Change can be happy and progressive depending on one's motivations and attitudes toward it. If change is viewed as an end in itself, any sense of satisfaction it may bring could be short-lived. On the other hand, when change takes place as a natural outcome of spiritual progress, it can be understood as a more expansive view of the changeless, infinite good that is always at hand.

Sometimes we find ourselves longing for some outward change. We yearn for another job, or a vacation, or perhaps a different environment. But these longings of themselves are not the right motivation for change. A better motive would be the desire to open our thought to spiritual good. Such a motive inevitably brings genuine satisfaction and joy, whether or not it is evidenced immediately in outward change.

Christian Science shows us that even when our motives are unselfish, it is necessary to let go of human will and personal outlining in order to see the spiritual fact of man—his wholeness and completeness—which, in its perfection, needs no change. Moses anguished over the plight of his people, who were in bondage to the Egyptians, and he even made one futile personal attempt to change their lot. But eventually he had to come to the burning bush where God said to him, "Put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground." ^{Ex. 3:5;}

Good is, right now, omnipresent, omnipotent, and omniactive, and we need to see this. We cannot by the mere exercise of human will bring about a genuine change for good in the human picture. Human will must be subjugated to the divine will. The motive to abide by His will, to understand and obey it, brings about spiritually progressive change or makes us more aware that a change is unnecessary.

When change is necessary it must begin within ourselves. "The purpose and motive to live aright can be gained now," Mrs. Eddy writes. "This point won, you have started as you should." ^{Science and Health, p. 326;} Relinquishment of selfish or personal desires, willingness to lay aside preconceived outlines of our aims and pleasures and to strive for watchfulness, purity, unselfishness, and joyful improvement of our time and talents, cannot help but be followed by happier and more harmonious circumstances.

In examining this verse I was struck by the word "follow": "Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever." ^{Ps. 23:6;} One Bible commentary, in elucidating the above psalm, says, "Goodness and mercy, like two angels, 'pursue' the Psalmist, determined, as it were, to run him down." ^{J. R. Dummelow (ed.), A Commentary on the Holy Bible (New York: Macmillan Co., 1951), p. 339;}

Christ Jesus put it this way, "Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you." ^{Matt. 6:33;} Things such as satisfying work, happy human relationships, and better life-styles should be the "added things." They express God's goodness and mercy and they follow us as we realize more the omnipresence of His kingdom, express more of His righteousness rather than personal self-righteousness, and dwell in His house, in the divine consciousness, more consistently.

When a change in our lives seems necessary or desirable, right motives will guide us. Mrs. Eddy writes, "Right motives give pinions to thought, and strength and freedom to speech and action." ^{Science and Health, p. 454.}

It does not always seem easy to relegate our personal hopes and ambitions to the back burner, so to speak, in order to seek God's kingdom and righteousness first, as Jesus prescribed. Things and circumstances can so easily become idols, promising joy and satisfaction, while failing to provide a permanent basis for these.

In God's kingdom, or "house," there is no need for change. How could we change perfection? We actually dwell in this kingdom right now, and what appear to us as changes for the better are really just clearer views of infinity. Since infinity can never be exhausted, we need not worry that God's changeless kingdom will become boring. It is ever fresh and new.

We rejoice when happy and harmonious changes occur in our experience. They enhance our lives like lovely sunrises and sunsets, but we do not live for them. They are the natural accompaniments of a spiritually-motivated life.