Chapter 8 — Dedicatory Messages to Branch Churches
From Miscellany by Mary Baker Eddy
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Table of Contents
- First Church of Christ, Scientist, Chicago, Ill.
- First Church of Christ, Scientist, London, England
- First Church of Christ, Scientist, Brooklyn, N. Y.
- First Church of Christ, Scientist, Detroit, Mich.
- First Church of Christ, Scientist, Toronto, Canada
- White Mountain Church
- First Church of Christ, Scientist, Duluth, Minn.
- First Church of Christ, Scientist, Salt Lake City, Utah
- First Church of Christ, Scientist, Atlanta, Ga.
- Second Church of Christ, Scientist, Chicago, Ill.
- First Church of Christ, Scientist, Los Angeles, Cal.
- Second Church of Christ, Scientist, Minneapolis, Minn.
- First Church of Christ, Scientist, New York, N. Y.
- First Church of Christ, Scientist, Cleveland, Ohio
- First Church of Christ, Scientist, Pittsburgh, Pa.
- First Church of Christ, Scientist, St, Louis, Mo.
- First Church of Christ, Scientist, San Jose, Cal.
- First Church of Christ, Scientist, Wilmington, N. C.
- First Church of Christ, Scientist, London, England
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1 FIRST CHURCH OF CHRIST, SCIENTIST,
of CHICAGO, ILL.
3 Beloved Brethren: — Most happily would I com-
ply with your cordial invitation and be with you on
so interesting an occasion as the dedication of First
6 Church of Christ, Scientist, in Chicago. But daily duties
attention elsewhere, and I am glad to say that
there seems to be no special need of my personal pres-
9 ence at your religious jubilee. I am quite able to take
the trip to your city, and if wisdom lengthens my sum
of years to fourscore (already imputed to me), I shall
12 then be even younger and nearer the eternal meridian
than now, for the true knowledge and proof of life is in
putting off the limitations and putting on the possibilities
15 and permanence of Life.
In your renowned city, the genesis of Christian Science
was allied to that olden axiom: “The blood of the martyrs
18 is the seed of the Church;” but succeeding years show in
livid lines that the great Shepherd has nurtured and
nourished this church as a fatling of the flock. To-day
21 the glory of His presence rests upon it, the joy of many
generations awaits it, and this prophecy of Isaiah is
fulfilled among you: “I will direct their work in truth,
24 and I will make an everlasting covenant with them.”
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1 Your Bible and your textbook, pastor and ethical
tenets, do not mislead the seeker after Truth. These
3 unpretentious preachers cloud not the spiritual meaning
of Holy Writ by material interpretations, nor lose the
invincible process and purity of Christianity whereby
6 the sick are healed and sinners saved. The Science of
Christianity is not generally understood, but it hastens
hourly to this end. This Science is the essence of religion,
9 distilled in the laboratory of infinite Love and prepared
for all peoples. And because Science is naturally divine,
is this natural Science less profitable or scientific than
12 “counting the legs of insects”? The Scripture declares
that God is All. Then all is Spirit and spiritual. The
true sense of life is lost to those who regard being
15 as material. The Scripture pronounces all that God
made “good;” therefore if evil exists, it exists without
God. But this is impossible in reality, for He made
18 all “that was made.” Hence the inevitable revelation
of Christian Science — that evil is unreal; and this is
the best of it.
21 On April 15, 1891, the Christian Science textbook lay
on a table in a burning building. A Christian Scientist
entered the house through a window and snatched this
24 book from the flames. Instantly the table sank a charred
mass. The covers of the book were burned up, but not
one word in the book was effaced. If the world were in
27 ashes, the contents of “Science and Health with Key to
the Scriptures” would remain immortal.
It is said that the nearest approach to the sayings of
30 the great Master is the Logia of Papias, written in A.D.
