There can be no conclusion to a work of this kind, since Mrs. Eddy’s life is like a stone which, when dropped in the water, creates waves that expand in ever-widening circles. Who could follow them to their termination in infinity? It is hoped, however, that these pages set forth the spiritual method of approach to her life, which will start the inquirer on the right path, and cause him to lose faith in human ways and means, in human opinion, sense testimony, and in all paraphernalia of the endeavor to analyze her experience from the standpoint of human intellect and human reason, in order that it may be grasped inspirationally, in all its grandeur and significance.

Nothing could better epitomize this spiritual method, than the following saying of Jesus, which was unearthed in 1903 by Dr. Grenfell and Dr. Hunt, and which is generally accepted as authentic: “Raise the stone and there thou shalt find me; cleave the wood, and there am I.” In other words, whoever embodies the spiritual idea or Christ, will live a human history, where proof of this reflected divinity can be perceived in the simple, insignificant things of that one’s daily experience. It requires spiritual perception to recognize in all the unimportant things, as well as the important, the proof, that such a one has succeeded in numbering the hairs of his head, or gathering everything together into the spiritual fold, omitting nothing that mortal mind has claimed as its expression, and reckoning it as the expression of God. This coincides with what Mrs. Eddy quotes in Science and Health from Shakespeare’s As You Like It, “Sermons in stones, and good in everything.”

Because the changed attitude of the spiritually-minded student must neglect nothing, no matter how inconsequential, it is fitting that he begin with the lesser forms of material creation, and work until every object has been raised to determine what motivates it, cleaved to learn of what it consists, and analyzed to trace it back to thought, or source. Then, through recognizing the nothingness of matter, or mortal mind, thought must be brought into tune with the divine Mind, which will produce a manifestation that properly expresses divinity.

In this effort, there is no manifested thing, as Jesus indicated in his statements regarding the hairs of the head and the sparrow falling, that is not significant, because all creation is the manifestation of thought, and salvation depends upon bringing all things into subjection to Christ. As the Bible says, “Thou hast put all things in subjection under his feet. For in that he put all in subjection under him, he left nothing that is not put under him. But now we see not yet all things put under him.” Every stick and stone manifests thought, and through these effects, one can learn cause. Matter is not what you see, but the way you see it. Hence, one’s thinking must be transferred from a finite to an infinite basis, and one has not completed his mission, until all things represent to him spiritual, instead of material, thought. This constitutes salvation, for any individual to spiritualize his thought toward everything and everybody.

Therefore, it is fitting that the effort to estimate properly Mrs. Eddy’s life, be to pause over the little outward occurrences, and trace back to discover in her the spiritual thought, of which they were the outward expression. This method would not condemn, because any outward manifestation seemed to be deserving of criticism, for the only criticism that is made of Mrs. Eddy is based on a standpoint of human good. She accomplished her spiritual purpose, without any unnecessary steps. Hence, from the standpoint of divine good, her life is above reproach. Her spiritual fruitage proved that she had an inspirational thought, which was being expressed in the path she trod. First, one must “raise the stone,” which, because illustrative of the sharp and stern rebukes from our Leader, seemed a heavy cross to bear, and then “cleave the wood,” ascertaining thereby the divine action of her thought, through which would be found the true “I,” the embodiment of the Christ-idea, which was expressed in ways incomprehensible to human sense, but divinely natural to spiritual sense.

In Ezekiel 43:12 we read: “This is the law of the house; Upon the top of the mountain the whole limit thereof round about shall be most holy. Behold, this is the law of the house.”

In this verse, Mrs. Eddy might have found Biblical authority for what was the law of her house, namely, that every object in the house, every task, every phase of activity, be lifted to the top of the mountain, and made holy, or put into the sacred category of demonstration. Thus, Mrs. Eddy’s demands upon her students trace back to Holy Writ; thus did she find corroboration for insisting that every human problem in her home, no matter how insignificant, because it appertained to the law of the house, be placed on a purely spiritual and scientific basis.

This law of the house is an ordinance, requiring a limitless demonstration, where nothing is omitted in the effort to manifest and express spiritual law, as supreme in the home. The mountain is a symbol of demonstration, or lofty spiritual thought. In Retrospection and Introspection, page 91, where Mrs. Eddy refers to the Sermon on the Mount, which Jesus taught after he went up into a mountain, she says, “Indeed, this title really indicates more the Master’s mood, than the material locality.”

If the mountain represents that lofty inspirational standpoint, where everything is perceived spiritually, with God as supreme over all, then it can easily be discerned that this was the law of Mrs. Eddy’s house, that her students attempt nothing, except from this exalted spiritual perspective. Furthermore, she reserved her sternest rebukes for every act that broke “the law of the house.”

It is a general fact, that many women who find their husbands uncongenial, permit their thought to dwell on the possibility of an enduring happiness to be obtained with some other man. Such a thought does not understand, that the problem of wedlock is not a personal but a universal one, the problem of the race. Hence, the deduction in Christian Science is, that if a wife impersonalizes her husband, and considers him as representing MAN, then if she solves the problem in connection with her husband, she will thereby solve the whole problem of man.

This same line of reasoning applies to one’s home, which, when rightly viewed, becomes a miniature of the whole kingdom of heaven. Man’s demonstration of it, is his preparation for the realization of the kingdom of heaven as absolute and supreme for all mankind. In truth, man’s house is a miniature spiritual power plant, where his work of salvation must begin. Hence, his demonstration of Truth in his home is as important as it is in relation to himself, since his environment is part of his own problem. He must impersonalize the problems of his home, and thereby solve the whole problem of evil.

Such an effort will reveal, that Mrs. Eddy’s appreciation of the members of her household was based entirely on their use of demonstration in their relation to her. In fact, she reserved a special name for those who made the more menial tasks in her home a matter of demonstration. She called them eminent Christian Scientists. Today, we can merit this exalted title, only as we endeavor to apply demonstration to the business meetings of our branch churches, to the tasks of everyday life, and to the attempt to radiate to all mankind such an atmosphere of healing, that even our enemies will be impressed thereby. In Zechariah 4 we read: “For who hath despised the day of small things?”

This illustrates Mrs. Eddy’s spiritual insight into man’s salvation, that caused her to exemplify a demonstration in her daily life, both for herself and for her students, that was so far in advance of the world’s appreciation, that she was made the butt of ridicule as a result. Yet, no greater spiritual growth can accrue to the student of Christian Science, than that which will result from the effort to trace Mrs. Eddy’s mental and spiritual footsteps, through the outward manifestation. Mrs. Eddy’s own appreciation of her life, as outwardly exemplifying spiritual footsteps, which any sincere student may discover and follow through a correct appreciation of the outward, is expounded in her own words, which were voiced to one of her students on March 12, 1907, when the Next Friends’ suit was filed against her: “In writing my history they can say nothing against me, so they begin to tell lies. The papers are writing my history; the history of my ancestry; writing lies. MY HISTORY IS A HOLY ONE.”

In two issues of the Sentinel for 1899 we find the following:

A CARD

Beloved: I ask this favor of all Christian Scientists: Do not send me on, before, or after the forthcoming holidays aught material, except three tea jackets—all may contribute to these. One learns to value material things only as one needs them; and the costliest things are those that one needs least. Among my present needs material, are these jackets. Two, of darkish, heavy silk, the shade appropriate to white hair. The third, of thick satin, lighter shade, but sufficiently sombre. Nos. 1 and 2 to be common-sense jackets for mother to work in, and not overtrimmed by any means. No. 3 for best, such as she can afford for her drawing-room.

A CARD

Beloved: I accept most gratefully your purpose to clothe me, and when God has clothed you sufficiently, He will make it easy for you to clothe one of His “little ones.” Give yourselves no more trouble to get the three garments called for by me through last week’s Sentinel.

—Mary Baker Eddy

Pleasant View, Concord, N. H., December 25, 1899

Why should our Leader have included the above cards in the Sentinel; cards which were sure to stir thought and produce criticism, especially when she had those in her home, who might have made these garments for her? Why did she not ask one of her intelligent assistants to locate a Christian Science dressmaker, who was suitable, and commission her to do the task, instead of making the need public, and devoting space in her religious organ for such a material item?

