avenging angel!
In times like these it were well to lift the veil on the sackcloth of home, where weepeth the faithful, stricken mother, and the bruised father bendeth his aching head; where the bereft wife or husband, silent and alone, looks [10]
in dull despair at the vacant seat, and the motherless little ones, wondering, huddle together, and repeat with quivering lips words of strange import. May the great Shepherd that "tempers the wind to the shorn lamb,"
and binds up the wounds of bleeding hearts, just comfort, [15]
encourage, and bless all who mourn.
Father, we thank Thee that Thy light and Thy love reach earth, open the prison to them that are bound, con- sole the innocent, and throw wide the gates of heaven.
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 a.s.sociation in 1888. Your public and private expressions of love and loyalty were very touch- ing. They moved me to speechless thanks. [25]
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
[Page 276.]
were superb, especially the large book of rare flowers, and [1]
the crescent with a star.
The reception in the s.p.a.cious rooms of the Palmer House, like all else, was purely Western in its cordiality and largeness. I did not hold interviews with all with [5]
whom I desired to, solely because so many people and circ.u.mstances 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.
My students, our delegates, about one thousand Chris- [10]
tian Scientists, active, earnest, and loyal, formed a goodly a.s.semblage for the third convention of our National As- sociation,-an a.s.semblage found waiting and watching for the full coming of our Lord and Christ.
In Christian Science the midnight hour will always be [15]
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 His divine Love is found in affliction. When a false [20]
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 trimmed and burning at the noon of night, that not one [25]
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 no light, and it closes the door on itself. [30]
In the dark hours, wise Christian Scientists stand firmer than ever in their allegiance to G.o.d. Wisdom
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is wedded to their love, and their hearts are not [1]
troubled.
Falsehood is on the wings of the winds, but Truth will soar above it. Truth is speaking louder, clearer, and more imperatively than ever. Error is walking to [5]
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 loyal to G.o.d is patient and strong. Justice waits, and [10]
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 attempting this-namely, by slanderous falsehoods, and [15]
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: "It is one more fact to be recorded in the history of the [20]
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 G.o.d, good, is supreme.
Though clouds are round about Him, the divine justice [25]
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 on the cloud of the intoxicated senses. I cannot help [30]
loathing the phenomena of drunkenness produced by animality. I rebuke it wherever I see it. The vision
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of the Revelator is before me. The wines of fornica- [1]
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.
Error will hate more as it realizes more the presence [5]
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 Cause of Christian Science, it can be proven that I have [10]
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 the hour of his birth; but I have learned that a curse on [15]
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 than many others, seem stronger to resist temptation [20]
than some of those who have had line upon line and precept upon precept. This may be a serviceable hint, since necessities and G.o.d"s providence are foreshadowed.
I have felt for some time that perpetual instruction of my students might subst.i.tute my own for their growth, [25]
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 active membership in the Christian Scientist a.s.sociation. [30]
This has developed higher energies on the part of true followers, and led to some startling departures on the
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other hand. "Offenses will come: but woe unto him, [1]
through whom they come."
Why does not the certainty of individual punishment for sin prevent the wrong action? It is the love of G.o.d, and not the fear of evil, that is the incentive in Science. [5]
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.
The March Primary Cla.s.s
TO THE PRIMARY CLa.s.s OF THE Ma.s.sACHUSETTS METAPHYSICAL COLLEGE, 571 COLUMBUS AVENUE, THAT a.s.sEMBLED FEB. 25, 1889, WITH AN ATTENDANCE OF SIXTY-FIVE STUDENTS