Spectacular adventures

What a fine group of men were at the helm when Mary Baker Eddy gave the instruction in July 1908 to “start a daily newspaper called Christian Science Monitor…without fail” (see page 22 of our book Commitment to Freedom).

Canham gives us some insight into their characters and tells us that they were “strong and seasoned men”, indeed “seasoned, substantial, and practical men”, many of whom had been “staunchly helpful to Mrs. Eddy” (p. 26).  He further explains that they brought impressive “judgment and knowledge of business and professional affairs” which, combined with a “deep sense of religious zeal” enabled them to “tackle and solve the unprecedented problem” of launching a newspaper by November 25 - in 100 days! This was a “tremendous new adventure” (p. 41).

BOARD OF TRUSTEES

William P. McKenzie – member of the Board of Trustees, Christian Science lecturer

Canham’s description reveals honesty, determination, selflessness, energy and steadfast obedience. (pp. 24 – 25)

EARNEST ZEAL AND DEDICATED POETIC SPIRIT (p. 26)

Judge Clifford P. Smith – member of the Board of Trustees

RESPONSIBLE (p. 27)

Thomas W. Hatten – member of the Board of Trustees

CHRISTIAN SCIENCE BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Archibald McLellan – member of the Board of Directors, editor of The Christian Science Journal and Sentinel

LEADERSHIP, INTEGRITY, HARD-WORKING, DEDICATED, RESPONSIBLE, FRIENDLY (pp. 76, 77)

Allison V. Stewart – member of the Board of Directors, publisher of Eddy’s books

TRUSTED (p. 26)

Ira O. Knapp – member of the Board of Directors

TRUSTWORTHY – “In 1889 Mrs. Eddy made him the recipient of a trust deed for the land on which the original Mother Church was to stand” (p. 26).  

Stephen A. Chase – member of the Board of Directors, formerly a business man  

TRUSTWORTHY – “elected Treasurer” (p. 26)

William B. Johnson – member of the Board of Directors  

RELIABLE - “…closely relied upon by Mrs. Eddy since the late 1880’s” (p. 26)

It seems that these qualities were replicated all along the line as staff were hired and equipment purchased. I loved the story of the surmounting of obstacles such as when the ship bringing all the composing room equipment (type, cabinets, makeup tables etc) collided with another vessel and sank to the bottom of the ocean. Without delay, and with “some lively activity on our part”, new equipment was ordered and no delay in publication of the first edition of the Monitor ensued. Similarly, when it was discovered that Boston’s underground telegraph wires did not reach to the Publishing Society’s building, swift action soon had the matter in hand.

Canham provides an insightful explanation of the Christian Science approach to such difficulties. The Christian Scientist does not rely on “mere optimism”, but rather a supreme trust that God’s law – “the laws of the universe” – “are consistent and beneficent” (p. 45). In the two examples above, the workers focused not on the problem, but on its solution – an excellent example for the modus of reporting in this uniquely solution-oriented newspaper, where every step involves an “expectancy of good” (p. 44).  

I especially appreciated Canham’s commentary at the foot of p. 43:

               “[The Christian Scientist’s] prayer…did not consist in sitting down, closing their eyes, and imploring God to make the telegraph wires sprout from Mechanics Building to the Publishing House. Their prayer consisted of knowing where and how to turn, so that a human problem could be solved I practical terms.”

The way forward may not always be smooth, and the sails may need to be set and re-set according to the prevailing winds, but with the high goal in front, there is no doubt about the adventure of the journey. 

Julie Swannell

The press

On page 9, Canham quotes Mary Baker Eddy: "Looking over the newspapers of the day, one naturally reflects that it is dangerous to live, so loaded with disease seems the very air. These descriptions carry fears to many minds, to be depicted in some future time upon the body." (Miscellaneous Writings p 7:17-24).

It's sobering to be reminded of Mary Baker Eddy's comments about the publications of her day, which we know were notoriously adept at spreading lies - indeed, at the actual fabrication of events. This was labelled the "yellow press". 