Our Leader was guided by divine wisdom and Love, beyond our present capacity to conceive of that fact. It requires spiritual growth for a student to win the ability to penetrate beneath the surface, and detect the underlying purpose, actuated by inspiration.

The basis of all spiritual perception is the utilization of spiritual sense to dissect that which, when interpreted materially, gives only a surface indication of the need. One might use the illustration of the cry of a babe, which gives no definite indication of the need of the child, until the love and care of the mother trace back from the cry to the actual need. Our Leader would put forth a cry, such as this call for tea jackets, with the sublime hope and faith that there would be students of Christian Science, with enough spiritual love and perception, to trace back and see what her real need was, a need that was unseen and unknown to the mortal sense.

It was never possible to minister to our Leader’s needs materially, and thereby satisfy them. A metaphysician can only be ministered to through metaphysics. If Mrs. Eddy could have been ministered to materially, she could easily have had a thousand tea jackets sent to her, whereas she did not receive even one. The human sense says, “How could she, when she gave no dimensions of any kind?”

I repeat again and again, that nothing could be done for her, that was scientifically right, except through demonstration. Human affection, a personal desire to serve, to be loyal, and to be recognized for faithfulness, would not supply our Leader with anything but the recognition that the human mind, which is the enemy of spirituality, was putting forth activity in the name of Truth, a thing which acted on her spiritual thought like a blight. In order to bestow upon Mrs. Eddy welcome service, one had to lift his thought to God, and spiritualize it, until it approximated her spiritual level.

Can we not appreciate how Mrs. Eddy longed to put her finger on a demonstrating thought in the Field, that could be called to Pleasant View to render the service that she required, that she might be aided in functioning most efficiently for God and the race? The call for the three tea jackets was really a spiritual call, that went forth to test out the Field of Christian Science for spiritual workers. Unquestionably, a demonstration of those jackets by any student would have been followed by a call to Pleasant View. Mrs. Eddy longed to find a quality of thought, that would send those jackets, with enough spiritual thought accompanying them, to have them worthy to be called a demonstration, to be labelled, not with the name of some fashionable dressmaker, but with the humble insignia, This Came From God.

Therefore, Mrs. Eddy’s request for tea jackets might be called the voice of one crying in the wilderness, with the hope that one would be found spiritually-minded enough to interpret that voice, trace back, and detect what prompted it, and meet the cry with the spirit of God, service through guidance.

Any student who reflected the spirit, the wisdom and judgment of God sufficiently to be the humble instrument for answering such a call, would find in that demonstration the way to provide the perfect human expression of her spiritual desire. Thus would Mrs. Eddy’s need for the jackets be met, as well as her longing to find another student who might minister to her spiritual needs.

Beloved Christian Scientists! Our Leader’s need of these three jackets is not over. Symbolically, they still remain as a demonstration that must be made by the advancing student. Her cry still rings in our ears, a yearning to be understood spiritually, to have Christian Scientists gain the spiritual insight to understand, that her rebukes and demands were not the result of age, not the result of a bad disposition that had not been overcome, but the bidding of God in her, her cry and need for demonstration, that which scientific growth in a student would enable him to give her, after her cry had been rightly interpreted.

The advancing sense of Mary Baker Eddy in every student of Christian Science needs three garments. The first represents a scientific sense of love, that feeds and clothes its object spiritually. The second symbolizes a correct spiritual sense of service, that is free from selfaggrandizement or desire for reward. The third illustrates the spiritual understanding, that is applied to the needs of all mankind, the drawing room of Christian Science, where one puts on the garments of praise, and extends spiritual thought to the world.

Fear lest the world might misunderstand certain things in Mrs. Eddy’s experience, has caused many rooms in her life to be kept locked. My effort in this book has been to show that this fear is groundless. I have taken the key furnished by God and unlocked many of these rooms, in order to reveal that their contents are valuable and important, and that their exposure is nothing to fear, since they redound to Mrs. Eddy’s credit. Thus, anyone who will use this same key, may unlock all of the rooms of her experience, with the assurance that there is nothing that cannot be explained satisfactorily.

In the Christian Science Sentinel for January 26, 1929, there is a statement from the Christian Science Board of Directors to the effect that Mrs. Eddy, after she discovered Christian Science, used no drug of any kind, “except as she employed, in a few instances, an anesthetic for the purpose of temporary relief from extreme pain.”

The life of a great general, because of its peculiar value to the country, must be protected. Similarly, Mrs. Eddy’s life belonged to the Cause she had established. Unlike the individual demonstration of the student, she was obliged to protect her life at all costs. This is something the disciple must never forget in his or her study of her history.

To criticize our Leader for resorting, at rare intervals, to the use of an anesthetic would be as unjust as to criticize the three Hebrew captives, for permitting themselves to be put into the fiery furnace, or Daniel because he did not avoid being forced into the lions’ den. Our Leader found herself, at an advanced age, assailed by a belief of pain, which was accompanied by the suggestion that she might pass on, if she did not get relief. The whole Cause of Christian Science depended on her demonstration of divine wisdom, and therein rested the necessity for her remaining on earth to complete her work. She turned to an anesthetic as the lesser of two evils. When the belief was lulled, she was again enabled to get hold of her spiritual thought, and handle her case scientifically.

If one should question my declaration that it was the lesser of two evils for Mrs. Eddy to resort to an anesthetic, I would defend it by asking: If one is actively progressing on the road from sense to Soul, which would be the lesser of two evils, to make a concession to mortal mind, that would be permanent, or one that was temporary; to bow down to mortal mind and so receive its help, or to permit one’s self to be put into the fiery furnace and make it bless one? The average mortal walks with two crutches, one representing a strong belief in weak mortal mind, and the other a weak belief in the strong divine power. But our Leader had a strong trust in God and a weak faith in the human mind. Hence, a temporary loss of spiritual light left her with little to turn to, little human fortitude to sustain her. She did not have that developed sense of human will that is able to endure extreme pain. Had she returned to this human quality, which the world considers so commendable, it would have been a concession to mortal mind from the standpoint of cause, which would have seriously impaired her spiritual consciousness; whereas the temporary use of mortal mind, as effect, had little power to touch her spiritual thought.

It is a sign of spiritual growth for the young student of Christian Science to stand up under suffering and pain with fortitude, and not to resort to material remedies, during a possible interval of building up a sense of spiritual demonstration sufficient to bring healing. Yet, that endurance is largely a phase of the human mind. Hence, when one has advanced to a point, where he has sufficient understanding to relinquish all faith in the human mind, it would be a backward step to turn to it for strength and fortitude to endure under suffering, where healing seems to be delayed. All students of Christian Science must come to the realization of how serious it would be for them to put themselves back under the domination of mortal belief, after they have made the demonstration to throw it off. When they do, they will appreciate the grandeur of their Leader’s demonstration, which enabled her to resist the temptation to return to the human mind’s support, even to the extent of being misunderstood by those who loved her and had faith in her revelation.

Let us rejoice that Mrs. Eddy’s entire experience measures up to the spiritual yardstick, namely, that nothing that took place in her life ever interfered with her consistent spiritual growth! How can anything be termed an error in the life of a spiritual pilgrim, that does not interfere with his high purpose, or his efforts in attaining that purpose? There is no criticism to the motorist who turns his automobile off the road, in order to avoid an obstruction, provided he does not permit it to stall at that point. If you see a beautiful tree with wide spreading branches, in which birds make their nests, it is unjust to criticize the tree, because at the base there is a place where the tree bent out and in, in order to accommodate itself to a rock that was endeavoring to prevent its upward and sturdy growth. Instead of condemning the tree, one should recognize that scar as proof that, no matter how weak the tree might have felt at times, it permitted nothing to interfere with its upward growth. No temporary concession can ever weigh one atom against ultimate accomplishment.

The scientific rule in Christian Science, that must be applied for scientific judgment, is what was the effect of the experience on the student? If it tends to separate him from God, it is evil; if it tends to draw him nearer to God, it is a blessing, and hence, good.

If Mrs. Eddy did resort to an anesthetic, she thereby proved a wonderful truth for her followers, namely, that no matter what the student might find himself yielding to, that he thought he had overcome or outgrown, he can still keep his thought on the high spiritual level where it belongs, until the error is met. Even under such an affliction, or human demand, he can still build his thought up spiritually to the point where the claim is handled; and a point in progress is won. Going into the fiery furnace or the lions’ den, and coming out victorious and unharmed, required a greater demonstration than would have been needed, to have avoided the necessity for a conflict with error.

