Treasures for your tool kit

I have now finished reading the book, We Knew Mary Baker Eddy, Book 2 (Expanded Edition), having made some notes on my way. Here are some gems that appeal to me at this stage of my experience. No doubt a future reading will highlight others.

From Mrs. Eddy:

Page 285. If there is a sense of doubt as to a wise course of action, as a general rule, the thing least pleasant is the one to do.

And – Human reasoning is as material as pain.

Page 294: Mrs. Eddy never wanted flowers in her study, although they made other parts of the home attractive with them. She said, “Because they fade, and I want to think only of life.”

Annie B. White Baker had a lesson in spirituality when she remarked to Mrs. Eddy that she was not spiritual and could not attain to any very spiritual height.

Mrs. Eddy said she must never say that. And she enumerated they ways in which Annie was evidencing her spirituality:

1. Love to be true and to live honestly.

2. Love God and desire to strive for the unfolding of that in yourself which is like Him? Honest, conscientious, diligent in your work. (p, 312)

Page 315: Students do not pray enough. They should go by themselves at least three times a day to pray. Their prayers should consist of much giving thanks, more realization of the perfect as well as the denial of error. There is too much denial of error and too little realization of the perfect.

Pages 349/350. On Christian Science being truly universal, the only Science. Through the Science she discovered, Mrs. Eddy knew of ordinary scientific disciplines: “Electricians would ask me about electricity and chemists about chemistry, and I would answer them instantly and find afterwards that my answers were correct.”

Divine Science is the Science of everything that God created.

Adam Dickey’s entry gives a short history of the inspiration behind his famous article, “God’s Law of Adjustment.”

I have spoken in a previous blog (6.7.22) about clocks and time in Mrs. Eddy’s household. On page 420 we find that, “There was a clock in every room. Each member of the household had his own timepiece, and it was expected to be in perfect running order. In Mrs. Eddy siting room thee were three clocks. In her bedroom there were two, one of which was an old-fashioned alarm clock which she had fastened to the foot of her bed.”

And on page 421 we are told that meals were always on time without summons of any sort. The people and the meal arrived exactly on the hour of the meal.

Page 552 gives us a gem on music and singing:

William Rathvon speaks of evenings of singing with Mrs. Ella Hoag, Mr. Dickey, Mr. Tomlinson, Mrs. Ella Rathvon and he –

Mrs. Hoag and Mrs. Rathvon sang soprano, Mr. Dickey stumbled along under a heavy load of base, while I clawed the scales toward the high notes, trying to contribute a thin tenor, and the Reverend (as we called Mr. Tomlinson) wobbled around in every direction. If we didn’t make music, we certainly did produce a joyful noise.

(Mrs. Hoag or Mrs. Rathvon played the piano.)

Somewhere I found this from Mrs. Eddy: "Prayer is desire."  A nice different touch!

To finish with a lovely story about The Christian Science Monitor:

A man had the belief of consumption and was ordered to go to the White Mountains. In passing through here and making his transfer from one depot to another, he was delayed at South Station. While waiting, he called a newsboy and asked him for a paper, saying, “Any one that’s good will do. I don’t know anything about the Boston papers.” The kid looked him over for a moment, sized up his physical condition, and said, “I guess you need The Christian Science Monitor,” and handed it to him. The man read the editorials and finally turned to the Home Forum page. There, an articled marked “Hope” caught his eye and held it, for hope was something he had lost. He read it and got his first inkling of Science. He wanted to know more and sought the telephone directory. The only thing he could find list ed was The Christian Science Publishing Society, so he called the operator there and said to her, ”Say, what do you do when you’re sick?”

“Why, call a Christian Science practitioner and get well,” was the reply. “Well, connect me with one of them quick, will you, please?” 

You will find, when you read it, that the man was a well man in three weeks time.

