"Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven" (Matt. 5:16). Here is a rule for success given by the most successful individual of all time, Christ Jesus. It is an infallible rule and can be applied by every individual, whether he be the head of a large corporation or a day laborer, whether he be in trade, in commerce, or in the important work of keeping a home and raising a family.
The Master himself was the most conspicuous example of the success of his own rule. At the early age of twelve, he was already about his Father's business. This business consisted of reflecting, voicing, and demonstrating for the benefit of humanity the spiritual power of the Christ, with which he was endowed without measure. He claimed no authority separate from God, but humbly set aside his own human will and spoke and acted as the divine Mind directed. He once said to his disciples (John 5:19), "The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father do: for what things soever he doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise." His final and complete surrender to the will of God, before the crucifixion, enabled him to triumph over the cross and the grave, and the success of his mission was assured for all peoples in every age.
We have often heard it stated that a strong will and human aggressiveness are concomitants to success in the modern world. High-pressure salesmanship and aggressive methods of doing business are held up as models before us. Mortal mind has its own ways and means of accomplishing its ends, which for a time may seem to flourish like the proverbial green bay tree, but which may wither away later. Does not the Bible inform us that it is the meek who inherit the earth? Because material methods are unreliable, many people are turning to Christian Science to find the answer to pressing business problems; and they are not seeking in vain. When the rules of Christian Science are properly applied, any and every difficulty will be resolved in the best possible manner. It will be found that divine Love's blessings far exceed anything that could be planned humanly.
Every upright businessman seeks to bring wisdom and order into the conduct of his affairs, to establish a reputation for honesty, courtesy, and fair dealing. Mary Baker Eddy has commended the virtues of wisdom, economy, brotherly love, diligence, promptness, perseverance. All are valuable assets in business. An employer seeking to fill an important vacancy should look for certain moral and spiritual qualities in an applicant, such as integrity, intelligence, adaptability, a degree of amiability. What used to be called the sterling virtues are needed in business today and every day.
Christian Science strongly emphasizes the fact that every good quality originates in God and that all of His attributes are forever manifest in the spiritual, perfect man, the image and likeness of the creator. God is good, and man possesses all good by reflection. Each one of us may be said to be in the reflecting business, or to use the idiom of the Master, in the business of letting our spiritual light shine.
All of us have abilities that we have used but little, and capabilities that we have not yet explored. Through our prayer, study, and consecration to God, these abilities and capabilities are brought to the surface, developed, and thus become available for our use. In "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" Mrs. Eddy, after speaking of Science as referring only to God's laws and to His control of man and the universe, adds this statement (p. 128): "From this it follows that business men and cultured scholars have found that Christian Science enhances their endurance and mental powers, enlarges their perception of character, gives them acuteness and comprehensiveness and an ability to exceed their ordinary capacity." And in the same paragraph she says, "A knowledge of the Science of being develops the latent abilities and possibilities of man."
Mrs. Eddy also states in "Miscellaneous Writings" (p. 307), "God gives you His spiritual ideas, and in turn, they give you daily supplies." Ideas derived from the divine Mind are of prime importance to business. In fact, business may be defined as the utilization of spiritual ideas in human affairs. One who daily looks to God as the source of all inspiration and who goes quietly about his appointed tasks, putting into practice spiritual ideas as they are revealed and employing his developing spiritual talents to their fullest extent, is a true disciple of the Master; he is about his Father's business, and he cannot fail of success.
Mrs. Eddy outlines a thought that should be kept in mind in every business transaction. The full quotation is as follows (Science and Health, p. 206): "In the scientific relation of God to man, we find that whatever blesses one blesses all, as Jesus showed with the loaves and the fishes,—Spirit, not matter, being the source of supply." Unless everyone connected with a business deal receives honest value and is benefited by it, no one is truly prospered. When divine Principle is recognized as supreme in the business world, no place is found for dishonesty, fraud, selfishness, or sharp business practices. God does not give to one of His children and subtract from another; and any deal that operates in this manner is dishonest in its inception. It can be readily seen that if every transaction proved a blessing to all concerned, each deal would in turn add to the general prosperity. Sharp practices tend to work in an opposite direction and to defeat their own ends. Dishonesty tends to bring about a business decline from which no one prospers.
To human sense there is seldom an equal balance between supply and demand. A product may be in short supply at one time and thereafter be flooding the market, causing prices to go through many changes. Unstableness is not true according to spiritual sense, for God maintains a perfect balance throughout all creation. The Bible represents Him as saying (Ezek. 18:29), "o house of Israel, are not my ways equal? are not your ways unequal?" God does not create good for which there is no demand, nor does He give us spiritual talents with no opportunity afforded for using them. As Christian Scientists we are entitled to know that for every legitimate demand there is a supply, and for every supply of good, a demand. Divine Love will bring the two together, thus meeting human needs.
A merchant in a country town, during the spring and summer months of each year, conducted a chicken hatchery. One summer his sales fell below expectations. On the advice of a friend, he sought the services of a Christian Science practitioner. Shortly thereafter the situation became acute. He did not have a single order, and his brooders were filled to capacity. His incubators in two days were due to begin hatching ten thousand more chicks, and he had no way of providing for their care. In this emergency, he called all of his customers on the telephone, but no one wanted any more chicks. Other hatcheries were in the same condition as his own. The market seemed completely glutted.
The practitioner explained to him that under God's government, supply and demand are equal. The man asked if he ought to give away his product. He was advised not to do so, for a demonstration in Christian Science always provides a blessing for everyone concerned. The next day his employees were very excited, for the new lot of chicks had begun to hatch; but he assured them that everything had been taken care of. That afternoon a number of telegrams and special delivery letters arrived, all containing orders. By the following day, eleven thousand chicks had been sold. When he examined these orders, he was astonished to find that all were from new customers and were from without the area in which he ordinarily did business.
That God's ways are equal is always a provable fact.