Mrs. Eddy’s experience might be described in metaphor as follows: Consider a man carrying a priceless vase that is invisible. No matter what is done to him, he refuses to bring his hands down to defend himself. Thus, he is considered a coward and a weakling. The true explanation is, however, that the vase is so valuable to him, that he is willing to endure any kind of misrepresentation in order to guard it. Jesus said, “but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also.” He knew that if one was reflecting the infinite power of God, and should indulge in a human desire to retaliate a blow on the cheek, that reflection of God would at once fly away. Mrs. Eddy, above all else, was guarding her reflection of divine Love and wisdom. If she felt guided to fulfill her statement on page 464 of Science and Health, to the effect that one may be given a hypodermic injection in case of a pain so violent that one could not treat himself mentally, that was her wise effort to preserve this precious reflection, her hold upon God, which would have been lost, had she resorted to the human will for help.

At this point, it would be wise for the reader to realize that this subject of morphine is a difficult one to deal with. One who reads the following pages without an understanding heart, might believe that I am calling evil good and, good, evil, in an effort to vindicate Mary Baker Eddy. Yet, it is with the deepest conviction that God has entrusted me with this message, that I include it in this book, before it goes to press.

Mrs. Eddy discarded the human mind as worthless. Hence, let those who still depend on the false courage of the human will, feel no superiority over one who, for the sake of a radical reliance on God, had forsworn the human will forever. Mrs. Eddy could only say, “Lord, save or I perish.” Then, what was she to do, when her faith failed temporarily? Her very life depended upon her choice at that exalted point of progress; and she chose the materially-dependent way of relief, rather than to return to the human will. Thus she was able to return directly to her radical reliance on God.

The Bible states, “For my strength is made perfect in weakness.” A sense of power and dominion accompanies the reflection of the divine Mind. But when one who has reached the point of reflecting God, ceases for the moment to reflect that infinite power, if he still retains a dominant sense of being a channel for mind, that would mean a return to mortal mind, or human will. Pride would always tempt the Christian Scientist to continue in the role of a giver, when he has nothing to give that is spiritual. Thus he would be giving out human thinking, or animal magnetism. At that point, the wise metaphysician returns to a sense of weakness, or being merely a receiver of God’s help, in order to avoid a return to the bondage of animal magnetism. The safety of man, when he has nothing of God to give, is to fall back into the sense of a little child, sustained in its mother’s arms. In doing this, our Leader prevented a use of the human mind which might have been fatal. If pride had caused her to send forth a volume of human will, because she had no divine Mind to give, that would have produced a reaction against her own spiritual growth of a very serious nature. But error could not catch our Leader in this way. Through this experience, Mrs. Eddy unfolded the trick of mesmerism which would keep man functioning as a giver, when he has nothing but mortal mind to give. At that point, when she did not have anything spiritual to thunder forth, she withdrew into a state of helplessness which so disturbed the students. When they could not help her, she chose to give temporary power to one of mortal mind’s products, rather than to return to the standpoint of seeking help through mortal mind itself, which would involve giving mortal mind continuous power, and bringing to nought years of patient endeavor to overcome all belief in its power. The sense of pain seemed to draw a curtain over her thought, and leave a gap between her and God. She handled the claim in the wisest way, until she could reinstate herself as a representative of infinite power.

What more notable example have we in the Scriptures of this mode of circumventing the effort of animal magnetism to draw the advancing pilgrim once more back into its toils, than David, who at such times of a seeming withdrawal of God’s presence and power, assumed the attitude that he set forth in so many of the Psalms, as for example, “Have mercy upon me O, Lord; for I am weak”? No greater privilege was ever accorded the students at Pleasant View, than to see their Leader return to a sense of utter helplessness and weakness, the moment the divine power ceased to flow through her. In that way, could they best learn what is the attitude of mind on the part of the metaphysician that fits him to reflect God, such an absolute relinquishment of any help, other than what comes from God, that without God’s help man is nothing. I can state that it is my conviction, that this picture of our Leader reflecting God, and then seeming to lose that reflection for a brief interval, is a necessity for every advancing student, in order for him to guard against the temptation to personalize the great spiritual good that flows through anyone, who has made the right preparation to reflect God.

If a farmer should be progressive enough to electrify his whole farm, what should he do if temporarily the power fails? Change over the whole organization to the obsolete apparatus, simply because of a loss of power for a day, or borrow enough horses and men to tide him over the brief interval? The answer is plain. This illustrates that the use of morphine, as a temporary help, was far less of an error, than to have returned to the human will which Mrs. Eddy had discarded.

A man who is bowling, always aims at the king pin. When that falls, the others are apt to fall. Mrs. Eddy knew that she was the Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science. She recognized that the whole Cause of Christian Science might be undermined, if she were taken away prematurely. She perceived that the errors she had to combat, resulted from her position in the Cause. Hence, there were times when drastic methods were necessary to meet certain conditions.

Mrs. Eddy’s only weapon was the divine Mind. She repudiated the human mind, refused to employ it, and rebuked her students when she saw them functioning under it. If, inadvertently, it crept in to her deliberations, she labelled it worthless, and reversed her decisions, in order that she might function wholly under the divine Mind. As long as she had her weapon, she could cope with any error. But to be robbed of it temporarily, meant helplessness at that point. It was through a sense of pain that she seemed to lose her only weapon of warfare, the only one she was willing to use, which was the divine Mind. Therefore, to regain her weapon was a vital necessity.

On page 19 of Miscellaneous Writings, Mrs. Eddy states that she should have more faith in an honest druggingdoctor, than she could or would have in a mental malpractitioner. This gives us a cue to her own experience, where she preferred to take an anesthetic, rather than to resort to the human will.

When Mrs. Eddy passed through an experience where she seemed to lose her grasp on her demonstrating thought, perhaps her students would liked to have seen her get hold of the human mind, and use it with vigor to overthrow her enemy, or at least face it with human courage. David had this temptation presented to him, when he was faced with Goliath. He was offered armor, a sword and a spear. The human mind offered its self-confidence, courage and determination as a substitute for the divine Mind, which operates through spiritual exaltation and illumination. Both courage and determination are human qualities, unless reflected from the divine Mind. In the latter case, they spring from spiritual exaltation, and hence, are scientific and effective. Our Leader, more than anyone else, manifested a courage and a determination, following her reflection of God. But it is an interesting fact, that she had neither of these qualities apart from her reflection of divine Mind, which is proof that she was not using human will. So when her thought dropped, she might ask for help from her students to restore her spiritual consciousness, because that was the sword of the Spirit, with which she was invulnerable. She would not have asked for such help, if she had been willing to return to the use of the human mind at these times.

Mrs. Eddy went out to fight Goliath every day. Yet, under the pressure brought to bear to rob her of her weapon, it was not to be expected that she could always be equipped with the sword of the Spirit. Nevertheless, she refused to have the armor and weapons of the human mind to fall back on, in case she lost her spiritual weapon. Having nothing but Spirit to depend on, in her warfare against Goliath, what chance had she when she lost God? She used the means to which her highest wisdom led her, that she might regain her spiritual weapon.

The whole consolidation of animal magnetism was aimed at our Leader with deadly purpose. Yet she outwitted it and rendered it abortive, in that she did not permit it to accomplish its purpose. She knew that, had she returned to the use of the human mind, she would coincide exactly with what error wanted her to do, since that would have effectually shut off her reflection of God. This backward step would have been an admission that, in the event of losing God, she needed human courage and independence of thought, as much as she needed the divine Mind, hence, whereas the divine Mind was an occasional help, yet, when she did not have it, she must return to that thing which she had reviled and declared against, the human mind. To resort to an anesthetic, rather than to do that, was a triumph over error. Robbed of her spiritual weapon, Mrs. Eddy felt helpless for the time being. Error knew that it could not rob her of God, but it could claim to prevent her from availing herself of His power. God had not forsaken her, but her arms had been tied, so that she could not wield the sword of the Spirit. So she took an element utilized by animal magnetism and put God back of it, so that the wrath of man praised Him. The conclusion is inevitable, that she made this demonstration because, through taking morphine, she was led to the place where she might regain her use of the sword of the Spirit.