Joyce Voysey

The little details

 "I pray and watch in the little details; someone must, as Good is expressed in the minutiae of things" (p. 134, We Knew Mary Baker Eddy, Vol 2, Expanded Edition).

tender solicitude - the love that heals

 In re-reading We Knew Mary Baker Eddy (Book 2, Expanded Edition) - I see that I purchased and read it first in June 2013 - I am noticing again that Mrs. Eddy was an alert peacemaker and a diligent and prompt communicator. Her correspondence was voluminous. Her communications, as recorded in this book, are alive with tender love alongside practical common sense. While they are frankly divinely rather than humanly impelled, they meet the human need perfectly. In this, it seems she followed the example of the Master, Christ Jesus, whose every divine utterance resulted in big blessings on the human level. 

Joseph Mann shares an instance in which an apparent misunderstanding (perhaps a rebuke) had taken place. We can all think of instances in which such an occurrence sours a relationship, perhaps irretrievably.

But the dauntless Mann was intelligent, obedient, and meek. And his teacher was quick to leave no stone unturned in setting the record straight. Mann writes that: "The following letter written to me during my first year of serving at Pleasant View, hints [at] the [l]ove that healed after it had wounded" (p. 156). 

Here is a portion of Eddy's letter:

    "I remember only your kind care for me and my place. I remember never a word or act of yours that was not kind. I remember that God is Love and that He loves us all and knows best what we most need.." (ibid).

This reminds me of a passage about "tender solicitude" in the chapter Marriage in Science & Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy:

"There should be the most tender solicitude for each other's happiness, and mutual attention and approbation should wait on all the years of married life" (p. 59:3).

But Mann also shares another observation. He writes that "I never knew her to introduce [Christian Science] to visitors or guests who were not Christian Scientists" (p. 157).

What grace.

Julie Swannell

Where to source a copy of We Knew Mary Baker Eddy (Expanded Edn)

I see there has been a comment from a reader who posted a couple of days ago about the value of the expanded Editions of We Knew Mary Baker Eddy. The writer only had the original third book, not the more current expanded volumes. 

Anyone wishing to buy the Expanded Editions can turn to the website Books thatChange Lives* or any Christian Science Reading Room will fill the bill. The books are also available for loan at Reading Rooms and can be read online at jsh-online.com for subscribers to that very valuable site.

Joyce Voysey

* https://booksthatchangelives.org.au/ is a website sponsored by Christian Science Churches, Christian Science Societies, and Christian Science Groups in Queensland. It is designed to be an online "window" to the physical Reading Rooms, and is a wonderful resource for those seeking information about Christian Science and its Discoverer, and especially a deeper understanding of the Bible and Christ Jesus. (Ed.)

It's all about love

 If we ever feel overwhelmed, we might pause and consider the careers of Christ Jesus and his latter-day follower Mary Baker Eddy. They were busy people! But not overwhelmed. John's gospel tells us that "...there are also many other things which Jesus did, the which if they should be written every one, I  suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that should be written" (John 21:25). That's quite a statement, considering that Jesus' ministry was only three short years. And yet, his poise and generosity of spirit to patiently heal and instruct were sublime.

Meanwhile, Mary Baker Eddy strove to follow the Master, Christ Jesus, as closely as she could. Eddy's student, Joseph Mann, writes that "It is not an exaggeration to say that without doubt, in her time, Mrs. Eddy was the busiest woman on earth. yet I recall an instance which illustrates the fact the Love is never too busy to be kind and considerate" (p. 150-151, We Knew Mary Baker Eddy, Vol. 2, Expanded Edn).

If we ever feel the weight of circumstances in our present situation, we can be encouraged by the example of others. For example, the advent of the "Next Friends" suit and how Mrs. Eddy addressed that difficult time is helpful. Julia Prescott recalls her part in the trial. She writes that "the lawyers were at Pleasant View [Mrs. Eddy's home at the time]" (p. 94). They wanted to know why she was there. After failing to deflect their questions, Prescott eventually replied: "Mrs. Eddy [told] me many years ago to love my enemies. Now she has called me here to teach me how to do it" (p. 95). 

