Whether it’s a major event in one’s life, work-related duties, academic projects, the demands of a case needing healing through Christian Science treatment, or simply the ordinary demands of daily living, one can sometimes feel overwhelmed. One can wonder, “Where should I start?”
When I feel that way, I often think of this passage by Mary Baker Eddy in Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures: “Christian Science is not an exception to the general rule, that there is no excellence without labor in a direct line. One cannot scatter his fire, and at the same time hit the mark” (p. 457). This tells me that I have to have a goal I’m aiming at—a goal Mrs. Eddy outlines in the next sentence of that passage: “To pursue other vocations and advance rapidly in the demonstration of this Science, is not possible.”
From this I discern that the one vocation I should always be aiming at—in whatever endeavor I engage in—is the demonstration of Christian Science. That’s not just because I am a Christian Science practitioner; it’s simply because I am a Christian Scientist. A vocation is a calling, and every student of Christian Science is called to practice the teachings of this Science in his or her daily life. The starting point for this practice is obedience to the one and only Mind, God. That obedience is the mark we want to aim at—and hit—in everything we do.
