A brilliant conversationalist

As we follow the story of Mary Baker, who became Mary Glover and then Mary Patterson, it seems that she is more and more alone. With whom could she confide her deepest thoughts and share her inmost dreams?

1866

The year 1866 was a landmark year for Mary Patterson (later, Mary Baker Eddy). Her husband, Daniel, had been unfaithful too many times and now the “marriage was over” (p. 62, A World More Bright: The Life of Mary Baker Eddy by Isabel Ferguson and Heather Vogel Frederick). But her unexpected recovery from unconsciousness following a fall on the icy pavement in Lynn, Massachusetts—a fall which had been deemed to be fatal—marked a turning point in her life.

At work

Subsequently, her “days were spent absorbed in the Scriptures as she searched and pondered” (ibid. p. 75) the substance and meaning of her recovery. In this work, she was alone with God, conversing with her heavenly Father-Mother. Meanwhile, she found lodging wherever she could and participated in family life with gusto.

The Wentworth family

At one point, Mary boarded with the Wentworth family—parents Alanson and Sally, daughters Celia and 13-year-old Lucy, whom “Mary [often] went to meet … on her way home from school” (p. 74), and 17-year-old son Charles. They welcomed her warmly and she left quite an impression.

“Charles later described Mary as cheerful and sprightly, ‘a woman of culture and refinement’ who was a brilliant conversationalist. He looked back on the 18 months she spent with his family as ‘one of the brightest spots in my life” (ibid, emphasis added).

Conversation and friendship

In his book Conversation: A history of a declining art, Stephen Miller writes that: “The art of conversation is the art of pleasing others.” (The Christian Science Monitor 21^st March 2006—“A Conversation Starter about how we converse”. Here Monitor contributor Tom D’Eveyln writes that “The art of conversation is a branch of an even bigger topic: friendship. Above all, friends listen to one another.”

D’Eveyln also quotes Virginia Woolf:

It may be that the art of pleasing has some connection to the art of writing. To be polite, considerate, controlled, to sink one's egotism, to conceal rather than to obtrude one's personality may profit the writer even as they profit the man of fashion.

We have fine examples of conversations that uplift and heal, in both Christ Jesus and Mary Baker Eddy, who would later write: “…a tender sentiment felt, or a kind word spoken, at the right moment, is never wasted” (Miscellaneous Writings 1883-1896, p. 127).

Norma Palmer Adler writes (Christian Science Sentinel, Sept. 23, 1961)*:

The authorized biographies of Mrs. Eddy repeatedly bring out that her words were always a blessing to those with whom she spoke. She enjoyed interesting and constructive conversations as well as a sense of humor. Irving C. Tomlinson says in his book "Twelve Years with Mary Baker Eddy" (pp. 170, 171): "Whether conversing in her study with a single student, or entertaining hundreds of her followers on the lawn at Pleasant View, she radiated a love that made her guests feel free from all restraint and at ease in her company. Mrs. Eddy was a rare conversationalist, and an hour spent in her company was a blessing never to be forgotten."

Today, we too can experience “a blessing never to be forgotten” as we spend time with the Bible and the writings of Mary Baker Eddy. And we too can work on the art of conversation, the art of friendship, in our relations with our fellow man.

Julie Swannell

*For those with a subscription to JSH-online.com, see Tenderly, Divinely Talk. Those without a subscription are invited to call their local Christian Science Reading Room to ask for a copy of this article.