145, and that all else reported as his sayings are transla-
tions. The ancient Logia, or imputed sayings of Jesus
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1 by Papias, are undoubtedly the beginning of the gospel
writings. The synoptic Scriptures, as set forth in the
3 first and second chapters of Genesis, were in two dis-
tinct manuscripts. The first gave an account of the
spiritual creation, and the second was an opposite story,
6 or allegory, of a material universe and man made of
dust. In this allegorical document the power and pre-
rogative of Spirit are submerged in matter. In other
9 words, soul enters non-intelligent dust and man becomes
both good and evil, both mind and matter, mortal and
immortal, — all of which divine Science shows to be an
12 impossibility.
The Old and the New Testaments contain self-evident
truths that cannot be lost, but being translations, the
15 Scriptures are criticized. Some dangerous skepticism ex-
ists as to the verification of our Master’s sayings. But
Christians and Christian Scientists know that if the Old
18 Testament and gospel narratives had never been written,
the nature of Christianity, as depicted in the life of our
Lord, and the truth in the Scriptures, are sufficient to au-
21 thenticate Christ’s Christianity as the perfect ideal. The
character of the Nazarene Prophet illustrates the Prin-
ciple and practice of a true divinity and humanity. The
24 different renderings or translations of Scripture in no
wise affect Christian Science. Christianity and Science,
being contingent on nothing written and based on the
27 divine Principle of being, must be, are, irrefutable and
eternal.
We are indeed privileged in having the untranslated
30 revelations of Christian Science. They afford such expo-
sitions of the therapeutics, ethics, and Christianity of
Christ as make even God demonstrable, the divine Love
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practical, and so furnish rules whereby man can prove
God’s love, healing the sick and the sinner.
3 Whosoever understands Christian Science knows beyond
a doubt that its life-giving truths were preached and
practised in the first century by him who proved their
6 practicality, who uttered Christ’s Sermon on the Mount,
who taught his disciples the healing Christianity which
applies to all ages, and who dated time. A spiritual
9 understanding of the Scriptures restores their origi-
nal tongue in the language of Spirit, that primordial
standard of Truth.
12 Christian Science contains no element whatever of hyp-
notism or animal magnetism. It appeals alone to God, to
the divine Principle, or Life, Truth, and Love, to whom
15 all things are possible; and this Principle heals sin, sick-
ness, disease, and death. Christian Science meets error
with Truth, death with Life, hate with Love, and thus,
18 and only thus, does it overcome evil and heal disease.
The obstinate sinner, however, refuses to see this grand
verity or to acknowledge it, for he knows not that in justice,
21 as well as in mercy, God is Love.
In our struggles with sin and sinners, when we drop
compliance with their desires, insist on what we know is
24 right, and act accordingly, the disguised or the self-
satisfied mind, not ready to be uplifted, rebels, miscon-
strues our best motives, and calls them unkind. But this
27 is the cross. Take it up, — it wins the crown; and in
the spirit of our great Exemplar pray: “Father, forgive
them; for they know not what they do.”
30 No warfare exists between divine theology and Christian
Science, for the latter solves the whence and why of the
cosmos and defines noumenon and phenomena spiritually,
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1 not materially. The specific quest of Christian Science is
to settle all points beyond cavil, on the Biblical basis that
3 God is All-in-all; whereas philosophy and so-called natural
science, dealing with human hypotheses, or material cause
and effect, are aided only at long intervals with elementary
6 truths, and ultimate in unsolved problems and outgrown,
proofless positions.
Progress is spiritual. Progress is the maturing concep-
9 tion of divine Love; it demonstrates the scientific, sinless
life of man and mortal’s painless departure from matter
to Spirit, not through death, but through the true idea of
12 Life, — and Life not in matter but in Mind.
The Puritans possessed the motive of true religion,
which, demonstrated on the Golden Rule, would have
15 solved ere this the problem of religious liberty and human
rights. It is “a consummation devoutly to be wished”
that all nations shall speedily learn and practise the
18 intermediate line of justice between the classes and masses
of mankind, and thus exemplify in all things the universal
equity of Christianity.