The question comes up whether, in using morphine, Mrs. Eddy was not returning to the use of the human mind, as much as if she had employed the human will. The answer is, that she made the demonstration to see God back of that morphine, and hence, it was no longer a channel for the action of the human mind in a harmful way. Thus, she defeated the operation of evil and fulfilled the Scriptures, “the earth helped the woman.” That form of matter, or earth, which, when used under animal magnetism, puts man in bondage, with God back of it, released her from bondage; and she defeated animal magnetism, thereby being crowned with the brightness of His glory, again functioning effectively against the powers of darkness.

The statement that Mrs. Eddy’s demonstration put God back of morphine, deserves careful explanation, since a logical deduction would be the contention, that it would be possible to put God back of all medicine, and hence, make it an effectual healing agent. Such a conclusion, however, would contradict the fundamental teaching of Christian Science. First, it must be recognized that everything mortal is a lifeless symbol, neither good nor bad, except as thinking makes it so, according to Shakespeare’s Hamlet. Therefore, to put God back of a symbol, makes it a channel for freedom, whereas, when animal magnetism is back of it, it tends to bondage. This simply means, that either the qualities of the divine Mind or the human mind are expressed through the symbol. Even in the material realm, certain substances and forces work either for good or ill, according to the thought back of them, electricity, poison gas, nitroglycerine, etc. The whole basis of metaphysics affirms that cause is above effect, and so the channel takes on the nature of whatever is back of it. When Mrs. Eddy is criticized for resorting to morphine, her critics mean morphine under the control of animal magnetism. But Mrs. Eddy proved by its effects upon her that she had put good back of it.

On the other hand, the demonstration of putting God back of medicine, would rob it of all power to heal sickness, since it would destroy the lie that animal magnetism has put forth, that the inanimate drug has the power to heal. To see God back of anything, makes it a channel for a blessing. To see God back of food, takes away its power to harm, while it continues to nourish, until further spiritual progress eliminates the symbol. But would drugs be a blessing to man, if they were a channel for healing sickness? No, because the blessing brought to man through a symbol with God back of it, is that it brings, not a greater and greater reliance on the symbol, but a mounting independence of it. Increasing dependence on the symbol always indicates the action of animal magnetism. With animal magnetism back of a symbol, it becomes a substitute for Mind. With God back of it, man is gradually weaned from any lesser dependence, until he relies on Mind alone.

One might argue, of course, that the action of food to nourish is conferred upon it by mortal belief. Yet, puttingGod back of it, does not rob it of its action in sustaining man, but takes away its power to harm. That leaves food a symbol of God’s sustaining love, until progress eliminates the symbol, and man is sustained by Mind alone.

If one doubts the possibility of a demonstration that would make morphine a channel for God, it may be because he does not realize that the awful association he feels in connection with such a channel, is never the channel, but what is back of it. Those who feel shocked at this question of morphine, thereby expose the fact that they have never robbed morphine of its belief in power. What an unscientific attitude of mind, to invest matter with strange, mystic powers it could never possess of itself, and then to criticize one who had robbed it of those powers, and turned its effect from evil to good! Not only did no harm come to the three captives in the fiery furnace, through a channel ordinarily invested by mortal mind with powers of destruction, but it brought such a spiritual illumination, that man’s true divine selfhood was revealed and expressed! Mortals feel a dreadfulness, associated with prisons. This makes it difficult for them to appreciate the magnitude of Paul’s demonstration, when he put God back of the jail, and the doors flew open, leaving him free. The very thing that was a channel for bondage with mortal mind back of it, thus became a channel for freedom with God back of it. The very ones who had been instrumental in holding him, came and acknowledged the God he worshipped. Could the jail be called bad, once it was freed from the animal magnetism of mortal belief? The rule is, therefore, never to condemn the channel, but what is back of it, if it merits condemnation.

In Isaiah 54:17 we read, “No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper.” We upset the plans of animal magnetism, by taking its weapons and turning them against it. When you put God back of morphine, it ceases to be a weapon that animal magnetism can use to rob man of God. It becomes a weapon that man can use against animal magnetism.

There is Biblical authority for this conception of putting God back of those human forms which animal magnetism has claimed to use as its agents. An example is found in Isaiah 2:4, “And he shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people: and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks.” Certainly, in the hands of animal magnetism, the sword and spear would be weapons of destruction and evil; for under its direction, a soldier would employ them for slaughter. Then comes the demonstration, whereby God is put back of them, and, after this change, they become agents for constructive good. This would be illustrated by a farmer, using these very weapons for purposes of cultivation. Thus this Biblical assurance of the possibility of making all things, even the sword and spear, channels for the expression of God’s goodness, aids in clarifying this discussion of morphine.

Animal magnetism had used the lion as a channel for destructiveness. Yet, Daniel was called upon to put God back of the lion, and thus he rendered it harmless. Spiritually considered, fire is a symbol of good. But utilized by animal magnetism, it has become an element of destruction. The three Hebrew captives, however, handled the animal magnetism and put God back of it. Thus, it lost its power to harm, and brought the consciousness of the presence of God. Moses put God back of the Red Sea, and it became a means of escape from his enemies. If God could be put back of fire, of lions and of the Red Sea, He can be put back of morphine. Can the advancing Christian Scientist afford to omit anything, in his endeavor to see everything spiritual, and thus permit animal magnetism to claim certain channels, so that he affirms that they are forever doomed, because of what they express? But the claim of animal magnetism can never be isolated, and brought to the place where it is ripe for destruction, until it has been separated from every visible channel through which its belief of reality has been established. Then it is seen as an impersonal claim in thought; and, from that standpoint, it is easily destroyed.

A student of Christian Science might never be called upon to utilize morphine backed up by God, but still he must make the demonstration of taking it out of the grasp of animal magnetism, since animal magnetism is destroyable, only when it has been cut off from every expression, and made to fit with the description of the Master in Matthew 12, “the unclean spirit walketh through dry places, seeking rest, and finding none.” The inevitable conclusion is, that animal magnetism must be separated from morphine or arsenic, in order to be destroyed. When the demonstration is made to take the poison out of arsenic, the Scripture is fulfilled, “if they drink any deadly thing it shall not hurt them.” How can this transformation be accomplished, unless arsenic be taken from the grasp of animal magnetism and put under the control of Spirit? Is it any wonder, that our Leader called upon her students to handle arsenic at times, or to remove the effects of animal magnetism from every claim of substance, from every channel, thus rendering arsenic harmless? She knew that this was the right method of destroying animal magnetism, robbing it of every channel; appropriating error’s tools. This ‘modus operandi’ coincides with the understanding that all the power that evil has, is through the belief that it has channels, through which it can operate. Taking the animal magnetism from the channel, renders the error ripe for destruction. What power has baseless gossip, when no one is found who will believe it and voice it? Christian Science teaches that we see God through the ideas which express Him, and recognize animal magnetism through the objects which express it. So we must separate animal magnetism from its misuse of objects. Science does not say that the lion must be destroyed, but that the qualities and characteristics, which animal magnetism has placed upon him, must be removed. Mrs. Eddy never taught the destruction of morphine, arsenic, or alcohol. She did not tell us to say that we had no heart, that we did not breathe, etc. She was careful not to say that there was no storm, but that she saw God’s face shining through. She did not destroy things, but she endeavored to perceive them spiritually. If we will remove the animal magnetism from every channel, and see it utilized by God, will we not find ourselves living in a new heaven and a new earth?

Controlled by animal magnetism, life ends in death, but seen as the reflection of God, it is eternal. So we do not say there is no life; we declare that it is not material, but spiritual. Students are apt to think that Christian Science teaches, that everything human must be destroyed. Consequently, morphine must be thrown out, because animal magnetism has made it bad. This is not Science. The material sense in man, is what must be destroyed, for then creation will be seen perfect and eternal.

Students of Christian Science should avoid morphine, as they would the plague, except under the circumstances recorded in Science and Health. Why? Because they have certainly not progressed to the point of knowing how to use it, with God back of it. Furthermore, the effort to see God back of all human symbols, is not a demand to make use of such symbols. The correction takes place in thought. Nothing should be employed by the Christian Scientist, that has animal magnetism back of it. All students who understood this statement, would acknowledge it to be in accord with Mrs. Eddy’s teaching. Of course, one might wonder why Mrs. Eddy could not have resorted to the use of the qualities of courage and fortitude, by taking animal magnetism out of them, and establishing them as the expression of divine Mind? This was a possibility, but at that point, Mrs. Eddy found her thought bound by pain. The demonstration to free mortal mind from its animal magnetism, is one that requires the ability to think scientifically, a thing which Mrs. Eddy could not do at the point under discussion.

