Nahum on a lecture tour?

What a puzzler this book, Nahum, is to me.

I like the way the New Revised Standard Version’s sets it out as poetry.

So far I haven’t discovered how the book was shared. Did Nahum go on a Lecture Tour with it. Did he have it “published”? How?

The one angle that satisfies a little is that it is the error that God is punishing, not the people or the country.

We know from the book of Jonah that the Ninevites did reform in his time, but we are told that at a later time they went back to their old ways.

Joyce Voysey

A bully nation collapses

BACKGROUND

"The 7th century BC (700-601 BC) was defined by the peak and sudden, violent collapse of the Neo-Assyrian Empire, which dominated the Near East before being destroyed ... by 612 BC." - British Museum

NAHUM’S VISION

In his Introduction to Nahum, Eugene Peterson (The Message) writes: 

“The stage of history is large. Larger-than-life figures appear on this stage from time to time, swaggering about, brandishing weapons and money, terrorizing and bullying.  ... They often manage to get a significant number of people watching and even admiring ... [In contrast], God's characteristic way of working is in quietness...

“Assyria had the whole world terrorized... Assyria (and its capital, Nineveh) appeared invincible. A world free of Assyrian domination was unimaginable. Nahum's task was to make it imaginable...”

NINEVEH (ASSYRIA) FALLS

Writing in the NRSVUE* Study Bible, Peter Dubovský explains the situation:

“The true nature of Assyria, stripped of the veil of propaganda, is revealed, and Assyria ends up humiliated and destroyed. Assyria collapses, while the whole world rejoices. 

“Nahum reverses Assyrian propaganda…”

Assyria – the aggressor-enemy – is punished, and Judah is liberated.

Dubovský explains that the symbols of power, like chariots (Nahum2:13, 3:2), swords (3:3), and lions (2:11-13) were used as propaganda, carved in clay and stone. Today, we would see that on our television screens or posted on the Internet). Nahum calls out these boasting subterfuges.

IMAGES

Nahum gives us a sense of God’s mighty power. In particular, I like the images which relate to water (NRSVUE) —

1:4 He rebukes the sea and makes it dry, and he dries up all the rivers…

1:7-8 The Lord is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble; he protects those who take refuge in him, even in a rushing flood…

2:6 The river gates are opened; the palace trembles.

WHAT GETS DESTROYED?

We learn in Christian Science and that sin punishes itself. Mary Baker Eddy writes:

“This is a period of doubt, inquiry, speculation, selfishness; of divided interests, marvellous good, and mysterious evil. But sin can only work out its own destruction; and reform does and must push on the growth of mankind.” (Miscellaneous Writings 1883-1896, 237:19)

Nahum was a reformer. His writing enabled a new vision. We can catch that vision too.

Julie Swannell

*New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition

Vivid imagination unsurpassed

Dear readers,

Over the 14 years we have been writing on this blog, we have read all bar two of the books of the Bible. Nahum is one of those two books.

In the June 1934 issue of The Christian Science Journal, there is an interesting piece about Nahum. It’s from Westminster Commentary* and it includes this lovely remark: 

His vivid imagination and his power to express what passes rapidly before his mental eye in vigorous, well-compacted, realistic language are unsurpassed by any of the Old Testament prophets. Expressing himself in as few words** as possible, he sets before his readers the entire scene which he describes in such a way that they are made to feel that it is actually being transacted before their eyes. It is like a picture which an artist sketches… His constructions are classical and idiomatic, and his language forcible and pure; they reveal the intensity of his feelings and create the impression that he is convinced of the certainty of his prediction, the truth of his charge, and the necessity of his denunciation.

The gist of Nahum’s “powerful prophecy”*** is that the flourishing Assyrian nation will be overthrown.

Is Nahum’s message that good always overthrows evil? Let’s take a look and find out.

Julie Swannell

*Aren't we grateful for Bible Commentaries!

**e.g. Nahum 1:9 "...he will make an utter end: affliction shall not rise up the second time."

***from the Encyclopedia Americana – quoted in The Christian Science Journal June 1934

The Sound of Love

There is a passage in Twelve Years with Mary Baker Eddy by Irving Tomlinson that has particular resonance for me. It is on pages 108-109.

 

Sarah Pike Conger, (who “was the wife of an American diplomat and served with him in China at the time of the Boxer Rebellion in 1900”) had had an interview with Mrs Eddy in 1897. Her description of how she heard the words of Mrs Eddy that day shows us what might be called “the sound of Love”. Here’s what she wrote (the underlining is mine):

 

“After a few words about the weather and me going to Brazil, she started out in Christian Science, every word sounding in the pure atmosphere of Love. Such a day I never saw before nor since - Love was the key note and all other notes were in harmony with it. Those words of advice and encouragement were from the mother-heart and all was love. To make unforgettable—permanent—her points, she would tell some of her demonstrations. Her words and their intonations—her earnestness—her tenderness—her positiveness—her great understanding awakened and quickened my heart-beats with new life and its activity.

 

“… when I heard her voice utter the words there was a life in them beyond the written word—and they have vibrated in sweet-echoing tones through these years, helping me to remember and to detect the Christ-hand ever pointing the way heavenward.”

