Editorial February 9, 1935 Issue

Solemnity and Gladness

Violet Ker Seymer

The thought of solemnity is usually shunned, lest it take from one the gladness of heart he desires to have. Many people believe they are faced with the choice between solemnity and gladness of heart, and even an avowed Christian Scientist may need to learn more and yet more of the gladness of heart which is a vital characteristic of his religion.

All questioning as to the blending of gladness of heart with solemnity is stilled in the following verse from Isaiah: "Ye shall have a song, as in the night when a holy solemnity is kept; and gladness of heart, as when one goeth with a pipe to come into the mountain of the Lord, to the mighty One of Israel." In this holy solemnity there is no heaviness, no burden; there is joy and a lifting of burdens. One needs, then, to guard against various subtle errors, such as resignation to suffering or sorrow, enfeebled hope, the "not wanted" feeling which is apt to develop into a hard crust of isolation from one's fellows. These and other unholy reactions to temptation would make ever-present harmony and happiness seem remote.

Divine Love purges the human heart of the worship of materiality and personality, which wrecks health and happiness. Gladness of heart, together with health and harmony, accompanies the manifestation of universal love, which "thinketh no evil."

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