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CSEC ON-LINE REFERENCE LIBRARY |
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JUDGE SEPTIMUS J. HANNA, CSD
. . . Twenty-one years ago, when the first revolt took place in our church, I had a vision, and uttered it. We then had no funds, I no salary, and God few followers. In this vision I prophesied great prosperity, plenty of money, blessings numberless, and the utterance was to the Daughter of Zion: 'She shall sit under her own vine and fig tree, and all peoples shall hear her gladly.' That was when I had but one or two loyal students. All had deserted in the darkest hour; the people scorned it, even those I raised instantly from the dream of death would shun me in the street. In 1898 that dear verse in my hall here was suggested to my thought, that for fifty years had been forgotten. Oh, the goodness and loving kindness of our God! Who can tell it? Oh, the long and still continued nail and spear and 'My God, hast Thou forsaken me?' Oh, the Love that never faileth! Verse referred to above: "Daughter of Zion, awake from thy sadness; In 1898 when work had accumulated to such an extent that I wrote Mrs. Eddy for permission to resign some of my places she asked me to adopt a method of relief by taking certain hours each day for self work, during which I was not to be interrupted by anyone for any purpose. She said that had she not adopted such a course she never could have accomplished her work. I did this, and betook myself to the tower of her Commonwealth Avenue residence in Boston, No. 385, which we occupied while I was First Reader of The Mother Church. I called this tower room the "upper chamber." While working here I read as a part of my Bible study the 53d and 54th chapters of Isaiah. As I read the latter it came to me almost as a voice speaking that this chapter was as distinctly and literally a prophecy of Mrs. Eddy as was the 53d chapter a prophecy of Jesus. I continued from day to day to study this chapter in this new light. The more I studied the more firm became the conviction that I was not mistaken in my view of it. I was not, as I then felt and as I now see, emotional or ecstatic on this question, but was governed by a deep spiritual sense of the meaning of the prophecy. Shortly before I began this study a student had sent in to us a little book entitled "Fragments from the study of a Pastor," written by the Rev. Gardiner Spring, pastor of the Brick Presbyterian Church of New York City, to which reference is made in an article copied further along. This prophecy of Mr. Spring impressed me as being so in line with the prophecy of Isaiah that I read and studied them together. As a result, I became so imbued with the sense that they both prophesied so distinctly of the Christian Science movement and of Mrs. Eddy that I concluded to prepare an article for publication in our Journal setting forth my convictions, and publishing the "Church in the Wilderness" in connection with the prophecies of Isaiah. I did so and had it set in galley proof, but, of course, would not have published my views without submitting them to Mrs. Eddy and having her approval. In the letter above quoted she wrote immediately before the quoted part, these words: "Yes, the prophecy was wonderful;" then she proceeded to relate her own vision as stated in the letter which I have above quoted. I will now quote from the letters from her in which she referred to my article and the vision of Mr. Spring: (The prophecy of Mr. Spring is printed in full in Vol. XVI of The Christian Science Journal, page 230.) In a letter dated June 10, 1898, Mrs. Eddy said: I have not the time to read your article before Laura returns but have seen it enough to say you may have the Vision and the accompanying circumstances at your control. I would make it a leader not editorial. To this she added: I have read your article 'tis wonderful, sound, lawyer-like in argument. Please if you cast this bread on the water add the bit enclosed after fixing it to your liking. God be with us both and He will, is. The following is what Mrs. Eddy added to my article as mentioned in her letter: We know there is but one God, one Christ Jesus, and one mother of Jesus. But we deem it no infringement to regard the fulfillment of Scripture as indicated at the present period, and named therein, a self-evident proof thereof — not confined to personality but the works which declare the Word. The next letter I received relating to the article was dated June 18, 1898, which was as follows: My beloved Student: June 22nd she again wrote: Your vision article is too grand, true, to be tampered with. I ventured to send for it to see if it cannot be held together and be the leader, I want it where all will catch sight of it. I write this before Laura will get here. I am so bothered then to get time. Will add all else I wish to tell you after she brings proofs. Although the last letter indicated permission to proceed with the publication of the entire article (that is the one I wrote and the vision of Mr. Spring) I concluded it best to publish only that of Mr. Spring and the more general part of what I said of the prophecy of Isaiah, deferring the other until a future time and make it a separate article. After this, events in connection with the work and the Woodbury suit, came so thick and fast that there seemed no opportune time to again bring the matter to Mrs. Eddy's attention (which I felt I must do before publishing it), and there it rested. My own conception of the whole matter, however, has not changed and I see it today just as I saw it then, but I see also that neither our own people, as a whole, nor the outside world were ready for the interpretation of Isaiah then made; and I do not know that they are yet ready. I here quote the article in full: It has ever been a peculiarity of human nature to relegate prophecy and prophets to the past. It is as much a truism that a prophet is not without honor save in his own age and generation, as that he is not without honor save in his own country. When the great Prophet of Nazareth appeared on the world's arena, teaching as no prophet had taught before him and proving the efficacy of his teaching by the performance of works that no prophet had performed before him, his age and generation rejected him and his teachings, and refused to believe in the divinity of his works, although compelled to admit that they were wonderful and above all human understanding. It was easy for that age and generation to believe that Moses, Elijah, and many others who had flourished in previous times, were prophets. Their teachings were unquestionably accepted by the Jews as of divine authority. But to believe that there was actually then amongst them a prophet greater than any who had preceded him was more than the blindness of that age and generation was ready for. Only a few would believe and accept. Yet Jesus' coming had long and repeatedly been foretold, and a Messianic appearing was generally expected among the Jews, — the people who, more than any other, refused to receive him. A second-coming is as clearly prophesied as was the first coming. The Old Testament writers foretold it, Jesus plainly prophesied it, and the apostles reiterated these prophecies. The only question among believers in the Bible has been as to the time and manner of the coming. In respect to this there has been and yet is, much disputation, speculation, and controversy. A personal coming is generally believed in, and the only personality that will at present meet the general expectancy of Christendom is the identical personality of Jesus as he appeared nineteen hundred years ago. Only, as yet, a comparatively small part of mankind are ready to accept the larger coming comprehended in a re-establishment of the religious regime which Jesus inaugurated. This small part of mankind are satisfied that the second-coming has commenced and is now manifesting itself in the works which Jesus taught should be the evidence of the fact that the Kingdom of Heaven was at hand. While this coming is, in a sense, general, presaging a universal Kingdom, it is in another sense, individual. There can be no general or universal Kingdom that does not include, first and foremost, the individual. As units make millions and trillions, so individuals make an aggregate. Individuality, therefore, leads to universality. Individuality, in its best sense, includes personality. Not the false personality of mortal sense, but the true personality, which, in its individuality, reflects the Divine character. From this point of view Christian Scientists believe in a personal second-coming. God has ever manifested himself, in large measure, through persons or individuals. Through the Biblical writers, and through Moses, Elijah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and many others, He manifested Himself in a sense above and beyond that of the average of their contemporaries or the generality of those who preceded them. In Christ Jesus He manifested Himself in the largest sense of all and in ways apart from all. Yet, as we have said, notwithstanding the wonderful and striking character of such manifestations, the material perception of that age and generation could not accept them as of God. The "remnant" only could see and accept. It has been so in a relative sense ever since. Christian Scientists see in the non-acceptance of the God-manifestations of today an almost literal repetition of early history. They see a blindness to the signs of the times which compares well with the ancient blindness. So long has the world been adrift from