 

What is this language of Love which quickens the heartstrings? What does Love sound like? How can we hear it and speak it to others? Sarah Conger writes that Mrs Eddy said, “I have striven earnestly to have my students speak in a language which would be understood.”

 

I am reminded of Mrs Eddy’s poem Christ, my refuge: (See hymns 253-257 and 550-552.)

 

O’er waiting harpstrings of the mind
There sweeps a strain,
Low, sad, and sweet, whose measures bind
The power of pain,

And wake a white-winged angel throng
Of thoughts, illumed
By faith, and breathed in raptured song,
With love perfumed.
(Hymn. 253:1, 2)

 

It is Love stirring one to know and feel its presence, its harmony, its light. That is the sound of Love!

 

Marie Fox

A high ideal

Page 244 of this month’s book, Twelve Years with Mary Baker Eddy by Rev. Irving C. Tomlinson, tells us that “Mrs. Eddy held aloft a high ideal for her own sex, in religion, in social welfare, and in statesmanship.”

Tomlinson quotes her: “Our sex seems to be needed at this period to lift the darkness and to cheer the faithful sentinels at their posts of love and duty. God sustains you and will bless you in just this way.”

One can claim it for our period as well. Is it still the women behind the men who have more effective influence in our time?

She is not a contemporary figure, but Eleanor Roosevelt comes to mind. It was reported that Dean Rush, Secretary of State (USA) said at her passing, “She would rather light a candle than complain about the darkness.” Possibly a Chinese proverb*.

Those of us who sometimes find it difficult to go to sleep at night should find the following poem helpful. Mrs. Eddy said of it (Twelve Years, page 272):

“I love to think that my life is hid with Christ in God—with Truth in divine Love. Every night I say over to myself this little verse of the hymn**:

“The Spirit’s sweet control

   Freely we will confess,--

   Fly to Thine out-stretched arms of love,

   And there find health and rest.

                      M.J.H. Zink”

Joyce Voysey

*Ed. A little research reveals that American politician and diplomat Adlai Stevenson famously eulogized Mrs. Roosevelt with the statement, “she would rather light a candle than curse the darkness, and her glow warmed the world.” Apparently, the source of the saying was 19^th century minister Rev. William L. Watkinson who was quoting Thomas Carlyle***, the famous English essayist. (professorbuzzkill.com) 

**Ed. This hymn - Teach us Thy way, O God - was in the Christian Science hymnal 1889, p. 109, but is not in our current hymnal. To see the music and words for the whole hymn see https://hymnary.org/text/teach_us_thy_way_o_god#pagescans

***Ed. Interestingly, Thomas Carlyle has been mentioned previously on this blog site. Here's the entry:

Thomas Carlyle (1795-1881) -- a Scottish chap: Sentinel, 25 January 1958. Carlyle is mentioned in Eddy's Message to The Mother Church for 1901, p. 33 and The First Church of Christ, Scientist, and Miscellany, pp. 154, 193. In the latter reference, Mrs Eddy commends Carlyle's sentiment: 'Give a thing time; if it succeeds, it is a right thing' (My 193: 22).

Beauty everywhere

After reading about the "deep waters" (p. 205, Twelve Years with Mary Baker Eddy by Irving Tomlinson) of the Next Friends Suit and Mrs. Eddy's calm trust that she was "safe in His green pastures" (ibid), it is lovely to now read about her love for home.

Those familiar with her book Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures will recall her statement that "Home is the dearest spot on earth, and it should be the centre though not the boundary, of the affections" (SH 58).

In speaking of her move to Pleasant View, Tomlinson describes the transformation of "what had once been ugly and desolate into a home of beauty, comfort, and peace" as "a splendid example of her vision and foresight" (p. 211, Twelve Years). Her improvements had made the home "almost unrecognizable from its former dilapidated condition" (ibid p. 212). 

Tomlinson remarked that "there was beauty everywhere" (ibid), including lots of flowers.

This reminds me of John Wyndham's experience in setting up business premises when he returned home after having been a prisoner during WW2. He writes (The Ultimate Freedom p. 87): "The premises had been neglected during the war years and looked uninviting and dull to say the least. Again the irresistible urge to beautify came over me. But there seemed to be no way of paying even the smallest amount for such an undertaking."

"My Bible companion book had told me that "Beauty is a thing of life, which dwells forever in the eternal Mind and reflects the charms of His goodness in expression, form, outline, and color" (SH 247). This Mind, which I had learned to trust and listen to, I felt would point the way." 

He was able, step by step, to transform the space such that: "Soon the reception room was a glory of color and beauty, with new desks, built in seats for clients, and a large colored illuminated mural of an orchard in blossom. There were also beautiful arrangements of fresh flowers to feast the eyes on" (p. 89, The Ultimate Freedom).

Blog readers will be most interested to read Tomlinson's observations regarding Mrs. Eddy's intense love of all things beautiful in Twelve Years, especially pp. 211-214. 

He summarizes: "Mrs. Eddy was a deep lover of beauty. She held beauty as symbolizing the purity, the loveliness of Soul" (p. 213). 

Julie Swannell

My breakfast read

I am very much enjoying reading the Irving Tomlinson’s Twelve Years with Mary Baker Eddy. 

I find it works for me to leave the book on the dining table where it has become my breakfast read.

I’ll share two passages that have provoked my thought.

