Article March 11, 1933 Issue

Joyous Expectancy of Good

MARJORIE LIGERTWOOD

JOYOUS expectancy of good is one of the beautiful mental qualities we inherit from our loving Father-Mother God. This is more clearly realized as we come into the understanding of our real self through the study of Christian Science. As we learn each day to realize more of the divine beneficence, we naturally and spontaneously feel the joy that comes from seeing good, and good alone, as real. In the first chapter of Genesis we read, "God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good;" and John tells us that "without him [the Word] was not any thing made that was made;" so, even in the seeming presence of material discord, we have Scriptural authority for our joyous expectation of good.

In these days of seeming stress and strain, how comforting it is to know with certainty the truth of Mrs. Eddy's statement (Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, p. 306), "Undisturbed amid the jarring testimony of the material senses, Science, still enthroned, is unfolding to mortals the immutable, harmonious, divine Principle,—is unfolding Life and the universe, ever present and eternal." As we turn away from the material sense of existence, with all the dark pictures it is trying to paint for us, and keep the spiritual vision and reality of good always before us, we can have only the joyous expectancy of good and its eternal unfoldment in our consciousness.

This joyous expectancy of good is a great factor in bringing about instantaneous healings. Jesus did not doubt the instant availability of God's power and presence, a fact beautifully illustrated in his restoration of Lazarus. And we should joyfully and gratefully recognize the same power and presence today. If we approach a problem with gratitude and joy that we have the privilege of proving the presence of Love and harmony where mortal sense is trying to present a picture of discord, error is bound to vanish quickly. This mental attitude on the part of both practitioner and patient is most helpful. If we have brought our problem to divine Principle, Love, the one and only power, we have a right joyously to expect immediate results. Thus we are planted more firmly on the rock of Truth; and this ability to expect the manifestation of good here and now will grow more natural and spontaneous with each added proof.

Send a comment to the editors

NEXT IN THIS ISSUE

Article

The One Great Attainment