Message for 1901

Message to The Mother Church, Boston, Massachusetts, June, 1901 by



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1      BELOVED brethren, to-day I extend my heart-and-
         hand-fellowship to the faithful, to those whose hearts
3      have been beating through the mental avenues of man-
         kind for God and humanity; and rest assured you can
         never lack God’s outstretched arm so long as you are in
6      His service. Our first communion in the new century
         finds Christian Science more extended, more rapidly ad-
         vancing, better appreciated, than ever before, and nearer
9      the whole world’s acceptance.

         To-day you meet to commemorate in unity the life of
         our Lord, and to rise higher and still higher in the indi-
12    vidual consciousness most essential to your growth and
         usefulness; to add to your treasures of thought the great
         realities of being, which constitute mental and physical
15    perfection. The baptism of the Spirit, and the refresh-
         ment and invigoration of the human in communion with
         the Divine, have brought you hither.

18    All that is true is a sort of necessity, a portion of the
         primal reality of things. Truth comes from a deep sin-
         cerity that must always characterize heroic hearts; it is
21    the better side of man’s nature developing itself.

         As Christian Scientists you seek to define God to your
         own consciousness by feeling and applying the nature and
24    practical possibilities of divine Love: to gain the absolute


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1      and supreme certainty that Christianity is now what Christ
         Jesus taught and demonstrated – health, holiness, im-
3      mortality. The highest spiritual Christianity in individual
         lives is indispensable to the acquiring of greater power in
         the perfected Science of healing all manner of diseases.

6      We know the healing standard of Christian Science was
         and is traduced by trying to put into the old garment the
         new-old cloth of Christian healing. To attempt to twist
9      the fatal magnetic element of human will into harmony
         with divine power, or to substitute good words for good
         deeds, a fair seeming for right being, may suit the weak or
12    the worldly who find the standard of Christ’s healing too
         high for them. Absolute certainty in the practice of divine
         metaphysics constitutes its utility, since it has a divine and
15    demonstrable Principle and rule – if some fall short of
         Truth, others will attain it, and these are they who will
         adhere to it. The feverish pride of sects and systems is
18    the death’s-head at the feast of Love, but Christianity is
         ever storming sin in its citadels, blessing the poor in spirit
         and keeping peace with God.

21    What Jesus’ disciples of old experienced, his followers
         of to-day will prove, namely, that a departure from the
         direct line in Christ costs a return under difficulties; dark-
24    ness, doubt, and unrequited toil will beset all their return-
         ing footsteps. Only a firm foundation in Truth can give
         a fearless wing and a sure reward.

27    The history of Christian Science explains its rapid
         growth. In my church of over twenty-one thousand six
         hundred and thirty-one communicants (two thousand four
30    hundred and ninety-six of whom have been added since


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1       last November) there spring spontaneously the higher hope,
         and increasing virtue, fervor, and fidelity. The special
3       benediction of our Father-Mother God rests upon this
         hour: “Blessed are ye when men shall revile you, and per-
         secute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you
6       falsely, for my sake.”


         GOD IS THE INFINITE PERSON


         We hear it said the Christian Scientists have no God
9       because their God is not a person. Let us examine this.
         The loyal Christian Scientists absolutely adopt Webster’s
         definition of God, “A Supreme Being,” and the Standard
12    dictionary’s definition of God, “The one Supreme Being,
         self-existent and eternal.” Also, we accept God, emphati-
         cally, in the higher definition derived from the Bible, and
15    this accords with the literal sense of the lexicons: “God is
         Spirit,” “God is Love.” Then, to define Love in divine
         Science we use this phrase for God – divine Principle.
18    By this we mean Mind, a permanent, fundamental, intel-
         ligent, divine Being, called in Scripture, Spirit, Love.

         It is sometimes said: “God is Love, but this is no argu-
21    ment that Love is God; for God is light, but light is not
         God.” The first proposition is correct, and is not lost
         by the conclusion, for Love expresses the nature of God;
24    but the last proposition does not illustrate the first, as
         light, being matter, loses the nature of God, Spirit, deserts
         its premise, and expresses God only in metaphor, there-
27    fore it is illogical and the conclusion is not properly drawn.
         It is logical that because God is Love, Love is divine Prin-


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1       ciple; then Love as either divine Principle or Person
         stands for God – for both have the nature of God.
3       In logic the major premise must be convertible to the
         minor.

         In mathematics four times three is twelve, and three
6       times four is twelve. To depart from the rule of mathe-
         matics destroys the proof of mathematics; just as a de-
         parture from the Principle and rule of divine Science
9       destroys the ability to demonstrate Love according to
         Christ, healing the sick; and you lose its susceptibility of
         scientific proof.

12    God is the author of Science – neither man nor matter
         can be. The Science of God must be, is, divine, predi-
         cated of Principle and demonstrated as divine Love; and
15    Christianity is divine Science, else there is no Science and
         no Christianity.

         We understand that God is personal in a scientific
18    sense, but is not corporeal nor anthropomorphic. We un-
         derstand that God is not finite; He is the infinite Person,
         but not three persons in one person. Christian Scientists
21    are theists and monotheists. Those who misjudge us be-
         cause we understand that God is the infinite One instead
         of three, should be able to explain God’s personality ra-
24    tionally. Christian Scientists consistently conceive of God
         as One because He is infinite; and as triune, because He
         is Life, Truth, Love, and these three are one in essence
27    and in office.

         If in calling God “divine Principle,” meaning divine
         Love, more frequently than Person, we merit the epithet
30    “godless,” we naturally conclude that he breaks faith with


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1       his creed, or has no possible conception of ours, who be-
         lieves that three persons are defined strictly by the word
3       Person, or as One; for if Person is God, and he believes
         three persons constitute the Godhead, does not Person
         here lose the nature of one God, lose monotheism, and
6       become less coherent than the Christian Scientist’s sense
         of Person as one divine infinite triune Principle, named in
         the Bible Life, Truth, Love? – for each of these possesses
9       the nature of all, and God omnipotent, omnipresent,
         omniscient.

