to understand the spiritual idea is essential to demonstrate Science and
its pure monotheism–one God, one Christ, no idolatry, no human
propaganda. Jesus taught and proved that what feeds a few feeds all.
His life-work subordinated the material to the spiritual, and He left
this legacy of truth to mankind. His metaphysics is not the sport of
philosophy, religion, or Science; rather it is the pith and finale of
them all.
“I have not the inspiration or aspiration to be a first or second Virgin-
Mother–her duplicate, antecedent, or subsequent. What I am remains to
be proved by the good I do. We need much humility, wisdom, and love to
perform the functions of foreshadowing and foretasting heaven within us.
This glory is molten in the furnace of affliction.”
She still thinks the name of Our Mother not applicable to her; and she is
also able to remember that it distressed her when it was conferred upon
her, and that she begged to have it suppressed. Her memory is at fault
here. If she will take her By-laws, and refer to Section 1 of Article
XXII., written with her own hand–she will find that she has reserved
that title to herself, and is so pleased with it, and so–may we say
jealous?–about it, that she threatens with excommunication any sister
Scientist who shall call herself by it. This is that Section 1:
“The Title of Mother. In the year 1895 loyal Christian Scientists had
given to the author of their text-book, the Founder of Christian Science,
the individual, endearing term of Mother. Therefore, if a student of
Christian Science shall apply this title, either to herself or to others,
except as the term for kinship according to the flesh, it shall be
regarded by the Church as an indication of disrespect for their Pastor
Emeritus, and unfitness to be a member of the Mother-Church.”
Mrs. Eddy is herself the Mother-Church–its powers and authorities are in
her possession solely –and she can abolish that title whenever it may
please her to do so. She has only to command her people, wherever they
may be in the earth, to use it no more, and it will never be uttered
again. She is aware of this.
It may be that she “refuses adulation” when she is not awake, but when
she is awake she encourages it and propagates it in that museum called
“Our Mother’s Room,” in her Church in Boston. She could abolish that
institution with a word, if she wanted to. She is aware of that. I will
say a further word about the museum presently.
Further down the column, her memory is unfaithful again:
“I believe in . . . but one Mother Mary, and know I am not that one,
and never claimed to be.”
At a session of the National Christian Science Association, held in the
city of New York on the 27th of May, 1890, the secretary was “instructed
to send to our Mother greetings and words of affection from her assembled
children.”
Her telegraphic response was read to the Association at next day’s
meeting:
“All hail! He hath filled the hungry with good things and the sick hath
He not sent empty away.–MOTHER MARY.”
Which Mother Mary is this one? Are there two? If so, she is both of
them; for, when she signed this telegram in this satisfied and
unprotesting way, the Mother-title which she was going to so strenuously
object to, and put from her with humility, and seize with both hands, and
reserve as her sole property, and protect her monopoly of it with a stern
By-law, while recognizing with diffidence that it was “not applicable” to
her (then and to-day)–that Mother–title was not yet born, and would not
be offered to her until five years later. The date of the above “Mother
Mary” is 1890; the “individual, endearing title of Mother” was given her
“in 1895”–according to her own testimony. See her By-law quoted above.
In his opening Address to that Convention of 1890, the President
recognized this Mary–our Mary-and abolished all previous ones. He said:
“There is but one Moses, one Jesus; and there is but one Mary.”
The confusions being now dispersed, we have this clarified result: