Article May 16, 1931 Issue

Rejoicing Even in the Wilderness

[Original article in French]

EDMOND COULIN

What a wonderful description the prophet Isaiah gives us of the ever-presence of divine joy replacing sadness when he declares: "The wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad for them; and the desert shall rejoice, and blossom as the rose. It shall blossom abundantly, and rejoice even with joy and singing." To him who is the victim of disappointment or grief, or who, through erroneous personal sense, has tried in vain to cling to certain affections or material possessions, it may seem as though he could never again see a corner of blue sky through the clouds darkening his thought. He may feel as though he were sadly making his way all alone through a vast barren wilderness, which never will flower again.

On page 597 of the textbook, "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" by Mary Baker Eddy, we read: "Wilderness. Loneliness; doubt; darkness. Spontaneity of thought and idea; the vestibule in which a material sense of things disappears, and spiritual sense unfolds the great facts of existence." Thus we see that it is in the wilderness itself that we can rejoice, since it is there that "spiritual sense unfolds the great facts of existence." This unfolding of life and joy is well symbolized by the abundant fruitage of which Isaiah speaks.

It is only false material sense which conceals from us the prophetic vision. It is because we admit the absence of joy, because we affirm that the wilderness is barren, that we perceive no gleam of life and joy in this vestibule in which through spiritual awakening the material sense of things disappears.

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