         Man is person; therefore divine metaphysics discrimi-
12    nates between God and man, the creator and the created,
         by calling one the divine Principle of all. This suggests
         another query: Do Christian Scientists believe in person-
15    ality? They do, but their personality is defined spiritually,
         not materially – by Mind, not by matter. We do not blot
         out the material race of Adam, but leave all sin to God’s
18    fiat – self-extinction, and to the final manifestation of the
         real spiritual man and universe. We believe, according
         to the Scriptures, that God is infinite Spirit or Person, and
21    man is His image and likeness: therefore man reflects
         Spirit, not matter.

         We are not transcendentalists to the extent of extin-
24    guishing anything that is real, good, or true; for God and
         man in divine Science, or the logic of Truth, are coexistent
         and eternal, and the nature of God must be seen in man,
27    who is His eternal image and likeness.
         The theological God as a Person necessitates a creed
         to explain both His person and nature, whereas God ex-
30    plains Himself in Christian Science. Is the human person,


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1       as defined by Christian Science, more transcendental than
         theology’s three divine persons, that live in the Father and
3       have no separate identity? Who says the God of theology
         is a Person, and the God of Christian Science is not a
         person, hence no God? Here is the departure. Person is
6       defined differently by theology, which reckons three as
         one and the infinite in a finite form, and Christian Science,
         which reckons one as one and this one infinite.

9       Can the infinite Mind inhabit a finite form? Is the God
         of theology a finite or an infinite Person? Is He one
         Person, or three persons? Who can conceive either of
12    three persons as one person, or of three infinites? We
         hear that God is not God except He be a Person, and this
         Person contains three persons: yet God must be One
15    although He is three. Is this pure, specific Christianity?
         and is God in Christian Science no God because He is not
         after this model of personality?

18    The logic of divine Science being faultless, its consequent
         Christianity is consistent with Christ’s hillside sermon,
         which is set aside to some degree, regarded as impracticable
21    for human use, its theory even seldom named.

         God is Person in the infinite scientific sense of Him, but
         He can neither be one nor infinite in the corporeal or an-
24    thropomorphic sense.

         Our departure from theological personality is, that God’s
         personality must be as infinite as Mind is. We believe in
27    God as the infinite Person; but lose all conceivable idea
         of Him as a finite Person with an infinite Mind. That
         God is either inconceivable, or is manlike, is not my sense
30    of Him. In divine Science He is “altogether lovely,” and


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1       consistently conceivable as the personality of infinite Love,
         infinite Spirit, than whom there is none other.

3       Scholastic theology makes God manlike; Christian
         Science makes man Godlike. The trinity of the Godhead
         in Christian Science being Life, Truth, Love, constitutes
6       the individuality of the infinite Person or divine intelligence
         called God.

         Again, God being infinite Mind, He is the all-wise, all-
9       knowing, all-loving Father-Mother, for God made man in
         His own image and likeness, and made them male and
         female as the Scriptures declare; then does not our
12    heavenly Parent – the divine Mind – include within this
         Mind the thoughts that express the different mentalities
         of man and woman, whereby we may consistently say,
15    “Our Father-Mother God” ? And does not this heavenly
         Parent know and supply the differing needs of the indi-
         vidual mind even as the Scriptures declare He will?

18    Because Christian Scientists call their God “divine
         Principle,” as well as infinite Person, they have not taken
         away their Lord, and know not where they have laid Him.
21    They do not believe there must be something tangible to
         the personal material senses in order that belief may attend
         their petitions to divine Love. The God whom all Chris-
24    tians now claim to believe in and worship cannot be con-
         ceived of on that basis; He cannot be apprehended through
         the material senses, nor can they gain any evidence of His
27    presence thereby. Jesus said, “Thomas, because thou
         hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that
         have not seen, and yet have believed.”


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1      CHRIST IS ONE AND DIVINE


         Again I reiterate this cardinal point: There is but one
3       Christ, and Christ is divine – the Holy Ghost, or spiritual
         idea of the divine Principle, Love. Is this scientific state-
         ment more transcendental than the belief of our brethren,
6       who regard Jesus as God and the Holy Ghost as the third
         person in the Godhead? When Jesus said, “I and my
         Father are one,” and “my Father is greater than I,” this
9       was said in the sense that one ray of light is light, and it
         is one with light, but it is not the full-orbed sun. There-
         fore we have the authority of Jesus for saying Christ is not
12    God, but an impartation of Him.

         Again: Is man, according to Christian Science, more
         transcendental than God made him? Can he be too spir-
15    itual, since Jesus said, “Be ye therefore perfect, even as
         your Father which is in heaven is perfect”? Is God
         Spirit? He is. Then is man His image and likeness,
18    according to Holy Writ? He is. Then can man be mate-
         rial, or less than spiritual? As God made man, is he not
         wholly spiritual? The reflex image of Spirit is not unlike
21    Spirit. The logic of divine metaphysics makes man none
         too transcendental, if we follow the teachings of the
         Bible.

24    The Christ was Jesus’ spiritual selfhood; therefore
         Christ existed prior to Jesus, who said, “Before Abraham
         was, I am.” Jesus, the only immaculate, was born of a
27    virgin mother, and Christian Science explains that mystic
         saying of the Master as to his dual personality, or the spir-


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1       itual and material Christ Jesus, called in Scripture the
         Son of God and the Son of man – explains it as referring
3       to his eternal spiritual selfhood and his temporal man-
         hood. Christian Science shows clearly that God is the
         only generating or regenerating power.

6       The ancient worthies caught glorious glimpses of the
         Messiah or Christ, and their truer sense of Christ baptized
         them in Spirit – submerged them in a sense so pure it
9       made seers of men, and Christian healers. This is the
         “Spirit of life in Christ Jesus,” spoken of by St. Paul.
         It is also the mysticism complained of by the rabbis, who
12    crucified Jesus and called him a “deceiver.” Yea, it is
         the healing power of Truth that is persecuted to-day, the
         spirit of divine Love, and Christ Jesus possessed it, prac-
15    tised it, and taught his followers to do likewise. This
         spirit of God is made manifest in the flesh, healing and sav-
         ing men, – it is the Christ, Comforter, “which taketh away
18    the sin of the world;” and yet Christ is rejected of men!