The word press comes from the printing press. It is interesting to read about the constitution of the team of workers on the payroll of the Monitor in Feb 1909, a few weeks after its Nov 1908 launch:
Advertising (9)
Circulation (5)
Mailing (5)
Editorial (9)
News (24)
Composing (31)
Press and Stereotype (16)

My grandfather was a stereotyper, a skill that is no longer needed in the world of publishing, but was, since the late 1700s, a most important part of the printing process. The stereotyper made the metal printing plates for the printing presses. This was achieved by taking an initial (usually papier-mache) mold of the composed metal type and then making it into a metal cast. Britannica has a helpful article on the process - https://www.britannica.com/technology/stereotype-printing

Here are some photos that may elucidate the process:

These days, we tend to speak about "the media", that amorphous entity which apparently wields such a powerful influence on the thoughts and actions of people worldwide. The Bible references the word press in rather different terms, but it's interesting to picture the events related in Mark 2:4 "..when they could not come nigh unto him [Jesus] for the press, they uncovered the roof..." where the press might be a bunch of reporters and cameramen!

The world has changed, but the need for honest, inspired, and fearless reporting by thoroughly professional and trained writers, remains. (See Robert Peels' "Mary Baker Eddy: Years of Authority p. 466, note 115 for more on this topic.)

Juliet Swannell

What is God's News?

Readers may  enjoy this Daily Lift from Maryl Walters: What is God's news? published Oct 14 on www.christianscience.com/daily-lift. 

http://christianscience.com/christian-healing-today/daily-lift/what-is-gods-news?utm_source=iContact&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Daily%20Lift&utm_content=New+wider+template+160307

An exchange with the Monitor

The first thing I notice is that Canham uses “we” rather than “I” as he starts his Introduction. I am also reminded of something shared at a meeting of students of Christian Science, “Christian Science is the only organization in our community standing for the unreality of evil.” Surely a similar statement could made about The Christian Science Monitor – It is the only news publication standing for the unreality of evil.

Well, I wrote an email to John Yemma, Monitor Editor 2008-2014, and current columnist, and here is the exchange of notes.

Hello John Yemma,

I am currently re-reading Commitment to Freedom.  This is an exercise set by the Christian Science Reading Room at Redcliffe, Queensland.  I read the books which alternate monthly between books of the Bible and Christian Science literature, and write a little for the related blog.

As I read Canham's book, I remembered a speaker telling our church members that our Christian Science church is the only one in our community standing for the unreality of evil.

It came to me yesterday that perhaps we could say of the CS Monitor that it is the only newspaper standing for the unreality of evil.  

Would you say that this is correct reasoning?  

As I read the Daily Briefings I sometimes question it.

I would appreciate your comments,

With very best wishes and blessings and gratitude for all your good work,

Joyce Voysey

Member of 1st Church, Gold Coast, Queensland.

Dear Joyce: 

Thank you for your thoughtful note.

Others might differ with this view, but I've always seen the Monitor's mission as both reporting the problems of humanity (exposing error in order to vanquish it) and the progress of humanity (recognizing the leaven of the Christ that is always at work in human consciousness). It is not making a reality of evil to name it without flinching. It is giving Christian Scientists a clear sense of the issues humanity is grappling with so that we can work individually and collectively to heal them.

All the best,

John

What a wonder to have such a prompt reply. A fine example of "do it now," I reckon.

John Hughes, Pulitzer Prize reporter and one time Editor of the Monitor, in an article The Christian Science Monitor: Its Role and Purpose, wrote in the September 1, 1975 issue of The Christian Science Sentinel (http://journal.christianscience.com/issues/1975/9/93-9/the-christian-science-monitor-its-role-and-purpose):

The Monitor is not a great newspaper that happens to be an appendage of the Church of Christ, Scientist.

The Monitor is an expression of this church that happens to be in the form of a daily newspaper.

