Enough employment and provision for everyone

I gazed at the wide horizon of the Atlantic Ocean, praying about the high unemployment rate caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Many individuals were losing jobs, homes, and businesses and facing financial ruin. Predictions were suggesting that because of social injustice, Black, Latino, and Indigenous populations would likely have an especially tough road to recovery. As a Black woman, I’ve both overcome barriers and prayed for others who are facing barriers of their own. Reliance on God has always been my rock.

Watching the water, I saw that the wind was pushing heavy waves with numerous seagulls floating on top. The birds bobbed in the water with ease and continued looking for food even after the waves broke on shore. A couple of people came up carrying bags of grain. The seagulls flew up with eager squawks. Unafraid, some ate from the people’s hands.

As I watched this scene, I recalled the Bible story of Jesus, the master Christian, feeding five thousand people with five barley loaves and two small fish (see John 6:5–13). This gave me confidence that there is truly enough employment and supply for everyone. Mary Baker Eddy, the Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science and author of the Christian Science textbook, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, was a sincere follower of Jesus. She wrote in her Miscellaneous Writings 1883–1896: “Never ask for to-morrow: it is enough that divine Love is an ever-present help; and if you wait, never doubting, you will have all you need every moment. What a glorious inheritance is given to us through the understanding of omnipresent Love! More we cannot ask: more we do not want: more we cannot have. This sweet assurance is the ‘Peace, be still’ to all human fears, to suffering of every sort” (p. 307).