"A RADIANT, LOVE-FILLED DAY"

[Of Special Interest to Children]

LAURA E. LOVETT

Every day can be a happy one for all of us. A wise man once wrote:

"May every morning seem to say
There's something happy on the way,
God sends love to you."

Christian Science teaches us that we truly are spiritual children of God, not material at all. The material only seems to be. Really, it is not. Since we are spiritual ideas of God, made in His image, our nature must he Godlike. That is why we should express spiritual qualities, such as joy and peace and health and harmony. Since God is always happy, His children, reflecting Him, cannot be cross and unhappy. When you look in the mirror and smile, your reflection does not frown!

We should he happy, not because of other people or things, but because of the fact that God's children reflect happiness from God. The Holy Bible tells us (Ps. 89:15, 16): "Blessed is the people that know the joyful sound: they shall walk, O Lord, in the light of thy countenance. In thy name shall they rejoice all the day."

Have you ever felt unhappy because your mother asked you to do certain chores around the house? Susan has. She felt cross and resentful because her mother had asked her to help after school. Susan was not at all nice about it. This went on for some time. Then Susan's eyes began to bother her. They bothered her so much that she and her mother decided that Susan should have a talk with a friend who was a practitioner and ask for help in Christian Science.

This friend asked Susan to read the definition of oil in the Glossary of "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" by Mary Baker Eddy. Susan opened the textbook and read (p. 592): "Oil. Consecration; charity; gentleness; prayer; heavenly inspiration."

"Susan," asked her friend, "do you know why people put oil in machinery?"

"Why, yes," replied Susan. "It is to keep the machinery from wearing out."

"That is quite true. When parts of a machine rub against one another, they wear out. That is called friction. When you put oil on such places in a machine, the oil prevents friction. Then the parts of the machine work smoothly together."

Then Susan's friend explained that consecration, charity, gentleness, prayer, and heavenly inspiration act as oil. If we use these qualities every day, they help us to work smoothly with our family and friends, and there is no friction. Since they are Godlike qualities, each of God's children must possess them by reflection. We just need to use them.

Susan remembered that charity means love, and she agreed that love always smooths the way. She had learned in the Christian Science Sunday School that God is Love, and that God, Love, fills all space and governs His ideas in perfect harmony.

Susan decided that she could love to be helpful to her mother and love to do her share in caring for their home. She knew that love would act as oil in getting rid of the friction of resentment in her own thought and the friction of discord in the home.

And so it proved to be. Susan began to do lovingly whatever her mother asked, and she began to feel peaceful and joyous again. The days went smoothly and happily at school and at home. Moreover, her eyes did not bother her any more, but were perfectly healed. Susan was learning that our true happiness comes from God, and it is our divine right to be happy every day.

A poem for children reads:

"I'm happy to greet you, Oh beautiful Day!
You have come to me shining and new,
With never a blemish of yesterday
To shadow your heavenly hue.
And I pray that the Father will help me to keep
You bright as the sun's pure ray,
So tonight I can thank Him, and give you back—
A radiant, love-filled Day!"

Like Susan, we all can begin to get rid of selfishness and resentment and to express love and joy and unselfish service. As we do this, we shall find that each day will be for us "a radiant, love-filled Day."

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