Divine Science shed new light on my job search
Originally appeared on spirituality.com
I’d been selling real estate quite successfully, but when I needed to take care of my mother during the last months of her life, I wasn’t able to focus on my business. As a result, my income dwindled and bills piled up. After my mother passed on, I needed a steady paycheck so that I could address these pressing needs quickly.
Since I approach life from a spiritual standpoint, I began my job search with prayer, supported by the Bible and Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy. My study of these two books wasn’t a random search for inspiration. It was actually turning to the Science of God and man. I was sure this Science would answer my questions about the meaning of life and also lead me to the kind of work that would make best use of the abilities God had given me.
I wanted to get a deeper understanding of my purpose in life, and where I fit into the divine scheme of things. In other words, to find a job that would best enable me to fulfill God’s plan for me. I knew from previous experience that to start by acknowledging God as my source, as the Creator of all, would get me going in the right direction.
That’s when I came upon Mrs. Eddy’s inspired interpretation of the theological term Holy Ghost. She defines it as “divine Science; the development of eternal Life, Truth, and Love.”
I valued this term Science because it makes the point that trusting prayer isn’t a hit-or-miss thing. Prayer leads us to the right answers. And in my prayer at this time, I acknowledged the power of divine Science and its continuing development in my life.
Another helpful passage in Science and Health was: “… God the Father-Mother; Christ the spiritual idea of sonship; divine Science or the Holy Comforter. These three express in divine Science the threefold, essential nature of the infinite. They also indicate the divine Principle of scientific being, the intelligent relation of God to man and the universe.”
I thought about the phrase Holy Comforter, and was convinced that I would learn of my purpose in a loving way and that this purpose would be a comforter to me. I knew God the Father-Mother to be the only Mind, limitless Love, the completeness and fulfillment of everything good. It follows that man—meaning each of us, male or female—as God’s idea, is also complete and fulfilled, always provided with a good and useful purpose.
Man’s pleasure is to be about his Father’s business, expressing his spiritual nature, which includes all the marvelous attributes of God—of Life, Truth, Love, Mind, Soul, Spirit, and Principle. God’s idea naturally expresses what God is, here and now, in ways that are right and good.
From my study of Science and Health, I knew that Christ, Truth, is ever present, always meeting every human need. Then the intelligent relation between God and man has to include not just a right, divinely inspired purpose, but also the opportunity to fulfill it.
God didn’t create us and then decide to frustrate our efforts to fulfill the purpose for which God made us. That would hardly be the work of a God who is Love! The Bible tells us, “Shall I bring to the birth, and not cause to bring forth? saith the Lord: shall I cause to bring forth, and shut the womb? saith thy God.”
Another statement from Science and Health was also very encouraging: “Hold perpetually this thought,—that it is the spiritual idea, the Holy Ghost and Christ, which enables you to demonstrate, with scientific certainty, the rule of healing, based upon its divine Principle, Love, underlying, overlying, and encompassing all true being.”
It became clear to me that the Holy Ghost and Christ bring to each of us the ability to understand our relationship to our infinite Creator. The Holy Ghost opens us up to seeing the development of Life, Truth, and Love in our individual lives, helping us to perceive the action of good, even when there are many challenges.
This consciousness of Life, Truth, and Love also makes us more receptive to the guidance of Christ, which leads us to whatever will meet our needs. In my case, it was suitable employment.
As I accepted these truths of my spiritual being, I became confident there would be ways to express them that would bless all—my employer (whomever he or she would be), those we would serve, and last but not least, myself.
This acknowledgment of divine Science—the Holy Ghost—and Christ’s message of God’s love for all humanity were what I wanted to express in my work. I cherished these ideas as I sent out résumés.
My immediate need was met with a part-time job helping a fellow realtor with secretarial tasks. This realtor had prepared a marketing plan to promote and sell condominiums for a builder in the Bahamas. The builder was looking for a tie-in with a real estate company based in the United States and the realtor thought our firm would be a good choice.
I helped him prepare the presentation materials for a special meeting with the vice president/general manager of our real estate firm. It was to be held at the main office in Broward County, Florida, where our office was located. My friend said he couldn’t pay me to assist him at the meeting, even though he would like me to be there. I told him I would go anyway.
The spiritual impetus that impelled me to go to the meeting was a desire to offer my talents where they were needed. In other words, being “about my Father’s business.” No matter what the outcome, I wanted to do what I could to help.
It’s like making an apple pie. What’s the point of making it unless you can share it with others and enjoy the eating of it—the fulfilling of its purpose. This is much like the outcome of accepting the influence of the Holy Ghost, “the development of eternal Life, Truth, and Love.”
While my friend gave the presentation, I took notes in shorthand. The vice president was very impressed with my shorthand and asked me if I’d be interested in a job as her administrative manager. She already knew me as one of her real estate agents. She said I should send her a résumé and that we could talk about the position later. Naturally, I was interested. And after an interview, she offered me the position.
This new work gave me plenty of opportunities to use all the God-given attributes I could muster. Orderliness and attention to details were essential, because I was engaged daily in fast-paced multi-tasking. Being a mother hen to the nine branch-office managers and their staff was all part of the nurturing side of Love. Another word for God is Soul, and it certainly inspired me with creativity as I worked on specific assignments such as writing reports and very diverse correspondence. God expressed as Mind was being seen in the appreciated value of my previous real estate sales background with this firm. It helped immeasurably.
As each opportunity came along, I could see it as evidence of the Holy Ghost developing within my thought wonderful new views of divine Life, Truth, and Love, and ways of expressing them.
Taking the time to get clear about my purpose provided me with a good salary, enjoyable days, and fulfilling activity. But there’s no way I could have predicted how that blessing would come about.
This whole experience proved to me once again that Christian Science healing does meet our human needs and will help anyone who wholeheartedly accepts the oneness of God and man and “the development of eternal Life, Truth, and Love,” or Holy Ghost. I also learned that as God’s idea, each of us is the outcome of God’s infinite plan, and that this isn’t a one-time experience but a continuing unfolding of God’s purpose for us.
The Holy Ghost:
Science and Health
588:7
331:26 Life
496:15