[Rev. James Reid, D. D., in the British Weekly, London, England]

The Beatitudes, as they are called, are part of the Sermon on the Mount. A good many people forget this and leave them out when they speak of it. They are not easy to understand, and they do not appeal to the practical mind of the man of today. He is interested in doing something, not in feeling something or even in being something. None of us finds it easy to think of being poor in spirit, or meek, or sorrowful as a desirable condition of mind. They are virtues we might admire in a saint whom we have no wish to imitate. Nothing shows the difference between the spirit of the world and that of Christ as does the way in which we tend to push these particular sayings of Christ [Jesus] into the background. Yet there is no part of his teaching that should be studied more closely today.

If nothing else did, the word "blessed" ought to attract us. For "blessed" means happy. Christ [Jesus] was really saying, as someone puts it, "I will tell you the secret of happiness." We ought to be interested in that; for many people are secretly unhappy.... There has always been some fly in the ointment, some lurking shadow on the landscape of life. Jesus says, I will tell you the secret of happiness.

The first thing he makes clear is that it depends on our interior life. It comes from what we are within and not from conditions or situations without. It does not depend on what we have, or have not, or on the kind of treatment which we have had at the hands of life. It does not come from possessions. It depends on the spirit.... The secret of happiness is in what we are.

When we come to look at this secret in detail, it startles us. "Blessed are the poor in spirit." "Blessed are they that mourn." "Blessed are the meek." We do not associate any full-blooded happiness with these anemic virtues. But if we look again and get through to what Christ [Jesus] means, we begin to understand. To be poor in spirit, for instance, does not mean to be poor-spirited. It means to have no false conceit of ourselves, to see ourselves as we are. It is to know that we have nothing that we did not receive. It is to realize that there is no hope for us and no good thing, but in the grace of God. To see this and to accept this position is to have opened up within us a well of gratitude, and that is happiness. The grateful man is always happy; for his gratitude is the fruit of appreciation. But this spirit of humility delivers us from some of the bitterest roots of unhappiness —the wounds to our pride, the hurt to our vanity, or the fear of anything that threatens the flattering picture of ourselves we carry in our minds.

Or think of meekness. It does not sound very attractive or seem to promise happiness. Meekness means the willingness to have God teach us and guide us.

[From the Review, Burbank, California]

There is quite a difference between the pursuit of happiness and catching up with it. To find happiness, one must pursue it where it can be found. Most of us are strenuously pursuing happiness, but few of us find it, because we are searching in the wrong place. Thomas Curtis Clark tells us in this little verse where it can be found:

I have no gold, beguiled from mill or mart,
But I have treasure-houses filled with joy;
For lone ago I bartered life's alloy,
And I have learned that wealth is of the heart.

The author uses "wealth" instead of "happiness," but that is manifestly what he means, because happiness is the greatest wealth that one can possess. Do not believe that there is any honest-to-good-ness happiness that is not located in the heart, and we believe that the good Lord purposely planned it that way. This means that real happiness is spiritual, and that those who would pursue happiness with the expectation of being rewarded by finding it must pursue it in the realm of the spirit.

[Thomas Hastwell, in the Dwight (Illinois) Star and Herald]

One of the commonest causes of human unhappiness, and unrest, and discontent, comes from a lack of appreciation and gratitude. Too many people, instead of being appreciative and thankful for the many privileges and blessings they have, spoil their enjoyment of life by grieving for the things they do not have, and complaining that their bounties and rewards are not larger. I believe that no matter how limited an individual's blessings are he can find something in them for which to be thankful. I also believe that no matter how limited one's blessings may be, the very fact that one has in his heart a spirit of gratitude and thankfulness will work to magnify and increase his blessings and his appreciation of the rewards that are his.

We are told as much on many occasions in the Scriptures. Just why this is, or how an attitude of gratitude toward the Lord accomplishes this, and magnifies one's blessings, I do not understand. I only know that it does. I know that the man or the woman who has cultivated that spirit of gratitude toward God for every good thing that comes to him is a happier, richer, and more contented being than the person whose rewards are much greater, but who is lacking in the attitude of thankfulness and the spirit of gratitude.

