Recently the news media have pointed out the findings of psychiatrists who are noticing that more and more executives are complaining of aches and pains although doctors can find nothing physically wrong with them. Counselors report these managers are often frightened and depressed because they are looking at budget figures and making decisions about whom to fire, or they are worried about being fired themselves. These people seem literally to be worrying themselves sick!

This description was all too familiar to me. At one time the company where my husband was employed lost a major contract and began to experience difficulty. Company officials cut budgets and did some departmental restructuring in an effort to survive. Then one day my husband was called upon to lay off his entire shift of about thirty-eight men. It was a difficult experience, but we found that prayer works better than worry.

For example, at one point my husband received a threatening telephone call. We turned wholeheartedly to God to alleviate fear. We realized that our most important activity must be to understand that man is the offspring of God, forever in the Father's care, and to listen for His unerring direction. As Christian Scientists, we turned to our pastor—the Bible, and Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy—to lift thought above the false conception of man as a frightened and resentful mortal to the true perception of man as the image of God, the emanation of divine wisdom. We knew we had to "see" the inherent goodness and intelligence of man created by Spirit.

We saw that because man is actually made up of the qualities of Spirit, God, and not of the flesh, he could not be influenced by evil suggestions of resentment and revenge; that spiritual qualities such as intelligence, love, integrity, understanding, and goodness belong to each one of us right now. They will be seen as we acknowledge them and express them. And we knew that God, who is Love itself, lovingly cares for everyone's needs.

Understanding and persistently acknowledging the right idea of man as the expression of God's nature, having neither thought nor action apart from God, we gained a sense of peace; and we were not surprised when nothing came of the threat.

But the company still floundered. At first my prayers were only directed toward saving the company, for we were especially fond of the family who owned the business, and it did provide jobs for a great number of employees. But one day, quite clearly, it came to me that my prayers shouldn't be limited to a specific human outcome. I needed to recognize that God's will is established and is governing His creation. I shouldn't outline how this would be made manifest but instead should trust God's government. In humility I prayed that God's will be done. My husband was given an early retirement. Although I didn't see this as good at the time, it proved to be the right step, for soon the company closed down.

It seemed that there was now the need to find employment. We prayed to understand more fully just who was really the source of supply and to learn what that supply consisted of. God had already shown us that true employment wasn't a "place" but a mental state of expressing goodness, honesty, integrity, and love wherever we were. These are God-given talents that are always in demand and are never obsolete, and we could certainly trust that God would show us just where these talents could best be put to use. Through an orderly disposition of events, my husband found employment with a wonderful company, where he remained until he was given full retirement. While our needs have been beautifully met, what we are most grateful for is the profound lesson that God is indeed right at hand in difficult times to help us.

The worldly man is always in fear that his plans for the future will fail, that his wealth will be lost, or that his health will fail and he will no longer be able to enjoy life. Yet the Master, Christ Jesus, taught that we are not to be anxious for our lives. He said: "Take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? ...for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you" (Matt. 6:31-33).

This is not to say that Jesus encouraged his followers to be careless but rather that they should not be anxious. Those "necessary things" were promised if they would first seek righteousness, spiritual growth, and an understanding of God and His kingdom—and not be slothful in putting the talents He had given them to use in His service.

The Christian is not seeking a comfortable material existence; he is striving to gain that spiritual-mindedness which Paul says "is life and peace" (Rom. 8:6). Materialistic thinking is put off as a necessary consequence of becoming spiritually-minded. This spirituality brings peace of mind and promotes confidence in God's provision for man, thus opening the way for us to demonstrate that the Giver of all good only waits for you to turn to Him "that he may be gracious unto you" (Isa. 30:18).

When Jesus' disciples asked him how to pray, he didn't suggest that they pray for worldly things—long life, riches, honor, fame, or pleasure—but rather he taught his followers to acknowledge God's supremacy, His governing power, His goodness, His mercy, His allness. Understanding this, we are freed of fear and worry, and we also find the solution to our problems.

Mrs. Eddy, the Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science, directs thought to spiritual growth as our greatest need. She writes in Science and Health, "What we most need is the prayer of fervent desire for growth in grace, expressed in patience, meekness, love, and good deeds" (p. 4). Note that this desire must be "fervent"—fired up with devotion; animated with genuine zeal and earnestness; glowing with inspiration and eagerness. Otherwise we will not be impelled to follow through on the action required to prove that our prayers are sincere. Prayer must be expressed. Then we will see evidence of God's power operating in our lives. Even as God's goodness appeared humanly to the children of Israel as provision and guidance in the wilderness—and this even for those who complained and doubted the dependability of His care—so His provision for our welfare will take whatever form is necessary to meet the human need.

My husband and I found that in the degree we recognized we could trust God to govern His own creation harmoniously, in that degree we gained a continuing sense of God's ever-presence and loving care and a proportionate lessening of human doubt and fear and their resultant suffering. We learned that because God's goodness is forever the same, it is never depleted; therefore, our future is predestined to include goodness, and we need not be afraid.