The history of the setting up of The Christian Science Monitor in 1908 was surely one of the greatest demonstrations of Christian Science in annuls of Christian Science. The Board of Directors and the Board of Trustees of the Publishing Society were tasked by Mrs. Eddy to produce a daily newspaper. Here is her letter to the Board of Trustees:

Beloved Students:

It is my request that you start a daily newspaper at once, and call it the Christian Science Monitor. Let there be no delay. The Cause demands that it be issued now.

You may consult with the Board of Directors, I have notified them of my intentions.

Mary B.G. Eddy

What practical, praying men were put in charge of this fantastic enterprise which was designed to “bless all mankind”. Everyone should read about how this was accomplished. The statistics are staggering. It was done in 100 days. From nothing really, to a fully-fledged newspaper of international standard, and soon to be reputation.

Joyce Voysey

A shining light

The author of Commitment to Freedom, our book for October, 2016, is Erwin Canham, for many years editor of The Christian Science Monitor. On a personal note, I remember a little column Canham wrote on the Forum Page of the Monitor. My memory is mostly of people finding pen-pals all over the world. I had a couple in the US, and Marie, my daughter, had one in Korea. It was perhaps a sort of advice/ethics/Q&A column. It was light-hearted. For example: “Q. Why do we start to read a magazine from the back?  A. Perhaps it is something to do with being right-handed.”

Readers may be interested in the following excerpt from an interview - An Interview with Erwin Canham by ROBERT L. GATES, from the May 1975 issue of The Christian Science Journal.

Half a century of distinguished service to The Christian Science Monitor has brought Erwin D Canham international recognition as one of the world's foremost journalists. Decorated by seven foreign governments and appointed to various commissions and boards by American presidents...he holds honorary degrees from twenty-eight colleges and universities and is a much-sought-after adviser to many leaders in public life. In all his affiliations...he is clearly identified as a Christian Scientist. For many years he has taught a college-age Sunday School class in The Mother Church, The First Church of Christ, Scientist, in Boston.

I'm sure in your many travels you've considered from a spiritual point of view the safety of yourself and your family. Would you mind sharing some of the thoughts you find most helpful?

I do indeed consciously work for protection. If I'm going on a journey, say by air, I seek to purify and affirm the motives of the journey and the enterprise involved. I find solid support in Mrs. Eddy's statement, "Right motives give pinions to thought, and strength and freedom to speech and action." 2 Motivation has to be honest and impersonal. Taking a journey, I strive to discern in it the opportunity for service to others—the motivation which establishes its rightness. Then I feel a deep sense of protection, of safety. In addition, like so many others, I think specifically about my personal dwelling place "in the secret place of the most High." 3  And always I feel that "underneath are the everlasting arms." 4  I remember and affirm that each person connected with the enterprise or journey is governed by Mind, God. This truth of God's government embraces the whole system, including the aircraft in which we fly. The persons who make decisions regarding our aircraft, its handling, its control, are all individually reflecting the one Mind, supreme intelligence, which holds all of us in its grip. They have the capacity to act wisely, swiftly, rightly. This eliminates the phenomenon of "human error" which is so often related to accidents.

Of all the important lessons you've learned about communicating with people and maintaining harmonious relationships, is there, perhaps, one significant thought on this you'd like to share with us?

Yes. Always discern, affirm, and love the other person's true selfhood as the child of God. Respect for his precious and inviolate spiritual heritage is the best conceivable basis for good human relations. To communicate we must, above all, listen. Listen to God, and listen to our brother man. The ear is just as powerful a communications device as the voice—maybe more so!

Gal. 6:3↑   ² Science and Health, p. 454↑   ³ Ps 91:1↑   ⁴ Deut. 33:27↑   ⁵ Science and Health, p. 584↑   ⁶ Ps. 90:4↑   ⁷ Science and Health, p. 486↑

 

The following appreciation of Erwin D. Canham was written by the Monitor's former managing editor and Washington bureau chief, Saville R. Davis. JANUARY 4, 1982 (http://www.csmonitor.com/1982/0104/010436.html):

At morning news conferences, when the day's paper was planned, he would often pour out good-humored, and sometimes hilarious, accounts of his travels in the realms of politics and journalism, where he had been representing the Monitor and picking up new information and analysis from his personal friends in high offices.

