Article August 22, 1942 Issue

Joy

ANNE ELIZABETH JENKINS

It is no easy matter to be joyous when human affairs go all wrong, but joy is at the very heart of Christian Science. The orthodox churches commemorate at their communion service the last sorrowful supper Jesus ate with his disciples. Christian Scientists celebrate the joyful morning meal on the shore of the Galilean Sea. The orthodox Christian stresses martyrdom and the blessedness of suffering, looking for complete joy only as a far-off attainment in a far-off heaven. Christian Science glories in the present joy of overcoming suffering. Mrs. Eddy's writings are aglow with such words as joy, bliss, gladness. She cites the words of the Rev. Dr. Talmage (Miscellaneous Writings, p. 117), "'There are wit, humor, and enduring vivacity among God's people.'"

Mrs. Eddy bases her insistence on joy on Jesus' teachings and life. Jesus, who has been called the "man of sorrows," said of himself, "These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full." Happiness is wholly a mental condition, not dependent upon persons or things. And since God is the only Mind, happiness comes from our spiritual oneness with divine Mind. Christian Scientists accept this and endeavor to reduce it to practice.

Steadfastly to affirm this revolutionary truth takes courage and persistence. It is in direct contradiction to what we hear on all sides, such as the statements that money gives satisfaction, that people give joy, that position means happiness; that one is very lucky because he is earning a great deal. And so those who have accumulated material wealth hold on to it with fear, and those who have not, long for it, or fight for it, or even steal for it. Now happiness is not in getting; it is in knowing and proving what we divinely are. And the real man includes the universe of ideas. Since this is true, demonstrated happiness comes from knowing the truth and living it consistently. It comes from refusing to accept the lie that we are material, living in a material universe, in which some are happy, others miserable; some sick, others well. God's man and the universe are spiritual. Each of us has, by reflection, all good. This is a statement of what the universe of spiritual ideas contains for us. Infinite ideas, unfolding now and through all eternity because God is infinite!

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