On page 77, Tomlinson recounts that he and his sister were to take up the roles of First and Second Reader In Concord, New Hampshire. When Tomlinson asked Mrs Eddy’s advice about making adequate provision for both home and work, Mrs Eddy’s reply indicates that she recognised that keeping house was a full time occupation for a woman. If she would do the role of healer and Reader well, then that would require all her care and effort, and she couldn’t be expected to keep house as well. “All one’s time is none too much for this and also that of the Readership.” What kindness to his sister!

And what perception of the obligations and commitment involved in doing our work the best we can in any sphere. It requires all our care. This gives an idea of the passage in Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures where Mrs Eddy writes: “The devotion of thought to an honest achievement makes the achievement possible” (SH 199:21–22).

This tells me that we need to be wholly committed to God’s work, whatever that may be; that we cannot spread our fire and hope to succeed. It also reflects kindness and insight into the demands placed on women at that time, and of not wanting to overburden Mary Tomlinson. Very touching.

The second passage is on page 89, and this is a big one that we all must confront. Mrs Eddy asked: “What was it that made Jesus the Messiah?” Her answer was that he “loved righteousness and hated iniquity” (Hebrews 1:9). 

She then proceeded to explain that the true Christian must not close his eyes to wrong-doing. He must be willing to uncover the evil in himself and others; to take steps to unmask the wrong-doer and bring the evil-doing to an end. We are not to draw back from our duty of exposing error and thus causing it to be destroyed.

Mrs Eddy said she herself found this so hard. She said she would rather - as we all would - “dwell on love alone and get away from error…”. But she said that would not do; it would allow error to increase.

My favourite sentence here is “We are to do right and leave the consequences to God.”

 Marie Fox

She asked that the lessons be prepared at once.

This week I was alerted to a webinar produced by The Mother Church for Reading Room librarians and workers. The topic (on christianscience.com) is “The Bible Lessons and the ‘prosperity of Christian Science.’” 

I especially appreciated hearing from a lady in California who had shared the weekly Christian Science Bible Lesson with a young woman whose family had found themselves homeless. The young woman took an interest in what she had been given to read and soon started coming to church. Her family recently found a home.

There are many references to the Christian Science Bible Lessons in our periodicals. You might start your research in jsh-online.com by typing “Lesson sermon” in the search bar. Among the many articles there is one from The Christian Science Journal of May 1899. It was written by Irving Tomlinson, who served on the Bible Lesson Committee for many years from its inception. Here’s an excerpt:

          The Maker of the Christian Science sermons is God, for He "made all that was made." Humanly speaking, God's agents do His work. As Christ Jesus said, "My Father worketh hitherto and I work." The subjects for these sermons, as is quite well known, were furnished by our Leader. These subjects cover the essentials of Christianity. As has been observed, they follow the order she was wont to employ in teaching her classes. ...

Irving Tomlinson gives further background in his book Twelve Years with Mary Baker Eddy (amplified edition) on p. 187. Here he points out that once Mrs. Eddy was sure of God's direction, she permitted no delay in carrying it out:

Not only the verbal form of the subjects of the Christian Science Bible Lessons, but their order in the Christian Science Quarterly is entirely Mrs. Eddy's arrangement. …

When in the summer of 1898 Mrs. Eddy sent down the topics for the new lessons, she asked that the lessons be prepared at once. This meant the immediate arrangement of twenty-six lessons—there being only a week's time in which to plan for the first lesson of July 3, 1898…

With the entire Bible from which to select and six hundred pages of Science and Health open to the Bible Lesson Committee, I found, as a member of this committee, that there was opportunity for endless variety. …

A more recent contributor to the periodicals (Michael Mooslin, “Me, we, and them”, Christian Science Sentinel 3 March 2025) wrote:

Mrs. Eddy explained that we don’t attend church to worship God but to express Him. “We study these lessons six days,” she continued, “then we go to Church to express God for the world—to give the world a treatment” (William Curtis Coffman, Memoirs of a Christian Scientist, 1955, p. 3).

I love that “the Bible and the Christian Science textbook are our only preachers” (Explanatory Note read prior to the Lesson-Sermon at each Christian Science church service).

Julie Swannell

More interesting quotes from "12 Years"

More interesting quotes from Twelve Years with Mary Baker Eddy by Irving Tomlinson:

 

Page 172

On one occasion, Mrs. Eddy said to a member of her household that the way to establish the Cause through reason is through writing and preaching, teaching and lecturing. This is temporal. But the way to establish the Cause through revelation is by healing, and this is permanent.

 

Page 173 – Lecture note re delivering the same lecture in various parts of the Field. Mrs. Eddy sent the author this recommendation:

“I suggest that you prepare a lecture with a view to giving it to the reporters and so make one answer for several places. Take the questions uppermost in the public mind and answer them systematically in Science.”

 

Mrs. Eddy saw the value of the reporting of lectures in the newspapers. Today we have many more lines of communication with the public; more complications for the lecture committees.

 

Tomlinson has given us a whole chapter on home – "At Home"

 Isn’t this wonderful? Page 211

On one occasion, as I recall, Mrs. Eddy said to the members of her household: “Home is not a place but a power. We find home when we arrive at the full understanding of God. Home! Think of it! Where sense has no claims and Soul satisfies.” (My emphasis)

 

Mrs. Eddy said to the author (page 212):

 “A home should be something more than four walls. There should be about it noble trees, beautiful shrubbery, flowers, vines clambering over the house, and a rose garden.”

