A reader sent the below in which is a reputed letter from Mary Baker Eddy to James Neal, one of her star students.
[ON NOVEMBER 18, 2008, IT WAS CONFIRMED BY THE MARY BAKER EDDY LIBRARY THAT THEY DO NOT HAVE ANY PROOF THAT THIS LETTER WAS WRITTEN BY EDDY. SEE COMMENT BELOW.]
[A SUPPOSED] LETTER FROM MRS. EDDY TO JAMES NEAL
It is necessary to keep your eye single to light. Refuse to look at the darkness, and your whole experience will be full of light. Do not look at self; look at Soul. Be not self-willed. Think your own thoughts straight from God; refuse to think the notions of mortal mind. It is quite as erroneous to be governed by the mistakes and misconceptions of others as it is to be self-willed, for there is only one common foe, one self-will, not a human will in you and one in me and one in another, but one common self-will as opposed to the Spiritual will, which is the persistent keeping the eye (discernment) aware of Truth instead of error.
Hold on to Life. Nothing can rob you. Rise–not by will power, but by exaltation. God loves you. He will not let you fall. And if you appear to have fallen, this is error, and the Truth will heal you of that belief.
You are right in the heart of Divine Love, no matter what the circumstances seem to be. You throb with Love, life, never disturbed, never suffering, pulsating in eternal harmony. Hold onto these facts, no matter what the evidence to the contrary.
The fearing times are only chemicalization, like a high storm, which gathers and breaks, only to have the atmosphere clear. Worry does not demonstrate. The mental energy one expends in worry should be better spent in faith. Just sing a hymn when you do not know how to think. Pray any simple truth until worry goes.
Nothing happens out of the order of development for you. You prayed to learn. Then why be regretful when the page turns over and a hard lesson comes next? Let resentment go, and just roll up your mental sleeves, so to speak, and declare you are going to squeeze all the benefit you can out of this experience. It will help you to some day help others.
Just learn to impersonalize error. Never personalize evil. Impersonalize it. Do not think of it as your error, your evil, as person, place, power or thing. Take it away from you, in your handling of it as nothing.
Do you spend much time and thought concerning yourself? That is self-murder. One’s whole salvation lies in seeing God first and then ourselves as His spiritual likeness. Too much thought on self and the problem (In supposition only, because God’s man is never truly engaged with problems) is suicide. Stop it, and think of others and the expression of Soul, in the forms of music, art, and the like. Do not look inward to the problem; look out to Truth and to God.
Are you beginning to grieve over yourself? If so, refuse to look at it, as you would a cut finger you wanted to heal. Never grieve over yourself; you can stop it if you truly want to be healed. Doubts and fears are not your thoughts, but the mental opposition of the world’s thought. To such whisperings, say. “I don’t believe you. You are a liar and the father of it.” Greater is He that is in you than he that is in the world. Love will lift you above it all. Love, love, love. Let nothing crush you. Rise. Love has no poison to impart. The only Mind is Love, and Love is purity, and love is all that you have or are. You are in the sanctum of my fold. God is blessing you. Wake to that fact.
Thanks, I needed this! It was the start of a pity-party afternoon, feeling poor & alone, and thinking what’s the point. So, I’ll ponder these ideas and see how the remainder of the day unfolds.
Rather this is by MBE or not, good ideas are still good ideas. Thanks for posting!
Thanks Evan. It’s amazing how these things show up at just the right time, always renewing my faith in the teachings of Science, always proving that they are right and that the answer is always there for us, if we are just quiet enough to hear them over our own chatter.
I continue to pause and ponder the meaning of these words. Tender thanks for heeding the nudge to post them. Appreciate your writings so much… 🙂 Your blog is a gem….truly. Tre ~
Thank you so much for posting this letter! Wonderful!
Where is this letter located in MBE’s writings?
Evan, Thanks for this inspiring letter. You said it is reputedly from Mrs. Eddy. Did you get it authenticated by the MBE Library. It would be helpful to know if it is authentic since there is so much stuff going around attributed to MBE which she did not write.
I did not go to the MBE Library to get it authenticated, thus the reason I qualified my intro to it. If you learn anything helpful, let me know, and I’ll adjust accordingly.
A response to an email regarding this letter:
Thanks for your question about the letter attributed to Mary Baker Eddy which begins “It is necessary to keep your eye single….” This letter has come to our attention before, but we have not found any evidence that Mrs. Eddy is its author. We don’t know who the author is, or when the letter was written. We’ve received copies of the letter addressed to Irving Tomlinson and James Neal, as well as to Mrs. Seal.
Please contact us again if we can answer further questions.
Sherry Darling
Mary Baker Eddy library
Thanks Sherry for letting us know!