"Better get your résumé in order. In ninety days you'll be on the street hunting for work."

In just about so many words I was given notice of my boss's decision to fire me for what he termed "unsatisfactory job performance." I was shocked and angry. It seemed deeply unfair. Although we didn't see eye to eye on many issues, I found no justification for such a sudden end to what had been a very satisfying position with the firm.

In this situation, as a Christian Scientist, I naturally turned to God. I had to admit that there had been many instances in the past of God's government and constant love extending to every part of my life. This was certainly true of job-related activity. At one time, when my efforts as a salesman had thoroughly failed and improvement seemed urgent, I decided to go ahead with plans to attend an important church meeting that would take me out of the territory for a week. I felt clearly that—regardless of my sales quota—I had no more important business than attending that meeting. In his Sermon on the Mount, Christ Jesus commanded, "Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you." ^{Matt. 6:33.} That was certainly my first responsibility, and I silently rejected the notion that this devotion to God's direction could jeopardize my job-related duties. By the end of that month I had sold 150 percent of my year-to-date quota—entirely making up for six months of no sales—and I never fell below 100 percent during all the years I was a salesman.

I knew that the current predicament could be resolved through the application of the same spiritual rule. In fact, it required an enlarged understanding of God as the one divine Principle controlling this and every situation. As I struggled to overcome the sense of injustice, I began to realize that I was giving a person—in this case, my boss—the power to reward or punish, to praise or condemn, to promote or retard my well-being. I glimpsed that to be "about my Father's business," ^{Luke 2:49.} as Christ Jesus so well exemplified, meant to be employed solely by God—and that full time! In a sense, God employs man to express His nature, as the sun "employs" its beams to emanate light and warmth. Man isn't a limited intelligence—somehow separated from God—struggling to become something above itself. He is employed—needed—to express God's being always.

Mrs. Eddy writes: "Man is the expression of God's being. If there ever was a moment when man did not express the divine perfection, then there was a moment when man did not express God, and consequently a time when Deity was unexpressed—that is, without entity. If man has lost perfection, then he has lost his perfect Principle, the divine Mind. If man ever existed without this perfect Principle or Mind, then man's existence was a myth." ^{Science and Health, p. 470.} If God fully employs man, then God governs, guides, promotes, protects, and blesses him constantly as well.

The resentment receded as I recognized that my real status as God's spiritual image and likeness could not be judged, rewarded, restrained, or rejected by someone else, through the stubborn belief in another ruler or mind. The supposition that a mentality opposite to God, or Mind, exists and can rule us is called the "carnal mind" by Paul—or "mortal mind" in Christian Science. I saw that such a mindless mind, because it is in truth nonexistent, had never given and could never give me any good or blessing. Nor could it withhold or remove any good or blessing.

But there was more to be discovered. I found a note of encouragement—and a challenge—in Mrs. Eddy's Miscellaneous Writings: "Be of good cheer; the warfare with one's self is grand; it gives one plenty of employment, and the divine Principle worketh with you,—and obedience crowns persistent effort with everlasting victory." ^{Mis., p. 118.} This alerted me to the fact that one is never wrestling with a circumstance "out there" somewhere. It isn't the boss, or the boss's boss (who in my case happened to agree with him), or luck. The warfare is with a false sense of self—with self-love and egotism—with whatever would resist or oppose the Father's will in any facet of activity.

This struggle doesn't require political maneuvering but prayerful yielding to what God is commanding. Humility is the fittest weapon for this work—succeeding where self-righteous indignation fails. As the Psalmist observed: "Lift not up your horn on high: speak not with a stiff neck. For promotion cometh neither from the east, nor from the west, nor from the south. But God is the judge: he putteth down one, and setteth up another." ^{Ps. 75:5–7.} And spiritual growth certainly does give one plenty of employment! I discovered that I was spending much less time rehearsing selected conversations ("If I had just thought to say that ..."). More thought was occupied in honoring my creator—my constant and true employer—and meekly listening for His direction. I gained an abiding peace about the whole situation that embraced all the players.

So what happened after ninety days?

Actually, my boss found very satisfying employment in another firm. I was promoted to a position that greatly increased my usefulness to the company—given enlarged responsibilities and a more than 50 percent raise. And my family and I moved to a very pleasant community. The transformation of the apparently hopeless circumstance was nearly breathtaking. All were blessed.

This experience offered tangible evidence to me of the truth of Mrs. Eddy's words "Now this self-same God is our helper. He pities us. He has mercy upon us, and guides every event of our careers." ^{Unity of Good, pp. 3–4.}

Being "about [our] Father's business" is not limited to any state or status. All may participate—and in reality, already abide—in this wide field of labor. So all can rejoice daily in "plenty of employment."