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