Christian Scientists should be the happiest and most joyous people upon earth. And why? Because they have found the key which gives them access to the treasures of the Bible and enables them to acquire many of those things which are generally considered dear to life in the way of health, peace, and freedom from fear.

All denominations of Christianity hold that there is one God and that God is good, the only cause and creator, as shown in the Bible in the first chapter of Genesis. But when it comes to considering the nature of man, whom we read of in this chapter, there is a tendency to turn to the second chapter of Genesis and to assume that Adam was the man referred to in the previous chapter.

From this misunderstanding has sprung the assumption that the troubles which seem to have been associated with Adam and his progeny were either sent or permitted by God to test and try mankind.

Christian Science takes a very different attitude. Mary Baker Eddy, the Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science, saw clearly that God is Spirit, as stated by John, the beloved disciple, and that since like produces like, man created by God in His image and likeness must be spiritual and Godlike, rather than material and human.

Mrs. Eddy maintained that the story of Adam is an allegory, depicting a false sense of God and man and that it shows forth a counterfeit picture of creation. She saw that God's creation is spiritual and perfect and that therefore the Adam story, with all the troubles which have followed in its train, is an illusion, although to material sense its effects may seem to be true.

The key referred to earlier in this article is the Christian Science textbook, "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" by Mrs. Eddy. In this book we read: "All reality is in God and His creation, harmonious and eternal. That which He creates is good, and He makes all that is made. Therefore the only reality of sin, sickness, or death is the awful fact that unrealities seem real to human, erring belief, until God strips off their disguise. They are not true, because they are not of God." ^{Science and Health, p. 472;} Christian Scientists are at work humbly claiming and modestly proving the truth of these statements in their lives; hence the joy that is theirs.

Isaiah prophesied that the coming Messiah would be "a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief." ^{Isa. 53:3;} It is true that according to the Bible, Jesus groaned and wept at the tomb of Lazarus, and upon another occasion he wept over Jerusalem. But let us examine these events with the help of the original Greek.

The Greek word rendered "groaned" in the eleventh chapter of John's Gospel is embrimaomai, which means literally "deeply moved." In every other reference in the New Testament to groaning the word is stenagmos, meaning "a sigh." In one verse of this chapter we find perhaps the most poignant little verse in the Bible, "Jesus wept." ^{John 11:35;} The Greek word used here is dakruo, which means literally "to shed tears." Here is the only place in which this particular word is used. In every other reference to weeping the word is klaio, meaning "to sob, wail aloud," or a derivation of the word.

It is evident that Jesus was deeply moved at the tomb of Lazarus and shed tears or cried silently. But when he wept over Jerusalem, he broke forth and wailed aloud (klaio), as did Peter when he had denied Jesus and saw his Master looking at him. Be it noted that Jesus' grief over Jerusalem was not for himself but for his people whom he loved, knowing what was coming to them through their rejection of the Christ and their antagonism towards the Romans.

However, the Gospels give evidence that there were occasions when Jesus manifested much joy. It is recorded that he rejoiced over the success of a healing mission of some of his disciples. At another time he said to the apostles, "These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full." ^15:11; The Bible informs us that at the birth of Jesus an angel told the shepherds that he brought "good tidings of great joy ... to all people." ^{Luke 2:10;} Christian Science has come to bring just such good tidings and joy to the people of this age.

Despite the difficulties and problems which beset Mrs. Eddy in founding and establishing Christian Science, we find flashes of wit and humor in her writings. She shows us, however, that it is in spiritual thought rather than in material sense that true joy is to be seen. We read in Science and Health, "Spiritual development germinates not from seed sown in the soil of material hopes, but when these decay. Love propagates anew the higher joys of Spirit, which have no taint of earth." ^{Science and Health, p. 66;}

"Yes," someone may say, "I want to be joyous, but I have a problem." Of course you have a problem. We all have a problem. The very fact that we seem to be living in a material world, beset by the strains and stresses associated with this belief, constitutes a problem for us all. But whether the problem is personal or worldwide, there is no need to feel miserable about it.

George Bernard Shaw once said: "The secret of being miserable is to have leisure to bother about whether you are happy or not. The cure for it is occupation." So let us see that we have no leisure to be miserable over a problem, whatever its nature. By patiently working and joyfully waiting upon God, knowing that under all circumstances the law of good governs, we can have confidence that a solution will duly appear.

Happiness is contagious. Recently the writer was talking with a Christian Scientist and happened to ask how she first became interested in Christian Science. She told him that a friend had lent her a copy of Science and Health, but the Scientist, finding she did not understand it, took back the book. A little later this friend asked if she would like to accompany her to a lecture on Christian Science. She agreed, and expecting to see a small group of people in the town hall, she was astonished to find the hall packed with the happiest looking gathering she had ever seen.

Looking around at all the joyous faces, she said to herself, "This is it." Again, listening to the lecture, she thought, " This is it." After the lecture she asked for Science and Health again; and, as she said, "I have never looked hack."

Mrs. Eddy tells us, "Spiritual sense, contradicting the material senses, involves intuition, hope, faith, understanding, fruition, reality." She also says, "When the real is attained, which is announced by Science, joy is no longer a trembler, nor is hope a cheat." ^{p. 293.}