A FICTION that we all need to confront is that there are challenges too complicated or too vast for us to understand, let alone heal. A lesson I learned years ago blessed me enormously when I was a Christian Scientist in business. And it still blesses me today in my business as a Christian Science practitioner.
During the mid-1980's, I worked in merchandising for an international company in Frankfurt, Germany, that sold giftware and china throughout Europe to US and NATO military bases. All purchases were made in US dollars. As events began to unfold, it was only my abiding love for God that kept me from leaving the company. I remember treasuring Mrs. Eddy's quotation from Science and Health about "business men and cultured scholars" (p. 128)—although at the time I didn't consider myself to be either.
At the time, the dollar saw a long, slow climb, hit a high in its exchange value, and then fell precipitously. In a 12-month period, we experienced a 40-percent increase in prices and expenses. Our company was then purchased by another corporation, and my immediate boss's position was eliminated. I was given his responsibilities for the financial side of the business, while retaining my merchandising role. Not only was I unprepared for these new duties, I never liked the financial aspect of business, considering myself more of a "creative" person. My interests had always been drawn to the fine arts, and I considered anything to do with money management as mind-numbingly boring.
Because the economic picture was dire at the company, I was told that I had 18 months to turn what was now an unprofitable division into a profitable one. After a whirlwind trip for training with the financial team at our headquarters in England, I returned even more convinced of my inability to deal with what looked like an impossible situation. I saw myself as an overextended person who now seriously regretted not taking financial courses in college.
After watching a serene sunset over the Taunus Mountains from the balcony of my apartment in Frankfurt, I opened up Science and Health, and came to that passage about "business men and cultured scholars." I began to delve into what Mrs. Eddy had written. When I read this sentence, "The term Science, properly understood, refers only to the laws of God and to His government of the universe, inclusive of man," it dawned on me that by studying Christian Science the last several years, I had been learning the ultimate Science upon which all other sciences are based—including the science of economics. More importantly, this Science was divine, above and beyond all other sciences, and imparted God's spiritual laws that operate and govern all of creation.
At first, just knowing that God governs the universe, including my business and me, brought a calm and clarity that allowed me to shed much personal responsibility. But I needed to study more deeply the specific laws of God that Science and Health refers to—laws that would give me direction and provide solutions. It was similar to learning mathematics—while you know that there are overall laws that govern numbers, it's important to learn the specific laws of addition, subtraction, and the principles of higher math, to get precise answers.
During the next several months of my study, more of the ideas in that same section of Science and Health allayed some of my fears, as I was reminded that these laws of God's good extended "the atmosphere of [my] thought, giving [me] access to broader and higher realms." My concept of business was lifted higher so that I began to grasp the way God was seeing it. God, who is the divine Mind, creates each individual idea—each of us—known generically as man. Why couldn't the arrangement of these individual ideas work together as one concept? Something that expresses the collective good of all of God's individual ideas?
This perception opened up my thinking enormously, because I could now see the spiritual concept of collective good as "business." Why couldn't an individual business (my company, for instance) be seen as part of the compound spiritual concept called economy—which also emanates from God? The concept of economy is not more complicated than a single idea called man, since temporal time, space, and matter are not included in any spiritual ideas, no matter how complex those ideas may be.
Feeling God's love for me and the way He valued my business was transforming, developing my "latent abilities and possibilities." As I realized these facts, my fears dissolved once and for all.
This understanding allowed me to replace the erring concept of my business as a group of personalities and financial setbacks, with the divine truth of my workplace, made up of a collection of distinct spiritual ideas (called man), coming together for the collective good. I saw that this idea of business serves the purpose of glorifying God, demonstrating God's productivity, joy, and excellence. Feeling God's love for me and the way He valued my business was transforming, developing my "latent abilities and possibilities." As I realized these facts, my fears dissolved once and for all, and things actually began to be fun!