         The evil in human nature foams at the touch of good;
         it crieth out, “Let us alone; what have we to do with
21    thee, . . . ? art thou come to destroy us? I know thee who
         thou art; the Holy One of God.” The Holy Spirit takes
         of the things of God and showeth them unto the creature;
24    and these things being spiritual, they disturb the carnal
         and destroy it; they are revolutionary, reformatory, and –
         now, as aforetime – they cast out evils and heal the sick.
27    He of God’s household who loveth and liveth most the
         things of Spirit, receiveth them most; he speaketh wisely,
         for the spirit of his Father speaketh through him; he
30    worketh well and healeth quickly, for the spirit giveth him


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1       liberty: “Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall
         make you free.”

3       Jesus said, “For all these things they will deliver you
         up to the councils” and “If they have called the master
         of the house Beelzebub, how much more shall they call
6       them of his household? Fear them not therefore: for
         there is nothing covered, that shall not be revealed.”

         Christ being the Son of God, a spiritual, divine emana-
9       tion, Christ must be spiritual, not material. Jesus was
         the son of Mary, therefore the son of man only in the
         sense that man is the generic term for both male and
12    female. The Christ was not human. Jesus was human,
         but the Christ Jesus represented both the divine and the
         human, God and man. The Science of divine metaphysics
15    removes the mysticism that used to enthrall my sense of
         the Godhead, and of Jesus as the Son of God and the son
         of man. Christian Science explains the nature of God as
18    both Father and Mother.

         Theoretically and practically man’s salvation comes
         through “the riches of His grace” in Christ Jesus. Divine
21    Love spans the dark passage of sin, disease, and death with
         Christ’s righteousness, – the atonement of Christ, whereby
         good destroys evil, – and the victory over self, sin, disease,
24    and death, is won after the pattern of the mount. This is
         working out our own salvation, for God worketh with us,
         until there shall be nothing left to perish or to be pun-
27    ished, and we emerge gently into Life everlasting. This
         is what the Scriptures demand – faith according to
         works.

30    After Jesus had fulfilled his mission in the flesh as the


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1       Son of man, he rose to the fulness of his stature in Christ,
         the eternal Son of God, that never suffered and never
3       died. And because of Jesus’ great work on earth, his dem-
         onstration over sin, disease, and death, the divine nature
         of Christ Jesus has risen to human apprehension, and we
6       see the Son of man in divine Science; and he is no longer
         a material man, and mind is no longer in matter. Through
         this redemptive Christ, Truth, we are healed and saved,
9       and that not of our selves, it is the gift of God; we are
         saved from the sins and sufferings of the flesh, and are
         the redeemed of the Lord.


         THE CHRISTIAN SCIENTISTS’ PASTOR


         True, I have made the Bible, and “Science and Health
         with Key to the Scriptures,” the pastor for all the churches
15    of the Christian Science denomination, but that does not
         make it impossible for this pastor of ours to preach ! To
         my sense the Sermon on the Mount, read each Sunday
18    without comment and obeyed throughout the week, would
         be enough for Christian practice. The Word of God is a
         powerful preacher, and it is not too spiritual to be prac-
21    ical, nor too transcendental to be heard and understood.
         Whosoever saith there is no sermon without personal
         preaching, forgets what Christian Scientists do not, namely,
24    that God is a Person, and that he should be willing to hear
         a sermon from his personal God!

         But, my brethren, the Scripture saith, “Answer not a
27    fool according to his folly, lest thou also be like unto him.”
         St. Paul complains of him whose god is his belly: to


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1       such a one our mode of worship may be intangible, for it
         is not felt with the fingers; but the spiritual sense drinks
3       it in, and it corrects the material sense and heals the sin-
         ning and the sick. If St. John should tell that man that
         Jesus came neither eating nor drinking, and that he bap-
6       tized with the Holy Ghost and with fire, he would natu-
         rally reply, “That is too transcendental for me to believe
         or for my worship. That is Johnism, and only Johnites
9       would be seen in such company.” But this is human: even
         the word Christian was anciently an opprobrium; –
         hence the Scripture, “When the Son of man cometh, shall
12    he find faith on the earth?”

         Though a man were begirt with the Urim and Thum-
         mim of priestly office, yet should not have charity, or should
15    deny the validity and permanence of Christ’s command to
         heal in all ages, he would dishonor that office and misin-
         terpret evangelical religion. Divine Science is not an in-
18    terpolation of the Scriptures, it is redolent with health,
         holiness, and love. It only needs the prism of divine
         Science, which scholastic theology has obscured, to divide
21    the rays of Truth, and bring out the entire hues of God.
         The lens of Science magnifies the divine power to human
         sight; and we then see the allness of Spirit, therefore the
24    nothingness of matter.


         NO REALITY IN EVIL OR SIN


         Incorporeal evil embodies itself in the so-called corpo-
27    real, and thus is manifest in the flesh. Evil is neither
         quality nor quantity: it is not intelligence, a person or a


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1       principle, a man or a woman, a place or a thing, and God
         never made it. The outcome of evil, called sin, is another
3      nonentity that belittles itself until it annihilates its own
         embodiment: this is the only annihilation. The visible
         sin should be invisible: it ought not to be seen, felt, or
6      acted: and because it ought not, we must know it is not,
         and that sin is a lie from the beginning, – an illusion,
         nothing, and only an assumption that nothing is something.
9      It is not well to maintain the position that sin is sin and
         can take possession of us and destroy us, but well that we
         take possession of sin with such a sense of its nullity as
12    destroys it. Sin can have neither entity, verity, nor power
         thus regarded, and we verify Jesus’ words, that evil, alias
         devil, sin, is a lie – therefore is nothing and the father of
15    nothingness. Christian Science lays the axe at the root of
         sin, and destroys it on the very basis of nothingness. When
         man makes something of sin it is either because he fears it
18    or loves it. Now, destroy the conception of sin as some-
         thing, a reality, and you destroy the fear and the love of
         it; and sin disappears. A man’s fear, unconquered, con-
21    quers him, in whatever direction.

