Phrases such as “Merry Christmas” and “Joy to the world” ring out during Advent as people eagerly prepare for Christmas. Or at least that’s how it should be—if you’re not stressed by Christmas shopping and other preparations. Or if peaceful contemplation isn’t overcome by sad memories or disappointment.

In the opening words of “Christmas Morn,” a poem by Mary Baker Eddy, the Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science, we read, “Blest Christmas morn, though murky clouds / Pursue thy way.” Yet, the next line points to the origin of the light of Christmas morning as above any murky cloudiness: “Thy light was born where storm enshrouds / Nor dawn nor day!” And the poem continues, describing Christ as “God-idea, Life-encrowned,” “gentle beam of living Love,” and “Truth infinite,—so far above / All mortal strife” (Poems, p. 29). Here, the poem speaks of divine Love as untouched by human circumstances and standing above all suffering. 

Mrs. Eddy was speaking from the depth of her own experience. After less than a year of marriage, her first husband died. Back in her parents’ home, she gave birth to her son, George, but when he was a young boy, he was sent to live with another family because she was considered too ill to care for him. The marriage that she then entered into, with the hope of getting her child back, ended up a great disappointment, as her husband was unfaithful. 

Shortly before her second husband deserted her, Mrs. Eddy experienced a radical healing of severe injuries resulting from a fall on an icy sidewalk. The healing came about as she read a familiar Bible account of one of Jesus’ healings and gained a deeper, spiritual sense of it. Mrs. Eddy had always found great support in the Bible, which she had cherished since childhood, and now through an inspired sense of it she had experienced a life-changing healing. This set her on a new path, and looking back on the former sad, dark times, she would write in her autobiography, “The heavenly intent of earth’s shadows is to chasten the affections, to rebuke human consciousness and turn it gladly from a material, false sense of life and happiness, to spiritual joy and true estimate of being” (Retrospection and Introspection, p. 21).

This is something we all ultimately desire—to turn away from disappointments and open up to and turn toward a lasting joy. A joy that exists independent of human experiences because it is spiritual—that is, not material—and therefore always tangible to our spiritual senses. Afflictive circumstances serve to turn us to this real world of “Truth infinite,—so far above / All mortal strife,”—above material pleasures, pains, and their limitations—and result in improved human circumstances. When we yield to Truth, joy is derived from the spiritual, and therefore eternal, reality that forms our true being. It lifts us into a light and luminous presence where afflictive circumstances can no longer determine our state of mind or resist correction, because they are seen to be only illusions. The supremacy and reality of good was demonstrated in the life of Jesus, whose human beginning came as “the Bethlehem babe,” as so poetically expressed in “Christmas Morn.”

Last Christmas I had a modest experience that proved to me that a negative circumstance can’t deprive us of dwelling in the light of Truth and feeling true, spiritual joy. Several guests were coming for the holidays. A joyous feeling of togetherness unfolded over the course of these days, and this joy remained—even when my brother-in-law arrived home after Christmas dinner and was unable to find the bag containing his laptop and smartphone. 

Several days of searching both our house and his didn’t turn up anything. But these “murky clouds” couldn’t deprive me of my joy, which was based on spiritual truth. Instead, I felt uplifted and confident that the situation would be resolved harmoniously. Six weeks later he got a message from a lost-and-found office telling him that his bag had been found on the street in front of his apartment. All of the contents were intact, and the bag was being held for him.

While that was a sweet surprise, I was most grateful for the fact that my joy had been going on continually. It had been constantly flowing from the spiritual fountain “so far above / All mortal strife”—which is always relevant right here on earth. 

In the textbook of Christian Science, Mary Baker Eddy wrote, “This is the doctrine of Christian Science: that divine Love cannot be deprived of its manifestation, or object; that joy cannot be turned into sorrow, for sorrow is not the master of joy;…” (Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, p. 304). The joy that comes from the consciousness of divine Love remains, as “Christmas Morn” says, “Our stay, alway,” and we will continue to find it in that which is enduring and spiritual, knowing it is firmly established and provable—especially at Christmas, but beyond as well!