the moorings of a genuinely spiritual Christianity that it is not strange it should continue in its self-mesmerized condition until aroused therefrom by special circumstances or proofs of a higher Christianity brought home to individuals in signs and wonders of healing, and other impressive ways. Until so awakened, the great majority are indifferent to, and incredulous of, the tokens of the second-coming. That thousands are being awakened and are actually accepting the tokens is, nevertheless, indubitable proof that convincing circumstances are constantly taking place. Jesus' saying, "By their fruits ye shall know them," is becoming more and more a verity. Must the "Spirit of Truth," or the "Comforter," that Jesus said should come be personalized or individualized? Undoubtedly. There could be no fulfillment of prophecy otherwise. What, then, in the Christian Science estimate, is the second-coming? First appeared the person or individual. Then followed the works. Who is the personality or individuality manifesting the second-coming? The answer of every true Christian Scientist will be: The person or individual who has done, and is doing, the works, in a sense above and beyond that of the average of those, even, who are addressing themselves to the task of regenerating the race. Is there one such? Christian Scientists unhesitatingly answer, Yes: The Reverend Mary Baker Eddy. Where is the proof? We will produce it. First we go to the Bible. We find our proof in Genesis and Revelation and uniformly between those books. In the declaration in Genesis that God created man in his own image, male and female, we recognize the divine Fatherhood and Motherhood. That Fatherhood and Motherhood must logically express itself in the male and female. Otherwise there were no true, full "image and likeness." That would not be a complete second-coming which did not express the "fulness of the Godhead bodily." In other words, there must be a personalized or individualized expression of the male and female of God's creation before there is a full revelation of God to mankind. How could such an expression reach human conception unless it were manifested in human form? By common belief of all Christians, Christ Jesus represented the male-hood of God. Is it not reasonable to assume that a full or completed revelation includes God's female-hood? If God is male only, it seems that he would embrace within himself but a half of Being or individuality; and it would be impossible to reconcile such a conception with his own declaration in Genesis that out of His self-hood He created "male and female." Christian Scientists believe in a full Godhead; and thus believing they believe also in a full manifestation of that Godhead to humanity. Therefore they see in Genesis a prophecy of the second-coming in female form. In Revelation they see the finality of prophecy. To their understanding the Woman in the Apocalypse stands in type for the female of God's creation spoken of in Genesis. They see in spiritual vision or perception the "Spiritual ideal as a woman clothed in (reflecting) light, a bride coming down from Heaven, wedded to the Lamb of Love." (Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, p. 561). The Apocalypse is indeed a "revelation" to their thought, and in it they see a "new heaven and a new earth." Must the Woman of the Apocalypse be personalized or individualized to mankind? By every principle of logical sequence in Biblical prophecy, Yes. Without undertaking to speak for any but ourself (the writer hereof), we read in the 54th chapter of Isaiah a distinct prophecy of the personalized or individualized woman spoken of in Genesis and revealed in the Apocalypse. All Bible commentators and students agree that the 53d chapter of Isaiah is directly prophetic of Jesus in his distinctively personal character. We see in the 54th chapter quite as distinct and direct a prophecy of a Woman. Is there not much significance in the fact that the female representing the second-coming should be thus placed in juxtaposition with the male who represented the first coming? Let us look at this 54th chapter of Isaiah: — "Sing, O barren, thou that didst not bear; break forth into singing, and cry aloud, thou that didst not travail with child: for more are the children of the desolate than the children of the married wife, saith the Lord." Mary Baker Eddy had only one son born to her of the flesh, and in his early infancy he was surreptitiously taken from her and for years concealed. He has always lived away from her, and yet so lives, although it was her intense desire that he should be with her and be her child in every sense of the word. What mortal sense would call a strange and unaccountable fate has decreed otherwise, and neither son nor mother seems able to control the conditions which have separated them. She is, therefore, to all intents and purposes without a chiId of the flesh. But what of her other children, — her spiritual children? They are now numbered by the thousands, and their numbers are being augmented with amazing rapidity; and how spontaneously and unanimously have they arisen and called her "Mother!" Long ere the writer had read the 54th chapter of Isaiah as he now reads it, scarcely knowing why, and like unto a little child, he lisped the word "Mother" when he spoke of her. Thousands of others have done so and thousands more are daily doing so. Among the most touching sights that have ever come within our observation has been the childlike simplicity with which full-grown men — great strong men, physically and mentally — have addressed this delicate, sensitive little woman as "Mother." Not in mockery or jest, but in the seriousness of profound conviction. Yea, her adherents call her their Mother and themselves her children as if by common impulsion, and that impulsion is known to them to be above the human. "Enlarge the place of thy tent, and let them stretch forth the curtains of thine habitations: spare not, lengthen thy cords, and strengthen thy stakes; for thou shalt break forth on the right hand and on the left; and thy seed shall inherit the Gentiles, and make the desolate cities to be inhabited." The textbook of Christian Science, "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures," is but a systematized amplification of the Mosaic Decalogue and the Sermon on the Mount. The teachings of these constitute the groundwork of Christianity. Were they fully understood and practised the Kingdom of Christ would have fully come. To the extent that they are being understood and practised the Kingdom is coming into human consciousness, and the receiving of the Christ-Spirit into human consciousness is the true coming of His Kingdom. Let it always be borne in mind by believers in the Bible that Jesus declared the evidence of the presence of the Kingdom to be the healing of the sick, the casting out of devils, the cleansing of lepers, and the raising of the dead. Certainly these must be the evidences, for, carried to their ultimate effect, they comprehend the complete redemption of the human race. In so far as these evidences are being now brought into view through Christian Science, may it not be consistently claimed that the second-coming is here; and in so far as a single Woman has been the instrument of bringing these evidences into view, may it not be consistently claimed that she is the personal representative of that second-coming? Is there anything far-fetched or unreasonable in this? Spiritualization of thought and action is love of God, and love of God is love of the brother. The cords of this love are being rapidly lengthened through Christian Science; the stakes (solid foundation) of this love are being daily strengthened through practical works; literally are the demonstrators of this Science breaking forth on the right hand and on the left, and it requires not the eye of prophecy to see as the necessary result of this breaking forth that the seed "shall inherit the Gentiles (unbelievers), and make the desolate cities (barren aggregates of human thought) to be inhabited." If Christian Science is at all what it claims to be, this prophecy of Isaiah is even now in process of distinct fulfilment. For the verity of its claims its adherents point with confidence to its works. "Fear not; for thou shalt not be ashamed: neither be thou confounded; for thou shalt not be put to shame; for thou shalt forget the shame of thy youth, and shalt not remember the reproach of thy widowhood any more. For thy Maker is thine husband; the Lord of hosts is his name; and thy Redeemer the Holy One of Israel; The God of the whole earth shall he be called." When we recall the reproaches cast upon Mrs. Eddy because of her widowhood, especially by certain of the clergy, and think upon the irrepressible energy with which the tongue of slander has wagged against her, without any known or apparent reason, it is not strange that we read in the tender words of this prophecy God's purpose to protect his child. Those who are in position to know of the inner life of Mrs. Eddy can most deeply appreciate the last of the above verses. They know that she walks constantly with God, looking to Him for guidance in her every step, and relying upon Him alone for direction in the great religious movement of which she is the head. Deeply was the writer impressed while sitting with her at her dining table in Concord not long since, when in childlike simplicity, yet with deepest seriousness, she said: "I am learning more and more to take God with me into every detail of my life." If it be possible for "a widow," still living on this plane of