“I am grateful for the purity, honesty, and dedication the workers expressed”

1.  What did you find in the book that you would particularly like to pass along to fellow Scientists or family members or even those who know little of Christian Science?

There are two passages in Julia E. Prescott’s reminiscences that have been helpful to me and in sharing with others.  She referenced a prayer she often heard Mrs. Eddy repeat in relation to the “Next Friends” suit, “I love everyone and everyone loves me.  Father, show me what love is and how to love” (WKMBE II p. 96).  This has been helpful with church work, and work on the Board when there may be differing ideas or conclusions.  It has also been helpful in sharing with Sunday School students regarding their relationships with friends and classmates. 

She also referenced an interview with the masters from the trial, and that Mrs. Eddy told one of her cooks “to make the best lemonade for them that she ever made, and I want them to use the Bohemian glasses…I only wanted them to have the best” (p. 96).  During the interview, Mrs. Eddy responded to one of the interrogators, “Oh, I love to talk with you” (p. 97).  She stated, “If these people had been her best friends, Mrs. Eddy could not have been more loving and kind” (p. 97), and that divine Love is our protection and answer in situations.  It has been helpful in sharing with church members when working through difficult situations or decisions, and in remembering that divine Love is our protection, antidote, and remedy.

2. Describe what you yourself felt from reading the book. Did it raise questions about how your own life could change during this crucial time in order to bring your best to serve this Cause? What can we learn from the sacrifices of the early workers and their obedience to Mrs. Eddy’s leadership? How does this leadership continue into the second century of Christian Science?

In reading the book, I was grateful for the purity, honesty, and dedication the workers expressed in recording their accounts and in working for Mrs. Eddy.  I thought about how these qualities were important for those who worked for Mrs. Eddy and important for the Cause. 

I was grateful for the unselfed love the workers in her home expressed in their work and support of Mrs. Eddy, and that their work was not for their own benefit or improvement.  I am grateful to think about expressing more unselfed love in serving the Cause, and in a willingness to give and support others.

The workers left their homes and sacrificed their own situations or needs in support of what was the most supportive to Mrs. Eddy and for the Cause.  Mrs. Eddy’s leadership continues today through obedience to the Church Manual and Mrs. Eddy’s other writings in carrying out the activities and work of the Church, in place of any individual sense of what may be best.