Christian Science, based on the life and works of Christ Jesus, teaches us that God, divine Love, provides His children with everything they need daily. At the same time, the belief in a human and material nature that can lack what it needs causes fear and worry. This belief in lack is the result of an ignorance of the uninterrupted presence of good, for all, everywhere.
Mary Baker Eddy, the Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science, describes this fact about divine abundance in her main work, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures: “Divine Love always has met and always will meet every human need” (p. 494).
She defines God as Principle, which means that God is supreme, consistent, provable, and universal. Through affirming and demonstrating these qualities of Principle, we know that we do not have to comply with beliefs in lack: lack of health, relationships, resources, abilities, etc.
We shouldn’t try to impose our own will on God, but we should let Him show us His work.
For example, the fear of unemployment comes from the belief that our work activity is governed by material rules of supply and demand, which are out of God’s control, and that man is subject to economic phenomena over which God has no influence. Mary Baker Eddy explains this very clearly: “It is our ignorance of God, the divine Principle, which produces apparent discord, and the right understanding of Him restores harmony” (Science and Health, p. 390). Christian Science corrects, then, this error of belief that man is subject to material circumstances; it maintains the fact that man is the manifestation of God and His divine activity—a manifestation that is immediate, perfect, useful, logical, and uninterrupted.
An experience showed me how an understanding of God’s continuous love for all His children annuls the belief in unemployment.
A friend who had been unemployed for several months asked me to pray about his situation. Just a few months before, this friend, originally from Portugal, hadn’t known anything about Christian Science nor the practical help it could provide. I immediately agreed to help him.
He first told me that he was taking very hard the insecurity of his situation, and upon hearing this, I gave him a Portuguese translation of Science and Health. He accepted the book with pleasure, and I took this opportunity to talk with him about the impartial love of God for all of us. I assured him that he was himself embraced in the lovingkindness of his Father-Mother God, who was expressing Himself in him, and it was legitimate and natural for my friend to see this truth manifested in his life, right now. I encouraged him to keep trusting and not be disturbed by his current situation. I also invited him to regularly read a few pages from the chapter “Fruitage” in his brand new copy of Science and Health—which he did, without fail, every day.
As for me, the necessity of acknowledging the continuity of good, God, and rejoicing over it every moment became very clear. It was obvious in this situation that that was what needed to be understood and accepted, because the lack of activity seemed to occupy my friend’s thought entirely. I felt it was essential not to give in to the suggestion that harmony, activity, joy, and the expression of divinely bestowed qualities could be interrupted. Interruption is not a spiritual fact. Only the continuity of good is real. In Unity of Good by Mary Baker Eddy, we read: “Jesus required neither cycles of time nor thought in order to mature fitness for perfection and its possibilities. He said that the kingdom of heaven is here, and is included in Mind; that while ye say, There are yet four months, and then cometh the harvest, I say, Look up, not down, for your fields are already white for the harvest; and gather the harvest by mental, not material processes” (pp. 11–12).
When my friend appeared discouraged, I comforted him and explained to him that we needed to be about our Father’s business, by expressing joy, listening to God, and trusting in the presence of good. We shouldn’t try to impose our own will on God, but we should let Him show us His work. Then, my friend got busy every day with taking positive steps toward finding employment and with doing needed upkeep on his house and helping others.
Man is the manifestation of divine activity—a manifestation that is immediate, perfect, useful, logical, and uninterrupted.
After two months, a very decent opportunity presented itself for my friend. He was delighted. He was grateful to God and thanked me for my support. However, within a few days, he received three different offers to work illegally, undeclared. I was very curious to see how my friend would respond. He needed money, and I was wondering whether he was going to accept these offers on the side while starting his new job. I wanted to intervene to tell him how I felt about these illegal offers, but it came to me that I should, in order to spiritualize my own thought, acknowledge the activity of Christ in everyone’s consciousness and not interfere.
I thought of the temptations Jesus had to face in the wilderness (see Matthew 4:1–11). The rightful work of our Master was to know that he was the Son of God and to express only this identity in every circumstance. However, three attractive temptations were suggested to him. Jesus refused them with his unwavering conviction that the work of God was complete and satisfying, and that he should obey God’s commands. I needed to recognize that the belief in unemployment had been healed in the case of my friend, and that these new offers were merely temptations suggesting that man can be dissatisfied. However, all of us, as God’s children, already possess what is good and necessary to live.
To me, all had become very clear, and I was very happy when my friend told me that he had turned down the illegal offers because he didn’t want to double-cross his new employer or take the risk of losing this new job. This happened over a year ago, and my friend still works at the same place, where he is very much appreciated. Actually, he received a raise recently and was congratulated for his good work.
I learned a few things from this wonderful experience:
- The spiritual ideas that are revealed to each of us are also true for others, and it is therefore natural to rejoice over the activity of the Christ, which takes place in everyone’s consciousness according to their needs.
- It’s important to acknowledge and insist that in God, there is no before and no after, only unchanging perfection. Prayer lifts our thought above the limitations of human time so that we can see the uninterrupted unfoldment of good.
Activity that is right and uninterrupted is a characteristic of the kingdom of heaven. Jesus said that this kingdom is within us, and with certainty and joy we can expect to manifest, fully and without delay, this divine activity.
Originally written in French, this first appeared in the September 2016 Portuguese, Spanish, French, and German editions of The Herald of Christian Science.