existence, to make her "Maker her husband," surely that widow is Mrs. Eddy. "For the Lord hath called thee as a woman forsaken and grieved in spirit, and a wife of youth, when thou wast refused, saith thy God." To those familiar with Mrs. Eddy's life and career this is indeed literal prophecy. None could be more so. Alone, and often, in most trying times, forsaken by all but God, she trod the wine-press of her mighty endeavor, undismayedly yet with "bleeding footsteps," fighting and wrestling and praying against the opposition of the world. A "woman forsaken and grieved in spirit" at times, but rallying quickly in the majesty and might of the Maker who is her husband. And well she might, for, whether she then knew it or not, God had said to her in explicit words, — "For a small moment have I forsaken thee; but with great mercies will I gather thee." To those who know, has there not been a startling fulfilment of this prophecy? How often by some has that "small moment" been witnessed, and how quickly have they seen the gathering with great mercies. Not less literally have they witnessed the verification of this prophecy: — "In a little wrath I hid my face from thee for a moment; but with everlasting kindness will I have mercy on thee, saith the Lord thy Redeemer." Again: — "For this is as the waters of Noah unto me: for as I have sworn that the waters of Noah should no more go over the earth, so have I sworn that I would not be wroth with thee, nor rebuke thee. For the mountains shall depart, and the hills be removed; but my kindness shall not depart from thee, neither shall the covenant of my peace be removed, saith the Lord that hath mercy on thee." If one who constantly walks with God, who lives the precepts of the Decalogue and the Sermon on the Mount, and who is giving her whole life to the work of enabling others so to live, does not come within these tender assurances, where shalt we find any who do? "O thou afflicted, tossed with tempest, and not comforted, behold, I will lay thy stones with fair colours, and lay thy foundations with sapphires. And I will make thy windows of agates, and thy gates of carbuncles, and all thy borders of pleasant stones. And all thy children shall be taught of the Lord; and great shall be the peace of thy children. In righteousness shalt thou be established: thou shalt be far from oppression; for thou shalt not fear: and from terror; for it shall not come near thee . . . No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and their righteousness is of me, saith the Lord." Could there be a more explicit fulfilment of this prophecy than the following, written by Mrs. Eddy to the writer, but with no reference whatever to the use we are now making of it, and not intended for publication at all, until by special request consent was obtained? "Twenty-one years ago, when the first revolt took place in our church, I had a vision and uttered it. We then had no funds, I no salary, and Christian Science few followers. In that vision I prophesied great prosperity, plenty of money, blessings unnumbered, and the utterance was to the 'Daughter of Zion; she shall sit under her own vine and fig tree, and all peoples shall hear her gladly.' That was when I had but one or two loyal students, all had deserted in the darkest hour, the people scorned my teaching, and even those I raised instantly from the door of death would shun me on the street. In 1898 that dear verse in my hall at Concord was suggested to my thought which, for fifty years, had been forgotten: — "Daughter of Zion, awake from thy sadness; She closes her letter with these words: "Oh, the goodness and loving kindness of our God, who can tell it? Oh, the Love that never faileth!" Millions are now hearing the "Daughter of Zion" gladly. She is sitting under her own vine and fig-tree; God has prospered her and her Cause most bounteously in the financial and every other rightful way; she who was "afflicted, tossed with tempest, and (for a small moment) not comforted," has literally witnessed the rich fulfilment of God's promise to her: "I will lay thy stones with fair colours, and lay thy foundations with sapphires. And I will make thy windows of agates, and thy gates of carbuncles, and all thy borders of pleasant stones." Literally enough has this promise been redeemed in the material sense, but with overflowing abundance in the spiritual — present and prospective. But what of this material abundance? To no selfish end is it being appropriated. It is fast being converted into the Lord's treasury. Such use is being made of it as would be expected of one who in prophetic vision foresaw "prosperity, plenty of money, and blessings unnumbered," for a sacred Cause. In the April, 1898, Journal, Mrs. Eddy, speaking of the financial problem as she experienced it, says: "After four years from my discovery of Christian Science, while taking no remuneration for my labors, and healing all manner of diseases, I was confronted with the fact of no monetary means left wherewith to hire a hall in which to speak, or to establish a Christian Science Home for indigent students (which I yearned to do), or even to meet my own current expenses, and halted from necessity. "I had cast my all into the treasury of Truth, but where were the means with which to carry on a Cause? To desert the Cause never occurred to me, but nobody then wanted Christian Science, nor gave it a half penny. Though sorely oppressed I was above begging, and knew well the priceless worth of what had been bestowed without money or price. Just then God stretched forth His hand. He it was that bade me do what I did, and it prospered at every step . . . It was thus that I earned the means wherewith to start a Christian Science Home for the poor worthy student, to establish a Metaphysical College, to plant our first magazine, to purchase the site for a church edifice, to give my church the Christian Science Journal, and to keep the 'wolves in sheep's clothing,' from preying upon my pearls, from clogging the wheels of Christian Science." The donation of the valuable lot of ground to The Mother Church in Boston, liberal aid to the erection of the church building, countless contributions to indigent students and to charitable purposes outside our ranks, a score of contributions to branch churches and societies for building and other purposes, the transfer in toto of the Publishing Society with all its property, prerequisites, and prospects, as well as her valuable residence on Commonwealth Avenue, to The Mother Church in perpetuity, and her latest donation in trust of four thousand dollars to the children of Scientists or "Busy Bee's," — these are some of the evidences of the sense in which this Daughter of Zion is sitting under her own vine and fig-tree and dispensing the wine of Life and the figs of Love to hungering and thirsting humanity. This God-fearing, God-loving, and God-reflecting woman truly is witnessing the reassuring and unmistakable evidences that her children are being "taught of the Lord." She can easily foresee that when they shall have imbibed and practised the fulness of such teaching "great will be the peace" of her "children." Has not this Daughter of Zion also witnessed the fulfilment of this promise of God: "No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper"? Every form of opposition has been made against her and her teaching possible to humanity, saving only attempts to murder her in the ordinary or physical sense. The mental assassin has exhausted his ingenuity and resources in his vain efforts. But no weapon raised against her has prospered. Grandly and majestically has her work gone on, and mightily has it prospered. So much so that it is challenging the wonder and awe of the millions. We shall not stop to enlarge upon the "mighty works." They are becoming well known and widely recognized. Read of some of them in this Journal, and in the newspapers and magazines of the country. Hear of them in the weekly testimonial meetings. Hear how thousands have been raised from beds of sorrow, sickness, and pain, to joy, and health, and hope; how despairing sinners have been aroused from the lethargy of hades to a sense of their manhood in Christ Jesus and their childhood in God; how agnostics have become unquestioning believers in the Divine power to heal and save; how atheists have come to know that God is, and that in Him they live, and move, and have their being; how infidels have been reclaimed from all unbelief; how sceptics have become convinced by proof they could no longer dispute; how drunkards have been redeemed from hells of woe and made to rejoice in freedom from their dread tormentor; how licentiates and libertines have been made to blush for their sins and turned toward abstinence and purity; how dishonesty is being made to quail and cringe before the majesty of Truth and Right; how hate and selfishness are being supplanted by self-sacrifice and love; how all the blighting and damning qualities of human thought are being uprooted and destroyed to the purification and spiritualization of such thought; and how those who have only recently been the unhappy victims of some or all of these death-dealing trammels are now proving their disenthralment by healing their neighbors of sickness and pointing the way to their salvation from sin, whilst healer and healed, saver and saved, are alike coming into the temple of the New Jerusalem, literally "leaping and shouting, and praising God." Observe too, how rapidly beautiful and stately church edifices, reared in the name of, and dedicated to, the God of the living, not of the dead, are springing into