         In Christian Science it is plain that God removes the
         punishment for sin only as the sin is removed – never
24    punishes it only as it is destroyed, and never afterwards;
         hence the hope of universal salvation. It is a sense of sin,
         and not a sinful soul, that is lost. Soul is immortal, but
27    sin is mortal. To lose the sense of sin we must first detect
         the claim of sin; hold it invalid, give it the lie, and then
         we get the victory, sin disappears, and its unreality is
30    proven. So long as we indulge the presence or believe in


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1       the power of sin, it sticks to us and has power over us.
         Again: To assume there is no reality in sin, and yet com-
3       mit sin, is sin itself, that clings fast to iniquity. The
         Publican’s wail won his humble desire, while the Phari-
         see’s self-righteousness crucified Jesus.

6       Do Christian Scientists believe that evil exists? We
         answer, Yes and No! Yes, inasmuch as we do know
         that evil, as a false claim, false entity, and utter falsity,
9       does exist in thought; and No, as something that enjoys,
         suffers, or is real. Our only departure from ecclesias-
         ticism on this subject is, that our faith takes hold of the
12    fact that evil cannot be made so real as to frighten us
         and so master us, or to make us love it and so hinder our
         way to holiness. We regard evil as a lie, an illusion,
15    therefore as unreal as a mirage that misleads the traveller
         on his way home.

         It is self-evident that error is not Truth; then it follows
18    that it is untrue; and if untrue, unreal; and if unreal, to
         conceive of error as either right or real is sin in itself. To
         be delivered from believing in what is unreal, from fear-
21    ing it, following it, or loving it, one must watch and pray
         that he enter not into temptation – even as one guards
         his door against the approach of thieves. Wrong is
24    thought before it is acted; you must control it in the first
         instance, or it will control you in the second. To over-
         come all wrong, it must become unreal to us: and it is
27    good to know that wrong has no divine authority; there-
         fore man is its master. I rejoice in the scientific appre-
         hension of this grand verity.

30    The evil-doer receives no encouragement from my


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1       declaration that evil is unreal, when I declare that he
         must awake from his belief in this awful unreality, repent
3       and forsake it, in order to understand and demonstrate
         its unreality. Error uncondemned is not nullified. We
         must condemn the claim of error in every phase in order
6       to prove it false, therefore unreal.

         The Christian Scientist has enlisted to lessen sin, dis-
         ease, and death, and he overcomes them through Christ,
9       Truth, teaching him that they cannot overcome us. The
         resistance to Christian Science weakens in proportion as
         one understands it and demonstrates the Science of
12    Christianity.

         A sinner ought not to be at ease, or he would never quit
         sinning. The most deplorable sight is to contemplate the
15    infinite blessings that divine Love bestows on mortals, and
         their ingratitude and hate, filling up the measure of
         wickedness against all light. I can conceive of little short
18    of the old orthodox hell to waken such a one from
         his deluded sense; for all sin is a deluded sense, and
         dis-ease in sin is better than ease. Some mortals may
21    even need to hear the following thunderbolt of Jonathan
         Edwards: —

         “It is nothing but God’s mere pleasure that keeps you
24    from being this moment swallowed up in everlasting de-
         struction. He is of purer eyes than to bear to have you in
         His sight. There is no other reason to be given why you
27    have not gone to hell since you have sat here in the house
         of God, provoking His pure eyes by your sinful, wicked
         manner of attending His solemn worship. Yea, there is
30    nothing else that is to be given as a reason why you do


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1       not at this moment drop down into hell, but that God’s
         hand has held you up.”


         FUTURE PUNISHMENT OF SIN


         My views of a future and eternal punishment take in a
         poignant present sense of sin and its suffering, punishing
6       itself here and hereafter till the sin is destroyed. St.
         John’s types of sin scarcely equal the modern nonde-
         scripts, whereby the demon of this world, its lusts, falsi-
9       ties, envy, and hate, supply sacrilegious gossip with the
         verbiage of hades. But hatred gone mad becomes im-
         becile – outdoes itself and commits suicide. Then let the
12    dead bury its dead, and surviving defamers share our pity.
         In the Greek devil is named serpentliarthe
         god of this world; and St. Paul defines this world’s god as
15    dishonesty, craftiness, handling the word of God deceit-
         fully. The original text defines devil as accuser,
         calumniator; therefore, according to Holy Writ these
18    qualities are objectionable, and ought not to proceed from
         the individual, the pulpit, or the press. The Scriptures
         once refer to an evil spirit as dumb, but in its origin evil
21    was loquacious, and was supposed to outtalk Truth and
         to carry a most vital point. Alas! if now it is permitted
         license, under sanction of the gown, to handle with gar-
24    rulity age and Christianity! Shall it be said of this cen-
         tury that its greatest discoverer is a woman to whom men
         go to mock, and go away to pray? Shall the hope for our
27    race commence with one truth told and one hundred false-
         hoods told about it?


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1       The present self-inflicted sufferings of mortals from sin,
         disease, and death should suffice so to awaken the suf-
3       ferer from the mortal sense of sin and mind in matter as
         to cause him to return to the Father’s house penitent and
         saved; yea, quickly to return to divine Love, the author
6       and finisher of our faith, who so loves even the repentant
         prodigal – departed from his better self and struggling
         to return – as to meet the sad sinner on his way and to
9       welcome him home.


         MEDICINE


         Had not my first demonstrations of Christian Science
12    or metaphysical healing exceeded that of other methods,
         they would not have arrested public attention and started
         the great Cause that to-day commands the respect of our
15    best thinkers. It was that I healed the deaf, the blind, the
         dumb, the lame, the last stages of consumption, pneumonia,
         etc., and restored the patients in from one to three inter-
18    views, that started the inquiry, What is it? And when the
         public sentiment would allow it, and I had overcome a
         difficult stage of the work, I would put patients into the
21    hands of my students and retire from the comparative
         ease of healing to the next more difficult stage of action
         for our Cause.

24    From my medical practice I had learned that the dynam-
         ics of medicine is Mind. In the highest attenuations of
         homoeopathy the drug is utterly expelled, hence it must
27    be mind that controls the effect; and this attenuation in
         some cases healed where the allopathic doses would not.


Page 18


1       When the “mother tincture” of one grain of the drug was
         attenuated one thousand degrees less than in the beginning,
3       that was my favorite dose.

