Article January 6, 2014 Issue

On performance and payment

Emily Maixner

As a performer throughout my life, I’ve always loved this clear assurance from the book of Job: “For he [God] performeth the thing that is appointed for me: and many such things are with him” (23:14). It has driven home for me (as well as many other performers I’ve known) the humbling fact that one’s talent and ability are from God—He supplies them and He expresses himself through them. The artist is simply the expression of God’s performance.

A little while ago, it occurred to me to look up the word performeth to see what the Hebrew root was. Following Mary Baker Eddy’s recommendation that all Christian Scientists be familiar with the original texts of the Bible (see Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, p. 24), I’ve discovered a treasure trove of inspiration while digging through Hebrew and Greek root words. Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance is my favorite tool for this study.

Here was biblical evidence proving that God supports every artist the same way He provides for the accountant and the physicist.