Accession: L02063
Editorial Title: Mary Baker Eddy to Eldridge J. Smith, November 4, 1883
Author: Mary Baker Eddy 
Recipient: Eldridge J. Smith 
Date: November 4, 1883
Manuscript Description: Handwritten by Mary Baker Eddy on lined Massachusetts Metaphysical College stationery.
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L02063
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Nov. 4. 1883
My very dear friend,

After so long a time I have found a little leisure to think this bright day. Now the first letter I answer in a privileged moment is your dear one. Business must hush, sense be silent, Soul utter the better things of life when I write you, even tho I wait years for this sweet peace. Dear one, are you growing? Are As Written: are you every day solving the problem of time and eternity?

"Oh, the clanging bells of time,
Night and day they never cease,
I am weary of their chime
For they cannot give me peace" —Editorial Note: This is an altered version of the first verse of a hymn written by Ellen M. H. Gates in 1875.

But I have a far off echo that is sweeter than vintage bells to the villagers on the Rhine It is the Love that never fails meI Cor 13:8 Charity never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away. , the sweet, strong glorious friendship with my own Soul, with my individual God that is so infinite in Truth and Love I cannot tell what His personality is, but this I do know, that when all that is human fails this divine friendship goes on, and I and He come nearer. To this heart of hearts every day I flee and rest my weary head on His tender bosom. Should I offend in one single point this dear rest would take wings; then I am jealous of my own love to see that it be loyal — spiritual, pure, divine.

Friends are heaven's gifts to man that make us amends for absent heaven. But friends grow not thick on every bough, nor is every friend unrotten at the core. The jealousies felt in our Country for intimate relations of affection between men and women outside ones family, is more discreditable to the heart than creditable to morals. It implies a belief that they cannot be attached spiritually without becoming entangled animally. We know it is absurd to think that virtuous friendship fosters licentiousness, this flourishes most in its absence. Esteem is the life of friendship and the death of licentiousness

The immeasurable harm done through the mental "whispers" is not seen in one hundredth As Written: hundreth part yet. It is that alone that hinders this good work from spreading like a wild fire all over our country.

Write soon. God bless and guard you and guide you.

Ever the same friend tender & true
M B G E
L02063
-
Reproduced from the archive of The Mary Baker Eddy Library
X

Copied document link to clipboard.

Nov. 4. 1883
My very dear friend,

After so long a time I have found a little leisure to think this bright day. Now the first letter I answer in a privileged moment is your dear one. Business must hush, sense be silent, Soul utter the better things of life when I write you, even tho I wait years for this sweet peace. Dear one, are you growing? are Corrected: Are you every day solving the problem of time and eternity?

"Oh, the clanging bells of time,
Night and day they never cease,
I am weary of their chime
For they cannot give me peace" —Editorial Note: This is an altered version of the first verse of a hymn written by Ellen M. H. Gates in 1875.

But I have a far off echo that is sweeter than vintage bells to the villagers on the Rhine It is the Love that never fails meI Cor 13:8 Charity never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away. , the sweet, strong glorious friendship with my own Soul, with my individual God that is so infinite in Truth and Love I cannot tell what His personality is, but this I do know, that when all that is human fails this divine friendship goes on, and I and He come nearer. To this heart of hearts every day I flee and rest my weary head on His tender bosom. Should I offend in one single point this dear rest would take wings; then I am jealous of my own love to see that it be loyal — spiritual, pure, divine.

Friends are heaven's gifts to man that make us amends for absent heaven. But friends grow not thick on every bough, nor is every friend unrotten at the core. The jealousies felt in our Country for intimate relations of affection between men and women outside ones family, is more discreditable to the heart than creditable to morals. It implies a belief that they cannot be attached spiritually without becoming entangled animally. We know it is absurd to think that virtuous friendship fosters licentiousness, this flourishes most in its absence. Esteem is the life of friendship and the death of licentiousness

The immeasurable harm done through the mental "whispers" is not seen in one hundreth Corrected: hundredth part yet. It is that alone that hinders this good work from spreading like a wild fire all over our country.

Write soon. God bless and guard you and guide you.

Ever the same friend tender & true
M B G E
 
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This is an altered version of the first verse of a hymn written by Ellen M. H. Gates in 1875.