Editorial February 26, 1921 Issue

Employment and Unemployment

Gustavus S. Paine

The endeavor to express intelligence in all circumstances gives one plenty to do. But, some one may ask, will that alone enable a man to make a living? It will indeed, if one applies the understanding of divine intelligence specifically to the problem of right occupation and right pay. When a man is out of work, the first thing he must consider is what he has to offer in the world of labor. A desperate attempt to get something indicates a wrong attitude. Instead, the seeker must realize that he is to give his services for the benefit of all concerned. The right attitude, moreover, is not one of self-conceit but of self-respect. Genuine selfhood is in Mind, never in matter. Thus the self which is to be respected is Mind, or divine intelligence, expressed. Each one must know for himself that man has intelligence and the ability to be intelligently active. Real activity is constructive and productive, because it proceeds from the one producing power, infinite Mind, not mere brain or material body.

Knowing that man expresses intelligence, and that this expression is unlimited right action, one proves that manifest intelligence is what he has to offer. Every one, of course, wants intelligence manifested. Once a man demonstrates that he does express intelligence in just the way that is of definite service, he readily finds that his right employment is at hand. The first requisite is his own innate sureness of divinely bestowed ability. This is not something to be talked about with an air of human superiority; it is a spiritual fact for each one to demonstrate through alertness in taking advantage of every opportunity. A man should not sit at home and expect work to come to him: nor should he wander listlessly from what seems one chance opening to another. The right effort is, first of all, metaphysical. It is the knowing that Principle directs unerringly, gives boundless and immediate opportunity for service, and is irresistible in its operation for the benefit of all. Understanding this, a man can go forth to prove that employment is omnipresent. This does not mean that he is to outline that some particular employer whom he approaches must put him to work. Even a refusal may teach the seeker more of how he must manifest Principle. And while he is learning the way of intelligence, and rejoicing in being active, he is entitled to know that Mind sustains him here and now by providing him with just what he needs.

This understanding of Christian Science is absolutely practicable. It leaves no room for beggary. The instant a man decides to ask for alms or to advance himself by misrepresentations of any sort, he forfeits, to that extent, his ability to prove the presence of true work and true supply. To take the wrong way is an evidence of fear, which must be overcome by the sureness that the divine Mind maintains man in all circumstances. The willingness to work in accord with infinite Principle invariably brings about the disappearance of limitations in the presence of the actual consciousness of good. Fearlessly a man must serve Principle instead of persons. As he knows that the divine Mind is the real employer and the giver of all good, he demonstrates that tangible employment is continuous.

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