Wednesday, January 6, 2010

Finding Work in Tough Times

Don't we all know from news reports that millions are worried about being unemployed,  and feeling frustrated at not being able to find a job.

For any one out there in cyberspace who may run across my blog, I want to say this:  fortunately, we are not at the mercy of such conditions.  Whether or not we know it, we are constantly in God's care.  People have said to me, "Wait until my problem is solved, then I'll stop worrying."  What do I say to this?  That Christian Science shows a person can be secure in all circumstances -- even if they lose their job!

Man, and this means every last one of us, is created by God, divine Love, to express His nature.  Because he expresses God, man is both spiritual and perfect.  And because Mind's ideas are always active, man is actively employed all the time. His real business is to express the divine nature, and there is nothing that can prevent him from being about the business of expressing God.  Man can never be "out of work".

This divine activity or employment goes on continuously, forever out of reach of economic ups-and-downs.  When we ourselves are in the full-time "business" of reflecting our Father's intelligence, ability, inspiration, we will be supplied with everything we need.  And if this includes a job, then we will have that too.

Mary Baker Eddy writes in Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures (page 494), "Divine Love always has met and always will meet every human need."  A distraught widow I knew when we lived in Seoul who had six children to support found this to be true.

One afternoon she was notified that the job she had been doing for seven years was being consolidated with another and the company had nothing else to offer her.  To make things worse, there was no recourse for financial assistance of any kind, and there were no relatives or friends to whom she could go for help.

However, she happened to run into a student of Christian Science, a friend of ours who also attended the little church we did.  She had seen this woman at her place of business.  Upon learning of her plight, our friend assured the widow that God's help is always available. This fellow church member was also a Christian Science practitioner, who assured the worried mother that she could find help in God.  The practitioner explained that man's real employment, which is to serve God by expressing spiritual qualities, cannot be interrupted.  She stressed the truth of man's unity with his heavenly Father, divine, infinite Love, and she gave the woman this statement from Christ Jesus to think about:  "Son, thou art ever with me, and all that I have is thine"  (Luke 15:31).

When the mother left the practitioner, she felt uplifted and hopeful.  After a week or so, during which she made an earnest effort to express Godlike qualities -- to really express in human terms her true selfhood as the image and likeness of God -- she heard of a position for which she applied and was accepted.

In this particular instance, the woman's need was met by quickly locating a job.  Sometimes, however, it may not work out precisely that way.  God fills our needs, and our real need at the moment may include something more than quickly finding a job.  Perhaps we need to gain a better understanding of God as the source of all good.  Times of stress bring lessons to be learned, and the sooner we learn them, the better, for with the learning comes the blessing.  And the blessing will be manifested in a form both practical and tangible, and it will meet our needs.

I've seen this so many times in my life, not only for others, but for myself.  As we understand what Jesus taught about man's unity with God, and truly accept that our  loving Father provides for His children abundantly, the right work will open up---even in tough times.