21 Thirty years ago (1866) Christian Science was discovered
in America. Within those years it is estimated that
Chicago has gained from a population of 238,000 to the
24 number of 1,650,000 inhabitants.
The statistics of mortality show that thirty years ago
the death-rate was at its maximum. Since that time it
27 has steadily decreased. It is authentically said that one
expositor of Daniel’s dates fixed the year 1866 or 1867 for
the return of Christ — the return of the spiritual idea to
30 the material earth or antipode of heaven. It is a marked
coincidence that those dates were the first two years of
my discovery of Christian Science.
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Thirty years ago Chicago had few Congregational
churches. To-day it is said to have a majority of these
3 churches over any other city in the United States. Thirty
years ago at my request I received from the Congrega-
tional Church a letter of dismissal and recommendation
6 to evangelical churches — thenceforth to exemplify my
early love for this church and a membership of thirty
years by establishing a new-old church, the foundations
9 of which are the same, even Christ, Truth, as the chief
corner-stone.
In 1884, I taught a class in Christian Science and
12 formed a Christian Scientist Association in Chicago.
From this small sowing of the seed of Truth, which, when
sown, seemed the least among seeds, sprang immortal
15 fruits through God’s blessing and the faithful labor of
loyal students, — the healing of the sick, the reforming
of the sinner, and First Church of Christ, Scientist, with
18 its large membership and majestic cathedral.
Humbly, gratefully, trustingly, I dedicate this beauti-
ful house of worship to the God of Israel, the divine
21 Love that reigns above the shadow, that launched the
earth in its orbit, that created and governs the universe —
guarding, guiding, giving grace, health, and immortality
24 to man.
May the wanderer in the wilderness of mortal beliefs
and fears turn hither with satisfied hope. May the birds
27 of passage rest their weary wings amid the fair foliage of
this vine of His husbanding, find shelter from the storm
and a covert from the tempest. May this beloved
30 church adhere to its tenets, abound in the righteousness
of Love, honor the name of Christian Science, prove the
practicality of perfection, and press on to the infinite
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1 uses of Christ’s creed, namely, — “Thou shalt love the
Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul,
3 and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and
thy neighbor as thyself.” Thus may First Church of
Christ, Scientist, in this great city of Chicago, verify what
6 John Robinson wrote in 1620 to our Pilgrim Fathers:
“When Christ reigns, and not till then, will the world
have rest.”
FIRST CHURCH OF CHRIST, SCIENTIST,
LONDON, ENGLAND
Beloved Brethren across the Sea: — To-day a nation is
12 born. Spiritual apprehension unfolds, transfigures, heals.
With you be there no more sea, no ebbing faith, no night.
Love be thy light upon the mountain of Israel. God
15 will multiply thee.
FIRST CHURCH OF CHRIST, SCIENTIST,
BROOKLYN, N. Y.
18 Beloved Brethren: — I rejoice with you; the day has
come when the forest becomes a fruitful field, and the deaf
hear the words of the Book, and the eyes of the blind see
21 out of obscurity.
FIRST CHURCH OF CHRIST, SCIENTIST,
DETROIT, MICH.
24 Beloved Students and Church: — Thanks for invitation
to your dedication. Not afar off I am blending with
thine my prayer and rejoicing. God is with thee. “Arise,
27 shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is
risen upon thee.”
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FIRST CHURCH OF CHRIST, SCIENTIST,
TORONTO, CANADA
3 Beloved Brethren: — Have just received your des-
patch. Since the world was, men have not heard with
the ear, neither hath the eye seen, what God hath prepared
6 for them that wait upon Him and work righteousness.
