 Posted Sunday, February 27, 2005 2:05 PM
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Clara Shannon, who worked in Mrs. Eddy's household in Concord, NH, gave, in her reminiscences, this account of instruction by Mrs. Eddy to members of the staff:
"She [Mrs. Eddy] showed us that a stony heart was a heart hardened by materialism and lack of sympathy; lack of love and compassion; that was a stony heart, and we must look to God for deliverance, and pray that He take away that heart and give us a heart of flesh, which is a tender, loving heart, unselfish, full of sympathy, loving kindness and compassion - that is a heart of love seeing one another's need and supplying it..."
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Posted Sunday, February 27, 2005 4:33 PM
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Anonymous Sunday, February 27, 2005 2:05 PM,
Thank you for wanting to share with us. I'm having difficulty, however, trying to figure out what you want to share. Sorry to be so dense.
The first verse you reference is the Lord's response to the question, "Will you make a full end of the remnant of Israel?" The passage (Ezekiel 11:14-21) discusses the removal of detestable things from Israel and the fact that those whose heart goes after their detestable things and their abominations, will be held accountable by God.
Perhaps you would like to help us out a bit by providing some of your own commentary rather than just dropping a quote on us.
Do Go Be Man
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Posted Sunday, February 27, 2005 5:00 PM
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P.S. I found a copy of Golden Memories by Clara Shannon, CSD that includes the quote you provided (she misattributed the Ezekiel verse to Psalms).
I found the paragraph following to be interesting.
... She (MBE) saw how error was trying, subtly, through mental suggestion, to reach the thoughts of her students and other Scientists, and she saw how things that she wanted to impress on them necessitated studying Science and Health daily and thoroughly and abiding steadfastly in the truth in that book. She said that the enemies of Christian Science study Science and Health daily and take certain portions of it to try to reverse them in the thoughts of the students. ...
The part I found telling was that MBE wanted to impress on CSists the necessity of studying her book rather than the Bible. I also wonder what enemies of CS have ever daily studied S&H.
Thank you for inspiring me to find the article. There are some interesting memories recorded in it including a tale of Dr. Patterson apparently escaping the clutches of the Confederacy and MBE giving a Bible to a soldier as he went to war. There's also a mention of (dare I say it?) Quimby. The description of MBE's encounter with the spiritualist was a bit odd.
Do Go Be Man
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Posted Wednesday, March 02, 2005 1:27 AM
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My only guess as to what prompted the quotation from Clara Shannon, which began this thread, is that some of our posts on this site may be perceived to have been written with a hardness of heart. If that is the case, I shall endeavour in future only to post things in the right spirit.
I agree with Shannon's description of a "heart of flesh" and only wish that all people, including practising Christian Scientists, could feel free to outwardly express the "sympathy, loving kindness and compassion" described here in instances where another is hurting or grieving. One might FEEL those aspects of a softened heart within, but one's neighbour will never know that if it is not communicated through action and words. "Seeing another's need and supplying it" must involve acknowledging another's predicament and helping in a practical way, other than just "knowing the truth" as a mental exercise.
You can probably see I'm still dwelling on issues brought up in recent threads about a noticeable lack of compassion SHOWN towards church members who are either suffering physically or recovering from the loss of a loved one. I'm sure the compassion is felt, but it is of no avail unless demonstrated outwardly towards those in need of it.
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Posted Thursday, September 13, 2007 10:24 PM
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| The metaphor was also used by Sean O'Casey in Juno and the Peacock where he has Juno pray: "Oh sacred heart of Jesus, take away our hearts of stone and give us hearts of flesh!"
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