What is the Spiritual Inspiration for the Name Asher?

When Asher formally organized, there was not yet an official name. They had been calling it "Asher House" only because it started in Mrs. Asher's home. Then someone noticed that a definition for the name "Asher" appears in the Glossary of Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy. It reads:

ASHER (Jacob's son). Hope and faith; spiritual compensation; the ills of the flesh rebuked.

Just as Jacob struggled, many of today's Asherites are "struggling with a mortal sense of life, substance, and intelligence as existent in matter with all its false pleasures and pains." (Science and Health, 308:16) And just as he did, they are conquering "material error with the understanding of Spirit and of spiritual power," as learned through their study and practice of Christian Science. (Science and Health, 309:8) It is enlightening to learn how "Asher," in its biblical context, has a spiritual significance appropriate to the students' newfound sense of family, and to the challenges commonly faced in the college years. Ultimately, Mrs. Eddy succinctly states the result of Jacob's struggle: "This changed the man." This is also true for many of the students who gain the benefits of the Asher experience.

Though a few Asher Houses may come and go as student needs change in different venues, the "Asher idea" is a constant. No matter what the form or specific location, it continues to fulfill the biblical meaning of the name of Asher, collectively defined by Bible commentaries as "blessedness, happiness, success, and progress."