very nature will undergo a transformation. Your mind will begin to look upon the positive aspects of reality, it will cease to hesitate, it will see but one right road to a goal. Tasks that appeared heavy and burdensome, will become lightened; circumstances that appeared too complex for solution will become simple; life will become cheerful and meaningful, and the world a pleasant place to live in. Pray for faith, and you will receive the blessings of faith. CHAPTER XII JOY 1. When man's heart is filled with joy, he is at his highest state of being. He is then capable of his best achievements. His keenest powers then take over the reins of direction. His discernment and discretion rise above their ordinary level; thoughts multiply and flow in with ease and depth; vision expands, and his finer sensibilities make their way to the fore. The Talmud says that the Shechina does not rest upon a man except when he is joyful; this means that man does not receive inspiration or lofty ideas when his heart is sad or depressed. God does not speak to man in his moments of gloom. For man's natural state is a joyous one; it is only when he begins to block the expression of his natural self with worry and grief and anxiety, that the power of joy within him retreats and ceases to act. 2. We were born to be joyous. Joy is the language which all creation speaks; it is the voice of God vibrating through the world. The Divine Mind is a vast reservoir of joy; and everything that exists, therefore-since everything expresses His Presence-tingles with joy. There is a joy in the rays of the sun, in the sprightly waves, in the blowing wind, and in the swaying trees; above all, there is joy in the heart of man.' The Sacred Scriptures enjoin man to give full expression to this divine joy, for only in this way can he fall into harmony with the rest of nature, only in this way can he attune himself to the Infinite. 3. Man craves for joy, he seeks out occasions for its expression. This of itself is unmistakable testimony that the human mind was created to be joyful. We do not long for that which is foreign to our nature; we crave only for those things which it is our birthright to possess. We crave for joy, because it is man's privilege to be joyful, because he was endowed by the Divine Mind with the spring and power of joy. 4. Human nature, in its divine state, may best be studied by observing its untrammeled manifestation in childhood days. The child places no barriers to the outflow of his natural emotions. And the gift of joy, like all the other gifts which the Divine Mind has universally bestowed, finds its most spontaneous expression in the child. The child, when not interfered with by the adults of his environment, is always joyful. He romps and plays to give an outlet to his joy; he seeks out or invents occasions for joy and mirth. He eschews sadness just as he does danger. His mind abhors gloom, and refuses to asso 1 Man often perceives sadness in nature, but this sadness is not inherent in nature; it is present only in the eye of the beholder. Nature often reflects itself in man through the prism of his own mental state. A sorrowful eye perceives sorrow even where only joy exists. And the same scene which at one moment wears a dreary aspect, will, when the beholder is in a joyous mood, sparkle with gayety and animation. ciate with that which interferes with his joy. Every day to him is another occasion for joy and every hour another quest for mirth. And as joy is the natural state of childhood, so is it the state which man was intended to express. It is only when man begins to violate his own nature, when he begins to fill his mind with the negative thoughts of worry, of fear or despair, that his power for joy begins to recede, until it ceases, in time, to function altogether. There are those who worry so continuously that they are unable even to summon a smile at need; they have blocked the channel of joy for so many years that it has ceased to make its way to the countenance. 5. But it is necessary to resuscitate that power; for joy is a tonic and a panacea, almost, for all the ills of body or mind. When man is joyous, his health is sustained and preserved. Just as injurious parasites will not venture in an abode flooded with sunshine, so no corroding ailments will invade the body of one whose mind is filled with joy. When the mind is joyous, the entire being is lifted into a higher state; both mind and body are strengthened and invigorated. The vital processes become exhilarated, the organs perform their tasks with greater power and animation; every fibre, every cell becomes charged with an increased current of vitality. Let the heart always beat with joy, let the mind labor with joy, let the hands toil with joy, let every vein, every nerve tingle with joy, and man will create around himself an atmosphere of health through which no disease will be able to penetrate. The best way of insuring health is never to permit divine joy to become overshadowed. 6. As joy is a preventive, so is it also a cure. Where ailments have already found lodgment, they will be destroyed or alleviated if the sufferer can be brought to express the natural joy within him. When the mind is charged with joy, the body is in possession of an antidote against any weakness that may have invaded it. Too often, when a man becomes afflicted with illness, light or serious, his mind takes a downward swoop to the realms of depression. He becomes filled with fear and self-pity. He laments his condition, and dwells, in conversation with others, upon his aches and pains. He exacts sighs and sympathy from those nearest to him, until the whole atmosphere is thoroughly impregnated with gloom and despondency. Such an atmosphere cannot but aggravate illness. Those who brood over their illness, do but nurture it and encourage it to linger, while those who minimize it, smile in spite of it, make light of its dangers, seek occasions for joyous thoughts and joyous talk, these help to drive it out or destroy it from their being. 7. For centuries, men have toiled to discover an elixir of life-something that will free man from all disease and distress and prolong the span of life. It is little wonder that these crusaders of humanity have failed to find this potion in the remote regions of the earth, for the elixir of life lies in man himself—it is his power for joy. Be joyous and your difficulties will diminish in size; be joyous and you ward off illness; be joyous and your fears will lose their hold, and your worries will lose their canker; be joyous, and sorrow will |