 

Mrs. Eddy loved children and saw their innocence and purity which she sometimes found lacking in the older folk. Tomlinson recounts (page 232):

One day at the dinner table the story was told of a young boy of three whose mother was ill. He crept into her lap and began to talk to her of Science. He had been told that he was Love’s little boy, and he said, “… Mamma, say ‘the scientific statement of being,’ repeat the Lord’s Prayer.” The mother obeyed and was soon well. Mrs. Eddy said, “… We must all return to the simplicity, love, and gentleness of the child.”

Joyce Voysey

While others slept, she watched

In Twelve Years with Mary Baker Eddy, author Irving Tomlinson writes with appealing freshness and clarity. Furthermore, he offers the reader deep insights into what lay underneath the surface of events.

For instance, he mentions how Mrs. Eddy "advanced under God's guidance, in the founding of the Christian Science movement" and how "while others slept", she "faithfully watched as a mother watches over her babe" (p. 118) -- painting a tender picture of mother and infant.

He then observes her motivation in founding the Christian Science periodicals, "including The Christian Science Monitor", explaining that "it was not merely a journalistic or literary venture; it was a spiritual, life-dispensing message, designed to bring salvation to humanity, to serve as an entering wedge of release from mortality, from its terrors, agonies, despairs, and failures. It was designed to bring life to all; to enter into the history of each individual, to rehabilitate his experience, and to shape his destiny. As Mrs. Eddy prayed to be shown how best to bring this truth to humanity, the answer came to her" (pp. 118-119).

As an on-hand observer in her household, Tomlinson writes with authority that: "It was an inspiring experience for those associated with the Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science to see that no extremity daunted her. When unlooked-for opposition endeavored to upset the tiny craft of the newborn Cause, Mrs. Eddy, wise, forbearing, alert, guided it safely through stormy waters."

This analogy makes me think about Jesus and the sea. This story from John's Gospel was no doubt a beacon to Mrs. Eddy.

16  And when even was now come, his disciples went down unto the sea,
17  And entered into a ship, and went over the sea toward Capernaum. And it was now dark, and Jesus was not come to them.
18  And the sea arose by reason of a great wind that blew.
19  So when they had rowed about five and twenty or thirty furlongs, they see Jesus walking on the sea, and drawing nigh unto the ship: and they were afraid.
20  But he saith unto them, It is I; be not afraid.
21  Then they willingly received him into the ship: and immediately the ship was at the land whither they went.
(John 6:16–21)

Julie Swannell

Some gems from Twelve Years with Mary Baker Eddy

In Twelve Years with Mary Baker Eddy, Irving Tomlinson shares many quotes from Mary Baker Eddy, Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science.

 

Here is a quote (page 87) that I have not found anywhere else:

“One time she told us not to say there is too much or too little of anything. She said: God governs. He knows best. He will do all things right.”

 

And page 95 tells us that, “She once contrasted sympathy and compassion by referring to the feeding of the multitude by Jesus, by saying that Jesus had compassion and fed them; he sympathized with them, he would have suffered because of their hunger.”

 

Same page: “When we are talking to one who is not a Christian Scientist, in speaking of a disease, she continued, we are not to say that So-and-so has a belief. Say plainly that he is sick. And she quoted Paul’s admonition, ‘I had rather speak five words with my understanding. . .than ten thousand words in an unknown tongue.’”

 

Page 98: “Error comes to you for life, and you give it all the life it has.”

 

Page 106, 1^st para.: “Each day there should drop from your lips some manna to heal and bless others.”

 

And “Desire is prayer. Words without desire are not prayer.”

 

Page 109: “I have striven earnestly to have my students speak in a language which would be understood,” Mrs. Eddy said. “It is not right for one to say to a poor sufferer, wracked with pain, ‘Nothing ails you. You have no pain. You are not suffering.’ I have said to students making this mistake, ‘The next time you visit a patient tie a string to your tongue.’”

 

Page 156: “At supper one evening she commented, ‘I do not believe in too much organization in church. The churches are over-organized. Were I to have charge of a church today, I should have it founded on the Bible. I should talk to them from the Bible. I should direct their thought to the Bible, and I should expect them to be obedient to the Bible.’”

Joyce Voysey

Mrs. Eddy and the clergy

The Longyear Museum website has a helpful biography of the author of our book Twelve Years with Mary Baker Eddy. Here is a portion: 

IRVING C. TOMLINSON ...earned his Bachelor and Master’s degrees from Akron University in Akron, Ohio, in 1884, and his Bachelor of Divinity degree from Tufts University in Boston in 1888. After an earnest study of Christian Science, which included Primary class with Mrs. Eddy’s student Flavia Knapp, Irving gave up the pulpit, joined The Mother Church in 1897, and became a Journal-listed practitioner. 

In 1898, he was invited by Mrs. Eddy to attend her last class, and he served intermittently on the Bible Lesson Committee until 1927. 

...From 1899 until 1910, Rev. Tomlinson served Mrs. Eddy in various ways, including as an associate secretary and a member of her Chestnut Hill household.

