Loyal Christian Scientists

         Pen can never portray the satisfaction that you afforded
         me at the grand meeting in Chicago of the National Chris-
         tian Scientist Association in 1888. Your public and
         private expressions of love and loyalty were very touch-
25    ing. They moved me to speechless thanks.

         Chicago is the wonder of the western hemisphere. The
         Palmer House, where we stopped, is magnificent and
         orderly. The servants are well-mannered, and the fare
         is appetizing. The floral offerings sent to my apartments

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1      were superb, especially the large book of rare flowers, and
         the crescent with a star.

         The reception in the spacious rooms of the Palmer
         House, like all else, was purely Western in its cordiality
5      and largeness. I did not hold interviews with all with
         whom I desired to, solely because so many people and
         circumstances demanded my attention that my person-
         ality was not big enough to fill the order; but rest as-
         sured my heart’s desire met the demand.

10    My students, our delegates, about one thousand Chris-
         tian Scientists, active, earnest, and loyal, formed a goodly
         assemblage for the third convention of our National As-
         sociation,—an assemblage found waiting and watching
         for the full coming of our Lord and Christ.

15    In Christian Science the midnight hour will always be
         the bridal hour, until “no night is there.” The wise
         will have their lamps aglow, and light will illumine the
         darkness.

         Out of the gloom comes the glory of our Lord, and
20    His divine Love is found in affliction. When a false
         sense suffers, the true sense comes out, and the bride-
         groom appears. We are then wedded to a purer, higher
         affection and ideal.

         I pray that all my students shall have their lamps
25    trimmed and burning at the noon of night, that not one
         of them be found borrowing oil, and seeking light from
         matter instead of Spirit, or at work erroneously, thus
         shutting out spiritual light. Such an error and loss will
         be quickly learned when the door is shut. Error giveth
30    no light, and it closes the door on itself.

         In the dark hours, wise Christian Scientists stand
         firmer than ever in their allegiance to God. Wisdom

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1      is wedded to their love, and their hearts are not
         troubled.

         Falsehood is on the wings of the winds, but Truth
         will soar above it. Truth is speaking louder, clearer,
5      and more imperatively than ever. Error is walking to
         and fro in the earth, trying to be heard above Truth,
         but its voice dies out in the distance. Whosoever pro-
         claims Truth loudest, becomes the mark for error’s shafts.
         The archers aim at Truth’s mouthpiece; but a heart
10    loyal to God is patient and strong. Justice waits, and
         is used to waiting; and right wins the everlasting
         victory.

         The stake and scaffold have never silenced the mes-
         sages of the Most High. Then can the present mode of
15    attempting this—namely, by slanderous falsehoods, and
         a secret mind-method, through which to effect the pur-
         poses of envy and malice—silence Truth? Never. They
         but open the eyes to the truth of Benjamin Franklin’s
         report before the French Commissioners on Mesmerism:
20    “It is one more fact to be recorded in the history of the
         errors of the human mind.”

         “The Lord reigneth; let the earth rejoice.”

         No evidence before the material senses can close my
         eyes to the scientific proof that God, good, is supreme.
25    Though clouds are round about Him, the divine justice
         and judgment are enthroned. Love is especially near
         in times of hate, and never so near as when one can be
         just amid lawlessness, and render good for evil.

         I thunder His law to the sinner, and sharply lighten
30    on the cloud of the intoxicated senses. I cannot help
         loathing the phenomena of drunkenness produced by
         animality. I rebuke it wherever I see it. The vision

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1      of the Revelator is before me. The wines of fornica-
         tion, envy, and hatred are the distilled spirits of evil,
         and are the signs of these times; but I am not dismayed,
         and my peace returns unto me.

5      Error will hate more as it realizes more the presence
         of its tormentor. I shall fulfil my mission, fight the good
         fight, and keep the faith.

         There is great joy in this consciousness, that through-
         out my labors, and in my history as connected with the
10    Cause of Christian Science, it can be proven that I have
         never given occasion for a single censure, when my mo-
         tives and acts are understood and seen as my Father
         seeth them. I once wondered at the Scriptural declara-
         tion that Job sinned not in all he said, even when he cursed
15    the hour of his birth; but I have learned that a curse on
         sin is always a blessing to the human race.

         Those only who are tried in the furnace reflect the
         image of their Father. You, my beloved students, who
         are absent from me, and have shared less of my labors
20    than many others, seem stronger to resist temptation
         than some of those who have had line upon line and
         precept upon precept. This may be a serviceable hint,
         since necessities and God’s providence are foreshadowed.
         I have felt for some time that perpetual instruction of
25    my students might substitute my own for their growth,
         and so dwarf their experience. If they must learn by
         the things they suffer, the sooner this lesson is gained
         the better.

         For two years I have been gradually withdrawing from
30    active membership in the Christian Scientist Association.
         This has developed higher energies on the part of true
         followers, and led to some startling departures on the

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1      other hand. “Offenses will come: but woe unto him,
         through whom they come.”

         Why does not the certainty of individual punishment
         for sin prevent the wrong action? It is the love of God,
5      and not the fear of evil, that is the incentive in Science.
         I rejoice with those who rejoice, and am too apt to weep
         with those who weep, but over and above it all are eter-
         nal sunshine and joy unspeakable.