Editorial May 7, 1927 Issue

Joy that is Sinless

Albert F. Gilmore

Joy is an essential characteristic of spiritual ideas and, in consequence, the spiritualized thought is ever joyous in the consciousness of ever present good. Sadness, joy's seeming opposite, belongs not to the children of God, is not an attribute or quality of divine ideas, but pertains wholly to the erroneous concept of man which holds that man is apart from God, infinite good, and therefore may have legitimate grounds for holding to a mental state characterized by grief and melancholy. When the light of spiritual understanding dawns, such a conclusion is seen to be wholly erroneous.

The ancient prophets and seers, catching sublime glimpses of the Christ, Truth, rejoiced in their hearts and enjoined upon their peoples, likewise, always to rejoice. No one of the worthies lived in a more constant state of rejoicing than did David, king of Israel. Not out of failure to rejoice, but in a full exultation over the affluence of the heavenly Father, he sang, "Thine, O Lord, is the greatness, and the power, and the glory, and the victory, and the majesty: for all that is in the heaven and in the earth is thine; thine is the kingdom, O Lord, and thou art exalted as head above all." How filled with the spirit of joy, which has its source in perfect assurance, was he who so fully envisioned the glory of God! We are not surprised that his exalted state of consciousness, demanding expression, found it in the priceless Psalms. Many a saddened heart, having fallen into the temptation to believe in the reality of some form of evil, has been lifted by these inspired messages high above earth bound sense into the atmosphere of Spirit, where joy eternally abides.

The joyousness which is noticeable among Christian Scientists has a sure foundation. It is the manifestation of a deep-seated conviction, based not upon mere faith or blind belief, but upon experience and demonstration that good alone is real and, conversely, that since evil is not, cannot be real, it is not the dominant factor in the lives of mortals. If this great truth be realized, how can one fail to rejoice, to go about with a heart singing paeans of praise to the Lord God Almighty, the infinite Father, who is all embracing Love! This kind of rejoicing has a vastly more substantial foundation than has the mental state commonly called optimism, which is based upon hope alone. While it is always better to believe in good rather than in evil, to have faith rather than to despair, yet in time of need it is found that mere faith, unless it be based upon understanding of the truth about God and His perfect expression, man, is a slender reed to lean upon.

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