In his book  Twelve Years with Mary Baker Eddy, the former clergyman, Tomlinson, writes that

Mrs. Eddy taught a number of clergymen who had become interested in her teachings. She was always happy to have ministers of the Gospel as her students. Nor as a rule would she accept any tuition fee from them for instruction in the Massachusetts Metaphysical College; and if two persons made application with one of them a minister, and only one could be admitted, the clergyman was usually the one favored. 

There were however some clergymen during those years who were bitterly denouncing Christian Science and its Discoverer." See p. 82. 

Tomlinson offers a lovely story about “Mrs. Eddy’s friendly attitude toward the clergy" on page 83.

Julie Swannell

Two parts to the discovery of Christian Science

On page 43 of Twelve Years with Mary Baker Eddy (Amplified Edition), author Irving Tomlinson tells us that Mrs. Eddy made the following remark at the time of the “Next Friends” law suit:*

I said to the masters that the discovery that the unmedicated pellet produced the same effect as the medicated pellet was the falling apple which led to the discovery of Christian Science. This must be taken with another fact. I have said that my recovery from a fall in Lynn when I opened the Bible and read there of the healing dated the discovery of Christian Science. The first was the enlightenment of the human understanding, the second was the revelation from the divine Mind.

Ah! I can see that point, as it can occur in comparatively minor ways in our own lives, particularly as students of Christian Science.

For some reason I am reminded of an article I found on JSH-Online by our author Rev. Irving Tomlinson, entitled Only a Belief (Christian Science Sentinel Oct 20, 1898). It tells of the loss of two gold teeth which turned out to be not lost. I hope readers may be able to find it for themselves (Ed. or ask a Reading Room librarian to source it for you).

* For “Next Friends suit” see Mary Baker Eddy: Years of Authority by Robert Peel (available in Christian Science Reading Rooms).

Joyce Voysey

"Canst thou not minister to a mind diseas'd"

In our March book Twelve Years with Mary Baker Eddy (Expanded edition) by Rev. Irving C. Tomlinson, MA, CSB, I was interested to read about Mary Baker Eddy and Shakespeare. I knew she was familiar with Shakespeare's work.

 

Doesn’t Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures (written by Mary Baker Eddy) have a Shakespearean quote (from Hamlet) on page iii, set between a quote from John’s gospel and a poem by the author?

There is nothing either good or bad,

but thinking makes it so.

 

Tomlinson tells us that she was able to quote from Macbeth Act 5, scene 3. He writes (page 17):  Mrs. Eddy addressed us by repeating the following from Macbeth act V, scene 3 –

Canst thou not minister to a mind diseas’d,

Pluck from the memory a rooted sorrow,

Raze out the written troubles of the brain,

And with some sweet oblivious antidote

Cleanse the stuff’d bosom of that perilous stuff

Which weighs upon the heart?

 

He goes on,

These lines were repeated without hesitation, and with the accent and intonation which indicated a familiarity that might be expected of a noted actor. I asked two longtime workers in Mrs. Eddy’s household if they remembered it as a quotation often used by Mrs. Eddy. Both said that they had never heard her use the lines before.

 

One can certainly understand why those lines were so meaningful to Mrs. Eddy.

 

On page 30 we find a passage which tells us of Mrs. Eddy’s handling of an unruly child in the school she started in Tilton for children 8 to 10 years. (This would have been before she discovered the Christ Science.)

 

I shall copy it here.

A mother whose ten-year-old son was so ungovernable that she had sent him to the reform school came to me and begged that I take her boy into my school. I hesitated but at last yielded to her entreaties. The first day the boy behaved very badly. I asked him to remain after the others had gone and I could see him looking for a chance to escape. His eyes glanced to the door and to the windows as if he would break away. I fastened the door and put the key in my pocket. He looked up at me defiantly and said, “Shan’t I go out and get you a stick?” I talked gently to him of God, and the rude boy melted and the tears ran down his cheeks. Then I read to him from the Bible and I prayed with him until I knew my prayer was answered. We went home together hand in hand. When at home he amazed his mother by asking for the Bible and going apart with it to read and pray. The dear boy became transformed. A short time later he joined the Congregational Church and grew to be an honorable and upright man.

 

Another gem on page 31:

Mrs. Eddy once told of moving to North Groton, New Hampshire, in 1855 when she was Mrs. Patterson: “It was a beautiful spot, and among other good people there was one saintly man who was known as Father Merrill. I went to this good man and asked him if we could not on the Sabbath day hold a prayer meeting in the schoolhouse. He said, ‘Oh no, there would be no one attend. The people don’t care for such things and it would do no good.’ He yielded to my entreaties, and the following Sunday at three o’clock was appointed for our prayer meeting. The day dawned fair and beautiful, and three o’clock found Father Merrill and myself at the little school ready for the service. Congregation or no congregation we were resolved upon our service and we two held our service of prayer and praise. Fervent indeed were the offerings laid upon God’s altar that beautiful Sabbath afternoon. A service was announced for the following Sunday at the same time and place, and when the hour arrived there were three others present. The following Sunday there came together a good congregation and before the month was out the schoolhouse could not hold all who sought admittance. We opened the windows that those without might share the service.”