Is every 'trial' a new opportunity to witness Love in action? Prescott details Mrs. Eddy's instructions to her workers during the court case. They were to "know that there was but one side, and that was the right side.  ... that no one could hurt us, nor be made to, and that we could not hurt anyone, nor be made to; that we could not hurt ourselves, nor be made to, for we all love and help each other, and God loves and helps us all" (p. 95).

Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures (p. 26: 30) explains that "His [the Master, Christ Jesus] proof of Christianity was no form or system of religion and worship, but Christian Science, working out the harmony of Life and Love." Our work is to be part of the "working out" team by letting Love shine through us.

Julie Swannell 

Finding answers, finding healing

Those who are new to Christian Science, and others who are more familiar with its teachings, sometimes have reservations and almost always have questions. This is natural. Questions (though not debates) are welcome. Answers can be found in many ways. Reading Rooms offer the sincere seeker avenues for discussion, prayer, research and study.  The weekly Bible Lesson and the Christian Science periodicals supply a rich reservoir of instruction and learning, and Primary Class instruction by an authorised teacher* of Christian Science offers systematic and deep learning.

Seaman Joseph Eastaman, whose Christian Science teacher was Mary Baker Eddy, tells about his class experience in We Knew Mary Baker Eddy (Vol. 2, Expanded Edition), beginning on page 62:

    "The class included many highly cultured people, all more or less conversant with the rudiments of Christian Science, while I, a sailor, with only a seaman's knowledge of the world, and no faintest inkling of the field to be opened up before me, felt very much out of place indeed." 

I love the "however" which follows:

    "However, God had called me there, and I had long since been schooled to say, "Thy will be done." To that first and last and most important question, "What is God?" the students replied variously according to their own thought or to the technicalities of Science and Health, which I had not yet procured. When the question came to me, I stammered out, "God is all, with all and in all; everything that is good and pure--I don't know, but it is the very breath I draw."  The teacher smiled encouragingly as my answers followed one after another, and I was strengthened to go on."

Eastaman speaks of the questions and answers that characterised the class teaching:

    "The simpler my questions, the more pains she took to explain clearly..." (p. 63).

Soon, Joseph's wife Mary began to have better health; and so his healing practice was launched. In this regard, Eastaman writes of needed qualities such as obedience, generosity, faithfulness, energy, diligence and minding one's own business - see page 66. He also mentions that his "former habitual despondency and forebodings ... entirely passed away" (ibid).

Mary Eastaman, meanwhile, was at first not satisfied, when the practitioner she called on "could give no light on the Scriptures as to the truth of Christian Science " (p. 74-75). There was "no foundation or hope on which to build" (p. 75). A change occurred when Mary "found that glorious hymn [that begins] "Saw ye my Saviour,"** written by ... Mary Baker Eddy. A great peace and sense of joy came to me. I said, 'This must be of God because they believe in Jesus" (ibid).

There is a testimony in the final chapter of Eddy's book Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures (pp. 667-669) which speaks of a "wonderful transformation" which occurred through reading that book. The testifier writes, "I was renewed; born again." "There have been mighty struggles with error, and I have learned that we cannot reach heaven with one long stride or easily drift inside the gate, but that the "asking" and the "seeking" and the "knocking" must be earnest and persistent" (p. 668). 

The Eastamans certainly offer an example of earnestness and persistence and deep renewal.

Julie Swannell

*Christian Science teachers are listed in every month's copy of The Christian Science Journal.

**Saw ye my Saviour? Heard ye the glad sound? / Felt ye the power of the Word? / 'Twas the Truth that made us free, / And was found by you and me / In the life and the love of our Lord.

Mourner, it calls you,—“Come to my bosom, / Love wipes your tears all away, / And will lift the shade of gloom, / And for you make radiant room / Midst the glories of one endless day.”

Sinner, it calls you,—“Come to this fountain, / Cleanse the foul senses within; / 'Tis the Spirit that makes pure, / That exalts thee, and will cure / All thy sorrow and sickness and sin.”

