As a beginner student of Christian Science, of course my first purchases at a Christian Science Reading Room were the Bible and Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baer Eddy. No doubt the next was a Christian Science Quarterly to guide my study of the weekly Bible-Lesson. (No markers at first!)
Following those purchases there seems to have been a tight race between the Christian Science Hymnal (1932 edition) and the Concordance to Science and Health. The hymnal was precious, and I carried it to church services. On reflection I think the hymnal probably won that race.
The story of the Concordance is interesting. Over a few years there seemed to be a sort of epidemic of cancer deaths within close adoptive family. This had been happening for a while before I knew about Christian Science. Then we visited a loved uncle from Mount Morgan in a Brisbane hospital. He seemed to be filled with fear, very disturbed. I went away fearful and disturbed too. However, things were difference this time – I knew about the healing Truth, and I had a Concordance to Science and Health to guide me in gaining my peace. I was such a new student, and it is a surprise that I was guided to citations on Life. We visited the uncle again. There was a complete change in his demeanour. He did pass on soon after, but I was sure that he was at peace – and so was I.
I was a devourer of the free literature (copies of the weekly Christian Science Sentinel and the monthly Christian Science Journal) available at church, so that after a while I saw the need to own a copy of Mrs. Eddy’s Prose Works other than Science and Health which was referred to in those periodicals. This copy is still on my desk, although for study I have a new one (purchased in 1991!). The original is well worn to say the least. It has the signatures of my fellow Class students (Christian Science Primary Class instruction). A precious volume.
I receive emails from the Longyear Foundation and recently I found this gem about one of Mrs. Eddy’s poems being set to music for the church services.
|
|
This item is one of a series of Longyear notes about Mrs. Eddy’s seven poems that appear in the Christian Science Hymnal. I hope that readers of this blog will use this site https://journal.christianscience.com/issues/1993/12/111-12/mary-baker-eddy-s-hymns for an inspiring commentary on the seven poems and their derivation.
Hymn 381
Last Friday I spoke with a friend in the Reading Room about the wonderful role played by early worker William McKenzie, and especially his hymn 381, “What brightness dawned in resurrection”. My friend mentioned that the musical setting of this hymn (written by Clement Cotterill Scholefield around 1894) was included in the funeral service of Queen Elizabeth II. The words sung on that occasion, [Ed.- and which convey a very different sense from those penned by McKenzie], were most likely the following –:
1 The
day you gave us, Lord, is ended,
the darkness falls at your request;
to you our morning hymns ascended,
your praise shall sanctify our rest.
2 We
thank you that your Church, unsleeping
while earth rolls onward into light,
through all the world her watch is keeping
and never rests by day or night.
3 As
over continent and island
each dawn leads to another day,
the voice of prayer is never silent,
nor do the praises die away.
4 So be
it, Lord! Your throne shall never,
like earth’s proud empires, pass away;
your kingdom stands and grows forever
until there dawns your glorious day.
Another piece from Longyear tells us a little more –
In 1932, just as the Hymnal was
being readied for the printer, the Hymnal Revision Committee encountered an
unexpected hurdle. Permission to print a poem by John Ellerton, which was
intended for hymn #381, was withdrawn. With
not a moment to lose, the committee sent an urgent request to William McKenzie.
Would he be willing to write a replacement?
It wasn’t an easy task. The poem’s words would have to match the
cadence of the tune. Also, the first line would need to begin with the letter
“W” to fit within the hymnal’s alphabetical order.
Mr. McKenzie consented. He pulled out his paper and pen and got to
work. The resulting poem, a tender view of the resurrection, has been a
much-loved hymn ever since.3 In all, seven of William McKenzie’s poems would be published
in that 1932 Hymnal.
Finally, you may like to read this gem, not related to
the hymnal–
Celebrations
For about two months in the summer of 1891, after completing
revisions for the landmark 50th edition of her major work, Science and Health, Mrs. Eddy moved back to Boston from
Concord, New Hampshire. In Roslindale, a Boston suburb, she purchased a home
across the street from the Knapp family. Ira Knapp and his
wife, Flavia, were rock-solid students and friends. Mrs. Eddy would appoint
Ira as one of the first directors of The Mother Church. During her brief stay
in Roslindale, Mrs. Eddy became aware that her neighbor had developed what his
son Bliss Knapp described
as “an abnormal sense about celebrating birthdays.” He refused to celebrate
them. Mrs. Eddy felt this posture was excessive and needed correction, so, on
Ira’s birthday, June 7, she gave him a birthday present! [A] vase …. filled
with flowers, was sent across the street to the Knapp home, accompanied by a
photograph of the sender in a hand-painted frame. June 7 also happened to be
Bliss’s birthday, so she sent him a present, too — her favorite canary in a fine brass cage.
No comments:
Post a Comment