Article July 29, 1939 Issue

"My Father's business"

[Original article in German]

WILLIAM BREYMANN

Those who seek in Christian Science a solution of their business problems, or a reinvigoration of their activities as business men, turn again and again in their study to the words of Jesus, "Wist ye not that I must be about my Father's business?"

Meditation on the meaning of these words led one seeker for Truth to divide his business activities into three concepts, work, position, and business, and to seek for the metaphysical meaning of these terms. First, what is work in Christian Science? It is not that which deals in material goods; it is not that which is done with the hands or the brain. Spiritually discerned, work is that which is done through spiritual understanding, when the material senses are silent. Mary Baker Eddy writes in "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" (p. 15): "In order to pray aright, we must enter into the closet and shut the door. We must close the lips and silence the material senses. In the quiet sanctuary of earnest longings, we must deny sin and plead God's allness. We must resolve to take up the cross, and go forth with honest hearts to work and watch for wisdom, Truth, and Love." Thus, the meaning of work was found in the metaphysical sense. To "watch for wisdom, Truth, and Love," that was the work of Jesus, and it is the work to which every earnest Christian Scientist devotes himself.

The question then arose: Can I today, in the twentieth century, in the midst of world-wide business organization, perform the same kind of work which Jesus accomplished in his time? On first thought this seemed impossible. It appeared to be easier in any other vocation than in the commercial field. Further study, however, answered this question.

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