Do you have to accept all that life throws at you? I was a long time learning that the answer is found in doing what Jesus said: "Seek ye first the kingdom of God." Matt. 6:33. A spiritual approach brings good in marked and myriad ways. In fact, it can radically change a person's whole life.
Let me give an illustration. When my husband was in the military service, we were transferred to Hawaii. Far from feeling like I'd been transferred to paradise, though, I became very depressed. I felt for a time that life no longer had meaning. At the suggestion of my sister, I began to read the Christian Science Sentinel. I had moved away from my earlier childhood training in Christian Science. but I'd seen the great things that God could do, and I'd never stopped loving what I understood about Christian Science. Now I immediately knew this was the answer to my problems. Every spare moment, I read and studied the Bible along with the writings of Mary Baker Eddy. I simply couldn't get enough.
The quarters furnished for us on the naval base at Pearl Harbor was a Quonset hut, cramped and gloomy. Although I was grateful to have a place to live—homes were very scarce at the time —our accommodations were less than satisfactory. Closely surrounding us on three sides were a band barracks, a machine shop, and a parade ground. The noise made quiet meditation and prayer nearly impossible. There was not even window glass to muffle the sound. Meanwhile, other men of the same rank as my husband had lovely new homes.
I called a Christian Science practitioner and asked her if it was right to pray for a more suitable home. She assured me it was right to pray, but encouraged me to first find my happiness spiritually, right where I was. She said if it was right for us to move, God would open the way. She also encouraged me to expect good. I realize now that my material view of things had been hiding the happiness and satisfaction that God is always giving.
If it was right for us to move, God would open the way.
Each day, through my study and prayer, I learned more about spiritual truth. Before long I began to feel something of what Science and Health describes as the "peace which comes from an all-absorbing spiritual love." Science and Health, p. 264 I was grasping the spiritual fact that everything was already harmonious, and a lot of healing was taking place in my life. Where I had seen dreariness, I now saw beauty all around me. I honestly didn't hear the noise any longer.
I did feel God's direction to continue to look for more suitable living accommodations, however. So, expecting good, I began to look almost daily for another home off base. The commanding officer had told my husband that nothing could be done about changing our living quarters. But we kept on praying, knowing that God was governing.
If it isn't your place, there is something better for you.
One day I saw a "For Rent" sign on the gate in front of a beautiful house and yard. It was exactly what we were looking for. The owner agreed to hold it for us until the next day. The next morning my husband again approached the commanding officer, and I was not surprised to hear that he gave my husband permission to move.
But when we called the prospective landlady, she said that she had already rented the house to someone else. I hung up the telephone in tears. Not only because we wouldn't be getting the house, but because I felt that God had let me down. I called the practitioner again, and I'll never forget her words: "If that is your place, no one can possibly take it, and if it isn't yours, you don't want it. There is something better for you." I was healed right then of the disappointment.
Some time later, I saw an ad for someone to manage a large new housing complex. My husband and I were interviewed, along with 92 other applicants. After two weeks without hearing anything, I was feeling a little discouraged. Then I remembered, "If it's yours, no one can take it, and if it is not yours, you don't want it." I thought about God and His loving care for each of His children, and I actually felt happy for whoever had been chosen. All of a sudden the room seemed filled with spiritual light. I was so in awe before the beauty of this truth that I was astonished. It couldn't have been more than a few seconds later, as I was still feeling the presence of God, when the phone rang. I knew who it was before I even picked it up. And sure enough, the voice at the other end asked, "Well, are you ready to go to work?"
Not only did we have a lovely new home to live in, but I was paid a substantial salary. There were many wonderful opportunities to apply Christian Science in helping others, in carrying out the managerial duties, and in making difficult decisions during the years I was there. Within one year God had so transformed me that I was not the same person. I had been reborn into a whole new life.
One thing have I desired of the Lord,
that will I seek after;
that I may dwell in the house of the Lord
all the days of my life,
to behold the beauty of the Lord,
and to inquire in his temple.
Psalms 27:4
