Article July 4, 1936 Issue

"The beauty of holiness"

[Written Especially for Young People]

ETHEL MUNRO GOSS

Sometimes we are apt to think of holiness as something that does not concern youth, but rather belongs to old age, or to those who have separated themselves from the ordinary affairs of life and dwell apart. The Psalmist's admonition to "worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness" may not seem applicable to the affairs of school or college, the campus, athletic field, or debating society. But Christian Science, with its wide application to human needs, reveals the true meaning of holiness in its application to daily life. As health includes freedom from disease, so holiness includes freedom from sin; and health and holiness are revealed as the natural, normal state of the real man, made in God's image and likeness.

It is interesting to note in this connection that the words "health" and "holiness" have the same root meaning. Young people everywhere are constantly being told of various ways of maintaining health, but it is more necessary that they should be reminded of the ways of holiness, and that they should not be mesmerized into believing that they cannot have holy thoughts while engaged in the legitimate pleasures and activities of their everyday life, and vice versa. In "Miscellaneous Writings" (p. 362) Mrs. Eddy gives a good test to apply to our pursuits, where she writes, "Pleasure is no crime except when it strengthens the influence of bad inclinations or lessens the activities of virtue."

The beauty of holiness is seen in such qualities as chastity, honesty, fair play, generosity, unselfishness, tolerance; and qualities such as these are needed every day, in college, in the home, in business, in society. We can cultivate them and express them right where we are at the present moment. Spiritual qualities are the manifestation of the Mind "which was also in Christ Jesus."

Send a comment to the editors

We'd love to hear from you!

Easily submit your testimonies, articles, and poems online.

Submit

"The beauty of holiness"

We'd love to hear from you!

Sign up for unlimited access