Editorial October 18, 1941 Issue

"Unprecarious joy"

Evelyn F. Heywood

Christ Jesus told his disciples how joy was to be obtained and how preserved. In one of those last intimate talks before the crucifixion, he spoke of the bonds which united them. Their relationship with him must possess that same quality which constituted his with the Father if it were to be permanent. Love manifest in obedience, this was the simple requirement he set before them. And the reward of such compliance was not intangible, nor remote. It was something which they had had the rare privilege to observe and live with during their discipleship. The reward of such living was bountiful indeed in its promise of continuity and fulfillment. "These things have I spoken unto you," he told them, "that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full."

Joy, then, is not something which depends upon the will of a capricious and at times retributory Deity; for no such Deity exists. Nor does it depend upon the good fortune or the ability, the temperament or the environment, of the individual. Joy is a quality of Spirit, and man expresses it in the forever unfolding of good. Joy belongs to him in boundless spontaneity, in continuous unfoldment, in invincible assurance. If men believe that they can be temporarily or permanently without joy, this is because they believe that they are dependent upon others, upon human happenings or mortal surroundings for their well-being. To ask ourselves whether we are giving heed to these commands of the Master, whether we are abiding in the love of which he spoke—this is of fundamental importance. If not, then can we expect to keep our joy? Jesus did not offer any other alternative.

On page 341 of "Miscellaneous Writings," Mary Baker Eddy asks: "Do human hopes deceive? is joy a trembler? Then, weary pilgrim, unloose the latchet of thy sandals; for the place whereon thou standest is sacred. By that, you may know you are parting with a material sense of life and happiness to win the spiritual sense of good."

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