existence all over our land; how one common sermon, compiled from the Eternal Word, is preached in more than five hundred places in this country, England, and the Continental countries each recurring Sabbath, while the number is being almost weekly added to; how reading, and hearing these sermons read, are healing sickness and awakening sinners every Sabbath day; how the reading of the Bible and the books whose writing was divinely entrusted to the "Woman's" hand, is daily healing sickness and saving sinners; how the Spirit of God, through these manifold instrumentalities, is indeed moving upon the face of the troubled waters of mortal discord to the calming thereof, and how the Light whereof God said, Let it be, and it was, is shining athwart the world's horizon and glinting into the darkest recesses of mortal thought, observe and think upon all this, and say: Is not "this the heritage of the servants of the Lord," and is not "their righteousness" of Him? While, in the foregoing, we plainly see the Woman, as in other Scripture we see the Man, we look beyond all personality and as plainly see the Male and Female, — the universal Manhood and Womanhood comprehended in the Divine scheme, — and know that the ideal Manhood and Womanhood of God's Word personally typified as we have shown, is, — must in the Divine order be, — the heritage of every son and daughter of God's creating; and he created all. Hence we recognize personality in type only that we may thereby understand the unified Individuality of Father and Son, and Mother and Daughter, in the fulness of that Godhead whose second-coming is upon us, wherein we see "a new Heaven and a new earth." We see the man who was "despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief . . . oppressed and afflicted;" and we see also the Man of whom God said: "Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he hath poured out his soul unto death; and he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bare the sins of many, and made intercession for the transgressors." (Isaiah, 53). We see also the woman of travail, spoken of in Isaiah, as before shown, and of whom God further spake in Jeremiah, 4: "For I have heard a voice as of a woman in travail, and the anguish as of her that bringeth forth her first child, the voice of the daughter of Zion, that bewaileth herself, that spreadeth her hands, saying, Woe is me now! [italics are ours] for my soul is wearied because of murderers;" and we see also the Woman of whom God said: "Who hath heard such a thing? who hath seen such things? Shall the earth be made to bring forth in one day? or shall a nation be born at once? for as soon as Zion travailed, she brought forth her children" (Isaiah, 66). "Behold, the Lord hath proclaimed unto the end of the world, Say ye to the daughter of Zion, Behold, thy salvation cometh" (Isaiah, 62). And we read of the man and woman: "For your shame ye shall have double; and for confusion they shall rejoice in their portion: therefore in their hand shall they possess the double: everlasting joy shall be unto them . . . And I will direct their work in truth, and I will make an everlasting covenant with them. And their seed shall be known among the Gentiles, and their offspring among the people: all that see them shall acknowledge them, that they are the seed which the Lord hath blessed" (Isaiah, 61). By way of epilogue to this effort to "render tribute where tribute is due," and, in some small part, meet the imperative demands of the history of our times, we present herewith what seems to us a remarkable prophecy; a prophecy in direct line with the Scripture prophecies to which we have above referred. Nor let us sneer at the author's claim that this prophecy came to him as a vision and by apparently supernatural means. Until we know more of God and his methods let us withhold our feeble, finite judgment, — unless we are ready to acknowledge that God does, in these latter days, speak to His faithful ones through vision and voice as He did of old. We refer to an article entitled, "The Church in the Wilderness," contained in a little book written in 1838 by the Rev. Gardiner Spring, Pastor of the Brick Presbyterian Church of New York, the work itself being entitled, "Fragments from the Study of a Pastor." We should like to make some comments on this, to us wonderful article, but space will not permit. Let it be observed, however, that some of the Scriptural quotations are from the 54th of Isaiah. It may be interesting to know how this somewhat ancient little book came to light at this particular time, and we will mention how. A faithful student of Mrs. Eddy's sent it to us, saying: — "I would like to tell you how the book came into my hands. It is interesting to know how it came to light. Two years ago last winter I was living in furnished house which I rented of a dear friend. There was in the house a large number of books which once belonged to an old uncle. I used to sit by a window when reading; close to this window stood a small bookcase filled mostly with small old books. Two or three times, perhaps oftener, when sitting there the thought came, I wonder if there is not something among those books that would give light on the Bible, or explain its truth, and would say, Sometime I will look the books over. One morning I was sorely tempted; after the morning's work was finished I sat down with Science and Health to dispel the seeming error. I had read but a short time when the thought again came that there might be something in the bookcase of value. I looked at the books, took one out; the first or second — I cannot remember which — was 'The Church in the Wilderness.' I commenced reading in the middle of the chapter, but the little I read healed me. The next day as soon as I returned from church I read the whole chapter. I then invited the students up to read it. When I read it a year from that time I saw far more than at first. I am filled with gratitude that I reflected God sufficiently to bring to light this marvelous history of the appearing of Truth. It helped me to realize what our Mother is, as never before, for I knew I was reading of her experiences. Also those of The Mother Church." The "Mother Church" is the material expression of that church universal implied in the second-coming; but we ask, in all sincerity, could that Church have been thus expressed but for the labor, toil, and self-sacrificing devotion of the Daughter of Zion to whom its building was entrusted? The prophet Isaiah clearly saw the personalized Woman. The Bible commentators, not discerning the fact of a female appearing as the type of the second-coming, naturally enough saw in Isaiah's prophecy only the Church of Christ, apart from any particular person. Christian Scientists recognize in the material structure, called the "Mother Church" — The First Church of Christ, Scientist, in Boston, Mass., with its branches throughout the world, the type of the second-coming of the Christ, or the final and universal application of the Christ-Principle. They also recognize in the Founder of this Church the typical embodiment in human form of the female of God’s creation prophesied in Scripture. These are evidences presented to mortal sense of the universal idea of the Church and of the Woman embraced in Revelation. Our latter-day prophet, the Rev. Gardiner Spring, saw also both the Church, and the Woman typifying the Church. Hence its impressiveness from the standpoint of Scientific prophecy. It is interesting to note that the place of Mr. Spring's revelation was on Mont Viso (Mount of Vision) of the Alpine range, at a point whereon the persecuted Vaudois or Waldenses, found an asylum. It will be remembered that this sect arose in the south of France about A.D. 1170. They were the first to protest, as a body, against the corruption of the Roman church, and as a consequence were, of course, bitterly persecuted. Persecution, however (as it always does), gave vitality to their doctrines, which passed on to Wycliffe and Huss, and through them produced the Reformation in Germany and England. This sect was distinguished from the Franciscans in that they taught the doctrine of Christ, while the latter taught the person of Christ, or Jesus. They had no official priesthood. They regarded the sacraments as merely symbolical, and with them ceremonies gradually disappeared. They became merged in the general Protestant movement in Germany and England. As will be readily seen by Christian Scientists, they were among the forerunners of the larger Protestantism which is finding its expression in a general protest against all forms and conditions of erroneous doctrine, — in the churches and out of them. The following was added by Mrs. Eddy: — "We know there is but one God, one Christ Jesus, and one mother of Jesus. But we deem it no infringement to regard the fulfillment of Scripture as indicated at the present period, and named therein, a self-evident proof thereof — not confined to personality but the works which declare the Word."
