A night watchman

Psalms 102 verse 7 from the King James Version tells us: "I watch, and am as a sparrow alone upon the house top" while the New Oxford Annotated Bible (New Revised Standard Version) puts it like this: "I lie awake; I am like a lonely bird on the housetop."

This reminds me of John Salchow's experience in Mary Baker Eddy's household. His wish was that he would anticipate his Leader's needs, and he was often able to do this without any direct communication with her.

A son of a farmer, he was a faithful and dedicated student and reliable helper. He frankly and humbly shares with his readers that his "day at Pleasant View [Mrs. Eddy's home of many years] started at about three-thirty to four o'clock in the morning in the summer and possibly an hour or half an hour later in the winter. I would hoe the garden, milk the cows, and feed the pigs. Then August Mann would give the horses their grain, and I would groom them. By that time it would be nearly seven o'clock, and I would stop for breakfast. After that there were the lawns and gardens to take care of, ice to take up to the house and cottage, or necessary repairs at the house, barn, or cottage, such as plumbing, electric wiring, carpentering, etc. In the evening I milked the cows again and watered the lawn if necessary. It was not often in the summer that my day was over before ten at night" (page 376, We Knew Mary Baker Eddy, Volume 1, Expanded Edition).

Salchow also shares insights into the practicality of Mrs. Eddy's teaching. For instance, he explains the ways he was able to replace an unsatisfactory carriage step (see pp. 391-393). He writes that "error was always trying to tell those who worked for Mrs. Eddy that they could not carry out her instruction. She herself talked with me and taught me how to resist these arguments and to meet the belief of reversal... I ... learned to be awake to the error and to protect myself against it. ... Mrs. Eddy talked to her family very freely and often on this question of reversal, reminding her students not to forget to be alert and watchful" (pp. 393-394).

This alertness helped him to find an ingenious way of rigging up a doorbell after electricians had given up (p 394) and it gave him the ability to step into the role of night watchman following a break-in at the home. The break-in occurred in 1903 and disturbed the household very much. Mrs. Eddy was not told of the incident but everyone "agreed that there ought to be someone to watch at night" (p. 396). Well, John Salchow volunteered. He now extended his long day to include his sleeping hours, making a small adjustment of lying down to sleep from supper until ten! When he "found [himself] so overcome by sleep that [he] did not dare to sit down or lean against anything because [his] eyes would immediately close" he rigged up an alert system that served to jolt him awake if he fell asleep (ibid)! 

This continued on until one day Mrs. Eddy requested that the household have a watchman. She was never told what her selfless "dear John" had done for her, but I think her awareness and alertness would have given her the presence of mind and loving intuition to take this latter step for the good of all.

Julie Swannell