By the 1880s, every Christmas brought numerous gifts to Mary Baker Eddy. They came from family, friends, grateful students, and other Christian Scientists. A look in the archival collections tells us of her gratitude to those who gave her these presents. She annually published a short thank you in her magazine, The Christian Science Journal, rather than attempt individual cards to every giver. And it's clear that the gifts she hoped for were things of a more spiritual nature. Her 1886 note in the Journal points to this:
CHRISTMAS THANKS.
ONE of the most difficult things to express, when genuine, is gratitude. It is easy enough to feel it, but not so easy to do justice to that feeling with words.