The following is the full text of Mr. Spring’s vision or prophecy, excepting a part of his description of the place where it occurred: I was crossing a narrow strip of land which lies upon the frontiers of France and Italy, where the Alps, without losing their loftiness and sublimity, begin to incline toward the Mediterranean, and occasionally put on an appearance of freshness and verdure. I had resolved, if possible, to ascend Mont Viso. Though not so high as Mont Blanc, yet from its solitary and isolated position, it presents a more imposing appearance of grandeur. It stands almost alone; and, like a colossal pyramid, rises high above the various crests, and peaks, and ridges which surround its base. It presented to my mind the aspect of some huge beacon towering amid the storm; and the strange irregularity of the scenery gave strength to the impression. It seemed as though the heaving, angry ocean had been here arrested in the extreme fury of its tempest, and as if the power which had caused, had suddenly stilled its terrors, and bound it in solid and enduring chains. Inconstancy and change seemed strongly represented in constant and unchanging forms — the very emblem of mutability fixed as it might seem immutable. Already had I ascended far up the mountain, and all the beautiful plain of Italy was spread out before me. . . . And can this be the place, thought I, where the Woman, described in the Apocalypse, "hath a place prepared of God, where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the Serpent"? (Rev.12:6, 14) While this inquiry was passing through my mind, I was lost in contemplation. My thoughts became irregular and wild. My imagination wandered, I knew not whither. Whether it were that sleep overtook me on the mountain, and what followed was the fancy of a dream, or whether a waking vision occupied my senses, I am unable to tell. I seemed raised in spirit above the world; and yet my hopes and fears were strangely connected with its spiritual welfare and prosperity. A subject upon which I had thought, and read, and conversed often, weighed upon my bosom, and filled it with deep and serious reflection. My anxious mind brooded over it, as some busy, restless fancy, waking to the roar of the tempest, pictures to itself evils which nothing can remedy or relieve. I trembled for the Ark of God. Errors, deeply ruinous in doctrine and practice, were inducing desolation and decay. A smooth theology had taken the place of those wholesome truths which have in every age been the wisdom of God, and the power of God to salvation. The "meekness of wisdom" (James 3:13) was superseded by a vaunting and arrogant spirit; and means and measures were making progress in the church, which threatened to burn over her fairest borders, and leave them like a land that could not be tilled, or sown, or eared, or harvested for generations to come. I saw collisions of sentiment distracting the minds and dividing the counsels of those who were once "joined together in the same mind and the same judgment" (I Cor.1:10). I saw also chilling alienations among those who once loved as brethren; while the peaceful spirit who had so long hovered over this fair land, was just about to spread his pinions and fly away. Already, "the ways of Zion mourned because few came to her solemn feasts." (Lam.1:4) Already the streams of mercy seemed to be drying up, which have for so long a period been refreshing our heritage and bearing on their bosom the blessings of salvation to distant lands. "From the daughter of Zion all her beauty was departed. Her princes were become like harts that find no pasture; and they were gone without strength before the pursuer." (Lam.1:6) I thought of her in the days of her captivity and reproach, when she hung her harp upon the willows, and wept. I remembered, and could not forbear uttering aloud, that affecting lamentation of the Prophet, "How hath the Lord covered the daughter of Zion with a cloud in his anger, and cast down from heaven unto earth the beauty of Israel, and remembered not his footstool in the day of his anger." (Lam.2:1). Such were the thoughts which occupied me in my reverie. And they were not without close connection and sympathy with those which had often disturbed me in my hours of waking reflection. . . . As I was walking to and fro with a mind almost as cheerless as the rugged cliffs around me, suddenly a chorus of superhuman voices filled the air. The words of their song fell distinctly upon my ear, clear and sweet as from instruments of silver. They chanted, "Who is this that cometh up from the wilderness, leaning upon her Beloved?" (Cant.8:5). As I turned to look toward the desert, I beheld a female form of distinguished attractions and beauty, leaning on "One like unto the Son of Man." (Rev.1:13). Her countenance was expressive of intelligence and sweetness. Her mien was humble, yet a peculiar dignity shone in her every action, and her entire appearance seemed preeminently fitted to please and captivate. I had heard of One dwelling in the wilderness, whom the tongues of inspired men and angels had represented as clothed with celestial comeliness and decked with beauty from the skies — a wanderer in the desert, but not alone; hand in hand with One more powerful than herself, she had her course through its strife and temptations. As my eye rested upon her for the purpose of scanning her person more carefully, that I might satisfy myself if this were indeed she of whom I had heard, I saw that she was enveloped in a dense and hazy atmosphere, through which a pale light beamed from her countenance and clothed her form, and seemed everywhere struggling to dart forth its rays. For the moment it seemed doubtful whether she would not be merged in the obscurity; but the mist was soon dissipated, and she looked forth like "the moon walking in her brightness," luminous in her entire form, and like "the angel standing in the sun," (Job 31:26; Rev. 19:17) conspicuous to the world. I observed that her features were in part covered with a veil. She had an humble, lowly spirit, and though in the full power of youth and beauty, seemed utterly unconscious of her attractions. She had no desire of superiority or distinction; no undue assumption of dignity, no spirit of ambition or rivalry. She did not court applause, nor was she offended at rebuke. She sought not the eye of the world, neither delighted in its bustle and confusion; but rather in the shade and stillness of some beloved retreat, open only to the observation, and consecrated only by the presence of her Lord and Husband. At times she instinctively shrunk from his inspection, and hid her face in confusion. Nor was there in this any affectation of modesty, but a deep and ingenuous impression of her unworthiness that oppressed her, and often indeed found its way to her lips. "Look not upon me," she would exclaim, "Look not upon me, because the Sun hath looked upon me!" (Cant. 1:6). One of her loveliest characteristics, as it seemed to me, was this humble, meek, and retiring spirit. Her progress was often rapid, yet was it noiseless and silent as the dew of heaven. Wherever she took a false step, she herself was the first to detect it, and prompt and faithful in her self-reproach. Rather than feel that she was worthy to be the object of admiration, many a time would she lay her hand upon her mouth and exclaim, "Behold I am vile!" (Job 40:4). There was a lowliness of demeanor exemplified in her progress that reminded me of the spirit of genuine piety. She seemed at such a remove from the haughty, overbearing temper of the world, that I concluded she belonged to another race of beings. For nothing did I envy her so much as for this unearthly spirit. And can this be she, thought I, of whom I have so often read, that was "cast out into the open field to the loathing of her person in the day that she was born?" (Ezek.16:5). If so, nothing could be more striking than the contrast between her original condition, her debased parentage, and her present elevation and prospects. She was like one who had sustained a moral transformation, and had been, as it were, re-created and born anew. "Once poor and miserable, and blind, and naked, she was now clothed with embroidered work, girded about with fine linen, covered with silk, and decked with ornaments. Though her birth and nativity were of the land of Canaan; though her father was an Amorite and her mother a Hittite" (Rev. 3:17; Ezek. 16:10,11; Ezek. 16:3); yet she was now allied to a family that participates in the riches and royalty of a nobler world, and "her renown went forth among the nations for her beauty." (Ezek.16:14) She was the child of God — the adopted daughter of the king of heaven. Her second birth traced her lineage to the skies; "born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God." (John 1:13) She had no unborrowed splendor, yet was she "covered with righteousness as with a garment, and prepared as a bride for her husband." (Isa. 61:10) Though once soiled and blemished by her native servitude; though abject in her occupation and associates; yet was she now "as the wings of a dove covered with silver and her feathers with yellow gold." (Ps. 68:13) My own impressions of her loveliness were confirmed by what I distinctly heard from the lips of her royal husband. "Behold, said he, thou art fair, my love, behold thou art fair. My dove, my undefiled is but one; she is the only one of her mother; she is the choice one of her that bare her." (Cant. 1:15; Cant. 6:9). Sometimes he spoke of the tenderness of her attachment; sometimes of her purity and faithfulness; and sometimes breaking forth in the language of gratified joy, he exclaimed, "Thou art all fair, my love, there is no spot in thee!" (Cant.4:7). Filled with admiration, I could not but again exclaim, "Who is this?" — so depraved in her nativity and yet so exalted in her adoption — so impure in her original, and yet so pure in her transformation — so heaven born, so acknowledged and endeared to higher worlds, and yet in her own view so worthless? The answer was quickly upon my lips. Who but the "church of the First Born!" — the spiritual Jerusalem from God out of heaven — "the Bride, the Lamb's Wife!" (Heb. 