[Dr. Earle V. Pierce, as quoted in the Times, St. Petersburg, Florida]

Blessedness is more than happiness—it has to do with soul. To have a blessed life is to have the enduring life.

Possessions do not bring blessedness; all the heart's desire, wealth, and fame do not bring happiness. The philosophy of the devil is to get all you can and keep it, and we are in that grip today.

What have we to give? Love, sympathy, service, our whole consecrated life. These lead to four major benefits—the enlarged life, recovery of life, investment which is eternal, and a life like God. It is possible for this great neglected truth to come into our lives to enrich us and make us more like Jesus.

[Rabbi Eugene Rosenberg, as quoted in the Los Angeles (California) Times]

We slay happiness with our own hands, or allow others to kill it for us. After we have lost it, we put the blame on the scheme of the universe, when we alone are at fault.

Happiness consists not of what we have but of that which we are. It is not in our possessions but in our attitude toward life.

The soul of happiness is love, and this love may be so great that it fills our lives and leaves no room for disappointment, even as light crowds out darkness.

The noble, aspiring soul will not allow foolish jealousy, idle gossip, or false sympathy to destroy his trust in life.

If we wish to tap the wellspring of happiness, let us try living each day at our best, simply, sincerely, and intensely. That is the sure way to win happiness and to hold it.

[From the Journal-Herald, Dayton, Ohio]

The Christian, that order of Christian who attempts to pattern his life after that of Jesus of Nazareth, is happy. This is because he expects good.

Today some dismal forecasting is pronounced. Here and there are people who, assuming the role of prophets, predict ill. They see humankind descending into the cruelty and barbarism of the past, degenerating into barbarism.

But the Christian makes no such prophecy. He may have little idea of what is coming to the world; he may not be able to picture the order of the future, but he is expectant of good.

In his endeavors to live a clean life and to contribute to clean living he gains a sense of the nearness of One whom Jesus of Nazareth addressed as "Our Father which art in heaven," and to whom he attributed "the kingdom, and the power, and the glory."

In the security and promise of this presence the Christian cannot do otherwise than expect a higher civilization.

[J. L. Newland, in the Frederick (Oklahoma) Leader]

George Macdonald has given us this beautiful bit of philosophy: "If, instead of a gem or even a flower, we could cast the gift of a lovely thought into the heart of a friend, that would be giving as the angels give."

We are so greatly creatures of thought that our whole course in life, our experiences, and our welfare may be altered by changing the manner of our thinking.

To behold today's work as drab drudgery indicates that we are not bestowing upon it the right kind of thinking. To illuminate it with the light and the loveliness of a constructive thought of how it might be better done, or how it may be made to serve others better, and how it serves us, is to give to the commonest task the glow of ardent adventure.

We need better thoughts about ourselves and about the capacities with which we are endowed, if we would benefit ourselves by our gifts.

In the parable of the talents, which is a classic on this subject, great joy came to those who had appreciated the value of what they had and what they could do. They invested their possessions and their stewardship with the loveliness of gratitude. On the other hand, the one-talented man, who allowed his mind to be filled with thoughts of resentment and suspicion, and was without both inspiration and industry, naturally gained nothing but punishment.

One thing that is wrong with popular education today is that it does not sufficiently emphasize the unfailing capacities of any person who constantly renews his mind with contact with the things of Spirit.

The world needs a higher conception of the value of spiritual powers. That is true of our relationships with each other, and within ourselves.

[From the Adult Bible Class Monthly,
Cincinnati, Ohio]

Whether one has much or little of this world's goods, he is a millionaire in his own right. One's spiritual resources are beyond calculation.

Spiritual wealth is the only real wealth. It is not a medium of exchange, it cannot be banked; yet it affords the happiness and satisfaction that money cannot buy. It is not subject to market fluctuations. It increases rather than diminishes by expenditure.