Most of us have enjoyed witnessing toddlers dancing to music, too innocent to be concerned with what others think and moving to the rhythm with pure joy. But we might ask ourselves, “Is my own life filled with joyful dancing?”
Such unrestrained exuberance comes directly from Spirit, God – yet Spirit isn’t something coming to us. It is instead a power reflected through us and out to all.
In “Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures,” Mary Baker Eddy writes of our true, spiritual identity as the offspring of the one, infinite Mind, God, “Mind’s infinite ideas run and disport themselves” (p. 514). The word “disport” means “to play; … to move lightly and without restraint; to move in gayety; as lambs disporting on the mead” (Noah Webster, “An American Dictionary of the English Language”).
The God-originated, God-impelled recognition of this true view of each of us manifests itself in a deeper, impartial love, taking pleasure in each daily event of our lives. I can just feel the joy in another of Mrs. Eddy’s statements about love as the “little feet tripping along the sidewalk” (“Miscellaneous Writings 1883-1896,” p. 250).
Feeling weighed down by the pressures of the world, especially its judgments, can make us feel self-conscious and in need of approval – far from joyful. But Science and Health tells us about a kind of pressure that is positive rather than negative: “Christian Scientists must live under the constant pressure of the apostolic command to come out from the material world and be separate” (p. 451).
This type of pressure is spiritual and is unaffected by the pressures of the world. That’s much like a pressurized cabin in an airplane, where the passengers cannot feel or be affected by the changing pressure in the atmosphere outside. In this situation, constant pressure would be equilibrium, with outside pressures neutralized. To me, this means that each individual’s joy as Mind’s spiritual idea is forever undisturbed and intact – constant.
Years ago, the board of directors of the company I was running informed me that they had voted to sell the company. The prior year, however, we had purchased a three-store pottery painting chain that would now be an obstacle to the sale because it was losing money. In spite of this, I knew that the little pottery company had value.
At the time, I had been praying for divine Mind’s direction, wanting to know how I could better serve others in a way that included more joy. I loved the pottery company’s family-friendly mission and the carefree fun children had painting the pottery. I found a financial partner and made an offer to buy the company. This turned me in the direction of a wonderful opportunity and was an answer to my prayer.
I knew that taking this on could not diminish my inherent joy because God is its source. As a result of my daily study of Christian Science, I felt free to move forward without restraint and with a sense of a divine mission leading the way. We “disported” ourselves with a sense of play, mentally dancing as though no one was watching, ultimately becoming a successful franchise company that brought joy to generations of families worldwide.
As the expression of God, we are the joy-filled activity of divine Love, and our daily work can reflect that. This passage from Science and Health gives a sense of the growth that I needed in my life at that time: “To ascertain our progress, we must learn where our affections are placed and whom we acknowledge and obey as God. If divine Love is becoming nearer, dearer, and more real to us, matter is then submitting to Spirit. The objects we pursue and the spirit we manifest reveal our standpoint, and show what we are winning” (p. 239).
The Bible states, “[The Lord] will sing and be joyful about you” (Zephaniah 3:17, International Children’s Bible). Are we hearing God’s singing and feeling His joy about us? Do we realize that we are His joy expressing itself and that we can never be separated from that joy?
As Mind’s ideas, we can approach every day and every situation with exuberance and confidence – moving “lightly and without restraint” – with God. The recognition and expression of our innate joy, “disporting” ourselves as ideas of Mind, knows no limits in the blessings it brings.
Adapted from an article published in the Aug. 11, 2025, issue of the Christian Science Sentinel.
