MH page 247

Abiding peace, true rest of spirit, has but one Source. It was of this that Christ spoke when He said, “Come unto Me, all ye that labor and are heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.” Matthew 11:28 . “Peace I leave with you, My peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you.” John 14:27 . This peace is not something that He gives apart from Himself. It is in Christ, and we can receive it only by receiving Him.

Abiding peace and rest of spirit are found exclusively in a relationship with Christ. This paragraph focuses entirely on spiritual peace found through Christ, quoting Scripture without making empirical medical claims.

Christ is the wellspring of life. That which many need is to have a clearer knowledge of Him; they need to be patiently and kindly, yet earnestly, taught how the whole being may be thrown open to the healing agencies of heaven. When the sunlight of God's love illuminates the darkened chambers of the soul, restless weariness and dissatisfaction will cease, and satisfying joys will give vigor to the mind and health and energy to the body.

Spiritual illumination and knowledge of Christ bring mental vigor, health, and energy by replacing weariness and dissatisfaction. The text attributes mental vigor and bodily health to divine love and spiritual illumination.

We are in a world of suffering. Difficulty, trial, and sorrow await us all along the way to the heavenly home. But there are many who make life's burdens doubly heavy by continually anticipating trouble. If they meet with adversity or disappointment they think that everything is going to ruin, that theirs is the hardest lot of all, that they are surely coming to want. Thus they bring wretchedness upon themselves and cast a shadow upon all around them. Life itself becomes a burden to them. But it need not be thus. It will cost a determined effort to change the current of their thought. But the change can be made. Their happiness, both for this life and for the life to come, depends upon their fixing their minds upon cheerful things. Let them look away from the dark picture, which is imaginary, to the benefits which God has strewn in their pathway, and beyond these to the unseen and eternal.

Focusing the mind on cheerful things and blessings rather than anticipating trouble improves happiness and emotional well-being. The paragraph combines spiritual perspective on eternal life with psychological advice regarding thought patterns and happiness.