WHITE MOUNTAIN CHURCH
My Beloved Brethren: — To-day I am privileged to
9 congratulate the Christian Scientists of my native State
upon having built First Church of Christ, Scientist, at
the the Mountains. Your kind card, inviting me to
12 be present at at dedication, came when I was so occu-
pied that I omitted to wire an acknowledgment thereof
and to return my cordial thanks at an earlier date. The
15 beautiful birch bark on which it was written pleased me;
it was so characteristic of our Granite State, and I
treasure it next to your compliments. That rustic scroll
18 brought back to me the odor of my childhood, a love
which stays the shadows of years. God grant that this
little church shall prove a historic gem on the glowing
21 records of Christianity, and lay upon its altars a sacrifice
and service acceptable in God’s sight.
Your rural chapel is a social success quite sacred in its
24 results. The prosperity of Zion is very precious in the
sight of divine Love, holding unwearied watch over a
world. Isaiah said: “How beautiful upon the mountains
27 are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, . . . that
saith unto Zion, Thy God reigneth!” Surely, the Word
that is God must at some time find utterance and accept-
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1 ance throughout the earth, for he that soweth shall reap.
To such as have waited patiently for the appearing of
3 Truth, the day dawns and the harvest bells are ringing.
“Let us, then, be up and doing,
With a heart for any fate;
6 Still achieving, still pursuing,
Learn to labor and to wait.”
The peace of Love is published, and the sword of the
9 Spirit is drawn; nor will it be sheathed till Truth shall
reign triumphant over all the earth. Truth, Life, and
Love are formidable, wherever thought, felt, spoken, or
12 written, — in the pulpit, in the court-room, by the way-
side, or in our homes. They are the victors never to be
vanquished. Love is the generic term for God. Love
15 formed this trinity, Truth, Life, Love, the trinity no man
can sunder. Life is the spontaneity of Love, inseparable
from Love, and Life is the “Lamb slain from the foun-
18 dation of the world,” — even that which “was dead, and
is alive again; and was lost, and is found;” for Life is
Christ, and Christ, as aforetime, heals the sick, saves
21 sinners, and destroys the last enemy, death.
In 1888 I visited these mountains and spoke to an
attentive audience collected in the hall at the Fabyan
24 House. Then and there I foresaw this hour, and spoke
of the little church to be in the midst of the mountains,
closing my remarks with the words of Mrs. Hemans: —
27 For the strength of the hills, we bless Thee,
Our God, our fathers’ God!
The sons and daughters of the Granite State are rich in
30 signs and symbols, sermons in stones, refuge in mountains,
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1 and good universal. The rocks, rills, mountains, meadows,
fountains, and forests of our native State should be
3 prophetic of the finger divine that writes in living char-
acters their lessons on our lives. May God’s little ones
cluster around this rock-ribbed church like tender nestlings
6 in the crannies of the rocks, and preen their thoughts for
upward flight.
Though neither dome nor turret tells the tale of your
9 little church, its song and sermon will touch the heart,
point the path above the valley, up the mountain, and on
to the celestial hills, echoing the Word welling up from
12 the infinite and swelling the loud anthem of one Father-
Mother God, o’er all victorious! Rest assured that He
in whom dwelleth all life, health, and holiness, will supply
15 all your needs according to His riches in glory.
FIRST CHURCH OF CHRIST, SCIENTIST,
DULUTH, MINN.
18 First Church of Christ, Scientist, Duluth, Minn.: — May
our God make this church the fold of flocks, and may
those that plant the vineyard eat the fruit thereof. Here
21 let His promise be verified: “Before they call, I will
answer; and while they are yet speaking, I will hear.”
FIRST CHURCH OF CHRIST, SCIENTIST,
SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH
Beloved Brethren: — Accept my thanks for your cordial
card inviting me to be with you on the day of your church
27 dedication. It gives me great pleasure to know that
you have erected a Church of Christ, Scientist, in your
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1 city. Surely, your fidelity, faith, and Christian zeal
fairly indicate that, spiritually as well as literally, the
3 church in Salt Lake City hath not lost its saltness. I
may at some near future visit your city, but am too busy
to think of doing so at present.
