Let Us Rejoice

OLIVE SWIFT

Without a knowledge of Christian Science the gift of rejoicing can scarcely be understood in its true signification; for, much as men have longed to obey Paul's command to "rejoice evermore," they have been unable to do so fully until enlightened by Christian Science. This study, pouring the light of spiritual understanding into human consciousness, reveals the true nature of God and man, including the universe. The wonderful truth that God is Love and is infinite, that He is the only source of all that really exists, and that He supplies man with intelligence, goodness, peace, and happiness, lifts a heavy burden from the materially-laden consciousness; and the student can at once commence to rejoice in such a revelation.

The student understands as never before the meaning of the Master's words, "I can of mine own self do nothing," and he begins, just as a little child, to take his first steps to attempt to put into practice what he has learned, and to depend on God, divine Love, for the intelligence necessary to carry out his daily duties, for the courage needed to take the right course; and he rejoices more and more as he proves the uplifting and sustaining power of the one and only God. In such experiences the student is proving to some extent the allness of God, and learning to put on the spiritual armor wherewith to resist the attacks of impersonal evil, which every Scientist has to meet and master.

One of the greatest shields against error is joy. And why is this? Simply because joy is a quality of God, divine Love. Can we for one moment imagine divine Love to be joyless? It would cease to be Love were it to cease to express joy; and since man as God's image is forever expressing the qualities of God, he must naturally and spontaneously express joy.

But what of the experiences which all seem to have to meet—the opposition to right endeavor, the persecution and trials which beset our paths? Jesus said, "Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you;" and Mrs. Eddy says in "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" (p. 66), "Trials are proofs of God's care."

Then we may rejoice, even in the midst of our trials; for God is with us and caring for us, and we are only being called upon to trust more implicitly in His ever present care. To have such a joyous mental attitude, based upon the knowledge of God's ever—presence, is to be effectually protected from error.

The writer's experience of being called upon to sing a hymn when watching by the sick bed of one dear to her is a constant lesson of the triumph of joy over fear and trouble. It did not seem easy at first; but when the sick one joined in feebly, greater strength and peace seemed to come; and when the hymn was finished, the watching and working became a great joy, with not a shadow of doubt to disturb the happiness thus realized—the happiness based on the fact that divine Love is ever with men.

Then let us as Christian Scientists rejoice in the wonderful lives of Jesus, of the prophets and apostles, of our dear Leader, and in our Cause. Let us rejoice in the activities of The Mother Church, acknowledging them and supporting them to the best of our ability; for do we not, one and all, owe our happiness, our healing, and our regeneration to the wonderful discovery of the spiritual nature of man in the image and likeness of God, which Mrs. Eddy has revealed to us? What if the way seem dark at times? The Psalmist says, "If I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there;" and Mrs. Eddy writes on page 480 of Science and Health, "Where the spirit of God is, and there is no place where God is not, evil becomes nothing,—the opposite of the something of Spirit." Have we not cause for great rejoicing in such a revelation?

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