Article May 14, 1938 Issue

A Singing Heart

JOHN AUDLEY GUSTUS

Is it possible to have a singing heart? Christian Science assures us that it is, and unfolds the way to attain it. In a world of struggle and chaos, mortals believe so thoroughly in the reality of conflict that many give way to discouragement and dismay and find no sure foundation for joy and happiness. Doubt and distrust assail them, and they believe themselves unable to determine what is the right course. Many may feel that if the world's clearest thinkers are unable to solve the multiplicity of human problems, what chance have they who have been limited in education and opportunity!

Much has been written in prose and poetry of joy maintained amidst dismay and defeat. But the magnitude of individual problems oftentimes seems so to dwarf righteous effort that at best it can act only as a palliative. From all this it is evident that there is a crying need for a healing remedy resting on a foundation that is unassailable and always unshaken. Jesus declared that the kingdom of heaven is at hand—within the reach of everyone. Heaven, as understood in Christian Science, is a true state of consciousness which includes the qualities of joy and happiness. Acquaintance with these qualities and the demonstration of them constitute a singing heart, a present spiritual joy that can sing because it expresses the eternal goodness of the one Mind, is unafraid, undisturbed by the material senses.

David, a writer of the Psalms, knew the value of joy and praise. He realized that a singing heart is an acknowledgment of the presence and power of God. He knew that gratitude and praise are active forms of acknowledgment of the goodness, tenderness, and care of the one Father, God. Some of the Psalms were written while David was sorely beset by the testimony of the material senses. Nevertheless, he was able to rise above that devastating testimony and demonstrate cheerfulness by his insistence on God's goodness to man. He had learned through experience that praise to God in the face of conflicting material sense claims, allied him to the only power that exists, and harmony was again restored to his thinking. Continued practice in this method so rewarded him that he was able richly to express a singing heart. He was demonstrating his unity with God and placing his joy and happiness on a spiritual foundation, on the Rock.

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