6 May the divine light of Christian Science that lighteth
every enlightened thought illumine your faith and under-
standing, exclude all darkness or doubt, and signal the
9 perfect path wherein to walk, the perfect Principle whereby
to demonstrate the perfect man and the perfect law of
God. In the words of St. Paul: “Now the end of the
12 commandment is charity out of a pure heart, and of a
good conscience, and of faith unfeigned;” and St. John
says: “For this is the message that ye heard from the
15 beginning, that we should love one another.”
May the grace and love of God be and abide with
you all.
18 PLEASANT VIEW, CONCORD, N. H.,
November 16, 1898
FIRST CHURCH OF CHRIST, SCIENTIST,
ATLANTA, GEORGIA
My Beloved Brethren: — You have met to conse-
crate your beautiful temple to the worship of the only
24 true God. Since the day in which you were brought into
the light and liberty of His children, it has been in the
hearts of this people to build a house unto Him whose
27 name they would glorify in a new commandment —
“that ye love one another.” In this new recognition of
the riches of His love and the majesty of His might you
30 have built this house — laid its foundations on the rock
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1 of Christ, and the stone which the builders rejected you
have made the head of the corner. This house is hallowed
3 by His promise: “I have hallowed this house, which thou
hast built, to put my name there forever; and mine eyes
and mine heart shall be there perpetually.” “Now mine
6 eyes shall be open, and mine ears attent unto the prayer
that is made in this place.” Your feast days will not be
in commemoration, but in recognition of His presence;
9 your ark of the covenant will not be brought out of the
city of David, but out of “the secret place of the most
High,” whereof the Psalmist sang, even the omniscience
12 of omnipotence; your tabernacle of the congregation will
not be temporary, but a “house not made with hands,
eternal in the heavens;” your oracle, under the wings of
15 the cherubim, is Truth’s evangel, enunciating, “God is
Love.”
In spirit I enter your inner sanctuary, your heart’s
18 heart, breathing a benediction for God’s largess. He
surely will not shut me out from your presence, and the
ponderous walls of your grand cathedral cannot prevent
21 me from entering where the heart of a Southron has
welcomed me.
Christian Science has a place in its court, in which, like
24 beds in hospitals, one man’s head lies at another’s feet.
As you work, the ages win; for the majesty of Christian
Science teaches the majesty of man. When it is learned
27 that spiritual sense and not the material senses convey all
impressions to man, man will naturally seek the Science of
his spiritual nature, and finding it, be God-endowed for
30 discipleship.
When divine Love gains admittance to a humble heart,
that individual ascends the scale of miracles and meets the
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1 warmest wish of men and angels. Clad in invincible
armor, grasping the sword of Spirit, you have started in
3 this sublime ascent, and should reach the mount of revela-
tion; for if ye would run, who shall hinder you? So dear,
so due, to God is obedience, that it reaches high heaven
6 in the common walks of life, and it affords even me a
perquisite of joy.
You worship no distant deity, nor talk of unknown
9 love. The silent prayers of our churches, resounding
through the dim corridors of time, go forth in waves of
sound, a diapason of heart-beats, vibrating from one
12 pulpit to another and from one heart to another, till
truth and love, commingling in one righteous prayer,
shall encircle and cement the human race.
15 The government of divine Love derives its omnipotence
from the love it creates in the heart of man; for love is
allegiant, and there is no loyalty apart from love. When
18 the human senses wake from their long slumber to see how
soon earth’s fables flee and faith grows wearisome, then
that which defies decay and satisfies the immortal cravings
21 is sought and found. In the twilight of the world’s
pageantry, in the last-drawn sigh of a glory gone, we are
drawn towards God.
24 Beloved brethren, I cannot forget that yours is the first
church edifice of our denomination erected in the sunny
South — once my home. There my husband died, and
27 the song and the dirge, surging my being, gave expression
to a poem written in 1844, from which I copy this verse: —
Friends, why throng in pity round me?
