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Symbol and Substance
In its dignity, its chasteness, and the uniqueness of its form as well as of the end it subserves, a beautiful church is the highest symbol of the temple "not made with hands,"—a consciousness which is the place of the Divine indwelling.
Everywhere to-day the gifts of devoted hearts, framed and fashioned together into noble structures, are being dedicated with thanksgiving to the service of God. These are worthy deeds, and it is ours to rejoice that Christian Science churches are thus multiplying. The real gain of all our giving, however, lies in the growth of the temple within, whose fair towers rise only as we awaken to Truth and Love.
The root meaning of the word dedicate, is to affirm, or knowingly declare, and it is interesting to find that in a moment of exalted realization the Psalmist has clearly expressed this nobler thought. "What," inquires he, "shall I render unto the Lord for all his benefits toward me?" and then, from the heights of spiritual apprehension, there comes this wondrous answer: "I will take the cup of salvation, and call upon the name of the Lord." He is moved to give to God, and immediately his consciousness is pervaded with a sense of enrichment and of rejoicing. This is the reward of understanding, the harvesting of spiritual aspiration, that the impulses of gratitude and consecration open for us the storehouse of heaven; the Divine fulness is manifest until Paul's earnest hope and expectation is realized, and we are "enriched in everything to all bountifulness."
Enjoy 1 free Sentinel article or audio program each month, including content from 1898 to today.
July 23, 1904 issue
View Issue-
Dedication of the Church in Concord
with contributions from Mary Baker G. Eddy, Irving C. Tomlinson, Josiah E. Dwight, Mabel C. Gage
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What the Editors Say
with contributions from Mary B. G. Eddy
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Among the Churches
with contributions from Helen Mitchell, J.W. Miller
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The Christian Science Lectures Appreciated
George Tolmie
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MRS. EDDY TAKES NO PATIENTS
Editor
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True Appreciation
Editor
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Letters and Telegrams to Our Leader
with contributions from Laura E. Sargent, Ellen, Amanda J. Baird, Jacob S. Shield, Anna Shield, S.M. Shield, Rae Shield, Hattie Shield, Ben Shield, J. Rosenstock, Louis G. Rosenstock, Samuel Gutman, Isabella M. Stewart, Louis Kohn, M. C. Van Vorst, John C. Ryan, J.C. Ryan, Amanda L. Willoughby, W. H. H. Benford, Sarah E. Benford, Mary H. Collins, Mary P. Nichols, M. Nettie Hall, Minnie B. Hall Perry, Elnora B. Trostler, Geo. B. Wickersham, Theo. D. Warren, Annette Downs, Lisabeth E. A. Parker, Kittie B. Walsh
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Love's Ministry
MARY J. ELMENDORF.
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The Lectures
with contributions from R. F. Gordon, C. W. I. Tennant, Lee Champion, Emerson
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I would like to give my testimony to the Field, telling...
Anna E. Hanson
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When Christian Science was presented to me I was a...
with contributions from Silas E. Wightman
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Christian Science has been the means of bringing into...
Mildred Knerr with contributions from J. E. Robinson
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I was a skeptic,—athirst in a desert land, when the "waiting...
with contributions from Louisa M.C. Taylor
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Answered Prayer
CAROL NORTON.
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From Our Exchanges
with contributions from Walter Rauschenbusch, S.D. McConnell
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Notices
with contributions from Stephen A. Chase