Dedicatory Sermon and scintillations

Book Club July, 2017: "Pulpit and Press" 

Mary Baker Eddy so often surprises us. She dedicated “this unique book” to the children who contributed $4,460 to the fund for the building of the original Mother Church building. (See page v, and footnote on page 9.) How important the child thought was to her.

Page vii gives me pause also with the word “scintillations.” It goes to prove that we sometimes think we know the meaning of a word – until we actually check the dictionary. My thought had been that scintillation was a very frivolous idea; perhaps I was confusing it with titillation or titivation – I didn't have any of them exactly right.

I am delighted with its meaning: “flash or sparkle of light; the process or state of emitting flashes of light.” The dictionary speaks of physics and luminescence. Also, that astronomy classifies it as “the twinkling or tremulous effect of the light of the stars.”

And I am delighted that it all reminds me of a favourite hymn (music by Mozart, words by Maria Louise Baum - see hymn 109 in the Christian Science Hymnal). It ends with the: “We in Love's pure likeness shine.”

The opening paragraph satisfies with its elaboration on the theme. To turn to the Dedicatory Sermon prepared “By Rev. Mary Baker Eddy, First Pastor of The First Church of Christ, Scientist, Boston, Mass." and, “Delivered January 6, 1895.” I query: "Who delivered it?" I don't think it was Mary Baker Eddy. I tun to my trusty friend Robert Peel, faithful biographer of Mary Baker Eddy. On pp. 73 and 74 in Mary Baker Eddy: The Years of Authority, he gives a sense of the mental atmosphere around this time. He explains that the one who read the prepared sermon was a professional elocutionist, Henrietta Bemis Clark. She was not a Christian Scientist.

Perhaps now is the time to refer to the book by Joseph Armstrong, Building of The Mother Church. It is available from the Christian Science Publishing Society. Part of the blurb about it reads:

Building of The Mother Church tells the triumphant story of the power of prayer in overcoming countless obstacles and resistance.

In the late 1800s, the Directors of The First Church of Christ, Scientist, in Boston, Massachusetts, oversaw the design and construction of a unique church edifice in a matter of months — despite what seemed like insurmountable challenges. Those tasked with the work were confident in the ability of prayer to provide solutions and overcome obstacles. The result? The Mother Church — the church that Mary Baker Eddy, the Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science, called "... our prayer in stone ..."

The corner stone of the building was laid May 21, 1884. The building was complete at midnight on December 29, 1884. Sunday Service was held the next morning. What an achievement! Oh! What Love hath done!

Peel's book is also very informative about the enterprise on pages 67 to 72. This, then, is the building we are reading about in Pulpit and Press; the building, the idea, deserving of the Dedicatory Address that begins the book.

Joyce Voysey