12:23; Rev. 21:9). Who but that complex, ornate, and lovely Personage, who is a lively emblem, a typical designation of the virtuous of every age and name, here embodied and personified by the daughter of Zion "travelling in the greatness of her strength." (Isa. 63:1). This amiable and fair being I beheld far from the abodes of men, in the waste, howling desert. "She had no continuing city." She was away from home, often "afflicted, tossed with tempest, and not comforted." (Heb. 13:14; Isa. 54:11). The place where she sojourned was a place of vicissitude and woe. There were "no sorrows like her sorrows," and a stranger did not intermeddle with her joy. Here she stretched forth her hands unto God, and her soul thirsted for him, "as a thirsty land" for the grateful and ever welcome rain. (Lam. 1:12; Ps. 143:6). Here she met with delays, hindrances, and vexations. The powers of darkness were leagued against her, combining their strength and subtlety to perplex and embitter her mind, to retard her progress, and effect her destruction. She was passing through an enemy's land, and had "put on the whole armor of God. Without were fightings, and within were fears." (Eph. 6:11; II Cor. 7:5). External foes, and indwelling sins, distracting cares, painful bereavements, and a subtle adversary often filled her with despondency, and spoiled her every earth-born hope. I observed that she did not always know how to explore her path, and that she sometimes forsook her guide and wandered from the way. Then she was depressed and discouraged, and instead of going cheerfully forward, would stray up and down in the wilderness. And then her courage faltered, her strength languished, and her beauty withered. Many a time, at such seasons, would she sit down and weep with abundant sorrow, and exclaim as though all hope had deserted her, "My heart is overwhelmed within me! All thy waves and billows are gone over my soul!" (Ps. 143:4; Ps. 42:7). The wilderness too was long, and she was often wearied by the length of the way. Sometimes she trembled, and seemed on the point of fainting or falling; and then again she would press forward, now with a bold, and now with a doubtful step. Here she wandered amid the gloom and darkness of the desert. Here she had "a place prepared for her by God." (Rev. 12:6). With his own hands, he spread a table for her. The rock supplied her, and the manna descended. She fed on angels' food, and ate the bread of life. The pillar and the cloud moved before her. The God of Israel himself was with her, — a friend in need, a refuge in times of trouble. In his mercy and care, in his power and faithfulness, she had resources which never failed. She sometimes grieved him, but he never abandoned her. He seemed to have no employment so delightful to his heart, as to care for her. He would watch her every step. He would often throw around her the arms of his protection to save her even from imaginary harm. He would spread his banner of love over her, and support her from step to step in all her course. I heard him say to her, "I gave Egypt for thy ransom, Ethiopia and Seba for thee. Since thou wast precious in my sight, I have loved thee; therefore will I give men for thee, and people for thy life." (Isa. 43:3, 4). It seemed to me that he would blot out all the nations, that he would crush a thousand worlds, before one hair of her head should fall to the ground. And yet there were sensible alternations in her spirit and condition. Sometimes she "looked for light, and beheld darkness, and for good, and behold trouble and vexation" (Jer. 13:16); and then again, her most chilling fears were turned into hopes, and her deepest sorrows into joy. Sometimes her prospect was gilded by all the varied tints of Spring, and all the rich maturity of Autumn; while sometimes the snows of Winter swept along her path, and night enshrouded it with gloom. At times, the skies above her were soft and serene; at times, they were black and heavy, — lowering with tempest, and dark with indignation. Her path now lay through beds of spices, and among the fruits of the valley, which the forest enriched with its softest foliage; where the murmur of the running streams, and the light breezes cheered and refreshed her, and every odor, charged with fragrance, brought pleasure to her senses; and again she was constrained, amid the wilderness of the precipices and the roar of the tempest, to pass along the "lions' dens and the mountains of the leopards." (Cant. 4:8). As I was attentively observing her, a beam of light fell on her path, at a moment when the darkness had increased around her, and when despondency seemed almost to overwhelm her soul. All at once her countenance became bright, and though still pensive, she pursued her course with revived strength and freshness. Something had roused her from her depression and put new courage into her heart. It was "the voice of her Beloved." (Cant. 2:8). A multitude of conflicting emotions seemed for a moment to agitate her bosom. They were emotions of surprise, of joy, and of grief. "Rise up, my love, my fair One, said he, and come away! For lo, the Winter is past, the rain is over and gone. The flowers appear on the earth; the time of the singing of birds is come, and the voice of the turtle is heard in our land! Arise, my love, my fair one, and come away!" (Cant. 2:10-13). At this well-known voice, a tear stood in her eye. She "looked on him whom she had pierced and mourned." (Zech. 12:10) I heard her confessions of folly, and promises of faithfulness, and felt that I could make them my own. My soul melted within me, and flowed forth in her every tear. Never shall I forget when she hid herself from his sight, as though fearful of his reproaches, and bewailed her departures from "him whom her soul loved." Then it was that I heard him say, "O my dove, that art in the clefts of the rock; let me see thy countenance, let me hear thy voice; for sweet is thy voice, and thy countenance is comely! Then it was that he "allured her and spake comfortably unto her, and gave her the valley of Achor for a door of hope and she sang there as in the days of her youth." (Cant. 2:14; Hos. 2:14,15). There did he wipe away the tears from her cheeks, and cheer her with the promise of his favor; while she, animated and buoyant with warm affection and eager hopes, was once more "like a roe, or young hart upon the mountains of Bether" (Cant. 2:17). For the moment, she forgot that she was in the wilderness. She remembered not that she was far from her destined home, so much did the presence of him she thus loved smooth her path along the desert, and render her sojourn amid its wilds a season of happiness and security. This endured not long. Dark clouds again enfolded her, the scene put off its charms, and the way before her was curtained with its wonted gloom. There was nothing here to allure her stay, nothing suited to her large desires, nothing that could become the source of her blessedness, or the place of her repose. Nor was she either alarmed or surprised by the oft-repeated admonition, "Arise, and depart hence, for this is not your rest, because it is polluted;" for as often did she herself respond, "O that I had wings like a dove, for then would I fly away and be at rest!" (Mic. 2:10; Ps. 55:6). To her hallowed mind, the place of her pilgrimage presented nothing but a wilderness, which she longed to leave behind her. Communion with her Lord had rendered it at times a place of delightful remembrance; but she well knew that a higher abode was awaiting her, where she should enjoy his presence uninterruptedly and forever. There was her treasure, and there her heart. Her conversation was there. Her ardent desires, her highest good was there. Heaven absorbed her attention, awakened her highest affections and passions, and exhausted the vigor of her mind. Her very sorrows and griefs indicated its aspirations and tendencies. Like the magnetic needle, amid all the variations of a transient conflict, or passing storm, her heart exhibited a trembling agitation till it reposed in one unchanging point of rest. There were moments when her faith, with more than ordinary vividness, realized the unseen world, when a hope full of immortality shed its fragrance over her spirits, and made her long for the promised land. And then, habitually watchful of the pillar and the cloud, regardless of obstacles and fearless of danger, onward she went from conquering to conquer. The circuities and vicissitudes of her path might at times bewilder her; the grandeur of the scenery, or its softness and beauty might for a moment allure her; but her aim was fixed, — the object single to which she aspired. "Forgetting the things that were behind, and reaching forth to those which were before, she pressed toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Jesus Christ." (Phil. 3:13,14). It was the way to the Heavenly City, and she could not turn back. It was the only way, and she could not forego the expectation of that imperishable inheritance. I stood awhile wondering at her zeal and steadfastness, but my wonder ceased when I recollected that she was not alone. She leaned on One who seemed more than mortal. And in his hands and feet the cruel scars. He it was who "bore her griefs, carried her sorrows" and even made her sins his own. It was her Lord — her Husband — her Life — her Sacrifice. It was "he who liveth and was dead, and is alive forevermore," to succor and bless his church when all the nations die. I saw the secret of her strength. "Her life was hid with Christ in God." (Isa .53:4; Rev. 1:18; Col .3:3). Though she was perfect weakness, she