Where do you suppose you'd be if you were given a golden opportunity to inspire and improve other people's lives? Would you be at some big event? Giving a speech before a large audience? Conducting a seminar? Big plans and big events certainly can be opportunities for reaching people and conveying a vital message.

More often than not, though, the events and opportunities most of us have for making a significant difference in the world seem pretty small. Take a typical day's activities, for example. We might be called upon to conduct a meeting. Perhaps we're talking with friends at lunch. Maybe we have a presentation to give at school or we get involved in a dialogue with someone during a break at work. But even simple opportunities such as brief conversations can be greater opportunities for helping others than we might have imagined. That's clear from an incident in Christ Jesus' life.

It started out as a brief exchange between Jesus and a woman of Samaria at a well—a conversation that, according to the Gospel of John, had quite a remarkable impact (see John 4:1–42). We read not only what the woman learned during the encounter, but what was eventually discovered by others as a result of her sharing what had taken place. She told the people, "Come, see a man, which told me all things that ever I did: is not this the Christ?" (4:29) What she conveyed was convincing enough to prompt them to see for themselves that what she had witnessed of the Christ was indeed true, and essential to the well-being of everyone. A couple of days later many people told her, "Now we believe, not because of thy saying: for we have heard him ourselves, and know that this is indeed the Christ, the Saviour of the world" (4:42).

Doesn't this point to the wide range of opportunities for benefiting others that can come our way, extraordinary opportunities when you consider the possibilities for good that result from our own acknowledgment of the Christ-power? Whether in a brief conversation with one person or at an event where we encounter a sizable number of people, do we expect that what we reflect of the divine nature, of the truth and love of God, can help to heal and regenerate lives? It would seem that where we stand on this question has a lot to do with how we approach the whole spectrum of activities in our day.

One view would have us think that we're too far from being Christlike to begin with. It would have us believe that because we're not purely spiritual and loving, we wouldn't be able to inspire and heal as did the Master. Of course that's mistakenly identifying ourselves with the coldness and limits of a material sense of life. Yet, the tender and health-giving spiritual idea of God, good, can't be shut out. The Christ can't be shut out. It's this Christ-idea that Jesus demonstrated in his healing works and that reveals man's true nature.

So, we don't have to accept an identity, and an inability to inspire and heal, that simply aren't ours. Before we begin any activity, no matter how routine it might appear to be, we should identify ourselves correctly, as something infinitely better than a mortal—as the immortal reflection of God we actually are. Think of what an extraordinary opportunity we have to discover, through prayer and the study of Christian Science, man's pure goodness and grace, his vitality and wholeness, as God's spiritual image. What a tremendous influence for good this is in itself.

We're not talking about a once-in-a-while activity, however; we're talking about the ongoing opportunity we all have to grow spiritually. It comes our way moment by moment, whatever our circumstances happen to be. Only as we learn more of God's real nature, about how He made and governs man, can we demonstrate the potential of our true selfhood, right on the front lines of each detail in our day. Mrs. Eddy writes, "Nothing aside from the spiritualization—yea, the highest Christianization—of thought and desire, can give the true perception of God and divine Science, that results in health, happiness, and holiness" (Miscellaneous Writings, p. 15).

There's also the view that, as much as we may see ourselves as imbued with spirituality and want to help others as a result, people are just not that interested in spiritual matters. Indeed, it might sometimes seem much of mankind has submitted to that belief. But the illuminating, healing power of Christ, Truth, penetrates ignorance or indifference wherever it appears.

Man actually loves and reflects the goodness of God. He thrives in it and, in truth, can't live without it. It's this truth of God and man that should permeate our thought at all times, and we should expect that others will perceive and respond to it. We certainly wouldn't want to be guilty of unintentionally arguing against another's ability to perceive what Christ reveals of man's native attraction to Spirit, God. You can easily imagine the consequences if, in the instance at the well, Jesus had kept to himself, had had "no dealings with the Samaritans," and had simply thought of those few moments in his day as ordinary routine.

If we look at the Master's career, it's clear that whenever the Christ is welcomed into people's lives, the results are anything but ordinary—healing and spiritual growth follow. And anyone who feels the touch of Christ in his life, who welcomes and practices the Science of Christianity, can expect similar results. We may not have considered before the enormous number of opportunities that come our way to be part of someone's encounter with God's healing power, perhaps of the very first one. Just think how extraordinary those moments can be.

Russ Gerber