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."

After a severe struggle with rebellion and self-righteousness, I began to make a prayerful effort to think of my co-worker as I had been taught in Christian Science to think of everyone—as the spiritual, perfect child of God. I continued praying to bring my view into line with the spiritual truth of man. It wasn't long before I found myself appreciating more the good qualities she had and thinking less of the bad things she had done—with the result that we enjoyed a good working relationship for the rest of the time I worked in that office.

Counting simply on human pleasantness and good will to clear a tense atmosphere is all too often ineffective. But taking seriously Christ Jesus' counsel to "love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you" ^{Matt. 5:44 .} never is. Even making the attempt to love in this sublime way can be incredibly fruitful. It can reach and correct even the most entrenched and complex business relationship problems. And however feeble may seem our attempts to live as Jesus taught us to live, God will support our efforts until we find ourselves consistently expressing, in some degree, that Christ-love we all so much need to give and receive. And a comforting fact to realize is that since in our real being we reflect ever-present, unlimited divine Love, God, it is natural to each one of us to express warmth, compassion, forgiveness, and love.

The enemy to our harmony and happiness is never really another individual. It is always the false belief that there can be someone who is not God's wholly spiritual child.

Mrs. Eddy makes an interesting point when she writes in "Love Your Enemies": "What is it that harms you? Can height, or depth, or any other creature separate you from the Love that is omnipresent good,—that blesses infinitely one and all?

"Simply count your enemy to be that which defiles, defaces, and dethrones the Christ-image that you should reflect." ^{Miscellaneous Writings, p. 8.}

Once we see that the enemy to harmony is really the temptation to react to evil and thus disobey Christ's teachings on brotherly love, we are less likely to be impressed by turmoil. And we are less likely to get caught up in the lamentable state Paul describes: "For that which I do I allow not: for what I would, that do I not; but what I hate, that do I." ^{Rom. 7:15.}

Instead of adding more strife to an atmosphere already supercharged with it, we want to learn how to control our thought and cast out anger, resentment, and indignation. One way to do this is to lift thought to the unchanging fact of God's allness and the omnipresent control divine Love holds over all its ideas. Then we see that what is really going on is the one Mind, God, expressing His perpetually loving nature through all His ideas without a single exception.

The Psalmist's plea "In thee, O Lord, do I put my trust: let me never be put to confusion" ^{Ps. 71:1.} is one we can echo. And as we make every effort to ensure that it is God's will that is directing us—not our own and not other people's—our trust in Him is rewarded. Doing things God's way is necessary, as Jesus showed. It protects us. It keeps us on course, aligned with the one Mind's plan for us. And this brings good to all concerned. Stopping to listen for God's voice consistently, earnestly working to keep our motives aligned with Christ's teachings, will help to clear tension and strife from our mental environment.

As Mrs. Eddy points out: "Science shows that material, conflicting mortal opinions and beliefs emit the effects of error at all times, but this atmosphere of mortal mind cannot be destructive to morals and health when it is opposed promptly and persistently by Christian Science. Truth and Love antidote this mental miasma, and thus invigorate and sustain existence." ^{Science and Health, pp. 273–274.}

The Master stressed love under all circumstances as the greatest need of mankind. So however challenging our work relationships may seem at times, there is still the demand to learn to live in harmony with our office neighbors. This task is made easier as we love them as the children of God that they and we, without exception, always are in reality. The Science of Christ enables us to do this. Its teachings show us how to contribute to a more Christlike work atmosphere, blessing those around us and furthering our own spiritual progress as well.