait, and love
more for every hate, and fear No ill, - since God is good, and loss is
gain. |
18 |
Beneath the shadow of His mighty wing; In that sweet
secret of the narrow way, Seeking and finding, with the angels sing: |
21 |
"Lo, I am with you alway," - watch and pray.
No snare, no fowler, pestilence or
pain; No night drops down upon the troubled breast, |
24 |
When heaven's aftersmile earth's tear-drops gain, And
mother finds her home and heavenly rest.
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