         The weak criticisms and woeful warnings concerning
         Christian Science healing are less now than were the
6       sneers forty years ago at the medicine of homoeopathy;
         and the medicine of Mind is more honored and respected
         to-day than the old-time medicine of matter. Those who
9       laugh at or pray against transcendentalism and the Chris-
         tian Scientist’s religion or his medicine, should know the
         danger of questioning Christ Jesus’ healing, who admin-
12    istered no remedy apart from Mind, and taught his dis-
         ciples none other. Christian Science seems transcendental
         because the substance of Truth transcends the evidence
15    of the five personal senses, and is discerned only through
         divine Science.

         If God created drugs for medical use, Jesus and his
18    disciples would have used them and named them for that
         purpose, for he came to do “the will of the Father. ” The
         doctor who teaches that a human hypothesis is above a
21    demonstration of healing, yea, above the grandeur of our
         great master Metaphysician’s precept and example, and
         that of his followers in the early centuries, should read
24    this Scripture: “The fool hath said in his heart, There is
         no God.”

         The divine Life, Truth, Love – whom men call God –
27    is the Christian Scientists’ healer; and if God destroys the
         popular triad – sin, sickness, and death – remember it
         is He who does it and so proves their nullity.

30    Christians and clergymen pray for sinners; they believe


Page 19


1      that God answers their prayers, and that prayer is a divinely
         appointed means of grace and salvation. They believe
3      that divine power, besought, is given to them in times of
         trouble, and that He worketh with them to save sinners.
         I love this doctrine, for I know that prayer brings the
6      seeker into closer proximity with divine Love, and thus
         he finds what he seeks, the power of God to heal and to
         save. Jesus said, “Ask, and ye shall receive;” and if not
9      immediately, continue to ask, and because of your often
         coming it shall be given unto you; and he illustrated his
         saying by a parable.

12    The notion that mixing material and spiritual means,
         either in medicine or in religion, is wise or efficient, is
         proven false. That animal natures give force to character
15    is egregious nonsense – a flat departure from Jesus’
         practice and proof. Let us remember that the great Meta-
         physician healed the sick, raised the dead, and com-
18    manded even the winds and waves, which obeyed him
         through spiritual ascendency alone.


         MENTAL MALPRACTICE


21    From ordinary mental practice to Christian Science is a
         long ascent, but to go from the use of inanimate drugs to
         any susceptible misuse of the human mind, such as mes-
24    merism, hypnotism, and the like, is to subject mankind
         unwarned and undefended to the unbridled individual
         human will. The currents of God flow through no such
27    channels.

         The whole world needs to know that the milder forms


Page 20


1       of animal magnetism and hypnotism are yielding to its
         aggressive features. We have no moral right and no
3       authority in Christian Science for influencing the thoughts
         of others, except it be to serve God and benefit mankind.
         Man is properly self-governed, and he should be guided
6       by no other mind than Truth, the divine Mind. Christian
         Science gives neither moral right nor might to harm either
         man or beast. The Christian Scientist is alone with his
9       own being and with the reality of things. The mental
         malpractitioner is not, cannot be, a Christian Scientist; he
         is disloyal to God and man; he has every opportunity to
12    mislead the human mind, and he uses it. People may
         listen complacently to the suggestion of the inaudible
         falsehood, not knowing what is hurting them or that they
15    are hurt. This mental bane could not bewilder, darken, or
         misguide consciousness, physically, morally, or spiritually,
         if the individual knew what was at work and his power
18    over it.

         This unseen evil is the sin of sins; it is never forgiven.
         Even the agony and death that it must sooner or later
21    cause the perpetrator, cannot blot out its effects on him-
         self till he suffers up to its extinction and stops practising
         it. The crimes committed under this new-old régime of
24    necromancy or diabolism are not easily reckoned. At
         present its mystery protects it, but its hidden modus and
         flagrance will finally be known, and the laws of our land
27    will handle its thefts, adulteries, and murders, and will
         pass sentence on the darkest and deepest of human
         crimes.

30    Christian Scientists are not hypnotists, they are not


Page 21


1       mortal mind-curists, nor faith-curists; they have faith,
         but they have Science, understanding, and works as well.
3       They are not the addenda, the et ceteras, or new editions
         of old errors; but they are what they are, namely, stu-
         dents of a demonstrable Science leading the ages.


         QUESTIONABLE METAPHYSICS


         In an article published in the New York Journal,
         Rev.- writes: “To the famous Bishop Berkeley of the
9       Church of England may be traced many of the ideas about
         the spiritual world which are now taught in Christian
         Science.”

12    This clergyman gives it as his opinion that Christian
         Science will be improved in its teaching and authorship
         after Mrs. Eddy has gone. I am sorry for my critic, who
15    reckons hopefully on the death of an individual who loves
         God and man; such foreseeing is not foreknowing, and
         exhibits a startling ignorance of Christian Science, and a
18    manifest unfitness to criticise it or to compare its literature.
         He begins his calculation erroneously; for Life is the
         Principle of Christian Science and of its results. Death
21    is neither the predicate nor postulate of Truth, and Christ
         came not to bring death but life into the world. Does this
         critic know of a better way than Christ’s whereby to benefit
24    the race? My faith assures me that God knows more
         than any man on this subject, for did He not know all
         things and results I should not have known Christian
27    Science, or felt the incipient touch of divine Love which
         inspired it.


Page 22


1       That God is good, that Truth is true, and Science is
         Science, who can doubt; and whosoever demonstrates the
3       truth of these propositions is to some extent a Christian
         Scientist. Is Science material? No! It is the Mind of
         God – and God is Spirit. Is Truth material? No!
6       Therefore I do not try to mix matter and Spirit, since
         Science does not and they will not mix. I am a spiritual
         homoeopathist in that I do not believe in such a compound.
9       Truth and Truth is not a compound; Spirit and Spirit is
         not: but Truth and error, Spirit and matter, are com-
         pounds and opposites; so if one is true, the other is false.
12    If Truth is true, its opposite, error, is not; and if Spirit is
         true and infinite, it hath no opposite; therefore matter
         cannot be a reality.

