What Is Happiness?

[For children]

BERNICE KING BRIGHAM

A long time ago a poet named Robert Louis Stevenson wrote a little verse about happiness:

The world is so full of a number of things,
I'm sure we should all be as happy as kings.

Kings may not always be happy, but there are "a number of things" that give us happiness each day: riding our bicycles out in the sunshine, finding a new friend, skipping along to school happy in the knowledge that we've done our homework.

Christian Science teaches that happiness is knowing God and that everything that is good comes to us from Him. He is the divine source of all goodness. A few of the names for God that Mrs. Eddy gives us in Science and Health are Life, Truth, and Love.

God doesn't send us a bicycle to ride, for He is Spirit, and only gives spiritual gifts. But we reflect Him as Life, which includes all joy and freedom; we express His strength, happiness, and harmony when we ride our bicycles on a sunny day. God is Love, and we are reflecting Love when we find a new friend and express kindness, thoughtfulness, and warmth toward him. Being obedient and doing our homework honestly and well expresses Truth, and God is Truth.

Mrs. Eddy says, "Happiness consists in being and in doing good." ^{Message to The Mother Church for 1902, p. 17;} It gives us a warm glow of happiness when we look to God for our well-being and know that we are always His perfect children, expressing His goodness. And we find still more joy when we prove God's power and His willingness to help us by healing ourselves or someone else or a pet that we love. This can make us aware of God's love and of His power over unhappiness of every kind.

A boy named Jack found that happiness is a healing in Christian Science. He had been healed many times through Christian Science treatment, but this time was special because it proved to him that he was growing in his own understanding of Christian Science.

After an illness from which he had almost, but not quite, recovered, he found that he was just too tired to do anything. He couldn't go to school or go outside to play. All he could do was lie on his bed and read or listen to the radio.

Jack and his mother studied the Bible and Science and Health and kept knowing that Jack really was the reflection of God. Jack knew that when we learn through Christian Science to understand God and have faith in His power, we can see the cause of unhappiness disappear.

Christ Jesus said, "As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you: continue ye in my love."^{John 15:9;} And also, "These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full." ^{v. 11;}

In just a day or two, when Jack really felt the love of God and His constant presence, he had a very quick healing. One minute he was feeling tired, and the next minute he was well. Suddenly, knowing that God loved him and that he; lived in divine Mind, he felt just wonderful.

He exclaimed, "I'm all right! Why, Mother, I'm all right!" And he was. He immediately went out and rode his bicycle, and the next day he was back in school.

A few days before, the school doctor had sent Jack home, and now, when he saw Jack back in school so soon and looking so well and happy, he was amazed. "What did you do?" he asked; then he repeated his question, "I mean, what did you do?"

Jack knew what he had done. He had not had to see a medical doctor. He had known the truth of his being as God's child, and this truth had restored his health and happiness. He had proven Mrs. Eddy's words in Science and Health, "Happiness is spiritual, born of Truth and Love."^{Science and Health, p. 57.}

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