Can one be joyful in the face of the claims of adversity? Wisdom says Yes. Understanding God, even in some degree, gives a foundation for the rightness of such an attitude.

This joy doesn't indicate mere disregard for what appears to be impending danger. It is not a show of bravado by whistling in the dark. It is based on the scientific certainty that God's kingdom is at hand, even where discord claims to be.

I glimpsed something of this one sunny spring day as I watched a little bird gathering twigs for its nest. One twig was caught so that it could not readily be carried aloft. The little bird got a grip on it with its beak, braced its little feet, and tugged and tugged. When the twig didn't come free, the bird let go of it and sang! Soon he was back at work, tugging and shaking the twig. It still held fast. Again, he sang. This was repeated several times until he gained his victory. The twig came free, and the bird flew off with it.

How many individuals challenged by a formidable appearance of disease, lack, or other discord could learn a lesson from the little bird: persist and rejoice! The Scriptures counsel, "Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all ye lands." ^{Ps. 100:1;}

The Bible is a rich source of examples of people lifting their thought Godward through song. After the children of Israel had come triumphantly through the Red Sea, they sang a song of praise and gratitude "unto the Lord," and even danced with joy (see Ex. 15). At another period Jehoshaphat "appointed singers unto the Lord ... that should praise the beauty of holiness," and sent them out before the army when all appearances pointed to a largescale battle ahead, and the day was saved. The account is in Chapter 20 of II Chronicles. Christ Jesus and his disciples joined in singing a hymn at his last Passover supper with them before his betrayal (see Matt. 26:30).

Many today find the Christian Science Hymnal a sure source of inspiration and uplift. It is unlikely that one can feel depressed while thinking and singing about the love and power of God and His promised care for all. The spiritual joy this brings, and its companion, gratitude, are elements of healing. Singing aloud may not always be convenient, but the song can be there in the heart.

Mrs. Eddy counseled the members of a branch Church of Christ, Scientist, "Pray aright and demonstrate your prayer: sing in faith." ^{The First Church of Christ, Scientist, and Miscellany, p. 203;}

We can sing in faith, with the full expectation of seeing God's goodness manifest in our experience—even with confidence that our prayer is already answered. We can gratefully acknowledge God's healing presence, as Jesus did in the words: "Father, I thank thee that thou hast heard me. And I knew that thou hearest me always." ^{John 11:41, 42;}

Christian Science is a joyous religion. It gives one reason for joy, for it reveals the indestructible unity of God and man. God, divine Spirit, who is Life, Truth, and Love, is ever conscious of His own creation—spiritual, perfect, and eternal—and bestows on it constant blessings.

Man, whom God created in His own likeness, cannot be separated from good since he cannot be outside the ever-presence of divine Love. He is not left adrift on a sea of chance and change, because he is the very expression of his unchanging Father-Mother, God, the divine Principle of all being. Christian Science shows that man cannot lose Life, for he is the immortal expression of Life, living in Life eternal now.

It is good to rejoice over the "work" part of working out a problem in Christian Science, as well as for victory over it. The opportunity of demonstration brings spiritual growth to the individual, besides freedom from the clamor of sin or sickness.

When one sees the discord dissolve, he glimpses something of that millennial rejoicing Mrs. Eddy describes in Science and Health as occurring at the conquest over all sin: "A louder song, sweeter than has ever before reached high heaven, now rises clearer and nearer to the great heart of Christ; for the accuser is not there, and Love sends forth her primal and everlasting strain." ^{Science and Health, p. 568.}