SENTINEL WATCH July 10, 2006 Issue

SKILLS INVENTORY 101 FOR THE JOB SEEKER

JEREMY CARPER

LOOKING FOR A JOB? You're not alone. The United States Bureau of Labor Statistics report for June 2006 stated that the nation's unemployment rate has remained steady at 4.6 percent. But a careful reading of the report shows that some industry sectors are volatile indeed. While jobs have been added in healthcare, retail employment has been falling, along with that in the manufacturing and information sectors.

On the macroeconomic level this might look acceptable. Yet when we are talking about a mid-career breadwinner—say, a television cameraman with years of experience who is retraining to become an entry-level nurses' aid pushing gurneys down hospital corridors—the options aren't so attractive. For some individuals, unemployment and underemployment may be approaching a dangerously chronic stage, bringing frustration and self-doubt, as well as economic privation.

It is right to have meaningful employment, work that feeds both the family and one's sense of self-worth. Spiritually viewed, our work is an expression of God's action. Because we, as God's beloved daughters and sons, include the ideas God gives, God's action is part of our very being. Mary Baker Eddy explained it this way in her textbook on Christian Science healing: "The divine Mind includes all action and volition, and man in Science is governed by this Mind" (Science and Health, p. 187). If we're governed by Mind, we express right action, and rightful work, within our identity.