On eBay as I write this is an original letter by Mrs. Eddy up for auction, dated June 21, 1883 (which, by the way, is a very early date for a letter of hers to go on the market). In the letter she wrote:
“I shall in far off years be remembered. The good I have done can never be lost.”
The second sentence, with its sense of the eternality of good, reminded me of one of my favorite passages by Mrs. Eddy, and one of only two by her inscribed on her mausoleum next to Lake Halcyon at Mt. Auburn Cemetery. It is from Miscellaneous Writings, p. 166:
“The monument whose finger points upward, commemorates the earthly life of a martyr; but this is not all of the philanthropist, hero, and Christian. The Truth he has taught and spoken lives, and moves in our midst a divine afflatus.”
The text as given is from the revised text when the article was included in Miscellaneous Writings in 1897. The original text appeared when the sermon was printed in the February, 1889, Christian Science Journal (and the subsequent separate printing of the sermon, entitled The Personal and Impersonal Saviour, which used the same plates and set type as the Journal). That original text appeared as follows:
The reference to white fingers is reminiscent of a thus-far unsourced quotation used by Mrs. Eddy in The People’s Idea of God (from 1883), p. 14, in which she quoted a reference to “white fingers pointing upward.” (On the other hand, Mrs. Eddy in Science and Health, p. 299, refers to angels with “white fingers” that point upward.) Alfred Farlow quoted Mrs. Eddy in New England Magazine (March 1905), p. 44, in his article “Christian Science Church Architecture.” He wrote: “It is said that when Mrs. Eddy, the Discoverer of Christian Science, was shown a plan for a simple little church, devoid of a spire, to be erected by Christian Scientists at a summer resort in the White Mountains, she remarked: ‘I should like to see something on it pointing upward.’ and out of respect for her modest suggestion a tower was added to the original plan.’” (Despite the phrase “it is said,” Farlow confirmed the comment with Mrs. Eddy before publishing the article.) Here is a look at the White Mountain Church after the tower was added:
My sense of this passage is that Mrs. Eddy did in fact consider the white church steeples, so prevalent in New England, as being fingers pointing upward as a commemoration and worship of Jesus. But Mrs. Eddy wanted to take this a step further and remove the past tense. The words and actions of Jesus were immortal and breathed a divine afflatus that continued on throughout the intervening centuries—as she continued in the article in its revised form, “Thus it is that the ideal Christ—or impersonal infancy, manhood, and womanhood of Truth and Love—is still with us.” I do not know the history of the selection of the text for the site at Mt. Auburn Cemetery, but it is noteworthy that when Ira O. Knapp passed away in November, 1910, Archibald McLellan inserted the same text in his obituary notice in the Christian Science Sentinel.
I'm moved by the depth of cultural appreciation shown by this post, by its fluid musings, and by the liberal use of associational ideas. Gleanings of this kind of observation far exceeds a mere familiarity with artifacts and information--they reveal a love of subject material and a deep desire to indulge whatever metaphysical worth may be therein contained. The real value of a proffered idea or concept is not so much what it is but rather what it brings out of those who consider it. Good job, Keith.
Posted by: Craig Beardsley | 05/23/2010 at 12:23 AM
As the mother of the blogger, just want to say that I am very impressed with this blog. Very!
Posted by: Bette McNeil | 05/24/2010 at 03:52 PM