Amongst all the online information about Erwin Canham is a transcript of his diary while he was Plebiscite Commissioner (at the request of President Gerald Ford), and later Trust Territory Resident Commissioner, in the Marianas, during which time the Marianas people voted on becoming part of the Commonwealth of the United States. There is also an interview with Canham's widow Patience (Sue) about the whole episode.

Additionally, there is an exchange of letters between Canham and the Librarian, Mrs. Jacob, at the Maine State Library. As Canham was a native of Maine, the Librarian wished to have all of his published books on the library's shelves. A delightful turn of phrase is noted in one letter, “I am happy to send you an inscribed copy of my latest collaboration (“The Christian Science Way of Life” by DeWitt John, with “A Christian Scientist's Life” by Canham). You are awfully nice to want it.”

I do not have it to hand, but there is a book about all the editors of the Monitor from the beginning to the date of printing. Of course, Canham's contribution is chronicled there.

Yes. I will read the book!

Joyce Voysey

Ed. Mr Gates posed many interesting questions in the interview mentioned above! They covered topics such as accomplishment – getting things done; humility and self-respect; retirement and service; the state of the affairs of the world; uplifting consciousness; and, the role of youth.

Among his responses, I especially enjoyed these:

“People everywhere are spiritually hungry. Formal religion—the organized churches— are in considerable disarray. Some futurologists forecast their dwindling, if not disappearance. But the need and craving for religion persists. It's stronger than ever.

“The world needs a better and more precise and substantive understanding of the meaning of God: the kind of definition and conceptualization of God contributed by Mrs. Eddy from her study of the Bible.”

About youth:

“Our gaze should be directed ahead, not backward. This applies to all of us. I have no different attitude toward youth than toward everybody.”

“Many of us need to see that people in the more academic phase of their experience are being subjected to and invigorated by very challenging thoughts, discoveries, analyses. Some of these may be highly critical in their approach to religion, including Christian Science. If we are to communicate with people in schools, universities, or other academic situations, we must understand what they are talking about. This may require diligent effort on our part—wide reading and discussion not just within the ambit of Christian Science. But this is refreshing and invigorating for all of us, giving added depth and strength to our focused religious study.”

"For spreading truth, and making love expand"

Erwin Canham's book "Commitment to Freedom" was written 58 years ago, exactly 50 years after the founding of The Christian Science Monitor. So this newspaper is now 108 years old. 

Opening up Canham's book last night, I was intrigued to read the first 5 lines from a short but powerful poem by the Romantic English poet William Wordsworth (1770 - 1850). Wordsworth was born the same year as Beethoven, and of course the year James Cook set foot on Australia. 

Here is the entire poem:

Illustrated Books And Newspapers

by William Wordsworth

Discourse was deemed Man's noblest attribute,
And written words the glory of his hand;
Then followed Printing with enlarged command
For thought -- dominion vast and absolute
For spreading truth, and making love expand.
Now prose and verse sunk into disrepute
Must lackey a dumb Art that best can suit
The taste of this once-intellectual Land.
A backward movement surely have we here,
From manhood, -- back to childhood; for the age --
Back towards caverned life's first rude career.
Avaunt this vile abuse of pictured page!
Must eyes be all in all, the tongue and ear

Nothing? Heaven keep us from a lower stage!

I love to think on such concepts as "discourse", "written words", and "printing" as vehicles for "spreading truth, and making love expand"! Canham's excerpt finishes there, and the rest of the poem may not be quite so highly toned (!), but it's interesting nonetheless, to contemplate his reasoning, which seems to indicate mankind's preference for the visual image over the heard thought contemplated.

Whatever message we deem is ours in reading this poem today, I love the idea of "spreading truth, and making love expand".

Juliet Swannell