15    I begin at the feet of Christ and with the numeration
         table of Christian Science. But I do not say that one added
         to one is three, or one and a half, nor say this to accom-
18    modate popular opinion as to the Science of Christianity.
         I adhere to my text, that one and one are two all the way
         up to the infinite calculus of the infinite God. The numer-
21    ation table of Christian Science, its divine Principle and
         rules, are before the people, and the different religious
         sects and the differing schools of medicine are discussing
24    them as if they understood its Principle and rules before
         they have learned its numeration table, and insist that the
         public receive their sense of the Science, or that it receive
27    no sense whatever of it.

         Again: Even the numeration table of Christian Science
         is not taught correctly by those who have departed from
30    its absolute simple statement as to Spirit and matter, and


Page 23


1       that one and two are neither more nor less than three;
         and losing the numeration table and the logic of Christian
3       Science, they have little left that the sects and faculties
         can grapple. If Christian Scientists only would admit
         that God is Spirit and infinite, yet that God has an oppo-
6       site and that the infinite is not all; that God is good and
         infinite, yet that evil exists and is real, – thence it would
         follow that evil must either exist in good, or exist outside
9       of the infinite, – they would be in peace with the
         schools.

         This departure, however, from the scientific statement,
12    the divine Principle, rule, or demonstration of Christian
         Science, results as would a change of the denominations
         of mathematics; and you cannot demonstrate Christian
15    Science except on its fixed Principle and given rule, ac-
         cording to the Master’s teaching and proof. He was ultra;
         he was a reformer; he laid the axe at the root of all error,
18    amalgamation, and compounds. He used no material
         medicine, nor recommended it, and taught his disciples
         and followers to do likewise; therefore he demonstrated
21    his power over matter, sin, disease, and death, as no other
         person has ever demonstrated it.

         Bishop Berkeley published a book in 1710 entitled
24    “Treatise Concerning the Principle of Human Knowl-
         edge.” Its object was to deny, on received principles of
         philosophy, the reality of an external material world. In
27    later publications he declared physical substance to be
         “only the constant relation between phenomena connected
         by association and conjoined by the operations of the
30    universal mind, nature being nothing more than conscious


Page 24


1       experience. Matter apart from conscious mind is an impos-
         sible and unreal concept.” He denies the existence of
3       matter, and argues that matter is not without the mind,
         but within it, and that that which is generally called
         matter is only an impression produced by divine power on
6       the mind by means of invariable rules styled the laws of
         nature. Here he makes God the cause of all the ills of
         mortals and the casualties of earth.

9       Again, while descanting on the virtues of tar-water, he
         writes: “I esteem my having taken this medicine the
         greatest of all temporal blessings, and am convinced that
12    under Providence I owe my life to it.” Making matter
         more potent than Mind, when the storms of disease beat
         against Bishop Berkeley’s metaphysics and personality he
15    fell, and great was the fall – from divine metaphysics to
         tar-water !

         Christian Science is more than two hundred years old.
18    It dates beyond Socrates, Leibnitz, Berkeley, Darwin, or
         Huxley. It is as old as God, although its earthly advent
         is called the Christian era.

21    I had not read one line of Berkeley’s writings when I
         published my work Science and Health, the Christian
         Science textbook.

24    In contradistinction to his views I found it necessary to
         follow Jesus’ teachings, and none other, in order to
         demonstrate the divine Science of Christianity – the meta-
27    physics of Christ – healing all manner of diseases. Phil-
         osophy, materia medica, and scholastic theology were
         inadequate to prove the doctrine of Jesus, and I relin-
30    quished the form to attain the spirit or mystery of


Page 25


1      godliness. Hence the mysticism, so called, of my writings
         becomes clear to the godly.

3      Building on the rock of Christ’s teachings, we have a
         superstructure eternal in the heavens, omnipotent on earth,
         encompassing time and eternity. The stone which the
6      builders reject is apt to be the cross, which they reject and
         whereby is won the crown and the head of the corner.

         A knowledge of philosophy and of medicine, the scho-
9      lasticism of a bishop, and the metaphysics (so called)
         which mix matter and mind, – certain individuals call
         aids to divine metaphysics, and regret their lack in my
12    books, which because of their more spiritual import heal
         the sick ! No Christly axioms, practices, or parables are
         alluded to or required in such metaphysics, and the dem-
15    onstration of matter minus, and God all, ends in some
         specious folly.

         The great Metaphysician, Christ Jesus, denounced all
18    such gilded sepulchres of his time and of all time. He
         never recommended drugs, he never used them. What,
         then, is our authority in Christianity for metaphysics based
21    on materialism? He demonstrated what he taught. Had
         he taught the power of Spirit, and along with this the
         power of matter, he would have been as contradictory
24    as the blending of good and evil, and the latter superior,
         which Satan demanded in the beginning, and which has
         since been avowed to be as real, and matter as useful, as
27    the infinite God, – good, – which, if indeed Spirit and
         infinite, excludes evil and matter. Jesus likened such
         self-contradictions to a kingdom divided against itself,
30    that cannot stand.


Page 26


1      The unity and consistency of Jesus’ theory and practice
         give my tired sense of false philosophy and material the-
3      ology rest. The great teacher, preacher, and demonstrator
         of Christianity is the Master, who founded his system of
         metaphysics only on Christ, Truth, and supported it by
6      his words and deeds.

         The five personal senses can have only a finite sense
         of the infinite: therefore the metaphysician is sensual
9      that combines matter with Spirit. In one sentence he
         declaims against matter, in the next he endows it with a
         life-giving quality not to be found in God! and turns
12    away from Christ’s purely spiritual means to the schools
         and matter for help in times of need.

         I have passed through deep waters to preserve Christ’s
15    vesture unrent; then, when land is reached and the world
         aroused, shall the word popularity be pinned to the seam-
         less robe, and they cast lots for it? God forbid! Let
18    it be left to such as see God – to the pure in spirit,
         and the meek that inherit the earth; left to them of a
         sound faith and charity, the greatest of which is charity
21    – spiritual love. St. Paul said: “Though I speak
         with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not
         charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling
24    cymbal.”

         Before leaving this subject of the old metaphysicians,
         allow me to add I have read little of their writings. I was
27    not drawn to them by a native or an acquired taste for
         what was problematic and self-contradictory. What I
         have given to the world on the subject of metaphysical
30    healing or Christian Science is the result of my own ob-


Page 27


1       servation, experience, and final discovery, quite independ-
         ent of all other authors except the Bible.

