TRUE EMPLOYMENT

FLORENCE IRENE GUBBINS

The work of a Christian Scientist is always to heal, whatever his occupation. The human occupation is the arena in which we can demonstrate Christian Science. Having this thought in the center of our hearts is like having a spiritual treasury, since it will govern, beautify, and transform whatever we have to do. This is putting the spiritual first. Mary Baker Eddy says in "The First Church of Christ, Scientist, and Miscellany" (p. 159), "The true thought escapes from the inward to the outward, and this is the only right activity, that whereby we reach our higher nature."

Unless we have the thought of healing in the forefront of our thinking, we cannot expect to make much progress or to achieve true success. We should not confine the thought of healing to practitioner and patient. Our first duty is to have a healing attitude and not entertain a single thought that would cause a bruised reed to break—that would produce discouragement or faltering steps. As we go about the city on our various expeditions, we have ample opportunity to replace false mental pictures with true ones.

Christ Jesus healed as he went about. And we are told in the Acts of the Apostles that the shadow of Peter, as he passed by, healed the sick, or we might say that the pure atmosphere of his thought healed them. We also must aim to reach the point where our very presence heals.

You and I are essential to God's expression of Himself. The infinite variety of His qualities is expressed individually in "the fruit of the Spirit ... love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance" (Gal. 5:22, 23).

A student of Christian Science was in need of a position, and while she was working on the matter, she suddenly realized that Mrs. Eddy's words in "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" (p. 494), "Divine Love always has met and always will meet every human need," did not refer to her as an idea of God, for as the expression of God's being she could never be in need. She realized that her real self was Love's expression and that to understand this was to meet the human need. The outcome of this change of thought was her securing of a position which gave her wonderful scope and opportunity to bless others far beyond all her expectations.

If our thinking is occupied with the truth of being, we may be sure that Truth will provide its own evidence in our lives of our indispensability to God and our fellow men. Let us be more active mentally than ever before; then we shall be obeying the Scriptural injunction (Luke 19:13), "Occupy till I come."

If we are called to some work that we do not feel prepared for, we have an opportunity to demonstrate ability and usefulness. If we simply undertake work we already feel capable of doing, where is the incentive to lean on God and learn of God? Some time ago I was given the following comforting message: "If God says 'pull,' He will furnish a rope. If God says 'ride,' He will furnish a horse."

God's purpose for each one of us is complete identification with the divine, the dropping of the mortal for the immortal, the awakening from the dream of life in matter by the overcoming of sin, disease, and death. A successful business or an artistic career is not good as a goal or end in itself. Complete dominion over all material conditions—time and space, the ascension above all material beliefs— is our spiritual goal. When this shall come to pass, to use the words of Jesus (Mark 13:32), "knoweth no man, ... neither the Son, but the Father."

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FULFILLING OUR REASON FOR EXISTING

September 5, 1959

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