Blessed—Made Happy

[Written Especially for Children]

VIRGINIA LEE BUTTELMAN

John was five years old and had known nothing but the teachings of Christian Science. He lived too far from a Sunday school to attend; so for three years mother and John had Sunday school by themselves.

He had learned the truth about many things. And just recently he had been told that intelligence is the gift of God. Mother had read to him from the Bible, "Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding." In another place she had read, "Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning."

Then it had been explained to him that intelligence and understanding are the gifts of God, and that God, who is the only Mind of man, never changes. So man, His idea, is never touched by beliefs of stupidity or forgetfulness.

As a result John had learned his Sunday school lessons quickly and easily. Then he started to learn the Beatitudes. Strange to say, he never seemed to remember the word "blessed." He always had to be prompted.

Finally, one morning when discouragement was knocking hard at the door of John's thought, and mother was nearly in despair, she sent him for the dictionary. They decided that the definition for "blessed" that best suited their needs was, "The state of being made happy."

That helped at once. Surely, since man has every good gift of God and is "the blessed child of God" (Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy, p. 573), John couldn't forget his real selfhood. Mother read again from Science and Health (p. 518), "Blessed is that man who seeth his brother's need and supplieth it, seeking his own in another's good."

"Suppose," said mother, "that today you find out how blessed it is to do kind, helpful things for others. Keep always in thought that the expression of good is your real spiritual selfhood."

John was used to doing things for others, but he was eager to work out this particular problem. There were many ways he could help mother with her work, and there were errands he could run for daddy. He carefully printed a letter to his grandmother. He helped to take some Christian Science literature to friends, who were glad to get it. The more kind things he did the more he saw to do. In fact, he was so busy that never once did he listen to mortal mind's suggestion that his toys had lost interest and there was nothing to do.

That night when a happy little boy was getting ready for bed he said, "I can never forget 'blessed' again."

"No," replied mother, "when we really live the truth we know, we can't forget it. You have learned how to be 'the blessed child of God.' When we reflect qualities of God, such as love, joy in service, patience, usefulness, unselfishness, and kindness, we are His own image and likeness."

Needless to say, the Beatitudes not only became easy to remember, but John had learned a valuable lesson in applying his Sunday school lessons to his daily activities.

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