This reminds me of the ten Boom sisters (Corrie and Betsy) getting a prayer group going in a Nazi concentration camp. See Corrie ten Boom’s The Hiding Place.

Joyce Voysey

A letter about accomplishment

I never fail to be touched by accounts of the life of Mary Baker Eddy. 

The Foreword to Twelve Years with Mary Baker Eddy concludes with an excerpt from a letter by Mrs. Eddy to the author, Reverend Irving C. Tomlinson.

She wrote: "The little that I have accomplished has all be done through love, --self-forgetful, patient, unfaltering tenderness."

The letter now appears in Miscellany, page 247 under the heading "To a First Reader".

Julie Swannell   

Needs met

This is probably the last word for this blog about The Sermon on the Mount. A brief word!

I read through Matthew chapters 6 and 7.

I was left with the impression that I was being told how to pray and how to accomplish tasks and receive rewards: things, fruits, benefits, have needs met. And the way to get rewards and create harmony and peace is to KNOW that we are already in the Kingdom of Heaven and include all good, and only good.

Is not Jesus’ gift of the Lord’s Prayer the promise that our needs are being met? He said “...your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him” (Matt. 6:8).

Joyce Voysey

Ed. I came across an article called SpiritualReward by Ruth Wesler in the Christian Science Sentinel April 10, 1937. Here's an excerpt:

Through the good we know and do our names are written in heaven… The consciousness of having done right is a wondrous reward for being about the Father's business... Spiritual rewards are free to all, yet they must be earned. Mrs. Eddy, who so dearly earned and richly received her spiritual reward, has written, on page 342 of Miscellaneous Writings: "Seek Truth, and pursue it. It should cost you something: you are willing to pay for error and receive nothing in return; but if you pay the price of Truth, you shall receive all."

Build on the rock

February has been our month to review the Sermon on the Mount, viz. Matthew chapters 5 - 7.

Well here we are at the end of February (also marking the official end of summer here in Australia) and we haven't even talked about chapters 6 and 7! 

I've just read them in my copy of the Living Bible. 

Jesus' teachings are direct, practical, wise, and reassuring. They are our gold standard. Maybe we are still amazed at this sermon, as were the original listeners. It is recorded that he spoke with "great authority, and not as their Jewish leaders" (Matt. 7: 28 TLB).

Here's a passage that stopped me in my tracks this evening. Matt. 7: 24-25 - "All those who listen to my instructions and follow them are wise, like a man who builds his house on solid rock. Though the rain comes in torrents, and the floods rise and the storm winds beat against his house, it won't collapse, for it is built on rock."

Now, we know that Jesus gave Simon the new name of Peter after he impetuously speaks up and identifies Jesus as "the Christ, the Messiah, the Son of the living God" (Matt. 16: 16 TLB).  He says: "You are Peter, a stone; and upon this rock I will build my church..." (Matt. 16: 18 TLB). 

In her textbook of Christian Science, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, Mary Baker Eddy tells us that "rock" stands for "Spiritual foundation; Truth" (SH 583)*. This hints at how we might build our lives on solid ground and thus avoid being blown off course when winds blow.

Readers will want to pull out their Concordances or open up the indispensable online Concord to study references to this mighty sermon in Mrs. Eddy's writings. Here are just a few to get us started: 

The first lessons of the children should be the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20: 3–17), the Lord’s Prayer (Matt. 6: 9–13), and its Spiritual Interpretation by Mary Baker Eddy, Sermon on the Mount (Matt. 5: 3–12).
(Man. 62:24–4 The)

Every man and woman should be to-day a law to himself, herself, — a law of loyalty to Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount.
(Mis. 12:12–14)

No purer and more exalted teachings ever fell upon human ears than those contained in what is commonly known as the Sermon on the Mount, — though this name has been given it by compilers and translators of the Bible, and not by the Master himself or by the Scripture authors.
(Ret. 91:5–10)

Genuine Christian Scientists will no more deviate morally from that divine digest of Science called the Sermon on the Mount, than they will manipulate invalids, prescribe drugs, or deny God.
(Rud. 3:14–17)

To my sense the Sermon on the Mount, read each Sunday without comment and obeyed throughout the week, would be enough for Christian practice.
('01 11:16–19)

Julie Swannell

*The whole definition reads: ROCK. Spiritual foundation; Truth. Coldness and stubbornness. (SH 583)

Matthew 5

I have neglected our February blog work but turned to the Sermon on the Mount this morning. So, what is the message Mind has for me this morning Sunday, 22^nd February 2026?

“Ye have heard that it was said….” Matt. 5:21, 27, 31, 33, 38, 43.

Why have I never noticed these introductory words throughout the latter part of Matthew 5 before?

 

Verse 21 Jesus begins to elaborate on the commands God gave to Moses.

The first is the commandment “Thou shalt not kill.” Jesus warns of the dangers of being angry with one’s brother, or say to him “Raca.” (Google: Raca comes from the Aramaic term reqa. It was a derogatory expression meaning “empty-headed,” insinuating a person’s stupidity or inferiority.)

My goodness. What meaning is behind that word Raca which one doesn’t expect to find!

So. When we look at our fellow man, we are obliged to see nothing but God’s perfect man. No stupid or inferior or lacking in intelligence man or woman or child shall we see. The concluding verse of this chapter gives us the clue – “Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.” (Matt. 5:48)

 

Verse 27 handles “Thou shalt not commit adultery.” Lust is equated with adultery, or rather, the starting point of it.

