The route to happiness is understanding Truth.
Humans often search for happiness in all the wrong places. They buy more things, expecting to be happier. They work hard for more money, expecting to be happier. They buy more fashionable clothes, expecting to feel better. They eat sugary or exotic foods expecting to find joy. They seek fame, position, status, acclaim, more friends and attention, hoping to feel better. Reaching these goals may bring a feeling of contentment and satisfaction, but the effect will be temporal, for the feeling is generated by a temporal condition. Any bright shine inevitably dims and thought begins searching once again for something more.
The cure is to find happiness where happiness really comes from. It comes from Spirit and is found in Truth!
“Happiness is spiritual, born of Truth and Love,” (Science and Health, p. 57), Mary Baker Eddy wrote.
Happiness is not a commodity one acquires. It’s a feeling one has when thought is in a spiritual place.
The greatest joy a person can experience comes from getting to know Truth.
Truth is the liberator from the limiting and constricting errors of the human mind that depress hope, darken thought and sap joy.
Truth is the true joy-giver. Get to know Truth and find real joy in your life. It’s free, and it’s all yours to enjoy to the fullest.
This inspiring post reminds me of a favorite poem I have cherished for years. It’s by Doris Lubin and was in the Christian Science Sentinel November 14, 1977.
My Joy
I cannot be robbed
I cannot be cheated
My joy can never be
obscured
diminished
depleated.
The only joy I can know
is a stream of pure gladness,
an unceasing flow-
through wastelands of willfulness
through bereavement’s blight
to growing
to knowing spiritual delight.
In triumph
In trial
Midst laughing or weeping,
My joy is God’s gift
and safe in His keeping.
I love this, Thank you for sharing.
Lovely poem, Sharon – thank you for sharing. I will add it to my little store of inspirational poems which I find so helpful.
Lovely, thank you for sharing
QUOTE:
“Folks are usually about as happy as they make up their minds to be.”
– Abraham Lincoln
This “Spirit View” is so perfect!!! The ends that folks sometimes feel driven to go to feel happy, are so unnecessary, when it is all so much more elegantly simple. That makes me smile, even though humanly I am alone in the dark. Thank you Evan, the spiritual nature of happiness, but more the spiritual nature of God and Her universe, will be my focus today. I am feeling the Love already.
Rosemary What a wonderful Lincoln quote I had never heard it before, it is perfect, compliments Evan’s post perfectly
Heard at a Wednesday church service.
MBE’s hymn, Mother’s Evening Prayer
“O gentle presence, peace and joy and power;”
Peace is mentioned first. This brings joy. And living
those two qualities equals power.
I always remembered it that way, but in writing
this I noticed, it takes place in a “gentle presence “ God’s presence.
Not always easy when storms of any kind hit consciousness.
The title says, Evening Prayer.” Mrs Eddy was also reaching for “heav’nly rest.
Thank you M and thank you all for you lovely thoughts.
Thank you M, so inspiring!
Hey! I think that’s my dog!
I recall WC Fields never looked happy or satisfied. But then it was said he didn’t get along with kids and dogs so perhaps he never got to see Truth freely expressed.
It is the joy of Truth and Love that comes freely to all as God already knows our needs before we can even perceive humanly and all the human condition uplifted to enjoy the fullness of the wealth of spiritual joy. How one is effected to enjoy this Good Life happily is also a perfect gift from God, in whatever form it resulted in a promotion of status in every aspect of life. God pampers His Children with His Love and no judgement will be upon how this Love is spent. That is knowing God’s Love is unconditional and impartial.
“Truth is the true joy giver,” for ourselves and for the world. Universal happiness. Thank you! Very lovely!
Lovethepicture,!,the dog is expressing pure joy. I
Miss my lovely ,faithful dog so with help from your
Blog on happiness will search meaning of true
Happiness. Thanks all for comments!
Gratitude to Evan et al for reminding my rather depressed thought( over a few things) to move out of the way and let Love shine in those dark places of concern. After reading all of the above the clouds have begun to lift and I am so grateful for Evan’s example and all the kind people above who unknowingly have helped me. I can now let the light of Love and God’s care wrap my thinking up in a gift package of His “gentle presence.”
“JOY IS NOT IN THINGS, IT’S IN US”
For me always was nearly the greatest richness and happyness a good friend. Yes, of course the best friend of us all is God.
Evan mentioned that we see temporal joy in earning more money, eating sugery or exotic things we like, or getting more friends.
Hereby I thought, to have more good friends who have spiritual and uplifting influence on us, leading us to a better understanding of Truth, would be nice. But God as our best friend is Truth itself. So if we strive to understand God better, this will lead us into all Truth and Happyness and true Joy.
As a German I cannot explain it better. Many commenters say it all so nicely poetic sometimes. But I think one must experience such uplifting spiritual happyness on it’s own without any material remedies like drinking and smoking etc. in order to understand what real happyness is. We can pray to God to lead us rightly!
Thank you Evan, for this inspiring, uplifting SpiritView.
Evan, thanks for the happy dog which makes it’s own er happy, too.
Thank you for all your good thoughts. This one has always helped me:
Divine intelligence directs
Divine Love protects
Divine Mind unfolds to us each day
All we should know and do and say.
the
The spiritua
Thank you, Doris! I am saving this reminder of the ways He lovingly directs us. Deeply needed and appreciated. ❤️
I love the statement that “Happiness is not a commodity”. Wonderful! And thank you for this thoughtful SV. Such a refreshing uplift, as opposed to the worldly ways and means of approaching happiness.
Ty for the Abe Lincoln quote. Love it & you all.
My eternal gratitude, Evan.
Sharon, thanks for introducing me to the poems of Doris Lubin in past Sentinels.
Short and to the point, they’re great.
Glad you liked her poems too! I’ll have to check out more of them too! Thanks!