Article October 25, 1913 Issue

Joyousness

WILLIAM D. MC CRACKAN, M.A.

True joy can come only from the possession or expectation of good. Evil can never enter into lasting joy, for evil is destructive in its nature and would, if it could, shatter the sense of joy and substitute for it the lassitude of satiety and disillusionment. The use of the verb to enjoy as meaning to possess, points to this very sentiment of joy. Real possession is joyous, it is marked by satisfaction and delight, never by regret or disappointment.

We are almost startled by Jesus' statement in the Sermon on the Mount, as given in Luke's gospel: "Blessed are ye that weep now: for ye shall laugh." The promise, "Ye shall laugh," is so unusual, so different from the conventional phrases of stereotyped religion, that it arrests attention. Is it true that the joyousness which bubbles over in laughter can be a spiritual reward for the self-sacrifice and repentance typified by weeping? We are reminded of Mrs. Eddy's agreement with the late Rev. Dr. Talmage, quoted in "Miscellaneous Writings" (p. 117), that "there are wit, humor, and enduring vivacity among God's people."

Is there, indeed, any joyousness comparable to that of knowing evil overcome and good once more in possession? Is there any sunshine like that which bursts through the clouds, or any bird song so sweet as that which comes after "the winter of our discontent"? In the Christian Science textbook, "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures," Mrs. Eddy points out the secret of happiness, which must underlie true joyousness in these words: "Happiness is spiritual, born of Truth and Love. It is unselfish; therefore it cannot exist alone, but requires all mankind to share it" (p. 57). Joyousness which bursts forth from an inner consciousness of good as ever present and all powerful, comes from a spiritual source. The recognition of God's constant protection, of His guidance by means of the "still small voice," of His beneficent law in adjusting and arranging our difficulties, of the nonentity of evil, the baselessness of fear, and the imperishable nature of man in God's image—this recognition means happiness and is "born of Truth and Love."

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