had omnipotence to lean upon. Experience had taught her her own insufficiency, and "she lived by faith in him who loved her, and gave himself for her." I was not a little interested in this view of her progress. Literally did she come "up from the wilderness, leaning upon her Beloved." (Gal. 2:20; Cant. 8:5). She did not move a step without him. She did not wait for him to lead her, but went forward "leaning upon him." When she stood still, she always stood alone. Once I saw her so depressed and weary, that she sank to the earth; and then he took her up in his arms and carried her like a lamb in his bosom. Thus she pursued her way — for the most part wakeful, active, persevering — and yet ever "leaning upon him." The influence under which she acted, seemed a sort of charm upon her will, and "drew her with the cords of love as with the bands of a man." (Hos. 11:4). It was her joy, as well as her strength. It gave buoyancy to her hopes, and inspired her with the confidence that he would keep her from falling and bear her safely through. When by some strong temptation, she lost sight of her dependence, most bitterly was she made to repent of her self-confidence and folly. Then it was that her time was spent in retracing and recovering the ground she had lost, and bemoaning her sad condition. Many a time has she then exclaimed, "O that it were with me as in months past, when the candle of the Lord shone upon my head!" (Job 29:2, 3) But these seasons of self-reproach and pensiveness were comparatively few. Habitually she looked beyond all created things, felt herself to be his creature and child, subject to his guidance and control, dependent on his strength and grace. Never did she delight in her dependence more than during the seasons of her greatest vigor, her most rapid progress. Never could she say with a more comforted confidence, than in her most successful victories, "My soul, wait thou upon God, for my expectation is from Him!" (Ps. 62:5). I thought I saw the heavenly axiom verified, "I love them that love me." (Prov. 8:17). By nothing was her guide and patron more distinguished than his love for her, and by nothing was she more distinguished than her love to him. In strains sweet as angels use, I often heard her sing, "My beloved is the chief among ten thousands! Yea, he is altogether lovely!" (Cant. 5:10) On him she placed her fondest affection, and reposed her every hope. Her love was confiding and unsuspicious; her confidence filial and even childlike. Sometimes you might see her reclining under the shadow of his favor with great delight; sometimes lamenting his absence and watching for his return; sometimes traversing with him the loftiest mountains, and sometimes exploring the vineyards "to see if the vine flourish and the tender grape appear." If difficulties opposed, or dangers threatened, or enemies stood ready to devour; "his grace was sufficient for her, his strength was made perfect in her weakness," his presence was her chief joy. (Cant. 7:12; II Cor. 12:9) Leaning on him, she escaped the dangers of the wilderness, ascended the steepest mountains, stood safe on the brink of the angry precipice, penetrated hideous forests, resisted and overcame the fiercest beasts of prey. With her eye on him and all her trust in him, she continued her course. And while "the youth became faint and were weary, and the young men had utterly fallen, she renewed her strength; in heavenly contemplation, she mounted up with wings as an eagle, and through all her course of duty and of trial, she "ran and was not weary, and walked and did not faint." (Isa. 40:30, 31). While others were intimidated by dangers, or discouraged by difficulty, or lost sight of their Leader, she pressed forward, because her courage was inspirited from above, and her exertion had a spring, a source, an energy not her own. The dangers and trials of the wilderness were gradually left behind her, and remembered only to enhance her gratitude and perpetuate her praise. I observed, that in leaning upon her Beloved, she was often "led in a way that she knew not, and in paths that she had not known." (Isa. 42:16). She seemed to be under a sort of discipline, designed to subdue her will to an unconditional acquiescence in his; to chastise her self-confidence, and teach her to walk "by faith and not by sight." Like the Father of the faithful, she "went forth not knowing whither she went." (II Cor. 5:7; Heb.11:8) She knew not whither she was going the next hour, the next moment, the next step. It was her province to follow, not to lead; to obey, not to dictate. Her hopes and fears were both subject to disappointment. She was journeying in a weary land, and beheld the way stretching out almost immeasurably before her and lengthening as she proceeded. Often was she conducted by a very diversified course — sometimes amid scenes of mercy, and sometimes amid scenes of judgment — now amid well watered meadows, and now over dry and barren lands — now to mountains whence she caught a glimpse of her promised inheritance, and now to some low valley where the light of heaven scarcely penetrated. Her path was checkered and variable, like the path of human life. It was perpetually changing — rousing her attention when she was careless — reminding her of her obligations when she was ungrateful — recalling her confidence when she had placed it upon creatures. Her disposition was thus tried, and her character formed. Many a time what she thought her best seasons, proved her worst; and what she thought her worst, proved her best; till, by an alternately painful and joyful experience she learned to repose all her confidence in her Redeemer, and to have no will but his. I had not seen such a spirit among men. The storms of life had driven her to this wilderness; there to live eminently above the world and walk with God. There was a tenderness, a meekness and submission, a love, a gratitude, a cheerfulness which evinced that she was not long to be an inhabitant of earth. I could not help exclaiming, "What a glorious object is this which I behold!" The church of the First Born struggling through this world, — this moral wilderness, — is "a spectacle to God, to angels and men." This humble and lovely Personage, thought I, may well be the object of concern, of solicitude, of admiration. While this reflection was passing in my mind, a multitude of voices, issuing I knew not whence, repeated the song, "Who is this that cometh up from the wilderness, leaning upon her Beloved?" (I Cor. 4:9; Cant. 8:5) I turned to ascertain who they were that spoke, and it seemed to me that the atmosphere around and above her was filled with living beings. They were of various descriptions and orders, very dissimilar in their appearance, but all deeply interested in the progress and condition of this daughter of Zion. There was a peculiarity about her person, her professions, her claims, her prospects, that attracted the attention of the inhabitants of this lower world. She disclaimed the authority of its maxims and usages. She declined its pleasures, and all participation in its unhallowed amusement. And she would not needlessly, even intermingle with its society. She "came out and was separate," that all might know what immunities she challenged, and of what inheritance she was the expectant. (II Cor. 6:17). She was like a "city set on an hill." None could help seeing her; none could view her with indifference. Good men beheld her, as identified with the glory of the Redeemer, as identifying their own happiness and glory with hers, as embodying the best interests of mankind in this world and that which is to come. Though now depressed, they saw that soon she was to be triumphant, soon to behold "her sons coming from far, and her daughters from the end of the world;" and though still bearing the marks of imperfection and servitude, e'er long to share the kingdoms of this world with her Prince, and wear a diadem of gold. (Matt. 5:14; Isa. 43:6) Bad men beheld her, sometimes to wonder at the peculiarity of her condition — a feeble woman coming up from the wilderness, leaning upon her beloved! Sometimes to admire her beauty, for she was "comely as Jerusalem," and the "fairest among women;" sometimes to acknowledge her influence and power, for she was "terrible as an army with banners;" sometimes to feel the reproach of her example, for though shining in borrowed splendor, yet was she the light of the world; sometimes to be envious to her allotment, for the smile of heaven played upon her countenance, and "the solitary place was glad for her:" And sometimes to hate her with perfect hatred, to vex and injure her, to persecute, and if possible destroy her. (Cant .6:1, 4; Isa. 35:1). I saw also a multitude of living spirits hovering over her path and near her person. They were messengers from a higher world — an exalted order of beings, and seemed to have come from the presence of God. Their countenances were like lightning, and their raiment white as snow. They possessed wonderful power and activity, and moved with the swiftness of the wind. They were beautiful also beyond a parallel — clothed with unfading and immortal youth, and glowing with the energy and ardor of truth and love. I saw them lifting up their hands — spreading forth their wings and apparently in sweet discourse with one another as they watched her progress. Now, they would stoop down and bend their faces towards the ground to observe her. Again, they would fly through the air and return, as though from some unknown region whither they had gone to tell of her conquests. At times, they would range themselves in throngs