Contentment

MARGARET LEAVITT

"A DISCONTENTED , discordant mortal is no more a man than discord is music." So we read on page 305 of "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" by Mary Baker Eddy. This shows us that we have to overcome discontent, just as we have to conquer disease and sin, in order to prove our real spiritual selfhood, the true man.

A dictionary gives "mental ease and quietude" as a definition of "content"; and quietude is peace. True contentment is a singing peace, founded upon a deep-rooted trust in God. It knows no fear, no self-pity. It is true riches. Being a spiritual quality, contentment is never dependent upon time, place, or circumstance. We must prove this today, right where we are, regardless of our surroundings. We cannot run away from the belief of discontent, because it is a mental condition and, until scientifically destroyed, may claim to be our cheerless traveling companion wherever we go.

Paul wrote to the Philippians, "I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content." When we consider the character of the apostle who made this statement, a man who was persecuted and beaten, and who spent many days in prison, his contentment presents remarkable testimony that spiritual qualities are never dependent upon material surroundings.

Rebellion is one of the thieves of contentment. In their long journey through the wilderness, how often the children of Israel rebelled! And this rebellion undoubtedly extended their wilderness journey. A student of Christian Science, when studying Mrs. Eddy's definition of "wilderness," which reads in part, "Loneliness; doubt; darkness" (Science and Health, p. 597), became suddenly conscious that her own wilderness journey had lasted too many years. This made her search for the reason for the delayed harmony, and she found that rebellion was at the root of it. Instead of trusting God's infinite wisdom and love to lead her, she had resisted almost every step of the way, ceaselessly outlining what she considered to be necessary to her happiness. The uncovering and denial of this error, and grateful submission to God's will, brought to her the first real peace she had ever known. She had found the "still waters" after laboring through weary miles of desert.

The lie of lack is at the root of much discontent. It goes under many disguises—lack of home, lack of health, lack of happiness, lack of supply—always lack of something. Centuries ago Jesus declared, "He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father." When the lies of material sense came to him to be destroyed, Jesus turned to his Father, divine Mind, and found the truth about man. Only what the Father knows about His children is true; and the Father, being wholly good, wholly loving, never sees His children burdened with sorrow, bound by poverty, or incapacitated by disease. There is no lack in Mind, the infinitude of spiritual substance, and lack cannot be manifested by Mind's idea—man.

Every moment, either Truth or error is knocking at our mental door for admittance. When we refuse to admit any false concept of man that claims to stand at our mental door, and hold thought to the concept of man as incapable of experiencing discord of any nature, we gain healing. In Revelation we read, "Behold, I stand at the door, and knock." When the Christ, Truth, knocks for admittance into our consciousness, let us open wide the door; then we shall know man in his undimmed purity and perfectness.

To understand God as immutable and man as His likeness, as the Bible teaches, is to know man as immutable. What does this do to the human belief of moods, that mental quality sometimes called "temperament"? This understanding does not permit the indulgence of moods. We must claim and prove for ourselves a serenity that cannot be turned into irritation, a contentment that cannot be reversed into depression.

Gratitude is the inseparable mental companion of true contentment. To quote again from Paul's letter to the Philippians: "Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God." Even in the midst of tribulation, gratitude sees God as the only reality. And the way to annihilate discontent is to put in its place endless gratitude to God, thereby exchanging "the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness."

God has bestowed all good upon His children, and not the least of His gifts is peace. May we claim it as our divine inheritance! May we know that this gift is never at the mercy of matter, but is sustained by the perfect law of God.

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