3       My critic also writes: “The best contributions that
         have been made to the literature of Christian Science have
         been by Mrs. Eddy’s followers. I look to see some St.
6       Paul arise among the Christian Scientists who will inter-
         pret their ideas and principles more clearly, and apply
         them more rationally to human needs.”

9       My works are the first ever published on Christian
         Science, and nothing has since appeared that is correct
         on this subject the basis whereof cannot be traced to some
12    of those works. The application of Christian Science is
         healing and reforming mankind. If any one as yet has
         healed hopeless cases, such as I have in one to three inter-
15    views with the patients, I shall rejoice in being informed
         thereof. Or if a modern St. Paul could start thirty years
         ago without a Christian Scientist on earth, and in this
18    interval number one million, and an equal number of sick
         healed, also sinners reformed and the habits and appe-
         tites of mankind corrected, why was it not done? God is
21    no respecter of persons.

         I have put less of my own personality into Christian
         Science than others do in proportion, as I have taken out
24    of its metaphysics all matter and left Christian Science
         as it is, purely spiritual, Christlike – the Mind of God
         and not of man – born of the Spirit and not matter.
27    Professor Agassiz said: “Every great scientific truth goes
         through three stages. First, people say it conflicts with
         the Bible. Next, they say it has been discovered before.
30    Lastly, they say they had always believed it.” Having


Page 28


1      passed through the first two stages, Christian Science must
         be approaching the last stage of the great naturalist’s
3      prophecy.

         It is only by praying, watching, and working for the
         kingdom of heaven within us and upon earth, that we
6      enter the strait and narrow way, whereof our Master said,
         “and few there be that find it.”
         Of the ancient writers since the first century of the
9      Christian era perhaps none lived a more devout Christian
         life up to his highest understanding than St. Augustine.
         Some of his writings have been translated into almost
12    every Christian tongue, and are classed with the choicest
         memorials of devotion both in Catholic and Protestant
         oratories.

15    Sacred history shows that those who have followed ex-
         clusively Christ’s teaching, have been scourged in the
         synagogues and persecuted from city to city. But this
18    is no cause for not following it; and my only apology for
         trying to follow it is that I love Christ more than all the
         world, and my demonstration of Christian Science in
21    healing has proven to me beyond a doubt that Christ,
         Truth, is indeed the way of salvation from all that work-
         eth or maketh a lie. As Jesus said: “It is enough for
24    the disciple that he be as his master.” It is well to know
         that even Christ Jesus, who was not popular among the
         worldlings in his age, is not popular with them in this
27    age; hence the inference that he who would be popular
         if he could, is not a student of Christ Jesus.

         After a hard and successful career reformers usually
30    are handsomely provided for. Has the thought come to


Page 29


1      Christian Scientists, Have we housed, fed, clothed, or
         visited a reformer for that purpose? Have we looked after
3      or even known of his sore necessities ? Gifts he needs not.
         God has provided the means for him while he was provid-
         ing ways and means for others. But mortals in the ad-
6      vancing stages of their careers need the watchful and
         tender care of those who want to help them. The aged
         reformer should not be left to the mercy of those who are
9       not glad to sacrifice for him even as he has sacrificed for
         others all the best of his earthly years.

         I say this not because reformers are not loved, but be-
12    cause well-meaning people sometimes are inapt or selfish
         in showing their love. They are like children that go out
         from the parents who nurtured them, toiled for them, and
15    enabled them to be grand coworkers for mankind, children
         who forget their parents’ increasing years and needs, and
         whenever they return to the old home go not to help
18    mother but to recruit themselves. Or, if they attempt
         to help their parents, and adverse winds are blowing, this
         is no excuse for waiting till the wind shifts. They should
21    remember that mother worked and won for them by
         facing the winds. All honor and success to those who
         honor their father and mother. The individual who loves
24    most, does most, and sacrifices most for the reformer, is
         the individual who soonest will walk in his footsteps.
         To aid my students in starting under a tithe of my own
27    difficulties, I allowed them for several years fifty cents on
         every book of mine that they sold. “With this percent-
         age,” students wrote me, “quite quickly we have regained
30    our tuition for the college course.”


Page 30


1       Christian Scientists are persecuted even as all other
         religious denominations have been, since ever the primi-
3       tive Christians, “of whom the world was not worthy.”
         We err in thinking the object of vital Christianity is only
         the bequeathing of itself to the coming centuries. The
6       successive utterances of reformers are essential to its
         propagation. The magnitude of its meaning forbids head-
         long haste, and the consciousness which is most imbued
9       struggles to articulate itself.

         Christian Scientists are practically non-resistants; they
         are too occupied with doing good, observing the Golden
12    Rule, to retaliate or to seek redress; they are not quacks,
         giving birth to nothing and death to all, – but they are
         leaders of a reform in religion and in medicine, and they
15    have no craft that is in danger.

         Even religion and therapeutics need regenerating.
         Philanthropists, and the higher class of critics in theology
18    and materia medica, recognize that Christian Science
         kindles the inner genial life of a man, destroying all lower
         considerations. No man or woman is roused to the estab-
21    lishment of a new-old religion by the hope of ease, pleasure,
         or recompense, or by the stress of the appetites and pas-
         sions. And no emperor is obeyed like the man “clouting
24    his own cloak” – working alone with God, yea, like the
         clear, far-seeing vision, the calm courage, and the great
         heart of the unselfed Christian hero.

27    I counsel Christian Scientists under all circumstances
         to obey the Golden Rule, and to adopt Pope’s axiom:
         “An honest, sensible, and well-bred man will not insult
30    me, and no other can.” The sensualist and world-wor-


Page 31


1      shipper are always stung by a clear elucidation of truth,
         of right, and of wrong.

3      The only opposing element that sects or professions
         can encounter in Christian Science is Truth opposed to
         all error, specific or universal. This opposition springs
6      from the very nature of Truth, being neither personal nor
         human, but divine. Every true Christian in the near
         future will learn and love the truths of Christian Science
9      that now seem troublesome. Jesus said, “I came not to
         send peace but a sword.”