Strongest deliverer, friend of the friendless, / Life of all being divine: / Thou the Christ, and not the creed; / Thou the Truth in thought and deed; / Thou the water, the bread, and the wine.
(Christian Science Hymnal, No. 298:1–4)

Harassment and Gilbert Eddy's plan

On page 187 of We Knew Mary Baker Eddy (Vol. 2, Expanded Edn), we are told the circumstances of Gilbert Eddy suggesting that they marry. Clara Shannon records that at that time Mrs. Eddy was being harassed by men following her. Policemen kept watch in the streets for her safety. “Dr Eddy said that the only thing he could see would be for her to marry him and thus give him the right to have a room in the house and to protect her.”

Joyce Voysey

Write it in a book

On pages 184-185 of We Knew Mary Baker Eddy (Vol. 2, Expanded Edition) Clara Shannon records how a doctor, having witnessed the healing by Mrs. Eddy of a woman suffering from consumption, asked how she did the healing. She replied that she could not tell, "it was God". He said, “Why don’t you write it in a book, publish it, and give it to the world?” Mrs. Eddy had confirmation of the idea in turning to Jeremiah 30:2: “Thus speaketh the Lord God of Israel, saying, Write thee all t he words that I have spoken unto thee in a book.” This showed her God’s direction.

The workers* in Mrs. Eddy's household were always made aware that it was their duty to know that it was not Mrs. Eddy who did the healing but God** - Truth and Love, and not to worship her personality. (This was something that later workers would need to make clear to the world. That’s us today!) On page 209, Clara tells us that in her own work she would say, “With God’s help I will do so and so,” and knew that the good that she would do, she did, and the evil that she would not do, she could not be made to do.

On page 194 Shannon recalls: “When referring to God, [Mrs. Eddy] nearly always called God Love and would say, “Love will show me.””

Joyce Voysey

Ed. -

*Shannon points out that the job of the workers was to "watch and pray" - see p. 197.

**page 192 ",..it is God who heals and not the student..."

Grace, and a baby blanket

This week’s Lesson-Sermon (Subject: Sacrament: July 4-10, 2022) gives us the story of Martha being busy about the house while Mary sits at Jesus’ feet. The lesson also emphasises the fact that we have grace to do any task; and that we need grace to accomplish the everyday jobs, as well as the more spiritual ones. It reminded me of what is recorded in the We Knew Mary Baker Eddy stories about the workers in Mrs. Eddy’s home – some did the laundry, some the yard work, some the cooking, some the house cleaning, some the typing of Mrs. Eddy’s correspondence, some the purely metaphysical work and the “watching.” All work was to be done with and through grace.

One of my daughters and I have been trying to mend a machine-knitted baby blanket which has been burned with acid so that it has four round holes, each maybe 7 cms across. The wool is very fine and there are two thicknesses. A difficult mend! The owner of the blanket, my granddaughter-in-law, has great faith in our ability to fix things!

Early this week I sat down with it again. It seemed that in spite of what the Bible says, this was an impossible task,  It felt like a royal law has been broken. However I kept at it and, though it may not be perfect and at this point it is still a work in progress, I think at least we have proved the Biblical law that "with God all things are possible" (Matt 19: 26). The holes will be filled!

Joyce Voysey

Ed. Bravo! This reminds me of the instruction: 

"Beholding the infinite tasks of truth, we pause, — wait on God. Then we push onward, until boundless thought walks enraptured, and conception unconfined is winged to reach the divine glory."

(Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, Mary Baker Eddy, p. 323:9)

A very neat gold watch

On page 166 of We Knew Mary Baker Eddy (Volume 2, Expanded Edition), Joseph Mann tells of receiving the gift of a “very neat gold watch.” When he thanked her, he remarked that it would remind him to always be on time. She appreciated the sentiment and replied, “Yes, dear, it will remind you that time is precious and belongs to God; and throughout time, it will say to you--'Watch!'”

There are many references to clocks in Mrs. Eddy’s household. The workers knew that they had to be on time.

Joyce Voysey

Ed. Julia Prescott also remarks on Eddy's generosity. On page 94 she writes: "She delighted to give always in every direction" and Prescott goes on to recount how a young Mary gave away her lunch to those she thought might otherwise go hungry.