Article March 9, 1940 Issue

"The seventy returned again with joy"

FRANCIS LYSTER JANDRON

The consecrated Christian Scientist practices a dauntless life. His confidence and gladness are no longer at the mercy of the ups-and-downs of an uncertain human existence. His conscious being is anchored securely in the unchanging allness of God, good. He is learning that all the good God bestows is his in the measure that he deserves it, and that all good belongs equally and on the same terms to every one of his fellow men. Remembering this he cannot lose his joy. Spiritual joy does not diminish with use, nor become harder to find with the passing years. We can use the same God-given joy in the twentieth century which Jesus' disciples used in the earliest days of the Christian era. As a matter of fact, joy is easier to lay hold of now than it used to be, because the inspired teachings of Mary Baker Eddy, the Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science, have shown conclusively that it is to be found in divine Principle, and is not limited to any personal source.

We read in St. Luke's Gospel that on one occasion Jesus sent forth seventy of his students to heal the sick. The Bible goes on to tell us that "the seventy returned again with joy" (Luke 10:17), bringing glad tidings of healings which had followed obedience to their Master's commands. It is noteworthy that the entire group returned with thanksgiving. Clearly they had all been willing to heal the sick and proclaim God's kingdom in the way they had been taught. Otherwise, their experiences would have differed; disobedience and self-exploiting would have cast darkening shadows on a Christly purpose. We are not told that the seventy healed every case which came before them clamoring for relief. What of it, so long as they clung steadfastly to their Master's teachings, persisted faithfully in practicing the impersonal Christ, Truth, to the best of their understanding, and resisted the temptation to judge or condemn their patients or themselves! The Master's admonition to them when they set out on their mission was unmistakable. He bade them offer their gospel of peace, with its signs of healing. If they should find no welcome for this message, they should not lose their own peace for having served as Christ's sengers (see Luke 10:5, 6). In the strength of divine authority. "the seventy returned again with joy."

The Christian Science practitioner in our day need never lose his joy in the work God called him to do, if he remains faithful to his Leader's teachings. Like the seventy disciples whom Jesus taught and commissioned, the modern practitioner is the exponent of impersonal and invincible Christliness. As long as he seeks no personal glory or advantage, he will not be betrayed into envying the accomplishments or opportunities of fellow workers. He is content to obey Mrs. Eddy's demand (Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, p. 418), "Speak the truth to every form of error." Doing this, he leaves it to God to supply that inevitable fruitage of healing which corresponds to the purity of his unselfed purpose. There is no hit-or-miss in this sacred work. It does not exalt one worker and leave another to starve or suffer. In the practice of Christian Science every unselfed thought and deed finds its reward in blessings which cancel human needs and reveal glimpses of man's spiritual nature and dominion. Working from the basis of divine Principle, the Christian Scientist cannot fail to return with joy from every seeming conflict with evil, whether it expresses itself as a sick patient's call for aid or as a part of the worker's own experience.

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