The Letter Of The Pastor Emeritus by Editor with contributions from Mary Baker G. Eddy

The following letter from the Pastor Emeritus was read at the Communion service of the Mother Church June 28, 1903.

My Beloved Brethren:—I have a secret to tell thee, and a question to ask. Do you know how much I love you, and the nature of this love? No: then my sacred secret is incommunicable, and we live apart. But, yes: and this inmost something becomes articulate—and my book is not all you know of me—but your knowledge with its magnitude of meaning uncovers my life, and your heart has discovered it. The spiritual bespeaks our temporal history. Difficulty, abnegation, constant battle against the world, the flesh, and evil, tell my long kept secret—evidence a heart wholly in protest, and unutterable in love.

The unprecedented progress of Christian Science is proverbial, and we cannot be too grateful, nor too humble for this—inasmuch as our daily lives serve to enhance or to stay its glory. To triumph in truth, to keep the faith individually and collectively, conflicting elements must be mastered. Defeat need not follow victory; joy over good achievements and work well done should not be eclipsed by some lost opportunity, some imperative demand not yet met.

Truth, Life, and Love will never lose their claim on us. And here let me add:—

Truth happifies life in hamlet or town;
Life lessons all pride—its pomp and its frown—
Love comes to our tears like soft summer shower,
To beautify, bless, and inspire man’s power.

With everlasting love,
Mary Baker G. Eddy.

This loving letter was supplemented by the earnest words which were addressed to the awaiting multitude by Mrs. Eddy from the balcony of her residence in Concord, where they were permitted to visit her June 29, 1903. The speaker, apparently without effort, succeeded in being heard by practically all the assembled thousands. To address an audience of this size, in the open air, is a task which few public speakers would undertake with any hope of being heard by more than a limited number, but Mrs. Eddy’s strong, clear voice was distinctly heard even by those a long distance removed. The loving thought conveyed will be treasured by that great company in all the years to come. She said:—

Beloved Brethren:—Welcome home! to your home in my heart. Welcome to Pleasant View, but not to varying views. I would present a gift to you to-day only that this gift is already yours, God hath given it to all mankind. It is His coin, His currency, it hath His image and superscription. This gift is a passage of Scripture, it is my sacred motto, and reads thus: “Trust in the Lord, and do good; so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed. Delight thyself also in the Lord; and he shall give thee the desire of thine heart. Commit thy way unto the Lord; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass. He shall bring forth thy righteousness as the light, and thy judgment as the noonday.”

Beloved, some of you have come long distances to kneel with us in sacred silence, in blest communion, unity of faith, understanding, prayer and praise—and to return in joy, bearing your sheaves with you. In parting I repeat to these dear members of my Church, Trust in Truth, and have no other trusts. To-day is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah: “And the ransomed of the Lord shall return, and come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads; they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.”