These questions, in connection with our Leader, should be answered by the student, only as his understanding develops to the point where his judgment is scientific, and so, just. One might wonder why Mrs. Eddy did not handle the belief of pain, as she had taught her students to do. She did make wonderful demonstrations over pain, but there were intervals, where the suffering was so severe, that she came under the claim, that she could not get hold of her thought. It is true, that our Leader would not have found it necessary to resort to an anesthetic, if her students had been successful in helping her at such times. Hence, the real responsibility for this necessity, lay with the student’s failure to measure up to that spiritual point that would have relieved her.

The question persists: in turning to morphine, is not one turning to the human mind for aid, as definitely as though one turned to the human will, since we know that whatever effect seems to come through matter, is wholly the effect of mortal belief? This might be a just question, were it not for the fact that Mrs. Eddy’s demonstration robbed morphine of its error. In Miscellaneous Writings, on page 248, Mrs. Eddy records her earlier experience, where she rendered morphine powerless to have the slightest effect upon her whatsoever. She said, “. . . with tearful thanks, ‘The drug had no effect upon me whatever.’” This previous demonstration paved the way for her later experience, where, under the belief of extreme pain, the momentary illusion of the withdrawal of spiritual power, caused the pain-lulling effect of morphine to conjoin with the belief of suffering, to bring about a relief that enabled her once more to get hold of her spiritual weapon. It is safe to say, that her later use of an anesthetic was made possible through this earlier demonstration.

One cardinal point of Christian Science is the nothingness of matter. Therefore, the use of the phrase, putting God back of this or that, is open to objection. Obviously, morphine, arsenic, etc., are matter. Therefore, how can God be put back of that which is unreal? Yet, before the nothingness of matter is demonstrated, there is an intermediate step to be taken, where one sees the qualities of good, rather than evil, operating through the symbol called matter, in line with the Scripture, “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose.” This mental effort to realize that everything in one’s experience, is operating according to the law of God, good, gradually robs matter of all sense of life, truth, intelligence and substance, until it finally disappears, to give place to the reality of God’s creation.

Because Mrs. Eddy loved God, and knew that she was called to fulfill His purpose, that caused everything in her experience to work together for her good. Hence, the experience that seemed to require her to resort to an anesthetic, helped her to a higher spiritual growth. Of course, I am not implying that morphine becomes spiritual through demonstration, but I am asserting that it is possible for the spiritual pilgrim to accentuate the above dictum of Scripture to the point, where even morphine may become one of the servants of God to aid man. The whole question revolves around the attitude of mind of the student. Anyone who does not believe that our Leader had progressed spiritually to the point, where her demonstration compelled everything in her experience to work together for her good, and the good of all concerned, has little understanding of metaphysics.

Judging righteous judgment means discerning both motive and result. If one is seeking good, whatever one does to gain that good successfully, is legitimate and praiseworthy. I make this statement without reservation. On the surface, it might seem possible for one to use this higher understanding of Truth to cover a multitude of sins, claiming immunity from blame, because he or she had made the demonstration to put God back of whatever it might be. But the very rectitude of motive, which is requisite to fulfill the above spiritual precept, makes any abuse impossible. No one who truly loves God, and feels the call, will take advantage of the higher freedom that comes from an advanced understanding of spiritual law, in order to commit sin.

There is a final point in connection with morphine which must be stressed, lest at some future time the accusation be brought against our Leader, after all those who knew her have passed from our sight, that she contracted the morphine habit. The most serious evil in connection with this drug, lies in the fact that belief causes it to coincide with a humanly natural yearning of the human mind for sleep and forgetfulness, for an effortless escape from suffering. Thereby it sets a trap for the unwary, whereby a vicious habit becomes fastened on his thought. But the demonstration of our Leader precluded this possibility, since her motive contained no element of desiring the easy way out. She sought relief, only that she might resurrect her thought. If I did not know that our Leader’s occasional need of morphine never became a habit, the fact that her spiritually progressive thought never faltered, but forged on constantly to higher realms of spiritual understanding, would be enough to prove that no such evil effect darkened the last days of her triumphant mission on earth.

It is evident, that in the limited space given to the record of our Master’s life, whatever was included must be of vital importance in its import and teaching. Therefore, why was it reported, that before the crucifixion the Master said, “. . . not my will, but thine, be done,” and then that, while on the cross in his agony, he accepted the drug that was offered to him? He absolutely eschewed all dependence upon the human will, and then drank of the vinegar and hyssop, which he had refused when it was offered to him, before he was put on the cross. Was this incident not recorded, to assist the advancing pilgrim in realizing that, of two evils, the drug was far less than would have been a return to the human will? The drug had no effect upon the demonstration of our Master, whereas a return to the human will would have effectually removed him from the action of the divine will.

When man attains the true reflection of God, his whole life, under that divine inspiration, accords with a standard that can be recognized by all, as belonging to sonship with God. This fact, however, is not true of the human preparation for reflection, which is mainly contrary to mortal man’s ideals and his conception of good. The world stands in awe of the Master’s life, as it was illuminated by what he reflected from God, and the same thing is true of Mrs. Eddy’s experience. But both of these spiritual searchlights, separated from what they reflected of the divine light, would have presented mental states almost incomprehensible, except to a spiritually-trained analyst. The Master’s life, considered apart from his reflection of the power of God, was not humanly desirable. The Bible states that he was “despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief.” Similarly, Mrs. Eddy’s life, when examined at those rare intervals, when she was apparently separated from divine inspiration, presented a phase which the loyal student would prefer to excuse or overlook. Nevertheless, the advanced metaphysician attaches great importance to those times when Mrs. Eddy was shorn of spiritual power, since they offer, as nothing else could, the opportunity to understand something of the mental attitude, or preparation, that best reflects the divine Mind, by showing a mental state which, divorced from the false support of mortal mind, was humanly weak and dependent. Thus, through weakness, was she made strong. This comprehension uncovers the vital necessity of rightly unfolding that portion of Mrs. Eddy’s life, that unthinking students might prefer to keep hidden. It proves, that an understanding of these phases of Mrs. Eddy’s experience is more important to the spiritual growth of the student, than would be a description of her fruition, which of itself has no practical value, unless it is accompanied by an unfoldment of the steps necessary to attain it.

Those persons, who feel that it would have been a greater demonstration for our Leader to have had no dark places in her life, no indication of mighty struggles with the powers of darkness, will do well to recall the story of the farmer who went to Ireland. The first thing he did, was to remove every stone from his field. Then the first cloudburst washed every bit of top soil away. So, before he could raise any crops, he found it necessary to put the boulders back, since they served as a definite binder.

The conclusion is, therefore, that our Leader functioned under spiritual law, and under spiritual law, trials and tribulations become important adjuncts and accessories to higher spiritual growth. So it becomes selfevident, that the motivation and guidance of her whole experience transcended the comprehension of the human mind. This reveals the impossibility of anyone gaining a true comprehension of her life, from any but a spiritual standpoint. From a human aspect, her life will always seem an enigma, and as deserving criticism at certain points. From the standpoint of spiritual perception, however, it unfolds into one consistent whole, a triumphant victory over the powers of darkness, in bringing to humanity the sacred message of Christian Science.

If the student of Christian Science should feel disturbed at the repeated statement in this book that our Leader, at times, made mistakes, and hence, at the implication that the onward-marching pilgrim must do likewise, let him remember certain scientific facts. Mortal man is trained to trust in human wisdom, in his own intelligence, developed through experience and education. The demand of Christian Science is that the student relinquish all faith in the human mind, in human wisdom and intelligence, in order that he may be guided by the unerring wisdom of God. In fulfilling this demand of Christian Science, however, the student must have an intermediate experience, where he is cut off from human help and has not yet grasped the divine help. He refuses further to be guided by human means and yet, has not grasped the divine guidance. This necessary vestibule of experience might be called ‘The Bridge of Progressive Mistakes.’

This unfolds my meaning, when I refer to Mrs. Eddy as having made mistakes. Think of the humility of this great woman, who was willing to turn away from using any of the remedies which mortal mind offers for a lack of spirituality, and to make mistakes, rather than to utilize any human acumen or mortal methods in carrying on the Cause of Christian Science! She was willing to be a “fool for Christ’s sake” (I Cor. 4:10), or endure the criticism of being foolish, rather than to utilize the human mind, when, at times, the divine Mind seemed to be absent. If one should wonder why Mrs. Eddy seemed to sink to the bottom, when temporarily she lost her consciousness of God, let him remember that she had reached the place where she had no other life-preserver than her reflection of God, but it was enough!

It is human pride that would tempt a student of Christian Science to withdraw from this bridge of progressive mistakes, and again resort to human methods, lest he be criticized for making mistakes. Our Leader forged ahead without this fear of criticism. When some of her decisions proved to be faulty, because she had gained further spiritual light, she was just as ready to repudiate such decisions, as were others to criticize them. But never was she ashamed to have advanced erroneous decisions, because she knew that it is far better to make a mistake, in an honest attempt to be guided by God, than to turn back to human judgment, since only through the repudiation of human opinion and judgment, can one obtain the guidance of the divine Mind. Therefore, it is an axiom in Christian Science, that it is through progressive mistakes, resulting from a fearless determination to be led by God, that man finds God.

Lest certain statements and incidents in the Bible be discarded by the materially-minded, because of a lack of understanding, records which, when spiritually interpreted, are seen to contain the meat of the word, the following warning is given in the last chapter of Revelation: “For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book: And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.” So-called higher criticism has deleted, as incomprehensible and harmful, portions of Scripture which today are clearly understood by the veriest neophyte in the study of Mind-healing. Christian Scientists recognize, that such omissions would remove some of the most important foundation stones from the spiritual structure of the Bible.

More than all others, Mrs. Eddy, through her life’s experience, has portrayed the hidden workings of evil, as well as the correct solution of its claim to existence and power. Yet the materially-minded, not perceiving the importance of many of the outward evidences in her life, as bearing testimony to the inward spiritual strife, and the vital lessons taught, would desire to expurgate from the record of her life those things which, from a human standard of good, do not accord with the world’s ideal of a patient, loving Christian, meek and long-suffering, traits which we are trained to associate with the life and character of the one approaching perfection. But such traits were not characteristic of Mrs. Eddy’s warfare against evil. In actual demonstration, Mrs. Eddy’s attitude was similar to that of St. Paul, as portrayed in Acts 16, where his sense of superiority to his enemies was so dominant, that it made them afraid.

The effectiveness of one’s spiritual arguments depends upon the mental ground one occupies, when making such declarations. One must feel a conscious sense of dominion over error, in order to have the Truth effective in demonstration. In such an offensive warfare against the claims of evil, meekness and gentleness would be fatal. Mrs. Eddy was a soldier of God, and the record of her warfare is more important for the instruction of the student, than is that of her meekness, love and patience, which were qualities which she exhibited as the fruit of her warfare against evil, but not during such warfare. It is plain, therefore, that to expunge from her life’s record the positive methods necessary, when she was battling with Goliath, would be to rob the student, and the world, of the footsteps vital to the completion of the knowledge by which, and only by which, man may work out successfully the problem he is required to solve.

Mrs. Eddy’s own conception of the importance of a complete understanding of her life, is evinced in a statement that she made in a letter to Edward A. Kimball: “For the world to understand me in my true light, and life, would do more for our Cause than aught else could. This I learn from the fact that the enemy tries harder to hide these two things from the world, than to win any other points.”

Therefore, the warning in Revelation becomes a necessity at the end of Mrs. Eddy’s life, that nothing shall be added to it or taken from it. Sometime, all spiritually-minded students will awaken to perceive that her life, with nothing expurgated, provides the perfect pathway for her followers. In it, there is lacking not one experience needed as the outward proof of that spiritual animus which, even under the greatest kind of affliction, never departed from her, as the underlying motive-power and dominating influence in her life.

At one time, Mrs. Eddy was called upon to write an article for the Christian Register. The member of the household responsible for forwarding the manuscript, reckoned that it would be more certain to reach the editor, if the letter was registered. Evidently the demonstration, which Mrs. Eddy always insisted should accompany all articles sent through the mail, was lacking, for the editor happened to be out of town, and the letter was held for his signature. When he returned, it was too late. Thus the world was deprived of the blessing contained in our Leader’s inspiring message. I mention this incident, because it illustrates, how insistent she was, that every point in her experience be the result of demonstration, and because it also shows the futility of that sense of human trust that moves without demonstration, and hence, interferes with God’s plans, unless handled and obliterated at its inception.

Only a human sense would maintain that our Leader was critical and unduly fussy. If I never accomplished more by living at Pleasant View, I would consider it worth while to be able to testify to posterity, through my own personal acquaintance with Mrs. Eddy, that, no matter what her mental state might be at any time, she never criticized, or found fault with a student for any reason, other than a failure to measure up to the standard that she established for herself and for her household, which was that the basis of all action must be scientific right thinking. She had gained the pearl of great price, and her demonstration in her home represented her effort to provide the proper setting for this jewel, in order to protect it and guard it against loss.

When I make the statement, that at times the students failed to comprehend certain things connected with our Leader in her home, it must not be supposed that I intend to criticize the students, or even to imply that such a comprehension was a possibility at that period, from their point of spiritual development. To gain this understanding would require the perspective of time and distance, as well as a realization of the mental influences at work, and of the necessity and importance of giving up all preconceived conceptions. Without this further vision, no student would awaken to see that there was an unperceived problem at Pleasant View, in connection with the Leader; one that needed prayer and study, until spiritual logic and perception should unfold it as a vital and necessary corroboration of Mrs. Eddy’s teachings, as given in her published writings.

Mrs. Eddy’s own insight into mortal mind, and her consequent distress, if her students failed to comprehend, was expressed by her as follows: The Babylonish woman in the Apocalypse has thrown wormwood into the waters to turn trusting thoughts to hatred against me, the idea.”

There exist jewels, that because of being stolen from some sacred spot centuries ago, carry a curse to this day to anyone who owns them. Such a curse operates through superstitious belief. The Babylonish woman represents the primitive curse of evil, aimed against spirituality, established in mortal thought thousands of years ago. The spiritual flow from God was cursed. Therefore, when Mrs. Eddy began to gain a spiritual influx from God, she felt this unconscious hatred of malice, and she called upon her students to help her to meet it.

Mrs. Eddy discovered, that every mortal has as his heritage an unconscious hatred of Truth. No healing can ever be done, unless this underlying hatred is handled and destroyed.

Christian Scientists rejoice when they feel this hatred and persecution, because it is positive proof that they are attaining true spirituality. To feel this opposition, is a sign of spiritual greatness, but it is a hatred that must be overthrown.

The deduction from this unfoldment is, that if Christian Science ever seems to be at peace with the world, either it is because the genuine spirituality has gone out of the movement as a whole, or else because Christian Scientists have faithfully made the metaphysical demonstration to overcome this human opposition.

Recently, books have appeared, in which Mrs. Eddy’s book, Christ and Christmas, has been held up to ridicule, criticizing her for incorporating in it crude pictures in the name of art, and extolling them as approximating the masterpieces of such men as Botticelli and Fra Angelico. The very year this book appeared, there were those who called the pictures, caricatures. Nevertheless, Mrs. Eddy declared, “I am delighted to find Christ and Christmas in accord with the ancient and most distinguished artists.” Miscellaneous Writings, page 372.

It must be remembered, that the teaching of Christian Science is, that mind is cause, whether one is dealing with the realm of the divine or human. Hence, everything in the visible universe is the expression of thought, and every painting expresses the thought of the painter, whether it be spiritual or material.

Mrs. Eddy’s entire teachings are to enable one to trace from human effect back to human cause, substitute for that human cause the divine cause, and continue this work, until the whole universe is transformed into the expression of the divine Mind.

Mrs. Eddy’s poem, Christ and Christmas, was an endeavor on her part to offer the world a practical illustration of this spiritual process, and to prove man’s ability, when instructed spiritually, to produce art and poetry that would express spiritual thought. She was the first one who ever attempted to depict this ideal, according to an understandable and teachable process; and the fact that he succeeded, marks her first effort with the same significance in the metaphysical realm, as does the first flight of the Wright brothers in the physical realm.

