Article September 7, 1998 Issue

Doing what you're made to do

Find your niche.

By Charlene Ann Beck

One beautiful summer day I walked from the old family farmhouse down to a sheltered spot by a stream meandering around the base of a hill. Despite the brightness of the day, I was feeling gloomy and burdened. I sat on the trunk of a large tree that had fallen across the stream to the opposite bank.

Soon I saw a honeybee being carried along underwater. I scooped him up onto the riverbank in the sunshine. He seemed drenched and lifeless as I placed a bright wildflower beside him. However, the next thing I knew, he staggered over to the flower, wings half-glued, soggy body flopping. He persisted, falling then rising, until within a short time he was busily collecting pollen. Then he flew off—free!

What a lesson that bee taught me. He was single-minded about doing what he had been created to do, and it appeared that that occupation totally lifted him beyond discouragement and limitation. Nothing could resist that call to action, no matter how momentous the challenge. My outlook brightened as a statement by Mary Baker Eddy came to thought. She was referring to the true nature of man as the image, or reflection, of God. As such, one can identify himself or herself in this way: "I am able to impart truth, health, and happiness, and thisis my rock of salvation and my reason for existing" (The First Church of Christ, Scientist, and Miscellany, p. 165). At that moment, I clearly saw that each child of God has a divine purpose that is unfolding as naturally as it did for that bee.

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