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Friday, 8 March 2013

Glad

Joyce Voysey

I have found that Ivimy Gwalter’s Foreword of our book also appeared in the 1979 edition of We Knew Mary Baker Eddy.


On first reading of our book, I was enormously impressed by the new additions of Hermann Hering’s and John Salchow’s reminiscences, enjoyed meeting the man who whipped Mrs. Eddy into his arms to get her away from the news people when she arrived at her new Chestnut Hill home, and meeting the man who was the second First Reader of The Mother Church and who showed us the way to go in many aspects of that grand opportunity of serving the church. Now I am wondering what new insights are coming my way through this re-reading.  (I am referring to and will be reading the latest edition We Knew Mary Baker Eddy – Expanded Edition Volume 1, published in 2011.)


 We had readings on “Happiness” last night at the Wednesday Evening Meeting.  There was a lot read about singing and joy and rejoicing.  I wondered: I don’t remember much singing going on in the New Testament.  This morning this is confirmed.  Very few “singing” references listed in the Bible Concordance.  Though one I really love is I Cor. 14:15: “…I will sing with the spirit, and I will sing with the understanding also.”


However, the Concordance records many, many instances of rejoicing.  Doesn’t that make us glad?


more....May I just pop this in here?

MEANING OF BLESSED

The form in which Jesus spoke the Beatitudes was an exclamation, a joyous affirmation of what is rather than what is to come.

The Greek translation of the word blessed indicates an exclamation of joy.  The verb are, as in Blessed are does not appear in the original manuscript.  The Aramaic and Hebrew expression formed often in the Old Testament is “O the blessedness of!”

Although some translations use the word happy, the root of the word happiness is contingent on chance and changes of life.  Blessed indicates the “highest stage of happiness and well-being.” Blessedness is found in an “inward fountain of joy in the soul itself” and “consists in standing in a right relation to God.”

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