 

Verse 31 carries on the adultery theme with relation to divorce.

 

Verse 33 “Thou shalt not forswear thyself, but shalt perform unto the Lord thine oaths.”

AI has for forswear, “...to swear falsely, commit perjury, or break a vow made in God’s name.”

There is one article in JSH-Online, Perjury and Profanity, by A. M. Crane in the February 1888 Journal which covers this fully. Here is an excerpt:

Jesus was talking to Jews. They recognized two offences: Profanity, or taking the name of God in vain; and Violation of Oaths, or what we should call, in the present day, Perjury. Taking an oath was to them no more of an offence than it is today in our courts of justice, where oath-taking is required; the offence was in Forswearing. Their distinction was very much like ours, and in the same line. They had a distinct formula of words for each offence.

 

Lev. 19:12: And you shall not swear by my name falsely, neither shalt thou profane the name of thy God: I am the Lord. The NRSV has, “You shall not swear falsely, but carry out the vows you have made to the Lord.”

And of course, there is the seventh Commandment, “Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain; for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.”

 

Verse 38 “Ye have heard that it has been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth.”

AI. An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth is a principle of reciprocal justice—known as lex talionis—stating that a person who causes injury should be penalized to a similar degree. Found in the Bible Exodus 21:24 and the ancient Code of Hammurabi, it served to limit vengeance, ensuring punishment does not exceed the original crime. (Quoted from Wikipedia).

Jesus gives us a Christian view with: “That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also” (verse 39). He goes even further in verses 40-42. We are to give the man who takes you to court for a coat a cloak also; when compelled to go a mile with a man, go with him two miles; give to one who asks of you and lend.

 

Verse 43 “Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy.”

We first hear “Love thy neighbour as thyself” in Leviticus 19:18, and as for “hate thine enemy,” AI says it is a traditional, human-added interpretation, a popular saying, not a command from God. However, Psalm 139:19-22 may be taken into account.

 

Verses 44-48 Of course, Jesus negates all the negatives with the verses following. And in Mary Baker Eddy’s Miscellaneous Writings 1883-1896 we have the wonderful chapter Love Your Enemies to direct our work. See Mis. 8-13. Hear Jesus’ words: “But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you” (verse 44).

 

To recap, the chapter ends, as has been said, with: “Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.”

Joyce Voysey

"Makarios" unfolding

Since reading yesterday's lovely blog post by Joyce Voysey, I've re-visited the Greek word "makarios" which has been translated in the Sermon on the Mount (King James Version of the Bible) as "blessed".

Here are two meanings of the word makarios:

 - fully satisfied

 - joy independent of all chances

I like that meanings of words (ideas) can unfold to us. 

And I like the example of unfoldment shared at a recent online testimony meeting of The Mother Church.

A Sunday school teacher gave each student a sheet of newsprint and asked them to fold the page over as many times as they could until it was very small with just a few lines of print being visible. 

The students were then asked to read the story on that page. Of course, they could read very little. 

The teacher then instructed them to unfold the page just a little. Now they could read a bit more of the story. 

Little by little, more of the story was revealed as the number of folds was reduced, until finally the page lay completely open and the whole story was plainly visible.

Julie Swannell

Blessed

Alexei Navalny, Russian patriot and Putin’s great critic, when imprisoned and treated harshly by Putin’s government, was comforted by the Sermon on the Mount. So much so that he learned it off by heart. He added to that accomplishment by also learning it in English, French and Latin! In his autobiography, he spoke of the experience as “a delight.”

 

At a court hearing, his testimony referenced the Sermon, particularly Matt. 5:6, saying, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness for they shall be satisfied” declaring this as his “guide for life” and a reminder that millions of Russians long for truth.

 

I’m reading the New Revised Standard Version of Harper Collins Study Bible (NRSV). It points out that “Jesus both interprets the old law and offers a new law, recalling the revelation to Moses in Mount Sinai.”

 

Some versions of the Beatitudes give “happy” where the King James Version (KJV) has “blessed.”

NRSV also offers “fortunate” in its notes. Happy seems weak to me; fortunate reminds me of luck.

NRSV stays with “blessed.”

 

Dictionary offers for “blessed”- Adjective: Made holy; consecrated. Endowed with divine favour and protection. Noun: those who live with God in heaven.

 

Matt. 5:8 Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. NRSV says, “The heart was considered the region of thought, intention, and moral disposition.”

 

Matt. 5:17. “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets: I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.” AI says, “This means Jesus came to bring the Old Testament scriptures (the Law and the Prophets) to their ultimate purpose, not to destroy them, by perfectly embodying their moral teachings, fulfilling messianic prophecies, and demonstrating true righteousness, thereby completing their meaning for believers.” That sounds quite scientific to me.

But I haven’t come up with a quote from Mrs. Eddy yet.

Joyce Voysey

Overcoming self

 In the Christian Science Sentinel dated 16^th February 2026, Tony Lobl writes:

For our own sake and the sake of those near and far whom we wish to see blessed, every step of overcoming self through the light of Christ is lessening the darkness in collective human consciousness.

