Spirituality heals a difficult work situation

A friend of mine was having difficulty with one of her employees. She was actually considering letting the employee go, at least partly because she thought of this person as very difficult and demanding especially in relation to working conditions.

While my friend was telling me about this situation I couldn’t help but think of a statement Mary Baker Eddy made in her book, Unity of Good: “Everything is as real as you make it, and no more so. What you see, hear, feel, is a mode of consciousness, and can have no other reality than the sense you entertain of it” (8:4–8 ).

With that in mind, I asked my friend if she had tried seeing the employee as God sees her—that is, in spiritual terms—or had she accepted this woman’s behavior as unalterable? I reminded my friend that she could help herself and her employee the most by seeing her through the eyes of divine Love. I felt sure that this change in approach would reveal a solution that would work for both of them.

My friend admitted she hadn’t tried that yet and agreed to put my suggestion to the test. Later that day she called me and reported that when she succeeded in changing the way she was viewing her employee, things had changed for the better. The employee was no longer unhappy and complaining, but instead was cheerful and content with the scheduling and also with her work duties.

My friend said she started her prayer with gratitude—she decided to be grateful for the helpful suggestions her employee made.

Next, she refused to buy into the picture of a disgruntled, complaining employee. Instead she acknowledged that right when and where complaining seemed to be occurring was, in reality, the woman of God’s creating expressing only helpfulness and respect for each customer and for each task.

My friend was duly impressed by the change, and I was happy to see another proof of Mrs. Eddy’s statement in Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures: “Jesus beheld in Science the perfect man, who appeared to him where sinning mortal man appears to mortals. In this perfect man the Saviour saw God’s own likeness, and this correct view of man healed the sick.”

Whether the “sickness” is an actual disease or the unhappiness that was affecting my friend’s place of business, a willingness to affirm the spiritual nature of our colleagues at work can make such a difference. It’s important, though, to realize that when we talk about perfection, we’re talking about the uncontaminated spiritual nature God gives each of us as His ideas.

Perfectionism is quite different and can lead to an obsession with the physical body, personality, and work and family relationships. Perfectionism leads us to focus on material conditions and things and away from the freedom and joy of Spirit. Since human perfection is actually impossible, heading in that direction is going toward frustration and failure.

But the teachings of Christian Science show us how we can look away from the material selfhood and world, with all its burdens and problems, and turn to the universe of God, Spirit. In Second Corinthians, as The Message puts it: “Because of this decision, we don’t evaluate people by what they have or how they look. … Now we look inside, and what we see is that anyone united with the Messiah gets a fresh start, is created new. The old life is gone; a new life burgeons!”

Keeping in mind that God’s creation is and always will be perfect, we can move though our days by viewing others with compassion and love. This task becomes easier when we consistently endeavor to see the man of God’s creating. And I pray a lot using the ideas in the statement from Unity of Good that I mentioned earlier: “What you see, hear, feel, is a mode of consciousness, and can have no other reality than the sense you entertain of it.”

In addition to those ideas, I get a lot of inspiration from this poem by Mrs. Eddy, which asks: “Saw ye my Saviour? Heard ye the glad sound? / Felt ye the power of the Word?” (“Communion Hymn,” Poems, p. 75 ). So I ask myself these questions:

1. “What am I seeing?” Am I seeing the Saviour, Christ, in each individual I encounter during the day—or am I viewing them as human beings with problems? (“Saw ye my Saviour?”)
2. “What am I hearing?” Am I hearing the “glad sound” of God, divine Life, Truth, and Love—or am I listening to the reports of disease, sin, and death so often presented by the carnal mind, by that mind which is “enmity against God.” (“Heard ye glad sound?”)
3. And last, “What am I feeling?” Am I feeling the “power of the Word”?—or am I feeling discouraged, dismayed, or perhaps even shocked because of the world situation or some other discordant circumstance? (“Felt ye the power of the Word?”)

Seeing the Christ in others, hearing the glad sound of gratitude and joy, and feeling the power of God in thought, word, and deed is a good way for each of us to experience healing and salvation right here. And as we do this work, we will also bless our world and those around us.

Science and Health
476:32-4  

King James Bible
Gen. 1:26, 27  
II Cor. 5:16, 17  
Gen. 1:31 (to .)  
Rom. 8:7 the carnal (to :)