         Has God entrusted me with a message to mankind? –
12    then I cannot choose but obey. After a long acquaintance
         with the communicants of my large church, they regard
         me with no vague, fruitless, inquiring wonder. I can use
15    the power that God gives me in no way except in the
         interest of the individual and the community. To this
         verity every member of my church would bear loving
18    testimony.


         MY CHILDHOOD’S CHURCH HOME


         Among the list of blessings infinite I count these dear:
21    Devout orthodox parents; my early culture in the Congre-
         gational Church; the daily Bible reading and family
         prayer; my cradle hymn and the Lord’s Prayer, repeated
24    at night; my early association with distinguished Chris-
         tian clergymen, who held fast to whatever is good, used
         faithfully God’s Word, and yielded up graciously what
27    He took away. It was my fair fortune to be often taught
         by some grand old divines, among whom were the Rev.


Page 32


1      Abraham Burnham of Pembroke, N. H., Rev. Nathaniel
         Bouton, D. D., of Concord, N. H., Congregationalists;
3      Rev. Mr. Boswell, of Bow, N. H., Baptist; Rev. Enoch
         Corser, and Rev. Corban Curtice, Congregationalists; and
         Father Hinds, Methodist Elder. I became early a child
6      of the Church, an eager lover and student of vital Chris-
         tianity. Why I loved Christians of the old sort was I
         could not help loving them. Full of charity and good
9      works, busy about their Master’s business, they had no
         time or desire to defame their fellow-men. God seemed
         to shield the whole world in their hearts, and they were
12    willing to renounce all for Him. When infidels assailed
         them, however, the courage of their convictions was seen.
         They were heroes in the strife; they armed quickly, aimed
15    deadly, and spared no denunciation. Their convictions
         were honest, and they lived them; and the sermons their
         lives preached caused me to love their doctrines.

18    The lives of those old-fashioned leaders of religion ex-
         plain in a few words a good man. They fill the ecclesi-
         astic measure, that to love God and keep His command-
21    ments is the whole duty of man. Such churchmen and
         the Bible, especially the First Commandment of the Dec-
         alogue, and Ninety-first Psalm, the Sermon on the Mount,
24    and St. John’s Revelation, educated my thought many
         years, yea, all the way up to its preparation for and recep-
         tion of the Science of Christianity. I believe, if those
27    venerable Christians were here to-day, their sanctified
         souls would take in the spirit and understanding of Chris-
         tian Science through the flood-gates of Love; with them
30    Love was the governing impulse of every action; their


Page 33


1      piety was the all-important consideration of their being,
         the original beauty of holiness that to-day seems to be
3      fading so sensibly from our sight.

         To plant for eternity, the “accuser” or “calumniator”
         must not be admitted to the vineyard of our Lord, and
6      the hand of love must sow the seed. Carlyle writes:
         “Quackery and dupery do abound in religion; above all,
         in the more advanced decaying stages of religion, they
9      have fearfully abounded; but quackery was never the
         originating influence in such things; it was not the health
         and life of religion, but their disease, the sure precursor
12    that they were about to die.”

         Christian Scientists first and last ask not to be judged
         on a doctrinal platform, a creed, or a diploma for scientific
15    guessing. But they do ask to be allowed the rights of con-
         science and the protection of the constitutional laws of
         their land; they ask to be known by their works, to be
18    judged (if at all) by their works. We admit that they do
         not kill people with poisonous drugs, with the lance, or
         with liquor, in order to heal them. Is it for not killing
21    them thus, or is it for healing them through the might and
         majesty of divine power after the manner taught by Jesus,
         and which he enjoined his students to teach and practise,
24    that they are maligned? The richest and most positive
         proof that a religion in this century is just what it was in
         the first centuries is that the same reviling it received
27    then it receives now, and from the same motives which
         actuate one sect to persecute another in advance of it.

         Christian Scientists are harmless citizens that do not
30    kill people either by their practice or by preventing the


Page 34


1       early employment of an M.D. Why? Because the effect
         of prayer, whereby Christendom saves sinners, is quite
3       as salutary in the healing of all manner of diseases. The
         Bible is our authority for asserting this, in both cases.
         The interval that detains the patient from the attendance
6       of an M.D., occupied in prayer and in spiritual obedience
         to Christ’s mode and means of healing, cannot be fatal
         to the patient, and is proven to be more pathological than
9       the M.D.’s material prescription. If this be not so, where
         shall we look for the standard of Christianity? Have we
         misread the evangelical precepts and the canonical writ-
12    ings of the Fathers, or must we have a new Bible and a
         new system of Christianity, originating not in God, but
         a creation of the schools – a material religion, proscrip-
15    tive, intolerant, wantonly bereft of the Word of God.

         Give us, dear God, again on earth the lost chord of
         Christ; solace us with the song of angels rejoicing with
18    them that rejoice; that sweet charity which seeketh not
         her own but another’s good, yea, which knoweth no evil.

         Finally, brethren, wait patiently on God; return bless-
21    ing for cursing; be not overcome of evil, but overcome
         evil with good; be steadfast, abide and abound in faith,
         understanding, and good works; study the Bible and the
24    textbook of our denomination; obey strictly the laws that
         be, and follow your Leader only so far as she follows
         Christ. Godliness or Christianity is a human necessity:
27    man cannot live without it; he has no intelligence, health,
         hope, nor happiness without godliness. In the words of
         the Hebrew writers: “Trust in the Lord with all thine
30    heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In


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1       all thy ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct thy
         paths;” “and He shall bring forth thy righteousness as
3       the light, and thy judgment as the noonday.”

         The question oft presents itself, Are we willing to sac-
         rifice self for the Cause of Christ, willing to bare our bosom
6       to the blade and lay ourselves upon the altar? Christian
         Science appeals loudly to those asleep upon the hill-tops
         of Zion. It is a clarion call to the reign of righteousness,
9       to the kingdom of heaven within us and on earth, and
         Love is the way alway.


         O the Love divine that plucks us
12    From the human agony!
         O the Master’s glory won thus,
         Doth it dawn on you and me?

15    And the bliss of blotted-out sin
         And the working hitherto –
         Shall we share it – do we walk in
18    Patient faith the way thereto?




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Love is the liberator.