Article October 16, 1989 Issue

Clearing away office conflict

We don't have to wait for "them" to get better. Healing in the office can start right now—with us.

Sharon Slaton Howell

The business world can be a challenging place to be, especially when relationships in the workplace do not run smoothly. Sometimes people find themselves confronted with discord of such intensity that the office environment can only be described as hostile. What can we do in such a situation?

Although it's human nature to think "When so-and-so shapes up, things at work will be better," what really helps to restore harmony is a willingness to remove what the Master, Christ Jesus, called the "beam" from our own thinking before we worry about the "mote" in someone else's.^{See Matt. 7:3–5.} This provides a solid, spiritual basis for overcoming office discord.

I learned this several years ago when a fellow employee and I found ourselves at odds. We needed to work together closely but were clashing at every turn. At last, my growing distress prompted me to telephone a Christian Science practitioner to ask her to help me through prayer. I told my story, fully expecting her to see that I was clearly in the right. How much I had to learn! I didn't get the sympathy I expected at all. Instead I was strongly encouraged to rethink my attitude and my idea of the fellow worker! After recovering somewhat, I declared that I just couldn't love this woman. The practitioner replied, "You will have to. There is no other way to resolve the conflict."

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