Colleges, business firms, manufacturing plants, and even the armed services give courses in what is today called orientation for the purpose of helping newcomers to ascertain and understand their position in relationship to place, people, time, and new ideas, as well as to adjust themselves to them. In human experience it is recognized that success in any line of work largely depends upon the worker's ability to capably earn his daily bread; that is, to work effectively or, if he is a student, to comprehend the content of the courses in which he is enrolled. His success depends upon his faculty for living and working well with others while making his individual contribution to the general purpose and welfare of the organization and upon his capacity for finding pleasure in the suitable use of his leisure. The usual course in orientation or mental adjustment aims at the accomplishment of some or all of these very worthy ends.
The Christian Scientist orients himself spiritually by understanding and asserting his true being, by realizing his relationship to the divine source of all substance, by demonstrating in word and works the brotherhood of men, and by exercising a delight in holiness. Because he does this daily, orientation in the human experience becomes a simpler and happier matter.
How does one go about realizing his place in the universe of Spirit? First of all, he recognizes that Being is Spirit, God, and that man, made in the image of God, is the reflection of Spirit, and so is himself spiritual. This means that man is always spiritually sustained. It is easy to understand that Spirit has no quality, or characteristic, of matter; therefore, we understand that when a Christian Scientist prays for his daily bread he is not asking for material food, shelter, clothing, or money, but is claiming as his own the spiritual substance which the Christ-idea is forever unfolding. He is praying to establish his spiritual identification with Mind. He is claiming his heritage as a son, or idea, of God, Spirit.