There is a vast difference between the effort to have a painting embody some fine human thought or a spiritual idea. There have been painters who have permeated their work with inspiration, without knowing the scientific process, but Mrs. Eddy was the first one to do it through understanding. Therefore, her triumph will remain for all time, no matter how crude it may seem to the human mind. She overcame all obstacles, rose above all temptation to failure, thus causing her victory to stand unique and alone. There is little to compare it to. In the material realm, it most resembles the Wrights’ first airplane, which was a crude creation. Yet it flew, and flew successfully; and anyone wanting to fly today, must conform to the primitive principles which the Wright brothers demonstrated successfully.

Mrs. Eddy did not actually paint the pictures, but she found an artist with whom she could work; one who was a Christian Scientist, and who was able to capture some of her inspiration in his brushmarks. She established a spiritual standard that started a new era for the world.

When the Wright brothers developed the principles of flying, to the point where they made them practical, they had no intention of keeping the airplane in the primitive form with which they started. It was simply the skeleton, that contained the germ of the idea which they gave to the world. Today, that same idea is embodied in every airplane that is constructed and flown successfully.

Mrs. Eddy did not intend that her endeavor to illustrate the teachings of Christian Science, by putting forth illustrations that were the outcome of spiritualized thought, was to be the only effort ever attempted in that field. She proved a truth; namely, that it is possible to express spiritual thought through the delineations of human forms and figures. She confidently expected students of Christian Science to adopt this discovery, broaden and enlarge it, until it became a universal ideal, which would continue to embrace the same spiritual healing thought that was present at its inception. Ultimately, when man had replaced a mortal source with a divine origin, she expected everything to carry this healing atmosphere. She revealed this as the task of the Christian Scientist, by offering Christ and Christmas as a practical illustration. This instruction corresponded with what she demanded of the students in her home; namely, that they put inspiration, instead of mortal thought, back of everything. For example, she expected that her followers would not stop eating, but see a divine origin back of food, and let it represent God, thus transforming into manna from heaven the food of which man partakes three times a day, which error claims to use as a means to greater bondage.

Mrs. Eddy’s demonstration in Christ and Christmas was similar to Moses’ demonstration of the manna. Whereas his was the first successful attempt to see God back of food, Mrs. Eddy’s was the first successful attempt to see God back of art. If manna typifies for mortals the divine feeding, the illustrations in Christ and Christmas become human symbols of the divine healing.

With certainty it can be stated, that only individuals long on art and short on spirituality, those who were instilled with a human conception of artistic standards, with but slight appreciation of inspiration, would criticize Christ and Christmas. It is a fact, that Mrs. Eddy’s home contained many objets d’art which did not approximate the accepted standards of art. On the other hand, they were imbued with love and appreciation for Mrs. Eddy and her great discovery; and it was for that reason Mrs. Eddy treasured them. They might be short on art, but they were long on gratitude unspeakable.

Mrs. Eddy inaugurated a new standard for music and art, unfolding that if there is any lack in a composition or picture, it would be preferable to have that lack a material rather than a spiritual one. This is a rebuke to those who demand human perfection, even if the quality of the thought back of it, does not approach the spiritual standard.

This point can be illustrated by the Wednesday evening testimonial meetings in the Christian Science churches. How far reaching is the good done by a humble testimony, which perhaps betrays a lack of human education and poise and yet, overflows with love and appreciation for the great gift of Christian Science! Its very sincerity carries conviction to the stranger, which one couched in perfect English, but without that candor and consciousness of heart-felt gratitude, does not. Such a testimony is short on that which is unimportant, and long on that which is vital. As Shakespeare says in A Midsummer Night’s Dream “Love, therefore, and tongue-tied simplicity, in least speak most . . .”

This idea is further illustrated by the parable of the widow’s mite, which is narrated in the Gospel of Mark. The widow’s offering was long on faith in God and true appreciation, although short on the human expression. Yet, the Master said, “That this poor widow hath cast more in, than all they which have cast into the treasury.”

As far as its artistic expression is concerned, Christ and Christmas might be reckoned as being no more than a mite. Yet, there is present within it, to an unusual degree, that rare quality of inspiration, which is so seldom found and which, when it is present, elevates all art to a standard that makes it priceless.

On page 448 of volume II of History of the Christian Science Movement, by William Lyman Johnson, there is the following which Mrs. Eddy wrote to Carol Norton: “Christ and Christmas was an inspiration from beginning to end. The power of God and the wisdom of God was even more manifest in it and guided me more perceptibly, as those of my household can attest, than when I wrote Science and Health. If ever God sends you to me again, I will name some of the marvelous guidance that He gave me. He taught me that the art of Christian Science has come through inspiration, the same as its Science has. Hence the great error of human opinions passing judgment on it.”

There can be no understanding of Christ and Christmas from a human standpoint. Those to whom the true inward value is not discernible, may say what they like. The fact remains, however, that in this poem with its illustrations, Mrs. Eddy exemplified the very process which, if adopted by man, and applied to every phase of his human existence, will bring him his salvation. The students who understand and, to some degree, are taking advantage of the practical Christian Science disclosed in this work, rejoice in Mrs. Eddy’s grand pioneering. They are not troubled at critics who label the pictures in this book crude, for they recognize in it an illustration of a law which means the salvation of the whole world from sin, sickness and death. Thus, they are placed above the criticism of mortal man. In corroboration Mrs. Eddy writes in Miscellaneous Writings, page 374, “Above the fogs of sense and storms of passion, Christian Science and its art will rise triumphant; ignorance, envy, and hatred, earth’s harmless thunder, pluck not their heaven-born wings. Angels, with overtures, hold charge over both, and announce their Principle and idea.”

Mary Baker Eddy fulfilled Biblical prophecy as definitely in this age, as did the Master in his. As a proof of this, we have in Luke 15:8 the Master’s parable of the woman who had ten pieces of silver and lost one. She lit a candle and searched diligently till she found it; then she called in her friends and her neighbors to rejoice with her.

Instead of being satisfied with her nine pieces, this woman searched, until she found the one that was missing. For our generation, what does this missing piece represent, but man’s ability to manifest the spirit of God in demonstration? When Mrs. Eddy recognized this loss, she lit her candle, which typified her effort to throw light on the Scriptures, to learn how man could be influenced to believe that he had lost this inheritance, which she knew must be natural to man’s thought. She recognized that when she discovered how man lost it, she would know how to regain it. This silver represented that connection with God, over which man might be nourished spiritually, and receive protection, wisdom and love.

Mrs. Eddy was successful in her diligent search for this lost silver. Then she called in her friends and neighbors; those who were receptive to the appreciation of the discovery that she had made. Thus, the doctrine of Christian Science began to spread.

The Master finally said, that “there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth.” Does this imply, then, that Mrs. Eddy was a sinner? The loss of the silver, which symbolized the loss of man’s realization of his relation to God, is what constitutes sin in Christian Science. This makes anyone a sinner who is not conscious of his unity with God. Therefore, when Mrs. Eddy reestablished that relationship, there was joy in the presence of the angels of God, because she had established herself again in her proper and scientific relationship with her Father, and disclosed the process, so that it might be available for all.

Mrs. Eddy’s mission was really to bring the Christ down from an isolated sense, and make it available for all mankind. Above all others, she understood and demonstrated Paul’s statement, “But we have this treasure in earthen vessels.” She knew that our spiritual treasure is contained in every manifestation of mortal thought, and she appointed us the task of proving this, and making the effort to see spiritual causation back of all material things, so that they will cease to be material.

Where is God to be found? Shall we seek Him in the sunset, in the clouds, in nature? Yes, but only as we are able to see these as symbols of Him. If one uses the very food that he eats, as a symbol of the infinite love of God, and of the fact that He cares for man even as He doth the lilies, then that food will enable man to search out God. If one takes the tree as the manifestation of God, reckoning it a symbol of God’s all-encompassing love, then, in the tree one finds God, thereby proving that we have our treasure in earthen vessels.

