A CLERGYMAN of the last century, the Rev. Dr. Talmage, said, "There are wit, humor, and enduring vivacity among God's people." Mary Baker Eddy quotes his words with approval (Miscellaneous Writings, p. 117). In her own life she manifested the happy qualities of a ready wit, kindly humor, and vivacity that hint the true, spiritual joy of man as God's reflection.
In Christian Science we learn that all gracious qualities are bestowed on man by his Maker, divine Love. God says to man eternally (Luke 15:31), "Son, thou art ever with me, and all that I have is thine." The radiant attributes of God which belong to man by reflection, to the true selfhood of us all, are humanly expressed in such qualities as buoyancy, brightness, merriment, kindliness, forbearance, and refusal to be offended. Constraint, dullness, discontent, and ill temper, on the other hand, do not belong to man because they do not belong to God. Any unloveliness of manner or disposition that mortal mind may ascribe to one may be overcome through an understanding of these facts.
A student of Christian Science came into a practitioner's office with the request, "Please treat me to be good natured!" What does it mean to be good natured? Does it not mean to express the nature of God, the source of all good? And can man express aught else, since he is the image and likeness of God? He can only love; he can never be displeased or angry. Temper, irritability, and criticism can be eradicated from human behavior through the understanding and application of the teachings of Christian Science, which never condemns persons but lovingly shows the way to overcome error in ourselves and others. We gain perfection through persistent practice or realization of man's true, Godlike qualities.
