As a new Associate Editor, I've been learning a lot about what happens "behind the scenes" in order for the Sentinel to appear every week. Each article, feature, and testimony touches many hands and hearts even before it's published. Careful decisions need to be made regarding selection, editing, and layout.

A staff member familiar with the entire process gave me a tour through the department to learn "who does what." As I walked through the editorial and production areas, I was touched by the spirit of love and cooperation among the workers.

Seeing firsthand the challenges the staff overcomes so that all the elements may harmoniously fall into sequence and work together, I prayed a humble prayer to God to be able to remember all I needed to know!

Beyond the recognition of names, faces, titles, and job descriptions, though, and beyond learning who's in charge of the various day-to-day operations, there's something much more crucial in keeping things moving harmoniously. That's the deeper spiritual demand to remember what God is unceasingly doing.

The Christian Science periodicals are unique and must be the outcome of understanding what God is doing, not merely the product of the best intentions of some very nice people. This way we find the vision of this Church's Founder and Leader, Mary Baker Eddy.

Each time we stop and admit that God is all-powerful, omniscient Mind, causing His creation to know and reflect His nature, we're remembering who's actually doing what. And it makes a big difference in the practical minutiae of everyday life. When we're acknowledging that God is sustaining and governing us all, His children, each of us is better able to see His purpose—and to be guided to play his or her right part in it.

Often it's typical for the human mind to view any activity in terms of its own perceived finite (or ego-driven) capabilities to "be" and "do." And that's when fatigue, misunderstanding, and chafing can sneak in.

In the well-meaning flurry of human efforts to have it done our way—i.e., "the right way"—we may forget "who's doing what," temporarily losing sight of the fact that God is the one true Maker, the only real creator and doer. Mrs. Eddy describes egotists this way: "They believe themselves to be independent workers, personal authors, and even privileged originators of something which Deity would not or could not create." ^{Science and Health, p. 263.}

Her words can be both a rebuke and an encouragement at the same time, shaking us awake to remember once again what God is doing—and to remember our relationship to Him, as His ideas, His reflection.

Christ Jesus never lost sight of his relationship to God, never became confused about his mission. His words in the Gospels show us why: he didn't forget what God, his Father, was eternally being and doing. He said, "The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father do: for what things soever he doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise." ^{John 5:19.}

Realizing that we can't do anything of ourselves doesn't put us in a helpless state—just the opposite. We find we are provided with the most remarkable solutions. A humble posture before God makes us more able to heal and be healed by His love and grace.

How much do we see of what the Father is doing? Does it sometimes seem that what certain mortals are doing (or not doing) is the determining factor in a situation? Yet the truth is that what God is and what He is doing is ultimately the determining factor. In any circumstance we can turn to God and ask, "Father, what are You doing, causing to be—right here and now?" And we can prayerfully listen for the reassuring conviction that always comes, bringing transcending and transforming power with it.

The first effect is more peace of heart and mind. And progress follows. We become able to see more God-inspired ways of doing things. Our own untold human prejudices, idiosyncrasies, and limitations begin yielding to a higher wisdom and trust. Then each one's real spiritual individuality shines out more brightly. We're better able to support one another's spiritual progress and understanding of Christian healing.

And that's what we're all about. The Christian Science periodicals are about healing. About sharing the gospel's news of healing as we've seen it demonstrated in our lives.

As one newly arrived at The Christian Science Publishing Society, I'm struck anew with the realization of what a collective work publishing our periodicals is.

In a deeply significant sense, the readership, the contributors, and the staff are equal collaborators, united in prayer to see more of what the Father is doing. These magazines reveal the degree to which we've collectively grasped God's all-power and omniaction in our lives. They show us how we're coming along in our spiritual progress in understanding who's doing what.

It's a wonderful and challenging process to be part of.

Elaine Natale