30 Wherefore, pray, the bell did toll?
Dead is he who loved me dearly:
Am I not alone in soul?
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1 Did that midnight shadow, falling upon the bridal
wreath, bring the recompense of human woe, which is the
3 merciful design of divine Love, and so help to evolve that
larger sympathy for suffering humanity which is eman-
cipating it with the morning beams and noonday glory of
6 Christian Science?
The age is fast answering this question: Does Christian
Science equal materia medica in healing the worst forms
9 of contagious and organic diseases? My experience in
both practices — materia medica and the scientific meta-
physical practice of medicine — shows the latter not only
12 equalling but vastly excelling the former.
Christians who accept our Master as authority, regard
his sayings as infallible. Jesus’ students, failing to cure a
15 severe case of lunacy, asked their great Teacher, “Why
could not we cast him out?” He answered, “This kind
goeth not out but by prayer and fasting.” This declara-
18 tion of our Master, as to the relative value, skill, and
certainty of the divine laws of Mind over the human
mind and above matter in healing disease, remains beyond
21 questioning a divine decision in behalf of Mind.
Jesus gave his disciples (students) power over all manner
of diseases; and the Bible was written in order that all
24 peoples, in all ages, should have the same opportunity to
become students of the Christ, Truth, and thus become
God-endued with power (knowledge of divine law) and
27 with “signs following.” Jesus declared that his teaching
and practice would remain, even as it did, “for them also
which shall believe on me through their word.” Then,
30 in the name of God, wherefore vilify His prophets to-day
who are fulfilling Jesus’ prophecy and verifying his last
promise, “Lo, I am with you alway”? It were well for
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1 the world if there survived more of the wisdom of Nico-
demus of old, who said, “No man can do these miracles
3 that thou doest, except God be with him.”
Be patient towards persecution. Injustice has not a
tithe of the power of justice. Your enemies will advertise
6 for you. Christian Science is spreading steadily through-
out the world. Persecution is the weakness of tyrants
engendered by their fear, and love will cast it out. Con-
9 tinue steadfast in love and good works. Children of
light, you are not children of darkness. Let your light
shine. Keep in mind the foundations of Christian
12 Science — one God and one Christ. Keep personality
out of sight, and Christ’s “Blessed are ye” will seal your
apostleship.
15 This glad Easter morning witnesseth a risen Saviour, a
higher human sense of Life and Love, which wipes away
all tears. With grave-clothes laid aside, Christ, Truth, has
18 come forth from the tomb of the past, clad in immortality.
The sepulchres give up their dead. Spirit is saying unto
matter: I am not there, am not within you. Behold the
21 place where they laid me; but human thought has risen!
Mortality’s thick gloom is pierced. The stone is rolled
away. Death has lost its sting, and the grave its victory.
24 Immortal courage fills the human breast and lights the
living way of Life.
SECOND CHURCH OF CHRIST, SCIENTIST,
CHICAGO, ILL.
My Beloved Brethren: — Your card of invitation to this
feast of soul — the dedication of your church — was duly
30 received. Accept my thanks.
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1 Ye sit not in the idol’s temple. Ye build not to an
unknown God. Ye worship Him whom ye serve. Boast
3 not thyself, thou ransomed of divine Love, but press on
unto the possession of unburdened bliss. Heal the sick,
make spotless the blemished, raise the living dead, cast
6 out fashionable lunacy.
The ideal robe of Christ is seamless. Thou hast touched
its hem, and thou art being healed. The risen Christ is
9 thine. The haunting mystery and gloom of his glory
rule not this century. Thine is the upspringing hope, the
conquest over sin and mortality, that lights the living
12 way to Life, not to death.
May the God of our fathers, the infinite Person whom
we worship, be and abide with you. May the blessing of
15 divine Love rest with you. My heart hovers around your
churches in Chicago, for the dove of peace sits smilingly
on these branches and sings of our Redeemer.