Properly understood, all the things that seem to separate man from God, will serve to bring their unity to light. Mrs. Eddy realized that cleaning a room, or replacing furniture, was a function demanding demonstration, demanding the power, wisdom and presence of God. In fact, her direction of the demonstration of her students in the home exemplified Hymn 140 from the new Christian Science Hymnal (Number five in the old):

““If on our daily course, our mind
Be set to hallow all we find,
New treasures still, of countless price,
God will provide for sacrifice.
The trivial round, the common task,
Will furnish much ww ought to ask;
Room to deny ourselves, a road
To bring us daily nearer God.”

Truly, Mrs. Eddy’s understanding of demonstration epitomized the phrase, “Beneath our feet life’s pearl is cast.”

As she said in her home, “I am learning more and more everyday, to take God with me into every little thing I do.”

This corresponds with page 65 of Science and Health, “To gain Christian Science and its harmony, life should be more metaphysically regarded.” It also fulfills Paul’s enjoiner in Colossians 3:17, “And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him.”

All through the Scriptures, are records of those who traced God in the common phases of human experience. When Elijah properly handled the wind, fire and earthquake, by denying the error which suggested that the Lord was not in them, he found God. Where the disciples found only fear, in the storm on the sea of Galilee, the Master found God. He parted the draperies of God, which were the storm, and there was God in the midst of them. The three Hebrew captives found God in the fiery furnace, as did Daniel in the lions’ den. Surely, these found their treasure in earthen vessels. By the same token, one suffers from a storm of indigestion. Yet, through demonstration, can he not throw aside the error and discover a consciousness of God in humble food, thus having his thought turned to the great Giver? The Master exemplified this ideal in the last supper; and the only reason why scholastic theology is not conscious of God in the Eucharist, which should be solemnized “in remembrance of me,” is because the ceremony has come to have a significance of itself, instead of remaining merely a symbol, something to be relinquished, the moment one is able to reach out and touch the garment without its aid.

There have been efforts made on the part of some, who have had access to early records, to prove that Mrs. Eddy used mental suggestion, in an attempt to prevent certain of her students from using animal magnetism against her. The claim is, that she issued arguments designed to make these students suffer, finding her authority for such activities in the Biblical statement, “. . . what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again,” and maintaining that her action was reformatory, designed to do good and not evil.

If there are those who believe this evidence, the following can be said in defence of such a procedure on the part of our Leader, demonstrating that it was an orderly and spiritual step in her purification and progress:

The action of the law of God is always reformatory and designed to do good, acting to direct against himself man’s efforts to harm others, in order that he may cease from such a destructive course of action. Christian Science discloses, however, that the only way the law of God can be enforced and expressed in this human sense of existence, is through man, through the one who has attained a spiritual understanding that enables him to manifest the divine Mind. It is considered legitimate, when two nations are at war, for the one which is on the defensive, to resort to the same weapons employed by the invading foe. Was it not natural for Mrs. Eddy to consider that, being a representative of God to this age, and being obligated to reflect the will of God on earth, even as it is in heaven, she should mete to those who were malpracticing on her, a practice that might cause them suffering and so awaken reformation? Whatever she did, was done through a love for God, and an effort to establish His kingdom. She recognized that she must protect, at any cost and with all her power, the slender plant of Truth which she was striving to strengthen.

Certainly, the man equipped with deific power is obligated to represent Truth on earth, and fulfill the above-quoted Biblical statement. However, before wisdom unfolds the spiritual significance of this demand, he might feel obligated to render to the avowed enemies of Truth the same dose which they were using, without restraint, against the Truth, hoping that they will learn that they cannot malpractice against the Truth, without starting a reaction against themselves, and opening a hell which effectually restrains them in their evil course.

No critic could ever aver that Mrs. Eddy sought selfaggrandizement or personal benefits. If she did, why did she not make the most of them when they finally came to her? The underlying spiritual motive that animated everything our Leader did, was a sacred flame of unselfish determination to preserve and shelter that which would show the way of Life to all mankind.

As Mrs. Eddy rose higher in spiritual understanding, this was manifested in the more loving and scientific means she employed in rendering harmless the hostility of her enemies. Furthermore, through this higher process, sin was made to react upon the sinner, as definitely as though malpractice were directed against him. No doubt such results prompted these accusations against Mrs. Eddy, although her only purpose was to save the innocent victim. An evidence of Mrs. Eddy’s great spiritual growth was the revelation to her, that the higher mode of destroying hatred and protecting one’s self from evil is love, love for one’s enemies, love for all mankind. That which shields the Cause of Christian Science, and renders harmless the efforts of its enemies, is a scientific ability to love one’s enemies, and to love one’s neighbor as one’s self. Thus Mrs. Eddy proved that the sacred flame which will continually take one higher in the spiritual scale, through mistakes, through misunderstanding, and even through an honest ignorance, is the unselfed purpose to devote one’s life to the task of setting forth and demonstrating the way of Life. This, Mrs. Eddy accomplished.

One should not entertain the fatuous notion that Science and Health will lead one to the gates of heaven. The fact is, that through Science and Health, the student is enabled to attain that divine wisdom, the impersonal spiritual guide, which will conduct him or her on the right path. In other words, it requires an individual demonstration of wisdom to guide one to a final demonstration of divine sonship.

The further spiritual growth, which carried Mrs. Eddy above her primitive method of fighting fire with fire, to the exalted standpoint of loving her enemies and attempting to do them good, is illustrated in the Master’s experience, when he touched the man full of leprosy and the devil came out of him. He put forth his hand; touched the malpractice of animal magnetism, which was manifesting itself in the form of leprosy; said, “Be thou clean;” and wiped it out. Similarly, when Mrs. Eddy stretched forth her hand, or aimed her thought full of love and healing, at a malpractitioner, she produced a salutary effect on him, far more inexorable than the effort to meet malpractice with malpractice.

This latter effort, which at first must have suggested itself to our Leader as a solution for this criminal interference, was exemplified by David when he was tempted to go out against Goliath with a spear, a sword and armor, as his predecessors had done. They fought as Goliath fought, but they failed to vanquish him. He had back of him the full belief in the power of animal magnetism, as did those who assaulted Mrs. Eddy mentally. The fact is apparent, that one can never destroy animal magnetism, aimed at Truth, by killing the one who is expressing that animal magnetism, for one must always deal with the source and never the channel. David, wielding his sling and stone, unerringly reached causation, the simplicity of which was concealed beneath the great mass of effect. The simple nature of his weapon proved his knowledge of the simple nature of the problem, which alone made him master of it. He touched the vulnerable place in animal magnetism with Truth, and the manifestation of misconception was made clean, the error destroyed.

Impersonal Goliath can never be seen. Goliath, or animal magnetism, can be known only as it operates through some willing channel. Centuries later, the Master, as the descendant of David, was still going out after Goliath; he was engaged in the same age-old fight. Jesus perceived Goliath back of this sick man, expressing itself through him as leprosy, recognized its vulnerable point, and met it with love. Touching the man, was symbolic of sending out the white stone of spiritual purity and immortality, and the result proved that this spirituallyeffective method, practiced by David of old, had lost none of its effectiveness, since the man rose up free. Animal magnetism yielded to the superiority of spiritual power, acknowledged the Christ, and departed from the man. The unclean spirit was old Goliath appearing in a new form, hiding behind the sick man. Jesus called him forth into the open, where he fell on his knees and recognized the supremacy of spiritual power over the human. Thus, the patient was healed.

Nineteen hundred years later, Mrs. Eddy wrote in Science and Health, page 268, “In this revolutionary period, like the shepherd-boy with his sling, woman goes forth to battle with Goliath.” Mrs. Eddy was enabled finally to perceive Goliath, hiding behind the malpractitioners who continually dogged her footsteps. Thus was she equipped to meet Goliath by loving man, and thereby freeing him from the unclean spirit.

When the elders wished to stone Mary Magdalene, Jesus said in substance, “Let the one who is without sin among you, or whose vision is freed from mesmerism sufficiently to see Goliath hiding behind the woman, cast the first stone of spiritual purity and power. Throw the stone at the Goliath of sensuality, but let the woman go free.” This method of handling animal magnetism was Mrs. Eddy’s crowning gift to humanity in this age. It is embodied in the instruction, “Strike at the error, reduce it to nothingness, but let man go free. Call forth the unclean spirit and impersonalize it. Hate the sin and thereby destroy it; but love the sinner and thereby redeem him.”