ON MY DESK I have a rather harrowing sticky note that I authored myself. It says, "Will the decisions I make today and the actions I take: (1) Make my life more comfortable and entertaining or (2) Forward universal humanity's salvation?"
It's a harrowing note because of how easy it is to find myself leaning a little far, and a little too frequently, toward the (1) side of the equation rather than toward (2). Of course, answers (1) and (2) are not necessarily mutually exclusive. Most often I have found that obedience to an impulse to help others, especially by embracing and demonstrating the truths of Christian Science, has brought me deep comfort and proved as richly satisfying as the best entertainment, and more rewarding. Time and again, I have found that a tendency to put another's needs before my own has actually led me to find solutions to my own legitimate self-concerns, which I hadn't previously been able to see. And that is comforting! The Bible says, "God loveth a cheerful giver" (II Cor. 9:7), and I have found that God's love for the "cheerful giver" is not abstract but meets the whole range of practical needs.
Nor are entertainment and comfort wrong, with a proviso. Mary Baker Eddy wrote, "... pleasure is no crime except when it strengthens the influence of bad inclinations or lessens the activities of virtue" (Miscellaneous Writings 1883-1896, p. 362). In line with this, I have been finding that when I try to put perceived needs for comfort or entertainment at the top of my agenda, my activities become more limited in value and vitality than when I do the reverse. Hence my nagging sticky note is a spur to not only be more selfless, but also to seek a more deeply satisfying experience.
