Have you ever wondered what to write in your Christmas cards or season greetings to others?
Here’s a card Mary Baker Eddy wrote to her household staff one Christmas day that arrested my attention and gave me much to ponder.
Mrs. Eddy’s Christmas Message
MY HOUSEHOLD
Beloved: — A word to the wise is sufficient. Mother wishes you all a happy Christmas, a feast of Soul and a famine of sense.
Lovingly thine,
Mary Baker Eddy
Box G, Brookline
Massachusetts
December 25, 1909
After I read this card’s message, I asked myself, “Am I one of the ‘wise’? Am I celebrating a ‘feast of Soul and a famine of sense’?”
How about you?
(Above quote from Miscellany, p. 263.)
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| Mary Baker Eddy’s home in Brookline, MA |
What a good question, Evan.
As I pondered this statement, I noticed that “the wise” don’t need to hear a long string of words. One word is enough for the wise woman and wise man to capture a spiritual message. And, more importantly, to follow it!
I keep a running list of all the qualities of Soul. (I enjoy finding and adding new descriptions of Soul all the time!) These qualities represent, to me, my identity, my substance, my individuality (and, in an infinite array of unique constructs, the identity of every child of God).
The more I live these qualities, the more I feel I’m feasting, and am satisfied.
“Famine of sense” reminds me of the spiritual meaning of “fasting,” which can be found on an earlier page in the same book, Miscellany: “refraining from admitting the claims of the senses” (My 222).
A recent example of feasting and fasting: Over the weekend, I was tempted to be upset by what I felt was a foolish, even arrogant and unprincipled decision made by the majority of members in an organization I belong to.
But after wisely listening to God, I finally got to the point where I refrained from feeling critical. The “upsetedness” ceased, as I decided to leave the disposal of events to Mind’s wisdom. To Love’s capable handling.
Quicker than the blink of an eye, I felt my Soul-made qualities welling up within me, filling me full with mercy, peace, harmony, quiet joy, forgiveness, contentedness, and calm.
I then-and-there made the decision to stand for my highest concept of Principle by contributing to another organization that had come to my attention the previous day and that was calling out to me.
Within an hour of that momentous decision, a friend sent me an email saying that after six months of being unable to pay back a sizable loan I had made to him for a good cause, he had just received generous funds from donations to his nonprofit. He announced that he would gladly and promptly reimburse me in full.
So, yes, I’m definitely celebrating Soul’s unerring wisdom, grace, generosity — and exquisite timing! 🙂
I have always loved that Christmas message from Mrs. Eddy. Thanks for the reminder and for the wonderful picture of her home in Brookline, MA. A long way from moving from boarding home to boarding home one year. She demonstrated everything that she taught.
I visited the home via Longyear Foundation Tour in the fall.
I could feel the presence of her sending such wonderful message.
What an exquisite reminder, especially as the world celebrates Christmas via a cacophony of sense and sensations. May we all find the peace that passeth understanding this weekend and throughout the year…the peace found only in Soul.
Elaine, Virginia