As childhood leaves us, too often the laughter goes with it. Sometimes half a smile is the best that visits the somber faces of many modern men and women. Though bearing responsibilities, people should still take time to be happy, to laugh, and above all to realize the true nature and source of joy.

True joy is wholly spiritual, because it comes from divine Spirit, from Soul. Joy is the very substance of man, who is the totally spiritual reflection of Soul. Deity is continuously imparting joy to man.

A young Christian Scientist was faced with severe challenges that impelled her to prove these truths. Turning to the Bible for guidance, she found that the word "joy" appears often. Inspired, she used a concordance to the Bible for further study of "joy." She read with fresh interest about Jehoshaphat and the children of Judah, who feared being overwhelmed by the enemy. Jehoshaphat "appointed singers unto the Lord, and that should praise the beauty of holiness, as they went out before the army." ^{II Chron. 20:21;} The singers of Israel were joy-givers! When they broke into song and praise to God, their enemies fought among themselves and destroyed each other.

The Christian Scientist knew that she, too, must be a joy-giver. As she prayed, listening to the direction of divine Mind, fear and confusion were silenced. Well settled on the firm basis of the allness of God, divine Love, she became buoyant, expecting good. Again the enemy fled before the power of joy. She knew everything was fine, and soon her problems were resolved.

We all need more buoyancy. However, it is one thing to say so and another to be more joyful. Pain, the burden of sin, thoughtless words or deeds—all suggest a power other than God. It's comforting to know that these joyless, tedious phenomena are not truly attached to man, since God never made them. His Christ tenderly awakens us to that fact. While joy may seem lost temporarily, it can never really be taken away from us.

How can we put more happiness into our work? First, we can appreciate the blessings God has already given us, including home, daily provision, safety. But above all we can be grateful for what we have learned about our inseparable relationship with Him.

Second, we can pray to serve Him better by expressing His qualities to a greater degree, qualities such as love, intelligence, integrity. Then how can we go about feeling joyless, finishing the day with a sigh? We'll be so busy expressing the divine nature that the day will seem too short. Mrs. Eddy writes, "The song of Christian Science is, 'Work—work—work—watch and pray.'" ^{Message to The Mother Church for 1900, p. 2;}

We are taking big steps forward spiritually when we realize that no circumstance, however cruel or unjust, can take our heritage of joy from us. If a physical healing seems tardy, we need not dip into the valley of discouragement in matter, in the reverse of divine Life. We can be glad that the promised Comforter, divine Science, is here today and that mankind is receiving its message. We are not mortals separated from Soul, the originator of all joy. We are immortal, vital, spiritual ideas. This is good reason to sing praises to God. "With joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of salvation," ^{Isa. 12:3;} the prophet wrote.

Those weighed down by mortality felt Christ Jesus' healing and uplifting touch. Through his reflection of the divine nature, the Master brought joy to the suffering and strength to the weak. "These things have I spoken unto you," he said to his disciples, "that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full." ^{John 15:11;} The remedy for joylessness is not a human one but a spiritual one, as Jesus so conclusively proved.

Kind words, compassion—these expressions of Christliness are priceless. From moment to moment we and others are blessed by small kindnesses, by the joy that springs from Spirit. Mrs. Eddy writes in Science and Health, "Truth will at length compel us all to exchange the pleasures and pains of sense for the joys of Soul." ^{Science and Health, p. 390.}

Be a joy-giver! Joy expresses the ever-presence of divine Love. We can be glad that we do not need to acquire joy but already have it, and that we can shed its healing light in every avenue of our lives.