B.O. Flower - a man of honour

Hi folks,

Well, this month's book is so very interesting. Unfortunately, it's pretty hard to find copies But the good news is that all is not lost because the book is a compilation of articles written  originally for the Christian Science publications. A search on the web site jsh-online.com under the topic "Mary Baker Eddy Mentioned Them" brings up 2881 entries!

I scrolled down to an entry about Benjamin Orange Flower (1858-1918) written by a former editor of The Christian Science Monitor, John Yemma (see Christian Science Journal January 2016) - and then compared it to the entry in our book which appeared in the Christian Science Sentinel dated 25 July 1959. Both are helpful.

Yemma's article reveals Flower as a man of integrity--and a champion of "fair play". During a period when the press was intensely critical of the Leader of the Christian Science movement, Mary Baker Eddy, he provided an unbiased view. Yemma writes:

B. O. Flower read what other journalists were writing and reached the same conclusion Mrs. Eddy did about bias. While not a Christian Scientist, Flower knew people healed through Christian Science. He began questioning the pack mentality that seemed to be targeting this new religion and its Founder. He had, he said, always “made it a rule in my life to try to understand a subject before attempting to criticize it or to influence others either for or against it.”

Always quick to note integrity and kindly neighbourliness, Eddy responded to Flower's impartiality -  see The First Church of Christ, Scientist and Miscellany, p. 316 - where she writes that his 'dignified, eloquent appeal to the press in behalf of common justice and truth demands public attention'.

How good it is to note the good in our communities.

Julie Swannell