The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1941-08-08
Let Us Rejoice


w dren spontaneously and con-
tinuously manifested, and
their assurance of the love of their
parents, il might well inspire in us a
greater confidence in the Father,
God, who ever blesses all. That men
stand in need of a fuller, more per-
manent Joy is plain. Those who con-
slider the subject of little importance
would do well not only to remember
how essential JOY is to true living,
but to recall how highly the Apostle
Paul valued it when in his list of
spiritual fruits, he placed it next to
love. -.
The fundamental nature of Joy can
best be understood when it is dis
cerned how all good is possible of
attainment through the spiritual un-
derstanding of mans true being as
the son of God. If God is All and
man is created in His image and like
ness = as is so clearly stated in the
first chapter of Genesis = the posi-
bilities of good in such a relation
ship must indeed be limitless. Here,
then, is the scientific call to a Joy
far beyond what materiality could
provide.
Many Bible characters have expe-
rienced great joy as the result of
their understanding of God; but no
one has so fully demonstrated Joy to
be the inevitable result of the UNDER
standing of mans unity with God as
has Christ Jesus, the Way-shower.
When he told his hearers John 10:
30), 81 and my Father are one," he
proved what he said by casting out
every form of error. He also made it
clear that those who understood his
teaching would do even greater
works than he was doing. True Joy,
then, is a spiritual quality arising
from the fundamental fact of mans
oneness with his Father, God, and it
can never spring from the illusory
pleasures of matter, mood, OF cap
rice.
When the prophet Isaiah spoke of
the manifestation of the Christ-idea,
he sought to make it clear that Joy
was one of its notable characters
tics. He wrote Isaiah 81 Il, 81, ''The
Spirit of the Lord God is upon me;
-. to appoint unto them that
mourn in Zion, to give unto them
beauty for ashes, the oil of Joy for
mourning, the garment of praise for
the spirit of heaviness; that they
might be called trees of righteous
mass fbo r,1orfsno of 4I,o ,,J &I,o&
he might be glorified;" while in "Sci-
ence and Health with Key to the
Scriptures" Mary Baker Eddy has
written correlative passage which
reads Up. 304): Harmony is pro-
duced by its Principle, is controlled
by it and abides with it. Divine Prin-
ciple is the Life of man. Mans hap
piness is not, therefore, at the dis
posal of physical sense. Truth is not
contaminated by error. Harmony in
man is as beautiful as in music, and
discord is unnatural, unreal
Ones understanding of the allness
of God as the source of true, that is,
of spiritual joy, is strengthened by a
statement of the Way-shower's,
which brings steadfastness and
peace. He comforted his followers
with the assurance John 1929,
"Your joy no man taketh from YOU"
To lack joy is to be deprived of the
logical outcome of spiritual under
standing. Consistently to recognize
the things for which we can be
grateful is to cultivate Joy and to en-
nance its loneliness. Let us then
cheer our own experience, as well as
the world about us, by the express
sion of more gratitude.
In the universe of Gods creating,
where the spiritual man forever
dwells, there is no hectic rushing
hither and thither to seek Joy. Joy is
spiritual attribute which all may
express here and now in the simple
kindnesses of the daily routine. Thus
we see how true it is that while good
brings Joy. Joy also brings more
goodl
'Rejoice evermore. In every
thing give thanks" q Thessalonians
SIG, 1877. Not only with our lips, but
in our lives should Joy and gratitude
be expressed, and this will result in
untold blessings"
The Christian Science Monitor