Article June 28, 2010 Issue

Mary Baker Eddy on the value of humor

BY MICHAEL R. DAVIS

The Founder of Christian Science, Mary Baker Eddy, once said, "I like to have my students laugh. A good laugh often breaks mesmerism" (Emma C. Shipman, "Mrs. Eddy and the Class of 1898," We Knew Mary Baker Eddy, p. 142). She knew that laughter and good humor could help lift the heaviness and oppression of the carnal mind, and her own sense of humor was evident throughout her life.

It's well known that following her recovery through prayer from a serious accident in 1866, she gave three years to quiet study of the Bible to better understand what had happened when she was healed. Although she later wrote that she "kept aloof from society" (Science and Health, p. 109) during this time, she did apparently enjoy occasional fun-filled social events. In November 1868 she wrote her friend Sarah Bagley: