MRS. EDDY gives us the following inspiring message in "Miscellaneous Writings" (p. 313): "The field waves its white ensign, the reapers are strong, the rich sheaves are ripe, the storehouse is ready: pray ye therefore the God of harvest to send forth more laborers of the excellent sort, and garner the supplies for a world."
The imperative call for workers for the Cause of Christian Science is not limited to those on the threshold of the public practice or to those newly elected or appointed to some responsible office within The Mother Church or a branch church. The need for "laborers of the excellent sort" is to be found at every level within the Christian Science movement.
At the beginning step, when one accepts Christian Science as the way of Life, this is the time to prepare for the next step away from materiality and nearer to the complete acceptance of Soul as Life. And in seeking to gain more from Christian Science, it is a time for one to give more, through gratitude, humility, obedience. By serving in the Church of Christ, Scientist, one helps to present the gift of Christian Science to the world.
Perhaps the next step is simply making the effort to attend regularly the Sunday services and the Wednesday testimony meetings. Another step may be joining a branch church, serving on a committee, accepting an appointment as a chairman, officiating as a board member, or fulfilling the duties of a Reader. And still another is the important step of taking class instruction.
No person can advise another in these matters of holy work, nor can the unfoldment of this work be humanly outlined. Mrs. Eddy says (Miscellaneous Writings, p. 117), "Be sure that God directs your way; then, hasten to follow under every circumstance."
Thinking Christianly scientific thoughts is practicing Christian Science. One who so disciplines his thinking is thus fitting himself for the next step, however it may unfold to him. One cannot stand still. Humbly he goes forward in his journey away from material sense to the acknowledgment and demonstration of the allness of God, Mind. Each problem solved, each moment of prayerful contemplation, of unfoldment, is essential to progress. And in gratitude, by the affirmation that the one Mind governs, we humbly and sincerely pray for the right answer, the right decision, whenever an opportunity to serve presents itself.
If the thought occurs to one that he cannot live up to the demands of Christian Science or that the requirements are too great or that some opportunity to progress in Science can be put aside to be taken up at a later date, he can know that such a thought is simply an aggressive mental suggestion and is no part of the man whose Mind is God. Jesus said, "No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God" (Luke 9:62). If we are "looking back" in action or thought, we can know that there is but one attraction, namely Spirit, and that no phase of materiality can deceive or beguile us with claims of satisfaction and ease in matter.
Sometimes the subtle mesmeric suggestion presents itself to active workers in a branch church that they have gone far enough in church work and that they have reached a pleasantly comfortable plateau in their study and service. They must recognize this also as a lie and rebuke it as Jesus did when he said, "Get thee behind me, Satan" (Luke 4:8). Then angels— God's thoughts—will sustain and encourage these workers also. Who would elect to remain indefinitely in the first grade simply because the work is easy and the demands are few!
Is one turning to Christian Science for a physical healing, perhaps, and then falling back into the old way of thinking and doing? If one's introduction to Christian Science has included an impressive healing, but it now seems not so easy to rout the daily suggestions of error, one can rejoice in the glorious opportunity to understand this true Science of being and go forth in working out his own salvation as well as in helping others to win their redemption.
Sometimes one is tempted by the hypnotic suggestion that attending church services is not necessary, that supporting the movement by active participation can be left to others, that the subscribing for and perusal of our periodicals are unnecessary. These aggressive mental suggestions would deprive us of much good. Who can bear the name of Christian Scientist and yet separate himself from the church, taking all and giving nothing? Gratitude and giving go hand in hand. One's very presence at a church service helps to ensure that Christian Science, the pearl of great price, is being given to the community.
One of the errors that would have us believe in the utter impossibility of serving in a greater capacity—perhaps as Reader or as chairman of the board—is the fallacious argument of false responsibility. It says, "How could you take on the responsibility?" This fear and timidity are rejected and eliminated by one's knowing that person or mortal mind is not responsible. God is omniaction itself. In reality there is no mortal mind to deceive the real man, and there is no mortal man to accept the lie.
Probably many members of the Christian Science church have at one time entertained the idea of healing others, of entering the public practice as an activity unsurpassed in human endeavor. Was it rejected immediately? Was it postponed for future consideration or discarded as an absolute impossibility? Or was it welcomed as something to be nurtured, to be included in consciousness as a right idea, which would unfold itself at the right time?
All arguments of resistance against taking each new step would have us believe that our understanding is limited, that our faith is not absolute, that our metaphysical work is inferior. But these arguments are negative. And they must be cast out as unreality, suggestion, nothingness. No material evidence can withhold the inevitable blessing of progression beyond a sense of selfishness and self-condemnation. When thought opens for one to see service as an opportunity to express more gratitude for the benefits of Christian Science, the right answer about a next step is reached harmoniously. The recognition that man individually and collectively is the son of God—perfect, harmonious, eternal—and that this perfect state of being has never been touched by human opinions, theories, or circumstances opens the way for true service, in the right way and at the right time.
Letting go of human will, spiritually discerning true zeal, and distinguishing it from the aggressive, dominating human sense of it, living and loving Truth—these are the steps to the revelation of that which promotes spiritual growth for one and all. Humility, willingness to serve, and obedience are essential to the working out of one's own salvation.
Mrs. Eddy tells us in Science and Health (p. 1), "Prayer, watching, and working, combined with self-immolation, are God's gracious means for accomplishing whatever has been successfully done for the Christianization and health of mankind."
