Article November 14, 1988 Issue

Daily prayer prevents burnout

Our true identity is spiritual; it doesn't wear out. But we need to know this, every day!

Dorcas W. Strong

After I had answered a telephone call late one night, sleep eluded me. Although it was only four o'clock in the morning, I decided to begin the day as I usually do by praying for myself.

I've found that turning to God immediately when I wake gets my day off to a good start. Acknowledging God to be the only Mind of man, the source of all true thoughts, establishes my day on a spiritual basis. It prevents concerns left over from yesterday or anxieties about what today may bring. I've learned that unless antagonism and worry are quickly brought under control, they can drain our mental and physical energies.

On this particular morning as I prayed I was reminded of a statement by the Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science, Mary Baker Eddy. It is in her book Pulpit and Press. She writes: "Is not a man metaphysically and mathematically number one, a unit, and therefore whole number, governed and protected by his divine Principle, God? You have simply to preserve a scientific, positive sense of unity with your divine source, and daily demonstrate this."^{Pul., p. 4.} I continued my prayer, acknowledging that man, God's creation, is always at one with his Maker. I reasoned that the individuality of this spiritual man is the true identity or selfhood of everyone, including me, because we are God's reflection.