Article October 8, 2018 Issue

Valuing ourselves and others

Elizabeth Mata

Have you ever felt that your dignity or value was threatened, or even lost? At such times, I’ve found it helpful to seek a fresh, spiritual perspective—one that lifts us to realize our unbreakable relation to God and the value this gives to each of us individually as well as to the world.

A pivotal experience in my college years helped me to understand that my worth (and that of others) really comes from God, Spirit, and therefore is spiritual and forever undiminished. I had accepted a summer waitressing job that included serving alcoholic drinks. Shortly after starting the job, I became distraught by the task of bringing round after round of drinks to people who became increasingly loud, and sometimes acted verbally out of line.

One day it dawned on me that I was losing a sense of both my own worth and dignity and that of the people I was serving in the restaurant. I saw that this mind-set was directly opposed to what I’d been learning through the biblically based teachings of Christian Science. This included ideas about God as all good, as well as the grandeur of man and woman—spiritual and complete—and our innate ability to bless others through expressing God-given qualities such as kindness, graciousness, and helpfulness.

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