Announcer: To someone who's dissatisfied with his work because it seems to lack value and purpose, the answer to the question, "What makes a job worthwhile?" may be as important as finding a reason for existing.
Questioner: What can you say to anyone who is seeking a deeper sense of purpose in his work?
Speaker: Isn't it basically what one brings to a job that gives him a sense of purpose? Two individuals could be working at the identical same job but have completely different attitudes toward it.

I remember years ago when I was connected with a firm which manufactured and erected fencing that life to some of the people who worked on the erecting crews was just one pesthole after another while others working right along beside them thought of the job in terms of the finished product—what the fence would do for the people who bought it, after it was erected. To them it was an interesting, satisfying job.

Doesn't this indicate that one doesn't necessarily have to depend on a certain type of job to bring him a sense of purpose, but that he can bring a deeper sense of purpose to the job?
Questioner: How exactly?
Speaker: The Bible is eloquent on this subject. For example, Paul writes (II Cor. 9:6-8): "He which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly; and he which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully. Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound toward you: that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work."
Questioner: How can this help somebody on a job that may not seem very worthwhile?
Speaker: I think lie must start with an understanding of what man's purpose is. In Christian Science we learn that no matter what the human picture seems to be man as God's likeness, has a divine purpose and this divine purpose is to express the qualities of God. Each individual is always needed to express the wholeness and completeness of God divine Love, and this truth can be demonstrated right now in human experience by everybody.

If one thinks of himself as a physical mortal endowed with certain qualities and abilities, some inherited, some acquired, some predominant and others minimized, he needs to see himself in his true nature as God's image, the spiritual man of God's creating endowed with every quality of God and the ability to express them. Then he sees that whatever he's doing, he is really about the Father's business—the business of expressing God.

Paul's statement suggests three basic points to me. One, that we get out of a job what we put into it. Two, that we have to be clear on what our purposes or motives are. And three, that God will give us the grace we need to do the work that needs to be done.
Questioner: Can you explain these three points?
Speaker: Let's take the first pan of Paul's counsel: "He which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly; and he which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully."

God as divine Mind imparts intelligence right ideas, and inspiration to man and God as divine Love imparts unselfish love to man, who is God's spiritual likeness— that is, the expression of God. The individual who claims his sonship with God can rightfully claim also those God-given qualities which are his to express without limit in his daily work.

This, to me, is sowing abundantly and leads inevitably to a more fruitful harvest.
Questioner: Your second point had to do with motives, didn't it?
Speaker: Yes. Paid urges each individual to give "according as he purposeth in his heart." If one's motive in his daily work is really to express God and to let the man of His creation shine forth rather than just being merely in motion, the way will unfold to express greater purpose and usefulness in one's job.

This is brought out in "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" where Mary Baker Eddy writes (p. 454), "Love inspires, illumines, designates, and leads the way." Here Love is used as a synonym for God. And she continues, "Right motives give pinions to thought, and strength and freedom to speech and action." And elsewhere, she writes (p. 326), "Working and praying with true motives, your Father will open the way."

Jesus knew and taught that man's true purpose as the spiritual image and likeness of God is always to express God's nature.

Questioner: I can think of many jobs which wouldn't seem to offer much opportunity to a man to express God's nature unless you mean smiling at the customers, being cheerful and courteous around the office, and trying a little harder to do a good job.

Speaker: It's perfectly true that some jobs don't offer as wide a scope for an individual to express a variety of God's qualities as other jobs do. But when we discover that we do possess these qualities and the ability to express them, we gravitate to fields of activity where there is more opportunity. And that brings us to the third point.

Paul said, "God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work." God doesn't just give us ability and intelligence alone, but He imparts the grace also which is expressed in unselfishness, love, patience, and the poise needed to work harmoniously with others. This leads to greater progress. We're really talking about progress more than freezing somebody in an uninteresting job.

Let me tell you the experience of a young man I know. At one time he felt that circumstances were forcing him into a job that lacked stature and significance. Me had his heart set on a completely different type of job. As a Christian Scientist, he approached this situation by praying about it daily. From the Bible these words of Jesus were especially meaningful to him (Luke 9:23): "If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take Up his cross daily, and follow me."

This meant to him that he should strive every day to express the nature of God and to look for ways in whatever he was doing to be of service to his fellowmen. To him this was expressing in a degree his highest sense of purpose.

Then one day his feeling of pride about not wanting to take what seemed to him a menial job just vanished, and he felt completely willing to let God direct his path, knowing that he would be led in the right direction. The thought came to him strongly to lake the job he had at first resisted. There was no concern or apprehension that he might be doing the wrong thing.

As a result of taking this step, he was led subsequently to a unique position, the only one of its kind in his part of the country. It enabled him to do just the kind of work he had wanted to do in the beginning. And without the experience he had gained on the first job he took, he wouldn't have been ready or in the right place for the job he eventually got.

To me, the spiritual approach to making a job worthwhile could be summed up in some other words of Paul when he said (I Cor. 10:31), "Whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God."