Editorial June 17, 1911 Issue

THE SOURCE OF HAPPINESS

Annie M. Knott

There is little doubt that the pursuit of happiness engages the attention of mankind more than aught else, at least until many disappointments make the quest seem hopeless to the majority of those who follow it, yet it is both natural and right to seek happiness. The very fact that so many find only a counterfeit does not disprove the existence of the genuine; rather does it show that they do not know the real nor where it should be sought. Christian Science, however, teaches us to find in every disappointment an incentive to greater activity and intelligence in our search for the real, all the while remembering the Master's unequivocal promise, "Every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth." In seeking happiness we must look for it from the only source of all that is enduring or true. Mrs. Eddy says, "Happiness is spiritual, born of Truth and Love" (Science and Health, p. 57).

In the Thirty-seventh Psalm we have a remarkable picture of human conditions, where the wicked plot against the just and watch for an opportunity to destroy the righteous. The psalmist says: "I have seen the wicked in great power, and spreading himself like a green bay tree;" but he adds that the end of this manifestation of error was close at hand; even its complete annihilation. The most important teaching is, however, as to the mental attitude to be maintained by the faithful during the period of apparent storm and stress. The instructions are remarkable for their definiteness as well as their tone of certainty. We are first of all bidden to "fret not," but to trust and wait, and to "rest in the Lord." This is not all, however, for it might at a casual glance imply long-deferred happiness, which cannot be the divine purpose; so we read, "Delight thyself also in the Lord; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart."

Here it is well to pause and remember that no phase of mortal belief has power to hinder us from delighting ourselves in God; indeed we are very apt to pursue the merest phantoms of mortal sense until we are rudely awakened from its dream and forced to seek safety in divine Love, and thus to find joy as well. Of old, when the Israelites were rebuilding Jerusalem, they wrought with a sword in one hand and a trowel in the other; but Nehemiah said to them, "Mourn not, nor weep. ... neither be ye sorry; for the joy of the Lord is your strength." The record goes on to say that the people rose to the occasion and began "to make great mirth, because they had understood the words that were declared unto them." At a later day the great Teacher had much to say about happiness and how it may be attained. He spoke of it as an abiding possession, the full flowering of that peace which the world can neither give nor take away. At the very hour when he knew he must face the supreme ordeal of mortal existence, also the belief held by all around him in a life separate from God, he declared not alone for peace but for joy, the joy that is full and overflowing, the joy that no person, place, or thing can take from us.

Send a comment to the editors

NEXT IN THIS ISSUE

Editorial

SERVICE AND SATISFACTION