The Bible Speaks to You February 14, 1970 Issue

[The above is an abbreviated, postproduction text of the program released for broadcast the week of February 6-12 in the radio series, "The Bible Speaks to You." Heard internationally over more than 1,000 stations, the weekly programs are prepared and produced by the Christian Science Committee on Publication, 107 Falmouth Street, Boston, Massachusetts, U. S. A. 02115.]

RADIO PROGRAM NO. 410 - Purposeful Activity for Everyone

with contributions from Harvey Wood, Robert McKinnon

[The participants are Harvey Wood and Robert McKinnon.]

McKinnon: We all want our jobs and our lives to have purpose and meaning. But what happens when the specialized skills we have been trained for and have used daily for a number of years are now very much out of date, replaced by technology and automation? When someone feels his specialized skills are not needed anymore, he can really feel at a loss about his sense of purpose.
Wood: I agree. Your heart really goes out to people today in such a situation. What do people you know of do?
McKinnon: Most people probably approach this problem with the idea that when one job has been made obsolete, the next thing to do is to try to get some new training and skills in an area that may last long enough to get them to retirement.

Wood: What's helped many I know is to realize that right when things look so bleak there is a demand for the purposeful qualities we express in our lives. It requires, though, that through learning more of the nature of God and His purposeful plan for man we quit letting fear paralyze our God-given receptiveness, resourcefulness, ingenuity, and right activity.
McKinnon: But people begin to develop a kind of cynicism and fatigue, boredom and depression, about the fact that they're just no longer very important.
Wood: That is the basic need, then, that has to be met. It is more than just learning a new skill. Perhaps this is what we can throw some light on. In the Bible we read accounts of men who were faced with empty, purposeless lives and overwhelming fears. Remember what Christ Jesus said to his disciples (John 21:6):"Cast the net on the right side of the ship, and ye shall find." That has a lot of meaning and application for us today.