Happiness

FLORENCE CORNELL TERRY

As recorded in the sixteenth chapter of John's Gospel, Jesus once said to his disciples, "Your joy no man taketh from you." To the disciples who knew that the hour was at hand when their beloved Master should be taken from them, this may have seemed a strange statement; for not yet had the Holy Ghost come upon them, enabling them fully to understand the words and works of the Master.

All men undoubtedly desire happiness. Throughout the ages they have been engaged in the pursuit of happiness, but many have failed to lay hold upon it to any market degree, because they have regarded it as something outside of themselves. To the world in general, happiness has seemed to be very largely, if not entirely, dependent upon circumstances, conditions, or persons. Friends and enemies have robbed many a heart of its human sense of happiness, leaving a void which no earthly means could fill. Circumstances and conditions which mankind has not known how to control have made joy seem a very fleeting thing. What, then, did the Master mean when he said, "Your joy no man taketh from you"? Christian Science, given to the world through the unselfish devotion and labor of its Discoverer and Founder, Mary Baker Eddy, has brought the answer to this question and is awakening in many a heart a sense of joy of which mortal belief cannot rob it.

God made man in His own image and likeness and gave him dominion over all the earth, as recorded in the first chapter of Genesis; and Christian Science shows that this spiritual creation has never been inverted, and that man has never been recreated or procreated. The Bible states clearly that God is Spirit; and the Christian world has accepted that statement in theory. But the nature of Spirit was not comprehended by mankind until light was shed upon it by our Leader's definition of God, Spirit, as supreme, infinite, divine Mind.

It is clear that the image or likeness of Mind must be mental, must consist of ideas; and on page 475 of her textbook, "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures," Mrs. Eddy tells us that man is "the compound idea of God, including all right ideas." It follows, then, that spiritual man must include the idea of happiness, and that this idea must be his eternally. Man, robbed of happiness or joy, would not be man, for if he lacked any of the divine qualities he would not be (ibid., p. 591) "the full representation of Mind."

Since the entire spiritual universe is the expression of God, it is plain that all we know of reality is our true concept of it. Is it not clear, then, that when any material circumstance or condition seems to make us unhappy, it is not the circumstance, but our belief about the circumstance, which needs to be changed?

Let us suppose that some apparently worthy object which we have cherished and worked to attain fails of success, possibly through some opposing human agency. If, instead of listening to the suggestions of regret, resentment, discouragement, we listen steadfastly for the "still small voice" of Truth, we shall hear these tender words of encouragement: "And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God"—not some things, but "all things." In the Master's parable, the father declared, "Son, thou art ever with me, and all that I have is thine." And the prophet voiced God's promise, "Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness." Pondering these words, we shall remember that God, divine Principle, governs all things at all times, and that in divine Mind there is no failure. Then, joyfully examining the motives which led us to some undertaking, and the means we have used for its accomplishment, according to what we find there, we may confidently either discontinue our efforts in this direction or go on in renewed strength. In such right mental activity no unhappiness can be found.

Suppose one whom we love is pursuing a course which, from the human standpoint, we know can lead only to disaster. Surely, to human sense this seems cause enough for

unhappiness. But let us examine our thought about it. Is this one whom we love any less beloved of God? Is not God "of purer eyes than to behold evil"? And is not He the all-seeing One? How, then, can we see evil as belonging to God's child or having power over him? When, through right metaphysical work, we have cast this erroneous belief out of our own consciousness, we shall begin to rejoice that the real man is not subject to evil, and is never outside of divine Love's protection. And to the extent that we throw the weight of our thinking into the spiritual scale, we shall to that extent lighten the burden which is weighing down our brother; for is it not the weight of wrong thinking which, in belief, makes evil seem to have dominion over mankind?

The word "pursuit" is defined as meaning "the eager, persistent effort to overtake." If we are pursuing happiness in the right way, we are proving that our joy no man taketh from us; because we know that spiritual joy consists not in being spared trials and afflictions, but rather in recognizing at all times the ever-presence and omnipotence of God, good.

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