I became quite expert in dealing with our profit-and-loss statement, and surprised myself in actually enjoying the financial challenges. When our advertising budget was slashed and our prestigious ad agency terminated, I was forced to discover a more spiritual collective idea of what customer base means, just as I had been reseeing my business and the economy. Once I saw my customer base as yet another aspect of the collective good—and another opportunity for God and His qualities to be manifested—it was easy to market a new ad campaign to that one "perfect idea" that God created. And this campaign really resonated with our clients. Our in-house ads were more successful than those we had used with the ad agency, because the idea of customer base was now divinely inspired and consequently better expressed.
Within one year, our business was flourishing, and the succeeding two years were the most profitable in the division's history. An unexpected benefit to this whole experience was that my idea of what constituted a creative person was greatly expanded. I realized that creativity and beauty have just as much a divine place in finance and economics as anywhere else. And my expanded understanding now gave me the freedom to express creativity in all areas of my life.
This became abundantly evident once I went into the healing practice of Christian Science ten years ago. That passage in Science and Health continued to be a constant source of inspiration, especially the sentence about how Christian Science gives individuals "an ability to exceed their ordinary capacity." This idea has been especially helpful to me in handling cases where patients need to excel in their performance.
A few years ago, I was asked to pray for a relief worker who went to Venezuela after the mudslide tragedy that affected thousands. This man had many challenges to face—over several days he'd gotten very little sleep, had few physical comforts (no hot meals or showers), and had to work side by side with people who spoke a variety of languages. In those beginning days after the tragedy, there was no coordinated effort—people just arrived wanting to help in any way they could, and it was a "fly by the seat of your pants" operation, to put it mildly. I prayed fervently with Mrs. Eddy's spiritual idea of capacity, as well as the statement in the same passage "the human mind ... requires less repose."
When this volunteer returned to the States, he reported that not only had he been able to hold up under enormous pressure, but those around him had, too. Along with that, he'd experienced great harmony and cooperation among individuals who wouldn't necessarily blend well together, due to class, ethnic, and language differences. Before too long, the effort had become cohesive, and after briefing new arrivals, he was able to finish his work without illness or injury, so often experienced in primitive, unsanitary conditions. This was great evidence to him—and to me—of our true capacity when God is understood as all-powerful.
On another occasion, I saw an entirely different aspect of capacity at work when a professional cellist called and asked me to pray for her. She said she was experiencing an extreme case of performance anxiety in preparation for performing a particularly difficult piece at a prestigious summer camp for musicians. She was terrified of playing in front of such a knowledgeable audience of her peers, and this pressure made her wonder if she could perform at all. Once again, I prayed with this idea of capacity—and in fact, as God's reflection, it was this musician's divine right to "exceed" her capacity. Her performance went beautifully, far surpassing anyone's expectations about how the difficult classical piece could be interpreted.
The spiritual concept of capacity has also been potent in cases that have come to me regarding school tests or intensive government or Foreign Service exams—and the challenges of professional presentations, project deadlines, and looming decision-making. When the individual and I turn to Christian Science or "the laws of God and to His government of the universe, inclusive of man," we are automatically turning away from human logic, reasoning, and doubt. This redirection of thought allows the human mind—as the passage goes on to say—to escape "somewhat from itself." The old patterns of thought can be set aside for fresh insight and inspiration. And while each case is distinct and every treatment individual, the concept, applied in various contexts, constantly shows me how many ways the study of Christian Science expands human capabilities.
More recently, it's been a joy to work with this entire passage in teaching a class on Christian Science. The class is a 12-lesson intensive study of Christian Science for the purpose of learning how to effectively heal through prayer. Sometimes pupils enter the class with a sincere motive, but with many doubts and fears about their own ability to understand and demonstrate Science. And I'll admit that from time to time I've had my share of doubts and fears about teaching. But praying with this (by now) well-loved passage, I see clearly that it's the purity and power of Christian Science itself that teaches both pupil and teacher, lifting us both to "broader and higher realms"—where, in the presence of divine Love and all intelligence, fear and doubts dissolve.
I am so grateful for the endless applications of this passage and so many other in Science and Health in my healing work, for they are an ever-renewable source of supply. In that last section of the passage, when Mrs. Eddy says that Christian Science "raises the thinker into his native air of insight and perspicacity," it is indeed humbling to see the practical truth of this, for practitioner, teacher, student, and all of humanity.
