Years ago, as the Cause of Christian Science expanded, Mrs. Eddy needed assistance in the management of her growing household. For example, in 1882 Calvin A. Frye became steward of this household and Mrs. Eddy's secretary. Later Mrs. Eddy turned over personnel concerns to a committee formed for the purpose of finding qualified helpers for Pleasant View, Mrs. Eddy's home in Concord, New Hampshire.
Calvin C. Hill was a member of this committee. In his reminiscences Mr. Hill records that Mrs. Eddy once directed him in these words: "Get one who loves to work for the Cause and is willing to take up the cross for it as I have done."We Knew Mary Baker Eddy, Third Series, p.40; He enumerates the qualities of thought required by our Leader in her helpers as including "love, orderliness, promptness, alertness, accuracy, truthfulness, fidelity, consecration, and humility."p. 40;
Despite the privilege of serving our Leader, some members of Mrs. Eddy's household caused concern. Mr. Hill recalls that "some who began their work with inspiration found it difficult to retain their joy and spiritual vision, especially if their assigned work seemed to be menial."p. 39; Apparently suggestions of the carnal mind attempted to rob some of these workers of their ability to demonstrate Christian Science in practical terms.
Although no longer summoned personally by the Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science nor by her personnel committee, helpers are still needed to further the work Mrs. Eddy began a century ago. Today the outward center of their activity is not a house on Columbus Avenue in Boston, where Mr. Frye began his service, or at Pleasant View or Mrs. Eddy's last home in the Boston suburb of Chestnut Hill. Instead these workers are employed by The Mother Church and its allied activities, either at headquarters in Boston or in the Field in a wide variety of positions.
Some workers come in response to advertisements in The Christian Science Monitor or in the other church periodicals. These advertisements, along with recruiting programs, bring the needs of the growing Christian Science movement to the attention of Christian Scientists. Prayerful consideration of these needs can, at the right time and in the proper way, unfold new channels for individual service to the Cause while providing worthwhile careers.
Employment by The Mother Church and its allied activities demands of the individual the same qualities of thought that Mrs. Eddy required of her helpers. To encourage workers to elevate and further their demonstration of spiritual vision, departments of The Mother Church and The Christian Science Publishing Society periodically hold meetings at which metaphysical points which concern the work at hand are considered. Through such meetings, as well as through individual prayer, workers recognize that their active expression of the spiritual qualities mentioned by Mr. Hill enables them to fill their jobs satisfactorily. Evil in the disguise of discouragement and disillusionment cannot undermine the individual who is consciously expressing the qualities of divine Mind.
These spiritual qualities originate in God and are reflected effortlessly by His sons and daughters. The employee can demonstrate them in his work. He can find love in divine Love; he can learn orderliness and promptness from divine Principle; he can express the accuracy and alertness of divine Mind, Truth. Spiritual qualities such as these characterize the identity of God's reflection. In his work the employee has abundant opportunity to practice them, and his active expression of them can even reveal better ways to get the work done.
Any personal sense of importance—or lack of importance—fades in the satisfaction of filling one's own niche well. Each worker is contributing to the whole effort. Every letter transcribed, every memorandum filed, every stencil cut, every column of advertising filled, every line of type set, every periodical published, contributes to putting forth the healing message of Christian Science.
One Christian Scientist came to work at church headquarters as the result of an experience she had during class instruction in Christian Science. The seeming inability to bring her eyesight to a single focal point had caused severe eyestrain and necessitated her wearing glasses at work. During class she studied the question by Mrs. Eddy, "Is materiality the concomitant of spirituality, and is material sense a necessary preliminary to the understanding and expression of Spirit?"Science and Health, p. 484; In studying Mrs. Eddy's response to the question she glimpsed the fact that as the spiritual reflection of God's creating she could not focus both on materiality and on spirituality.
Christ Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount, "The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light."Matt. 6:22; With this revelation in spiritual understanding, the student recognized the false basis for astigmatism, and during the remainder of class she did not need her glasses.
Upon returning to her job in the plush offices of a tax consultant, she found the unethical atmosphere of the office confusing and oppressive. During the year discrepancies she had found in the work assigned to her had been shrugged off by her supervisor. And when the front page of the city newspaper carried unfavorable comments about her employer, no explanation was offered. The suggestion that she still needed glasses presented itself. Vigorously she asserted the truth of her spiritual identity and refuted this setback as a lie about herself. She then realized the inconsistency of claiming her at-one-ment with God while contributing at the same time to the operation of evil thinly disguised as good.
Not only was she healed of improper focus of her eyesight, but also of improper focus in her work. Within a month she resigned and accepted a position in the Publishing House, grateful to be able to serve God wholeheartedly. This experience occurred ten years ago, and she has never worn glasses since then.
Employment opportunities of The Mother Church provide some of the practical ways in which to fulfill Mrs. Eddy's statement in the Manual of The Mother Church, "God requires our whole heart, and He supplies within the wide channels of The Mother Church dutiful and sufficient occupation for all its members."Man., Art. VIII, Sect. 15.
