Years ago, after finishing college, I moved to the West Coast, away from my family, friends, and comfort zone. The hustle and bustle of Los Angeles was quite different from the slow-moving Midwestern town I had grown up in. At work, I didn’t seem to fit in with my co-workers, and I returned home at night feeling defeated and unproductive. Soon after, I found myself unable to find employment and was suddenly unsure about whether I should have moved in the first place. With no friends or family nearby, I felt lost.
I had been raised in Christian Science, and so my first instinct was to turn to God to find my way. Although I read many of Mary Baker Eddy’s works and other Christian Science writings on place and supply, early on I found this statement in Science and Health: “Who would stand before a blackboard, and pray the principle of mathematics to solve the problem? The rule is already established, and it is our task to work out the solution” (p. 3). Those words were the proverbial spark that ignited my thought.
I was never a math whiz, but after reading that phrase I recalled the principle of variables. Briefly, a mathematical variable is a value that changes, depending on the equation or problem. In life, there are many variables that are forever changing—our jobs, relationships, work-related issues, and so on. What is most frustrating about variables is that we seem to have no control over them.