As I read this, I was reminded of Christ Jesus’ teaching in his Sermon on the Mount (Matt. 5: 14):

You are the light of the world. A city built on a hill cannot be hid. People do not light a lamp and put it under the bushel basket; rather, they put it on the lampstand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven. (NRSVue)

It may seem that being the “light of the world” diverges from “overcoming self”. But it’s not the human self which shines; it’s allowing the Christ light to shine through us and our work that lessens the darkness of despair, depression, and despotism, and defuses un-Christlike behaviour.

We become the transparency, as explained by Mary Baker Eddy in the Christian Science textbook, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures:

The manifestation of God through mortals is as light passing through the window-pane. The light and the glass never mingle, but as matter, the glass is less opaque than the walls. The mortal mind through which Truth appears most vividly is that one which has lost much materiality — much error — in order to become a better transparency for Truth. Then, like a cloud melting into thin vapor, it no longer hides the sun.
(SH 295:16)

The more light, the less darkness.

Collective human consciousness benefits from this unselfed, focused, unstoppable Christly light of love which shines through each one of God’s children to heal, harmonise, clarify, forgive, and empower. This force is irresistible.

The Christ is here, all dreams of error breaking,

Unloosing bonds of all captivity. 

(Rosa M. Turner, Christian Science hymnal 202 and 412)

Julie Swannell

Salt of the earth

Today I want to talk about salt. But first, let’s get some context to where Jesus incorporates salt into his teaching, in what’s come to be known as the Sermon on the Mount.

My King James Version (KJV) study Bible states that Jesus' teaching on a mountain signifies his position as the "new Moses". It points out that the phrase translated as "he went up into a mountain" occurs 3 times in the Old Testament, i.e.

Ex. 19:3 And Moses went up unto God, and the Lord called unto him out of the mountain…

Ex. 24: 18 And Moses went into the midst of the cloud, and gat him up into the mount: and Moses was in the mount forty days and forty nights.

Ex. 34: 4 And he hewed two tables of stone like unto the first; and Moses rose up early in the morning, and went up unto mount Sinai, as the Lord had commanded him, and took in his hand the two tables of stone.

So, here we are, way up on a mountain-top, away from the hustle and bustle of the everyday, listening to this new teacher and prophet, hanging on his every word.

Was Jesus in the mountain for some time before beginning this teaching? How many climbed the mountain with him? Were there women and children too? How long were they there? Did he go over certain points as he went along?

How did he prepare? Did he write down some thoughts in advance? Did he have notes in his pocket? Or did he speak extemporaneously and in response to his listeners?

We can only surmise the answers to these questions, but we do know that he used analogies that his listeners would understand. And here we come to the question of salt. Jesus gave a promise and a warning:

Matt. 5:13 Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men. (KJV)

If you are a “salt of the earth” type of person today – not that I’ve seen or heard the phrase lately – you would be reliable, trustworthy, generous, selfless, honest, transparent, genuine, wholly good, and decent. Jesus  undoubtedly fitted that description.

Salt has been mined from at least 5000-6000BCE! It was vital for the preservation of foods, while also valuable in bringing out individual flavours.

ESSENTIAL FOR LIFE

A Boston Herald report, excerpted in the Christian Science Sentinel dated 25 July 1901 states that “Salt is one of the essentials of life, and the beneficial effects of its various uses are being better appreciated every year….Perhaps the world's most interesting salt mine is that of Wieliczka, near Cracow, in Galicia [now Poland].” The report describes “dazzling columns [of salt]”. It continues: “The Wieliczka salt mines are reached by means of several shafts, some for pumping up water, some for the exit of salt, others for workmen, horses, fodder, etc. Many of these shafts are in the form of spiral staircases. There are five stories in the mine, tunnelling through the salt, and each story is separated from the next by an interval of about one hundred feet. Where the descending shaft passes through clay or loose soil, walls of rock salt are built into the sides of the shaft to support them. Blocks of salt are superimposed in the usual manner and afterward water is poured over the wall thus formed. The water dissolves some of the salt, which fills the crevices and interspaces, and, as the water evaporates, this salt forms a cement which binds the blocks into a solid mass.”

So, we learn that salt can be as “bright and glittering as crystal” and that it can be as solid as cement.

ESSENTIAL FOR PEACE

More research in the indispensable JSH-online repository of articles from the Christian Science periodicals brings us to James K. Westover’s January 1952 CS Journal article “Have Salt in Yourselves”. Mr. Westover reminds readers of Jesus’ “valuable recipe for harmonious living” in Mark 9: 50, i.e. “Have salt in yourselves, and have peace one with another.” His disciples would have been used to Levitical law which required every offering to God to include salt. Westover explains that “salt came to be regarded as a symbol of durability and purity and when eaten with bread betokened a motive and intent of utmost integrity.”

Fast forward to the Christian Science Sentinel dated January 19, 2026 where Isaac Otieno testifies to being healed of thinking he had enemies. Isaac shares this: ”The realization that we are all beloved children of God and the expression of divine Love enables us to forgive and to pray for those who seem to be against us. The reality is that when we feel and display this type of love to others, we are showing them the nature of God. And to me, this is what it means to be “the salt of the earth” and “the light of the world” (Matthew 5:13, 14). 

May that loving flavour be present in all our relationships.

Julie Swannell