Article March 13, 1915 Issue

Joy

LAURA GERAHTY

It has been said that the expression of joy "is the peculiar privilege of the true Christian Scientist." Joy, the sweet and natural expression of the change in his mental home, of the perpetual recognition and realization of omnipotent good; joy, gentle yet uncontrolled, unmeasured even by the gratitude he feels for his health, the quiet peace which pervades and permeates the home, the office, and even the sick-room! Joy, that gentle presence which though it may not instantly silence the cry of the fatherless child or fill the empty chair which speaks his mother's sorrow, yet dwells within the quiet walls of the place called home, and silences every doubt and fear that would rise to destroy its harmony!

There is an intimacy between the student of Christian Science and joy which is almost unapprehensible to some. Joy knocks boldly at the door which appears to the outsider as bolted and barred against everything but sorrow and distress. The door is opened willingly and hopefully, fearlessly and hospitably, for the Christian Scientist has demonstrated that the iron bands of mortal belief yield to the gentle force of prayer. Once within the threshold, that gracious presence is likely to be an honored and long welcomed guest; and as time goes on, its departure is out of the question, not even dimly contemplated.

Joy is often quite unrecognizable to those who have not offered it hospitality, and one may say: "Oh, but you have your troubles just the same as we. You lose your dear ones; you are poor; you are attacked by sickness or malice," and so on. Yes, these mortal beliefs present themselves, and are felt or suffered just in the proportion that the human consciousness entertains them. At such times the faithful Christian Scientist turns to the Bible to read, "My joy I leave with you," or to Science and Health to read that "joy cannot be turned into sorrow, for sorrow is not the master of joy" (p. 304), and then he does what St. Paul counsels when he says, "Rejoice evermore."

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