The Fruit of Our Labor
There is a human tendency to expect evil instead of good. The expectation of good rather than its opposite—evil—was one of the revolutionary steps our Leader, Mary Baker Eddy, took, and pointed out to others as necessary, in metaphysical thinking. Even prayerful people had become accustomed to look upon the promises of the Bible with faint hope instead of with a definite expectancy of any present manifestation of the power of God, good.
Throughout the ages false theology and fear have built up a mythical mental condition which needs to be transformed. It had long been said that great artists rarely lived to see the fruition of their work. Were not the good supposed to die young? Was it not sometimes feared that those we had nourished might turn against us? Was not evil supposed to flourish in a greater degree than good? As for the overburdened righteous man, his only reward was in heaven, a supposed place of mystery beyond this realm of existence. Such is the maelstrom of false beliefs associated with hatred, resentment, and injustice. Many times, as we look about us, some phase of false material theory appears to be true; but, as in the case of sickness, we should not allow this dream to appear real in any instance, and as students of Christian Science should guard our consciousness from the superstitious fear that we ourselves shall not profit here and now from good works.
By applying the Principle of Christian healing we can prove that we do not labor in vain, that there is a right place for our employment, and that progress will attend our footsteps. These results will come into our experience when we expect good to triumph rather than evil; when we dismiss superstitious fears, which would obstruct its manifestation and replace false, material sense with spiritual sense. We find that the Revelator visioned the real universe, where God reigns supreme; and of his concept of this new heaven and new earth Mrs. Eddy writes in "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" (p. 573): "This is Scriptural authority for concluding that such a recognition of being is, and has been, possible to men in this present state of existence,—that we can become conscious, here and now, of a cessation of death, sorrow, and pain. This is indeed a foretaste of absolute Christian Science."
In the sixty-fifth chapter of Isaiah we find the prophet writing as follows of the new heaven and the new earth, the spiritual concept of heaven and earth: "And they shall build houses, and inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, and eat the fruit of them." Our vineyard may be an office, a farm, a schoolroom, a home, a studio, a store, a factory, or the driver's seat of an automobile, an airplane, or an engine. At this particular time our vineyard might be the necessity of searching for employment, but, doing that, we may express all the qualities needed; doing that, we shall find our right place. In whatever situation we find ourselves we can be responsibly active, and if we are going about our Father's business manifesting honesty, loyalty, alertness, and industry, it is right and just that we reap the fruits of our labor here and now. This being true, the fruits we shall receive will rob no one else of his heritage, for there is more than enough for all. We must be sure, however, that we are expecting the true fruits of continued activity, and not the counterfeits called human power and ease in matter.
Isaiah further tells us that "they shall not build, and another inhabit; they shall not plant, and another eat: ... they shall not labour in vain, nor bring forth for trouble; for they are the seed of the blessed of the Lord, and their offspring with them." This does not mean that we should not share when help is needed, because rightful giving will never impoverish us. But as either the recipient or the giver we should be alert to the fact that each one should profit from his own good works, and should recognize that any evidence to the contrary is not real or permanent. In short, we must expect our harvest.
To expect our harvest we must first do our own planting. We should guard against slothfulness in our work, negligence in our study or in support of our church. We must study the truths of being and put into practice the little we learn each day. We should strive to rely more upon the unfoldment of divine ideas in our consciousness and lean less upon practitioner, teacher, and friend. As we prove this demonstrable religion in our own experience, we can give news of this blessing to others; and as those in our own earlier experience have helped us, we in turn can help others to avail themselves of the healing truth. We must strive by earnest, consecrated work to have a ready ear for the "still small voice." We can do this by replacing discouragement with rejoicing, fear with courage, selfishness with selflessness, dishonesty with honesty, laziness with activity, greed with generosity, hatred with love. As we do this we shall find ourselves busy—never out of employment. The ideas of good which we affirm, being "the seed of the blessed of the Lord," will bear the harvest which will injure no one and will bless us and those about us. There is no limitation of good ideas, and consequently no lack of harmonious results from such thinking.
Again, in Isaiah we find the definite promise, "So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it. For ye shall go out with joy, and be led forth with peace." As we bring this promise into fulfillment in our lives, we shall help in proving to a weary, waiting world that justice and love reign in the affairs of men.
