LETTERS TO OUR LEADER

Omaha, Neb., Dec. 14, 1909.
Mrs. Mary Baker Eddy.

Beloved Leader:—Ever since I have understood the meaning of Christian Science, I have marveled that there should have been even one person in the world pure enough to discern the eternal, omnipresent good through the mists of error and materialism which covered the "whole face of the ground;" and how sure you must have been that this light was from above, to enable you to hold to it with such unflinching faith, when all the rest of the world was believing in its opposite. How much more sure you must be now, since God has sustained you through so many trials, and surrounded you with an army of faithful workers, ready to help you and to obey your slightest wish—not from any sordid motive, not because of any demand made by you, but because of the deep gratitude they feel for you and for your gigantic labors for mankind, which no man can measure.

It was my great privilege to study with your beloved student, Mr. Kimball, and through his instruction I gained an understanding of this truth, the value of which cannot be estimated. His loyalty to you was always paramount, and he warned us to beware of anything which would alienate us from you, our Leader. You have taught us that when we are thinking of personality we are not thinking of Principle; you have admonished us to be great only as good, and to let our lives attest our sincerity,—and this is my constant desire.

With deepest love and gratitude to you for our textbook, and for your other writings, which (though I have been studying constantly for twenty years) I never before appreciated as I do now, I am striving to be
Your faithful follower,
Mrs. Clara B. MacMillan.

Mrs. Eddy's Reply.

I thank you deeply.
Mary Baker Eddy.

Glasgow, Scotland, Dec. 9, 1909.

Dear Mrs. Eddy:—We wish at this time to express to you our gratitude for the guidance and direction of the Manual of The Mother Church which you have given us, and we pledge our loyalty and obedience to its by-laws. Under its wise provisions this church was formed, has been protected and guided, and continues to grow "in the nurture and admonition of the Lord." Without it we might have felt as a handful of sheep in the wilderness; with it we have a plain path for our feet to tread. We recognize in it a reflection of that Love which is "impartial and universal in its adaptation and bestowals" (Science and Health, p. 13).

We are grateful for the faithful work done by the Board of Directors of The Mother Church, and are resolved to support them in their demonstration of the government of Principle. Above all, dear Leader, we wish to offer you our loving loyalty and reverence for your wisdom and patience in pointing the way in Christian Science.

The Board of Directors,
First Church of Christ, Scientist, Glasgow, Scotland. 

Mrs. Eddy's Reply.

Beloved brethren, your letter cheers me—it is par excellence.
Mary Baker Eddy.

Cambridge, England.

Beloved Leader:— At our meeting this afternoon we are impelled to send you these few lines to express our deep gratitude to you for your recent action in bringing about a speedy demonstration of peace and unanimity in First Church of Christ, Scientist, New York. We are unspeakably thankful to feel that the organization of The Mother Church is an effective safeguard of the purity and unity of Christian Science teaching throughout the world.
Lovingly and loyally yours,

Agnata F. Butler,
Eleanor M. Searle,
 Pattie Egan,
 Annie Charles Smith,
Eveline M. Field,
 P. Ramsay Laird,

Board of Directors,
Christian Science Society of Cambridge, England. 

Mrs. Eddy's Reply.

Thanks to God, and to you, His followers.
Mary Baker Eddy.

Utica, N. Y., Dec. 15, 1909.
Mrs. Mary Baker Eddy, Brookline, Mass.

Dear Leader:—Rejoicing in the priceless benefits received through Christian Science, our hearts unite in this message of love and gratitude to you, its Discoverer and Founder, and its highest demonstrator in these times. We love you because you love God and mankind, and daily exemplify in Christly living the love described by you in "Miscellaneous Writings" (p. 312) as "consistent, uniform, sympathetic, self-sacrificing, unutterably kind."

We are truly grateful to God for giving to hungering, thirsting, suffering humanity, through your illumined consciousness, the Science of Christianity, the understanding and practice of which is dispelling the mists of sin, sickness, and sorrow, destroying false concepts and annulling every false material law. We are grateful for all your writings, and for the grand work the Publishing Society is doing in supplying the world with reading-matter so inspiring and purifying in its character. We know that in following you as you follow Christ we shall depend upon divine guidance and seek to be governed in every detail of our lives by divine wisdom, Truth and Love, resulting in clearer perception of good, its unfolding and its reflection. For this achievement we promise to work, watch, and pray.
Lovingly,
First Church of Christ, Scientist,
Mrs. Ellen L. Percy, Clerk.

Dallas, Tex., Dec. 10, 1909
Mrs. Mary Baker Eddy, Brookline, Mass.

Beloved Leader:—Christian Science, the true religion of Christ, as revealed through you by your pure and consecrated life, has brought so many blessings to me and mine, since taking up the study and entering this broad and glorious field of Love, that I no longer can refrain from giving expression to my deep sense of gratitude to you for this priceless revelation to poor suffering humanity.

I will not attempt to enumerate the great blessings that I have derived from this blessed truth, as it would take a volume filled to overflowing to express it; but suffice it to say that my whole life has been transformed, and in every way do I feel and know that I have been completely regenerated, having been healed of many ills, besides a dislocated limb of several years' standing, and a severe hernia, which to mortal sense I had had for the past twenty years.

For these, and the many other blessings which have come through the study and reading of our blessed text-book, "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures,"—your gift to the world, which could not be greater,—I am deeply grateful, and I am endeavoring daily to prove the sincerity of my gratitude by following in the footsteps of you, our dear Leader, ever bearing in mind your loving admonition to follow you only so far as you follow Christ.
Your grateful follower,
Mrs. L. E. Spann.

Hyde Park, Mass., Dec. 12, 1909

Dear Mrs. Eddy:—It made me very happy when the new rule was passed admitting those under the age of twenty to the Sunday School classes. After attending Sunday School twice I was entirely healed of severe headache, from which I had suffered nearly every day for about two years. The pain seemed to meet me every day as I was coming home from school. The Sunday before my demonstration I had received a very helpful thought in class. It was that matter had no intelligence and could not experience pain. I held close to this thought while I was coming home the next day, and before I had gone half the length of the street the headache had entirely disappeared and has not returned.

For this and many other beautiful demonstrations I have experienced I am truly thankful.
Very respectfully,
Irene Talbot.

Framingham, Mass., Dec. 7, 1909

Dear Mrs. Eddy:—For several years now I have been blessed with the peace and plenty which come with the understanding of God as revealed by you. While I think I can be of most value to you by trying to make the Manual you have given us a handbook of daily living, yet a word, at least, of acknowledgment to you for your unselfish life and untiring work, and their benefit to the world and to me as a small portion thereof, is incumbent upon me,—is my duty, my privilege, my joy and desire,—and has been so for some time past. Now, when the world is about to celebrate again God's great gift to men in the birth of Jesus, so let it be an opportune time for grateful hearts to sing a song of praise and thanksgiving to Him for the gift of one who has revealed to them His idea—the glorious truth of an ever-living spirit of Christ!

God does bless you and lead you on, and I am His and your grateful follower.
Katharine M. Tuckerman.