FIRST CHURCH OF CHRIST, SCIENTIST,
LOS ANGELES, CAL.
Beloved Students: — Your kind letter, inviting me to
21 be present at the dedication of your church, was duly
received. It would indeed give me pleasure to visit you,
to witness your prosperity, and “rejoice with them that
24 do rejoice,” but the constant recurring demands upon
my time and attention pin me to my post. Of this,
however, I can sing: My love can fly on wings of joy to
27 you and leave a leaf of olive; it can whisper to you of
the divine ever-presence, answering your prayers, crown-
ing your endeavors, and building for you a house “eternal
30 in the heavens.”
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1 You will dedicate your temple in faith unfeigned, not to
the unknown God, but unto Him whom to know aright
3 is life everlasting. His presence with you will bring to
your hearts so much of heaven that you will not feel my
absence. The privilege remains mine to watch and work
6 for all, from East to West, from the greensward and
gorgeous skies of the Orient to your dazzling glory
in the Occident, and to thank God forever “for His
9 goodness, and for His wonderful works to the children
of men.”
PLEASANT VIEW, CONCORD, N. H.,
12 November 20, 1902
SECOND CHURCH OF CHRIST, SCIENTIST,
MINNEAPOLIS, MINN.
15 Beloved: — The spiritual dominates the temporal. Love
gives nothing to take away. Nothing dethrones His
house. You are dedicating yours to Him. Protesting
18 against error, you unite with all who believe in Truth.
God guard and guide you.
FIRST CHURCH OF CHRIST, SCIENTIST,
NEW YORK, N. Y.
Beloved Brethren: — Carlyle writes, “Give a thing time;
if it succeeds, it is a right thing.” Here I aver that you
24 have grasped time and labor, taking the first by the fore-
lock and the last by love. In this lofty temple, dedicated
to God and humanity, may the prophecy of Isaiah be
27 fulfilled: “Fear not: . . . I have called thee by thy
name; thou art mine.” Within its sacred walls may
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1 song and sermon generate only that which Christianity
writes in broad facts over great continents — sermons
3 that fell forests and remove mountains, songs of joy
and gladness.
The letter of your work dies, as do all things material,
6 but the spirit of it is immortal. Remember that a temple
but foreshadows the idea of God, the “house not made
with hands, eternal in the heavens,” while a silent, grand
9 man or woman, healing sickness and destroying sin,
builds that which reaches heaven. Only those men and
women gain greatness who gain themselves in a complete
12 subordination of self.
The tender memorial engraven on your grand edifice
stands for human self lost in divine light, melted into the
15 radiance of His likeness. It stands for meekness and
might, for Truth as attested by the Founder of your
denomination and emblazoned on the fair escutcheon of
18 your church.
Beloved Students: — Your telegram, in which you pre-
sent to me the princely gift of your magnificent church
21 edifice in New York City, is an unexpected token of your
gratitude and love. I deeply appreciate it, profoundly
thank you for it, and gratefully accept the spirit of it;
24 but I must decline to receive that for which you have
sacrificed so much and labored so long. May divine
Love abundantly bless you, reward you according to
27 your works, guide and guard you and your church
through the depths; and may you
“Who stood the storm when seas were rough,
30 Ne’er in a sunny hour fall off.”
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FIRST CHURCH OF CHRIST, SCIENTIST,
CLEVELAND, OHIO
3 Beloved Brethren: — You will pardon my delay in
acknowledging your card of invitation to the dedicatory
services of your church. Adverse circumstances, loss of
6 help, new problems to be worked out for the field, etc,.
have hitherto prevented my reply. However, it is never
too late to repent, to love more, to work more, to watch
9 and pray; but those privileges I have not had time to
express, and so have submitted to necessity, letting the
deep love which I cherished for you be hidden under an
12 appearance of indifference.
