There comes a time to many Scientists when it seems, that in order to progress as they would like, their present material occupations must be abandoned, and their entire time given to healing the physically sick. The daily grind of business, the endless round of household duties, the mental demands of a profession, the physical strain of manual labor, all present obstacles that seem formidable to growth in Christian Science. Believing that such seeming obstacles are actual bars to progress, and through misdirected eagerness to advance, Scientists sometimes abandon their regular pursuits prematurely, and hasten to announce themselves as practitioners. If such a step is taken without being prompted by conviction arising from deliberate, prayerful meditation,—in other words, without demonstration,—it will have to be retraced. Some Scientists have to learn by grievous experience, that opening an office and hanging out a sign does not make one a Christian Science practitioner in the true sense of the term.
A majority of those whose whole time, energy, and abilities are to-day given to the practice of Christian Science in healing the sick and sinful, did not seek the work. It sought them. By bringing the Science teachings into their daily lives, reducing it to hourly, constant practice, in their ordinary occupations and dealings with their fellowmen, they became fitted for another line of achievement in Scientific demonstration. Then, when they were ready and qualified to answer it, the call came without conscious effort on their part. And so it will ever be.
The field for Christian Science work is as wide as the world itself. Wherever Science finds us is the place to begin. Thought is the Scientist's workshop. Its doors are always open and he need never have an idle moment. To become a skilled workman he must begin with the simpler problems, and here, as in the business world, courage and studious application are factors of advancement. As a rule, a good business man makes a good Scientist, and as much can be said of any and every class of occupation from whose ranks Scientists are recruited.
