The sacred secret 'upper chamber'

I am especially interested in the idea of rest in Mother's Room, as referred to in the Whittier poem (mentioned in yesterday's blog post).  

In an article from the Mary Baker Eddy Library entitled Did Mary Baker Eddy write it? A letter to Septimus J. Hanna, we are told that Mrs. Eddy instructed Judge Hanna, as First Reader of The Mother Church*, to go into his 'secret "upper chamber"'. 

Mrs. Eddy's letter says in part, "Be strong and firm on this basis till you are ready to feel 'I have had my vacation I am ready for harder work'".

A vacation or rest in praying for oneself.  Wonderful concept!

Joyce Voysey

Ed. Hanna was also at that time on the Bible Lesson Committee and editor of The Christian Science Journal and he wanted to resign some of those jobs.

Ed. There are several references to 'upper chamber' in the Bible:

1. Acts 9:37, 39 (where Peter heals Tabitha) and

2. Acts 20:8 where Paul was preaching when Eutychus fell from the third loft. 

Mrs Eddy uses the phrase too:

1. Miscellaneous Writings 1883-1896 

   a) page 159:11-15 (extract from a Christmas letter in which she refers to the upper chamber as a 'sanctuary of love') and

   b) page 279:22-23 ('the disciples met together in an upper chamber').

2. The First Church of Christ, Scientist and Miscellany page 156:18 (Here are some tender words about thought prepared to receive Truth.) 

This still room

One room in the original Mother Church was built especially for the Pastor Emeritus, Mary Baker Eddy.

Love meeting the human need

In the Christian Science textbook, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, author Mary Baker Eddy has a wonderful statement: Divine Love always has met and always will meet every human need. (See p. 494: 10-11). It correlates to many passages in Scripture, but today I'm thinking of this week's Golden Text from the Bible Lesson - Exodus 15:6 (to ;), 7 (to ;) from the Good News Translation in Today's English Version (2nd Edition):

Your right hand, Lord, is awesome

An indelible mark

The importance of building The Mother Church is brought out in Armstrong's conclusion.

He says, 

“It was a victory for Christian Science, a victory in which every claim of error was met and overcome. Something was accomplished which must be accepted by mortals as part of the world's history. . . Just as a large part of mankind have accepted the lives of Jesus and his apostles as historic facts, however little this may affect their own living; just as proofs of astronomical facts, reversing the evidence of the senses, are universally undenied, -- so the erection of this church is so great a demonstration of Christianity and Science as to leave on the world's thought an indelible mark which must be given a place in its history.

Only future ages can fully appreciate and understand the mighty triumph of good over evil, of Spirit over matter, manifested in the circumstances connected with the successful erection of this beautiful building, as given in this historical sketch of The Mother Church in Boston. 

Page 92.

In September 1893, Mary Baker Eddy, Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science, advised the Directors of The First Church of Christ, Scientist, in Boston, to lay the foundation for a church building the following October. (See p. 1, the opening paragraph of the chapter entitled The Foundation.)

“Hold your services in the Mother Church Dec. 30, 1894, and dedicate this church Jan. 6^th” (letter from Mrs. Eddy Dec. 19, 1894).

And that is what was accomplished.

The only building of an important church/cathedral I know of is St. John's Cathedral in Brisbane. Its foundation stone was set in 1901; a portion of the building was consecrated in 1910; a second phase was begun in 1965, consecrated 1968; the final phase, which included the towers, was begun in 1989; church consecrated 2009. I wonder if there is a history of problems and their resolution on that project.

One of my favourite stories in the book is of Caroline Bates climbing up shaky ladders to solve problems with workmen.

This is a wonderful book. Thank you to our Editor for setting it for us. (Although I had just reread it a few months ago, I always get renewed inspiration from it.)

Joyce Voysey

A breath of fresh air

The Christian Science Journal dated October 1991* includes a lovely tribute to Joseph Armstrong, the author of this month's book The Mother Church. It describes him as a tall man of six feet who, in his thirties, rose in commerce to achieve the position of president of his own bank. No amount of worldly success or money, however, had been able to cure his wife Mary. When Christian Science did cure her, their lives changed forever. Both took primary and normal class instruction in Christian Science from Mary Baker Eddy, and both became obedient and loyal students during the tumultuous years at the turn of last century. The Journal article offers insight into Mr Armstrong's role:

In late 1892 Mr. Armstrong was called to Boston. The Christian Science Publishing Society was in turmoil. Its Publisher had resigned in opposition to Mrs. Eddy's leadership, and over the previous three years the fledgling Journal had lost a large percentage of its subscribers...Within four months [with Armstrong at the helm**] the Journal recouped the three-year loss and increased subscriptions by an additional 15 percent.

The Journal article also quotes from Sibyl Wilbur's reminiscences that

One reporter's first impression of the man in 1905 captures [a] likeness: "Here is Saint Peter, I do believe, . . . greatly humble and humbly great." With only a few words to the reporter, Mr. Armstrong departed, leaving the sense that a breath of fresh air had been felt in the room.

For me, one of the appealing features about Armstrong's book is the inclusion of Scriptural passages that obviously inspired the building work through challenges and triumphs. For instance, on page 15, he quotes II Chronicles 13: 'The pressure to go forward and do something became more imperative every day, while at the same time everything material claimed to discourage and hinder the Directors, "fears within and foes without"'. But despite those fears and foes, the work continued apace and a touchingly 'simple ceremony' saw the laying of the corner stone on May 21, 1894, the date designated by their Leader, Mary Baker Eddy, and achieved through the faithful efforts of the Directors, whose 'voice was not heard in the street' (Isa 42:2 and Matt 12:19). This suggests a marked unobtrusiveness; methods that are quiet and gentle, yet firm and focused. Definitely a breath of fresh air.

Julie Swannell

*See jsh-online or visit your local Christian Science Reading Room.

** William Dana Orcutt writes that 'During the regime of Mr. Armstrong, the office of publisher really began to function for the first time. His imprint first appears on the one hundred and eleventh edition, and extended into 1907...' (Mary Baker Eddy and her Books p. 59).

Architecture and The Mother Church

There is a short podcast on The Mary Baker Eddy Library about the two buildings of The Mother Church in Boston.  So interesting considering our topic for November.

It features Dr Jeanne Kilde* and is to be found at 

www.mbelibrary.org/podcast 

Scroll down to Gender, Spirituality, and the Architecture of The Mother Church.

Joyce Voysey

* Dr. Jeanne Halgren Kilde is Director of the Religious Studies Program at the University of Minnesota.