We must resign with good grace what we are denied, and
press on with what we are, for we cannot do more than we
15 are nor understand what is not ripening in us. To do
good to all because we love all, and to use in God’s service
the one talent that we all have, is our only means of
18 adding to that talent and the best way to silence a deep
discontent with our shortcomings.
Christian Science is at length learned to be no miserable
21 piece of ideal legerdemain, by which we poor mortals ex-
pect to live and die, but a deep-drawn breath fresh from
God, by whom and in whom man lives, moves, and has
24 deathless being. The praiseworthy success of this church,
and its united efforts to build an edifice in which to worship
the infinite, sprang from the temples erected first in the
27 hearts of its members — the unselfed love that builds
without hands, eternal in the heaven of Spirit. God
grant that this unity remain, and that you continue to
30 build, rebuild, adorn, and fill these spiritual temples with
grace, Truth, Life, and Love.
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FIRST CHURCH OF CHRIST, SCIENTIST,
PITTSBURGH, PA.
3 My Beloved Brethren: — I congratulate you upon erect-
ing the first edifice of our denomination in the Keystone
State, a State whose metropolis is called the “city of
6 brotherly love.” May this dear church militant accept
my tender counsel in these words of the Scripture, to be
engrafted in church and State: —
9 “Let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to
wrath.” “He that is slow to anger is better than the
mighty; and he that ruleth his spirit than he that taketh
12 a city.” “If any man offend not in word, the same is
a perfect man, and able also to bridle the whole body.”
“By thy words thou shalt be condemned.” “Love thy
15 neighbor as thyself.”
“Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example,
that [we] should follow his steps: . . . who, when he was
18 reviled, reviled not again; when he suffered, he threatened
not; but committed himself to Him that judgeth right-
eously.” “Consider him that endured such contradiction
21 of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in
your minds.”
FIRST CHURCH OF CHRIST, SCIENTIST,
ST. LOUIS, MO.
My Beloved Brethren: — The good in being, even the
spiritually indispensable, is your daily bread. Work and
27 pray for it. The poor toil for our bread, and we should
work for their health and holiness. Over the glaciers of
winter the summer glows. The beauty of holiness comes
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1 with the departure of sin. Enjoying good things is
not evil, but becoming slaves to pleasure is. That error
3 is most forcible which is least distinct to conscience.
Attempt nothing without God’s help.
May the beauty of holiness be upon this dear people,
6 and may this beloved church be glorious, without spot
or blemish.
FIRST CHURCH OF CHRIST, SCIENTIST,
SAN JOSE, CAL.
Beloved Students: —Words are inadequate to express
my deep appreciation of your labor and success in com-
12 pleting and dedicating your church edifice, and of the
great hearts and ready hands of our far Western students,
the Christian Scientists.
15 Comparing such students with those whose words
are but the substitutes for works, we learn that the
translucent atmosphere of the former must illumine the
18 midnight of the latter, else Christian Science will dis-
appear from among mortals.
I thank divine Love for the hope set before us in the
21 Word and in the doers thereof, “for of such is the kingdom
of heaven.”
FIRST CHURCH OF CHRIST, SCIENTIST,
WILMINGTON, N. C.
My Beloved Brethren: — At this dedicatory season of
your church edifice in the home of my heart, I send lov-
27 ing congratulations, join with you in song and sermon.
God will bless the work of your hearts and hands.
PLEASANT VIEW, CONCORD, N. H.,
30 July 27, 1907
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FIRST CHURCH OF CHRIST, SCIENTIST,
LONDON, ENGLAND
3 Beloved Students and Brethren: — Your letters of May 1
and June 19, informing me of the dedication of your
magnificent church edifice, have been received with many
6 thanks to you and great gratitude to our one Father.
May God grant not only the continuance of His favors, but their abundant and
ripened fruit.
9 CHESTNUT HILL, MASS.,
June 26, 1909