and companies, and strike their lyres and tune their hymns of praise. One particularly, I observed, of elevated mien and resplendent countenance, who hovered around her head, so near indeed that the vivid light that enveloped her, colored and tinged his form, covering both as with a mantle of celestial splendor. With his finger he pointed towards Heaven and said, "Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, nor hath entered into the heart of man the things that God hath prepared for them that love him!" (I Cor. 2:9) I saw, too, dark and benighted spirits, irritated with malignity, corroded with envy, and scarred by God's indignation, come up as it were out of the earth, and alight about her. I trembled for her safety, for it seemed to me they "came with great wrath, as though they knew they had but a short time." (Rev. 12:12) I was reassured however by the calm and confident mien with which she looked around, as though certain of protection from One mightier than they. And then I heard the clashing of arms, and saw the rushing of battle. In the tumultuous conflict which ensued, I could distinguish voices of fiend-like rage and despair, the answer of exulting, indignant courage mingled together, and at times the startling cry of some wounded, fallen combatant, resounding faint and fainter, as though borne and hurried down to earth's very centre. With what deep interest did I await the result! Yet I did not fear for it. Soon the noise of strife gave place to shouts of victory. And from the sweet notes of praise — praise "to him who is seated upon the throne," — I knew they were from the victorious company who are "ministering spirits to them that shall be heirs of salvation," and to whom the church was the object of unremitting care. (Rev. 5:13; Heb. 1:14) I saw also, that God her mighty Maker regarded her. More than all things else, did she illustrate his ineffable glory. He beheld her clothed with his own loveliness. "He rejoiced over her with joy; he joyed over her with singing. As a bridegroom rejoiceth over his bride, so did her God rejoice over her." God her Redeemer was with her — her "shelter and shade, her glory and the lifter up of her head." (Zeph. 3:17; Isa. 62:5; Ps. 3:3). God her Sanctifier too had his dwelling within her heart, and made her his Temple; while the ever blessed and glorious Trinity, through her, made impressive and augmenting discoveries of his own excellence. Next to her glorious Lord, no object so well deserved, or might so well attract attention, as this pilgrim in the desert. I looked upon her with more than admiration. And while I gazed on her, as in her beauty and her might she pursued her course, I could not help repeating the vow I had made in my youth, — "If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget her cunning! — let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth, if I prefer not Jerusalem above my chief joy!" (Ps. 157:5, 6). Inexpressibly happy, thought I, is the Church of God! Where is there in the world so amiable and lovely a character — where a community so favored as this! Many a time, when she has had no resting place, and has been hunted like a partridge upon the mountains, has the Shepherd and Stone of Israel provided safety and repose for her, and kept her as the apple of his eye. Often when she has been driven from among men, and perdition like a flood has chased her, has he himself been her dwelling place, and nourished and brought her up as an only child. Her ignorance he has instructed; her languor and depression he has changed into hope and rejoicing; her solitude he has sweetened by his presence; her danger he has driven far away. He has been "her refuge and her strength." To the multiplied mischiefs that have passed through the earth, he has said, "Touch not mine anointed and do my people no harm!" He has beautified and enlarged her. He has caused her to look forth like the morning. He has "made her head like Carmel, and the hair of her head like Lebanon." He has "set her as a seal upon his heart, as a seal upon his arm." Nor will his purposes of love toward her be accomplished, till he has purified her from all her imperfection, decked her with majesty and excellency, and in the day of her celestial espousals, "presented her to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing." (Ps. 46:1; Ps. 105:15; Cant. 7:5; Cant. 8:6; Eph. 5:27). While this train of thoughts was passing through my mind, I cast my eyes once more towards the wilderness. No longer was it a desert, but rather an expanse of cultivated fields, and gardens of richest shrubbery, everywhere interspersed with beautiful villages, towering palaces, lofty turrets, and living men. The corn, and the vine, the olive and the palm flourished. "Instead of the thorn, was the fir tree," and instead of the briar, the myrtle and the rose. "Waters broke out in the desert." The way through this verdant territory seemed a highway. No tedious, intricate pilgrimage was it now. Enemies had disappeared. "No lion was there, neither any ravenous beast went up thereon, it was not found there." (Isa. 55:13; Isa. 35:6,9). And the pilgrim had now thrown aside that veil which obscured her, and put on her most splendid attire. A voice reached her from the heavens, "Arise, shine, for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee." She looked forth now as the effulgence of the world. She seemed as it were, "clothed with the Sun; the moon was under her feet, and upon her head was a crown of twelve stars." (Isa. 60:1; Rev. 12:1) There was a halo of glory encircling her, that reminded me of the "Shekinah" that stood over the ancient tabernacle. She was near to the Deity, encompassed with glory, and living within the comprehension of his smile. Kings and princes were allured by her brightness, and the wondering people came bending to her. "The Kings of Tarshish and the isles brought her presents; the kings of Sheba and Seba offered her gifts." No longer did she falter in her course, or turn her eye backward. She was clothed with a divine panoply, and went forth "more than conqueror through him that loved her." A banner waved over her of the purest gold, on one side of which was set in rich enamel, "THE LORD KNOWETH THEM THAT ARE HIS;" and on the other, "LET EVERY ONE THAT NAMETH THE NAME OF CHRIST DEPART FROM INIQUITY." (Rom. 8:37; Psa. 72:10; II Tim. 2:19). At her approach, every false system of religion was arrested in its progress; all mist and darkness, error and delusion, sin, shame and woe fled before her. Streams of light and salvation flowed everywhere around her, and sent forth their blessings to every land. In her hand she carried a scroll, or parchment, which she unfolded before the nations, and by which she "turned them from darkness unto light, and from the power of Satan unto God." Wonderful was the transformation that attended and followed her brilliant career. Iniquity fell before her. Tyranny and oppression and unrighteousness were blasted by her breath. Misery and despair were together chased away by the light of her countenance. "Every valley was exalted, and every mountain and hill was made low; the crooked was made straight, and the rough places plain; and the glory of the Lord was revealed, and all flesh saw it together." Scenes of accomplished bliss, which who can see Though but in distant prospect, and not feel His soul refreshed with foretastes of the joy! "The mountains and the hills broke forth before her into singing and all the trees of the field clapped their hands." (Acts 26:18; Isa. 40:4,5; Isa. 55:12). The Spirit was poured from on high, and the world appeared to be turning to the service and favor of the true God. Every revolution of this diurnal sphere beheld her triumphs "from the rising of the Sun to his going down." (Ps. 50:1). Rivers unknown to song, where first the sun Gilds Indian mountains, or his setting beam Flames on the Atlantic isles, alternately became the scenes of her perpetuated victories. Distant continents and islands, wandering tribes and collected empires, though once shrouded in deepest gloom, now beheld and reflected the brightness of her rising. "Worthy the Lamb, for he was slain for us!" The dwellers in the vales and on the rocks Shout to each other, and the mountain tops from distant mountains catch the flying joy. Till nation after nation caught the strain, Earth rolls the rapt'rous hosannah round. (Rev. 5:12) My reverie continued, but the gloom and depression which at first pervaded it passed away. Instead of a dark day in November it appeared to my gratified imagination like the loveliest in May. Brown autumn had fled. Winter had been chased away by the softness and beauty of the Spring. The sun was just descending in his gayest chariot, and throwing his light from pole to pole. The rough north wind had yielded to the fragrant zephyr. The rugged mountain had become like the verdant lawn. The unclouded sky, the balmy air, the rich foliage of the forest, the fragrant flowers were but faintly emblematical of the unbroken serenity I felt within. The birds were chanting their songs of joy, and all nature was vocal with praise and blossoming with hope. The bow of promise threw its arch over the eastern sky, and as the sun went down, he cast forth the signals of a still brighter day. New York, January, 1838.
"Reminiscences of Mary Baker Eddy" by Judge Septimus J. Hanna, CSD, and Camilla Hanna, CSD Quoted in "The Destiny of The Mother Church" by Bliss Knapp, CSB The prophecy of Mr. Spring is printed in full in Vol. XVI of The Christian Science Journal, p. 230 |
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