Article August 19, 1972 Issue

Joy Now!

VIRGINIA T. GUFFIN

When Christ Jesus said, "The kingdom of heaven is at hand,"^{Matt. 4:17;} he was assuring us that the joy and bliss we associate with heaven are not far off but here. Christian Science shows us how to find this joy now. This attainment is not just a matter of positive thinking. It is the result of gaining some understanding of the law of God and its operation as stated in the Bible and explained in the writings of Mary Baker Eddy.

Mrs. Eddy named this law Christian Science. Of it she writes in Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, "This Science teaches man that God is the only Life, and that this Life is Truth and Love; that God is to be understood, adored, and demonstrated; that divine Truth casts out suppositional error and heals the sick."^{Science and Health, pp. 471, 472;} The student of Christian Science has good reason for hope. He can expect to find joy as he learns the truth of God and man—in spite of the pessimism that currently seems so much a part of human thinking.

Pessimism seems to be justified by the weight of arguments of injustice, selfishness, and bigotry—of personal problems as well as the problems of cities and nations. Problems coming as financial difficulties that appear insurmountable. Or as personal relationships so snarled by hatred or temper or violence that any kind of forgiving or reconciliation seems beyond hope. Or as sickness or deformity that seems beyond healing.

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